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

Interminable Politics: The VdG: A morning in September: 34 days to convince. That is the time that PP leader has to change the minds of the undecided and the negative, among the latter, the PNV. The Basques have once again said no, that with Vox around there is no support. September will be a busy month for the PP. And one morning the time will come to appear in Congress and ask to be invested. It doesn’t seem feasible. Sánchez, meanwhile, waits. But if everything goes wrong, in January “We will return. We will start again”, as the song said. All very hellish, in the middle of a heat wave.

As if there weren’t enough ways to get fined on Spanish roads . . . Coming your way, new road markings.

Some good advice: If you’re confining your trip to Madrid, Barcelona and Lisbon, you are missing out on some remarkable experiences. Places in Spain and Portugal That Tourists Should Visit—but Rarely Do.

And here’s The Times’ guide to 25 European city-with-a- beach, including these 2 in Galicia:-

• La/A Coruña – Galicia’s surfy city. Just how beach-loving is Galicia’s second-biggest city? The Fonte dos Surfistas (fountain), which sets 2 bronze wave riders above the Praia do Orzan, is a clue. Here golden sand curls along A Coruña’s tightly packed centre — and there’s a second, quieter strand nearby at Praia das Lapas. There’s cultural and historic heft too — courtesy of the world’s oldest working lighthouse and a suite of museums, castles and churches

• Vigo and the Cies Islands: Vigo is the [one of the] gateway[s] to one of Spain’s loveliest beaches — the Praia do Rodas on the Cies Islands. This small, almost-pristine archipelago is both a nature reserve and national park — and you need special authorisation* to visit (at autorizacionillasatlanticas.xunta.gal) before buying your £26 return-ferry ticket (mardeons.es). Book the elegant AC Hotel Palacio Universal to be near both the docks and the old town’s [recently mentioned here] oyster bars and fish restaurants, and get set for a Saturday to Tuesday weekend — to conform to Ryanair’s autumn schedule. Further golden strands on the mainland can be reached by jumping on the No 15B bus.

* I don’t know what this is about. I’ve never sought authorisation prior to buying tickets and wonder if it applies only if you want to take a private boat there. Or perhaps to camp there. The Mardeons site doesn’t mention a need for pre-authrisation. Which comes with a ticket, I assume.

As for getting to SdC by Ryanair . . . Another search suggests you can still only do this from London Stanstead or Edinburgh. And only from some time in October. Or in ‘autumn’.

Over the past few days, I’ve watched an enormous construction being erected in/over the car park of our new theatre. This turns out to have been the venue of a concert by 2 of Spain’s biggest pop stars – Leiva and Iván Ferreiro. I’ve never heard of them, of course, but my neighbour tells me they are la bomba.

The UK

A plausible claim . . . Our political leaders lack the courage to take tough decisions. Most politicians know the answers to most of the big problems but are too fearful of voters to govern for the long term. But is the UK any worse than other countries in the developed world? And is it this which is driving the alleged increasing demand – even from the young – for more authoritarian governments? Read the views of the (insightful) claimant here.

Scotland: Is the nationalist era over, with a new poll suggesting both the Nats and Labour would win 24 seats in a general election? Are the Nats paying a high price for their unpopular alliance with the Green Party? Apart from their corruption and incompetence, that is.

The USA

This is undoubtedly a right-wing (and aggrieved) view but it might well be objectively justified. It is hard to imagine a US presidency that could be more weak-kneed, ineffective, and destructive than the one led by Barack Obama. But this is the harsh reality with Joe Biden in power . . . Barack Obama and Joe Biden share the same big government elitist mindset, with a sneering disregard for the plight of ordinary Americans. They are 2 of the most arrogant and out-of-touch world leaders of the modern era. Their shameful joint legacy has been a testament to failure, despair and American ruin. More here.

Russia

So . . . The most unsurprising event of the year to date – Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner mercenary group who became known as Putin’s chef, is believed to have been killed when a business jet crashed over Russia today. He didn’t even need to have been sitting by a window. Shame about the crew and the other 6 passengers. Of the First Battalion Innocent Bystanders. Perhaps. But as Richard North says . . . It’s a bit early to tell whether Yevgeny Prigozhin is really dead, or whether this is another of those bizarre stories that comes out of Russian and goes nowhere.

Quote of the Day

‘Inspired’ by the multi-million-value thefts from the British Museum over the last 20 years . . . The number one job of a museum is displaying, conserving, cataloguing and shedding scholarly light on holdings ancient and modern. It is not righting the wrongs of the past or apologising for the sins of the fathers. It’s not putting benefactors in the stocks or filleting displays to remove the controversial, the problematic, the doesn’t-quite-fit-this-month’s-moral-mood-music. It’s not solving the problems of social equality or equity (used liberally and interchangeably). It’s not grandstanding about climate change or making pious promises about restitution without assurances that the returned items are going to a good home. A museum mustn’t be a monument — dusty displays, unchanging captions, gloating over faded glories — but nor should it tremble to its foundation with every new huff and puff of the culture wars.

Welcome to new subscribers:

• Esteponapj
• 1insman1. Who has a web page – philosophyofspeed.com – but it’s not accessible, to me at least.

Finally . . .

This is the page of an estimable and very cultured chap who this weeks addressed the issue of what statement in always true. He plumps for This, too, will pass but notes numerous references to the passing of time over the centuries. These include this verse for the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam:

Each morn a thousand roses brings, you say:
Yes, but where leaves the rose of yesterday?
And this first summer month that brings the rose
Shall take Jamshýd and Kaikobád away.

I’d actually go with:-

Oh, come with old Khayyam, and leave the wise

To talk. One thing is certain, that life flies;

One thing is certain, and the rest is lies;

The flower that once has blown for ever dies.

These are from the wonderful (but very free) translation of Edward Fitzgerald, who did the non-Persian world a massive favour in the late 19^th century.

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