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

This is an laudatory Guardian article on Spain’s trains and rail network. All very accurate, eg as regards the statement that routes are cheap and well served. But no mention is made of what happens – eg this week – when there’s a public holiday and Renfe faces no competition. As here in Galicia. No extra trains are put on, meaning full trains, and prices are significantly raised. Nor does the writer, when criticising the UK scene allow that England lacks Spain’s huge open spaces and so is far more built-up. Meaning severe opposition from NIMBYs to anything planned by the government and much higher costs.

Talking of travelling . . . For 10 years or so, there was a Ryanair flight from Liverpool to Santiago de Compostela, but this was cancelled back in 2011. Meaning that, as I’ve said, these days there are no flights from the North of the England to Galicia. I’ve just read that Ryanair ended its flight because the Galician Xunta declined to ‘assist in promotion and marketing of the region in the UK’. In other words, to bribe Ryanair. Which is what I’ve always suspected. Prior to that, Ryanair had successfully played off our 3 small and not-very-international airports against each, until they too refused to continue playing this game. And this is why ‘Galicia’s favourite airport’ is Oporto’s in Portugal. Massively expanded since I first used it in 1999.

Another thing I’ve said is that using zebra crossings can be fraught in Spain. Yesterday morning, I again saw cars ignoring the fact there were pedestrians already on the (large) crossing at the city end of O Burgo bridge. But even I was surprised to see a woman do a U-turn there, scattering pedestrians in the process.

Which reminds me . . . Crossing there yesterday evening, I saw that the market traders’ latest traffic-disrupting cavalcade was taking the form of a mock cortege, with a coffin containing their preferred location – the Alameda – being moved very slowly in a hearse along the busy riverside road. Full marks for both creativity and for annoying motorists. But, then, the latter is hardly likely to affect our mayor, for whom annoying motorists is a life’s mission.

Another quote from Cees Noteboom’s ‘Roads to Santiago’: Gerard Brenan [writing in the 1930s] warns that the idea we have of Spain is all too often influenced by “that century of fantastic but fatal intoxication that is known as the Golden Age, and of subsequent decline”. Brenan’s conclusion is that the Spaniards of the Middle Ages, while they may have lacked the intellectual and artistic sophistication of the French, were nonetheless the first people to attain social and political maturity within that mediaeval context, because the never-ending struggle along those ever-shifting borders between Christendom and Islam gave rise to constant movement and liberation.

The Way of the World

One of the (very largely unknown) facts ED cites is that in 1900 there was no state called Palestine. 

Needless to say, I have no idea how to solve a problem which has just been made more intractable by the attack of Hamas and its inevitable sequelae. If you do, you are far brighter than anyone I know. And you should call a president ot two.

English

So, is it ‘within a hair’s breadth’ or ‘within a hare’s breath’ as I saw this morning . . . .

Spanish/Spanglish

HT to Lenox Napier of Business Over Tapas for this item: From El País in English here: Spanglish and beyond: The evolution of Spanish-influenced dialects in the US. If you’ve ever visited cities like Los Angeles, Miami or New York City, chances are you’ve heard a linguistic mash-up that feels both familiar and foreign.

Did you know? . . .

I have Canadian relatives arriving from Italy today. I know from them that departure is delayed 2 hours. But, while saying the flight will arrive late, Ryanair insists that departure is on time. By this they seem to mean that you need to check in as if it was on time and then sit in the airport for 2 hours. So, god help you if you stayed in bed for an extra 2 hours and tried to check in 2 hours before the actual departure time. I guess this is normal practice.

Finally . . .

Later today I will be able to check whether Canadians really do say roondabout for roundabout, displaying Scottish influence on their version of English.

An essay on the creation and production of apple varieties than mentions Spain . . .

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.

For those thinking of moving to Spain:- This is an extremely comprehensive and accurate guide to the challenge, written by a Brit who lives in both the North and the South and who’s very involved in helping Camino walkers.