Awake, for morning in the bowl of night has flung the stone that puts the stars to flight.

And, lo, has caught the sultan’s turret in a noose of light!

Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable: Christopher Howse: ‘A Pilgrim in Spain’

Cosas de España

Here’s something from El País on a Spanish chap, currently in prison in Thailand accused of murder. And here’s Lenox Napier¡s (sceptical) take on a topic that’s headlining here in Spain.

Interesting to note from that page on Teucro that I cited the other day that, way before they decided they were Celts (and, thus, different from all other Spaniards), Galicians claimed to be of Greek origin and for this reason – said the Romans – trained in natural intelligence. And were considered by the later Romans to be whiter than others in the Iberian peninsula. Which was seen as an endorsement of this (spurious) claim to be Greek.

I touched yesterday on the downside of visiting Santiago de Compostela. Another place I won’t be taking visitors to is the nearby village of Combarro, famous for its hórreos. What was still, 20 years ago, a quaint-ish fishing village is now Disneyland-on-Sea. (More accurately on-Ría). Parking is a nightmare and, once afoot 10-15 minutes walk from the place, the dubious pleasure of a visit resides in negotiating your passage of a few hundred metres (and back) along a very narrow lane which is bordered by eating places and numerous shops selling the Chinese tat María mentioned in her article on SdC. To do this, you have to deal with not only the throng of other people but also pushchairs, dogs on leads and even invalid EVs. Fortunately, I know the serpentine lanes up to the main road, so we didn’t yesterday have to make the return journey back to the village centre. Ironically(?), Combarro was the first place I ate in on my initial visit to Galicia, when my then wife wanted to show me the place. As I’ve said, it was still quite charming back then.

Another moan . . . I got up at 6.30 this morning to witness the the ‘prolific’ Perseids meteor shower but saw nowt in the clear sky. Perhaps because the sun was already up below the hills in the East, making me too late for the promised spectacle. What I did witness was the sound of loud music coming from Pv city way below me. Summer life in Spain.

The UK

Truly beyond parody . .

Germany

A bit surprising to read that: Germans have historically prided themselves on efficiency and punctuality but their chaotic rail network has long been an exception — and this summer it has turned into a national embarrassment. And that the Swiss say: When it came to big improvements to infrastructure, the Germans are less reliable than the Italians.

China

Outshining Shein . . .Here’s why one internet trader is even cheaper than all the others. Achieved, to some degree, by haggling with suppliers, cutting out middlemen and exploiting tax loopholes both in China and the UK. But, most crucially, by swallowing gargantuan losses in the cause of building market share. One UK consequence – liquidation of the Wilko chain of cheap shops. More here.

Good grief! The Chinese founder of the monster company is called Colin, not previously thought of as a Chinese forename, I imagine.

The Way of the World

A UK couple have let their dog decide the name of their baby through a procedure involving 3 names written on tennis balls. The dog chose Brody, which was probably the least ridiculous of the possibilities, the others being Casey and the magnificently stupid Jaxon. Meanwhile, a teacher has posted a list of the names of children in her school. Among them were Skylar-raine, Deklyn, Karleb and Anjewel’Lea.

Spanish

Cabotaje: 1. Coastal trade: 2. (In Argentina): Domestic flights

HT to Lenox Napier of Business Over Tapas for this article, which cites the use of English words in Spanish to, as he puts it, to make poverty somehow genteel. So . . .

• If you can’t afford a holiday, then choose a ‘un staycation’.
• Can’t afford to go out at all? Then you are ‘nesting’
• Sharing a flat by renting individual rooms: ‘El coliving’. and
• Saving money by making many meals at once: ‘El batch cooking’

Gallego

If you went to the Combarro link above, you’ll have seen that my barrio is spelt Poyo* in Spanish, whereas I write Poio**. This is because there’s no letter Y in Galician, and most of us use the Gallego versions of place names, as in Sanxenxo(Sanjenjo) and Ourense(Orense). Though I confess to never using A Coruña(La Coruña). No good reason, except perhaps I knew of La Coruña years ago, from this. Learnt off by heart at primary schools. Education was education back then, not social engineering . . .

• *Pronounced like Pollo, or ‘Chicken’.
• **Pronounced with the diphthong oy, as in Oy, you there! Or Oy ve!, if you prefer

I think . . .

Spanglish

That article from Lenox cites:-

• Freeganismo: Eating out of dustbins. And
• Treinteenagers: A new socio-economic group. Folk in their 30s (Treintañeros) living like teenagers usually do – without a home of their own, children or a salary.

Finally . . .

To amuse . . .

For new readers:- If you’ve landed here looking for info on Galicia or Pontevedra, try here. If you’re passing through Pontevedra on the Camino, you’ll find a guide to the city there – updated a bit in early July 2023.