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

Very much more serious than Kissgate, but related I guess . . . Spain calls a crisis meeting over the murders of 18 women during June, July and August.

As the recent elections showed, the far-right Vox party has done itself no favours by denying the existence of ‘gender violence’, preferring – for reasons beyond me – to call it ‘intra-family murder’. For what it’s worth, the party’s leader recently said:  “El género es un concepto ideológico que nosotros no compartimos”. Maybe an over-strong reaction to identity politics.

As for Kissgate . . . Revenge being eaten cold? An uncle of Sr Rubiales – sacked by him a couple of years ago – has said that his nephew is obsessed with power, and called him sexist, arrogant and in need of re-education about his relationship with women. Claims which might actually be true but can certainly be guaranteed a sympathetic receipt by the social media mob.

In the latest edition of Business Over Tapas, Lenox Napier reminds us that are many Arabic words in Spanish e.g. albaricoque, tambor, zanahoria, aldea, almacén, taza, and jarra. Lenox cites an article giving this list of the most common surnames with Arabic origins:-:

• Abraham
• Abril
• Álamo
• Albarracín
• Alcaide
• Alcantara
• Alcocer
• Alguacil
• Alicante
• Almodóvar
• Barroso
• Bermejo
• Cabrero
• Castillo
• Cebrián
• Cordobés
• Cortés
• Elías
• Gálvez
• Granadino
• Guerra
• Herrera
• Jaén
• José
• Lama
• Lara
• Lucas
• Martínez
• Méndez
• Mendoza
• Molina
• Morales
• Nicolás
• Palacios
• Pinto
• Salas
• Solís
• Torres

Someone has asked How healthy is the Mediterranean diet? and provides na answer here.

The burial/cremation process in Spain is brutally quick, because the law obliges this to take place within 48 hours. What I didn’t know is that you couldn’t, until now, do this in the even shorter time of 12 hours. Reporting on this today, the VdG adds: In addition to the reduction of hours for burials, The Galician Xunta has authorised the Muslim and Jewish rites of burial without a coffin. Until now these had to be held outside the region. Which seems long overdue to me.

If you have €3.2m to spare and want to move away from the heat of southern Spain, this might be for you – a pazo near Pv city:-

Or maybe tbis cheap place – costing only €1.6m – in Poio. So, somewhere near me:-

Talking about the local scene . . . The Guardia have been active in my barrio recently, possibly because of the drug-dealing in/from the gypsy settlement. A patrol car followed me from the main road yesterday, through the secondary roads to my parking spot. Possibly hoping to catch me exceeding 30kph in the (cunningly un-signed) road that goes past the driving test centre. Or maybe – with 18 fines in 23 years behind me – against none in the previous 30 years – I’m a tad paranoid. Or have become an extremely bad driver.

Portugal

If still prefer the South of Iberia, here’s a place in Loulé, near Faro, on the market at €1.7m. A lot more English spoken down there.

The USA

Too gloomy?: Chaos looms in the American political dystopia. Donald Trump’s trial has been set for an incendiary date for Republicans as the US heads for a crisis worse than the Capitol riots. . . . Unless something entirely unexpected changes, the world’s most powerful country is on a collision course with political realities that pose the most serious threat to the republic’s cohesion since the civil war.

Right or wrong, it’s a good read for Putin

English

Thank-you for reaching out: I got this in an email response from the USA, not for the first time, of course. I wonder when this stupid phrase will be replaced by its perfectly acceptable precursor: Thank-you for contacting us.

Finally . . .

To amuse . . . Kindly sent to me by reader David:-

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.