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

So . . Sr Rubiales might not be a diplomat but he certainly is someone who believes that the zeitgeist is fair and that social networks operate like a panel of eminent jurists. The deluded chap has declined to fall on his sword and will now need to be pushed through something open. If he’s lucky, it’ll just be a door. María widened my knowledge of the man with this comment last night: If Rubiales’ kiss were a one-off affair, then there really would be no harm. But, he’s done off-colored things for years. He conspired with Piquè to have the Saudis pay to have some kind of games there (I don’t know much about football, cups, leagues etc). He has been accused of taking money from the Football association he works for to throw private parties. Also, he’s supposedly used money from the same association to make private trips. Then, today, he comes out with the victim card. Rubiales needs to go. The kiss is just the culmination of years of knowledgeable wrongdoing that has been swept under the carpet for too long. So, a sacking clearly couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. . . . I learnt this morning here that he’s a trained lawyer and former footballer who rose from the lower leagues to captain Levante in Spain’s top tier, before ending his playing days with a brief spell at Scottish club Hamilton Academical.And a dinosaur in today’s world, even the Hispanic bit of it. This is my suggestion for the mood music on his departure . .

Spanish has requested that 3 new languages be added to the EU list of official tongues, adding to the superstate’s ‘translation woes’. Given that this would need unanimity in the European Council, I suspect this is very unlikely, as acceptance would stir up a hornet’s nest of identity issues in some member states which are in a similar situation to Spain’s. Hungary has been the first to speak out, saying that Spain should solve its problems in-house, not in Brussels.

Some more lovely places to visit, per Fascinating Spain.

A sign of the post-Covid times? Even the most humble tapas bars in Pv city are placing signs on their tables saying they’re reserved from a specified time, hours ahead sometimes. I don’t recall seeing them in Pv city before this year.

I read a headline saying that Spain was learning about an ancient Persian cooling technology and assumed it was these – bad gir-ha, wind-catchers, which I saw in Yazd some years ago:-

But it turned out to be qanats.

Talking of water . . . This is a remarkable oasis in the middle of Spain’s ‘arid plains’-

My Cheshire-based daughter has learnt 3 things about Spain in the last week of her stay:-

• Musical events start late and are very, very noisy – affecting one’s ability to sleep.
• The Spanish specialise in making lengthy goodbyes, sometimes loudly in the street in the early hours of the morning. Ditto.
• It might well be an offence not to stop for someone who’s about to set foot on a zebra crossing but many drivers don’t. Sometimes even if you have both feet well onto the crossing.

The EU

There’s said to be a recession looming. Though not here in Spain

The USA

A case study in madness, involving something called a SPAC . .

(A)GW/Energy/Net Zero

More from Richard North here on the the First World’s (pious?) JETP scheme, this time with a focus on Indonesia, rather than South Africa. . . There is little sign of Indonesia making the progress necessary to achieve even existing targets, let alone those envisaged by the JETP. . . While it cannot be said that the JETP programme is officially dead, the complications are such that it is extremely hard to see a way through.

Quote of the Day

Any day now I expect to hear that soaring rates of gender dysphoria are caused by climate change. From this article entitled: Blaming climate change for everything is lazy.

It’s quite hard not to be a cynic these days. Especially in the face of groupthink. On this, see here. And more recently, here.

Finally . . .

I’ve mentioned the hazard to car-parkers of granite blocks scattered throughout Galicia. You can see one here:-

Or, rather, you can’t. And if your car has only a camera and not a sensor, this can be the result:-

For the 2nd time in 6 months . . .

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-