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

That kiss: There’s something decidedly odd about Spain’s current cause celebre. Some time after being kissed, the captain of the Spanish women’s football team told the media: “I felt vulnerable and a victim of an impulse-driven, sexist, out-of-place act without any consent on my part”. If ever I saw a sentence drafted by a lawyer it was that one. And it certainly conflicted massively with one she’s alleged to have issued earlier, after she’d learned of reports that she’d said she hadn’t liked being kissed by Sr Rubiales: “It was a completely spontaneous mutual gesture due to the immense joy of winning a World Cup. The President and I have a great relationship. His behaviour towards all of us has been exemplary, and it was a natural expression of affection and gratitude. A gesture of friendship and gratitude can’t be overturned. We have won a World Cup and we aren’t going to deviate from what is important”. But, then, this too smacks of artifice. So, someone is lying. But who? And does it matter, now that the incident has been turned into ‘Spain’s Me-too moment’? All’s fair in love and war. Sr Rubiales might well be a victim of a wider conflict but he ain’t, it seems, an entirely innocent bystander.

Anyway, here’s the latest update on this imbroglio from the FT. Whatever else he is or isn’t, Sr Rubiales is now a pawn in a socio-political game.

A paean of praise here for the Spanish automaker, SEAT – originally a JV with FIAT but now a subsidiary of VW.

And some excellent Iberian news re a high-speed train between Madrid and Lisbon and Oporto. But the possible start-up dates should be taken with a huge dose of salt. Especially as the Portuguese government seems to know nothing about Spanish plans . . .

On her last weekend here, my UK-based daughter has learnt a 5th thing about Spanish life . . . All sporting events involve very loud music and commentary. Especially at the finishing post, where the pounding bass element of (usually) techno-stuff will be deafening.

And – looking for her in San Francisco church – I have learnt that – while the Spanish might sit right next to you on an empty beach or in an empty restaurant – the one place they won’t do this is in a church ahead of a Mass. Very probably because they can’t start up a (loud) chat there.

China

Good riddance to Chinese triumphalism as economic disaster looms. Beijing, claims this columnist, is no longer the hyper-growth role model it once was for the developing world.

Russia

So . . . Is Putin now stronger or weaker? Who knows? Here’s one analysis, by someone who really should know.

Check here for how the rouble has performed aginst the dollar in the last 2 years. In a word, badly. Some ‘expert’ observers – eg this one – say the economy is close to collapse but time will tell.

The USA

A cartoonish prediction . . .

The Way of the World

Whither the ‘BRICS+’? Richard North explores perspectives here.

Less seriously . . . (British)Vogue gets the publicity it wanted. Along with quite some criticism. A nice quote from the writer: Vogue’s raison d’être is to induce in [female] readers a degree of panicky self-consciousness bordering on insanity. Even asleep you can’t relax in case you’re doing it wrong.

Social Media

Rod Liddle opines on the evils of this here.

Spanish

HT to Lenox Napier of Business Over Tapas for this article on English words used by the Spanish.

Did you know?

Gender-bending chemicals in water bottles can femnise boys. My thanks to reader Perry for this article from a reputable journal, not the Daily Mail.

Welcome to new subscriber: Gleaning The Scriptures, whose – not surprisingly, religiously oriented – blog is here.

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.