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, the coach of the Spanish women’s football team has finally been defenestrated and replaced – fittingly – by a woman. And the (interim) president of the Spanish Football Federation has issued a ‘grovelling apology’ for Kissgate, calling Sr Rubiales’ behaviour ‘totally unacceptable’. The end of the affair? If not of Spain’s belated Me-Too movement.

Even bigger news is that – surely to no one’s surprise – the self-exiled leader of one of the Catalan nationalist parties which might keep the PSOE in power had demanded a pardon for his crimes, as a precondition to negotiations. Which will cause an uproar on the Right, if/when granted.

Being in hotels for the last 3 nights, I’ve renewed my acquaintance with Spanish TV. But only briefly, as most channels seem to consist of endless short ads, interspersed with bits of chat. Or maybe that’s just the local ones.

Talking of hotels . . . I saw something last evening which I very much doubt would happen in the UK. A food delivery guy arrived with something for a hotel guest. After chatting to the (very cordial) receptionist, he left a package on the desk and went outside to get his bike. Which he then left leaning against a pillar in the lobby, before taking the food up to the room.

Passing Teruel airport on the way to Albarracín, we were astonished to see a large number of planes in a small provincial facility. We guessed – correctly – that it serves as a place of storage and maintenance. Like that place in Arizona. I’m not sure anyone actually flies from there.

This is a Fascinating Spain article on the coastal towns of the Galician Rías Bajas/Baixas. I counsel a pinch of salt. The small port of Combarro is naturally included, with the comment that it’s occasionally overwhelmed by visitors. Hmm. Most of the year, in my experience. And I don’t want to unkind to Redondela but it isn’t a place I’d rush to.

A friend with 2 kids in a school where the books aren’t financed by the regional government tells me that the cost of them has increased 25% since last year, reaching €800 in total. I’m reminded of my late Dutch friend telling me that, although the number of books published here is very high, readership is low. The (largely unread) books, he claimed, were subsidised by the profits from school textbooks. Which seems like a tax on learning to me.

Talking about life in Spain . . . I’ve now skimmed this new guide to moving from the UK to Spain and highly recommend it. It’s extremely comprehensive and accurate. As I’ve said, it’s free and can be downloaded as a PDF.

Germany

Power failures in Germany – A horror scenario or a genuine possibility? This is an interesting/worrying documentary from Deutsche Welle, a public channel.

(A)GW/Energy/Net Zero

The Way of the World

Sadly . . . The “disinflation” honeymoon is over.

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.