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

If you don’t know that Iberian Acorn Ham (Jamón de Bellota Ibérica) is very different from Serrano Ham or Italian Prosciutto, then this treatise – from the estimable Ian – is something you need to read.

Talking of ‘delicacies’, here’s the equally estimable Max on the lamprey, the alleged ‘queen of the sea’. And, in my view, what’s called ‘an acquired taste’. The river which forms the border between Spain(Galicia) and northern Portugal – the Miño/Minho – is the main source of this creature. As with percebes(goose barnacles), it’s a Galician speciality that I can easily live without.

A worrying headline:- Mental health consultations in Pontevedra have doubled in 10 years.

Another 2 quotes from Cees Noteboom’s Roads to Santiago: [By pure coincidence]

• At one time under different more enlightened kings, emirs,and rabbis the 3 peoples of the book had lived together side-by-side in configurations of separation and unions such as the world would never see again, as if the men of those earlier centuries had sought to prove it was possible. But because of the books we had translated, the enlightened West would never again be the world of a single book. It was in such a hurry to move away from itself that in the ensuing anxiety and confusion it could not help becoming alienated from everything that was blatantly different and thus our paths would diverge, 3 tongues that did not speak one to another.
• We would never know what kind of Islam it would have been that stayed in Spain and joined with the Jews in escorting the Spanish people into a future that was too big for them alone, a people who, as they overreached themselves, fell victim to an isolation which, like ours, would last for centuries. Spain got rid of the Jews first not knowing that it was amputating a limb from its own body, then it was our turn.

The UK

And I thought the mayor of Pv city was anti-car . . . The war against motorists has been taken to a new level in Cambridgeshire, where local authorities have constructed a “car trap” to punish motorists who, deliberately or otherwise, use a bus lane. This is a deep hole hidden in the asphalt, which has so far scuppered 60 cars and caused several to be written off. Buses are big enough to drive over the trap without any problem.

Quotes of the Day/The Way of the World

Sober reading:-

• An eminent British historian asks here: Will there be a World War Three?
• And another writes here that: Apparently it still needs saying that Zionism is not the cause, but the consequence, of perennial, dehumanising, antisemitism. Among many others, the author cites the the murder of thousands of Jews in Spain in 1391.
• Says this columnist: Until we find a vaccine for religious fundamentalism, there is no peace.

Social Media

Social media is where you can chose to be anyone you want to be. So, it’s sad that most people choose to be stupid.

English

Forgettery: The faculty or facility for forgetting; faulty memory

Finally . . .

I’ve received a 2nd email from the person I know whose first was a scam. This time the email is about what he and his sons are up to. So, it looks genuine. And might well be. But I’m concerned that, if his email has been taken over, it is surely possible nowadays for a scammer to copy a genuine-looking email he’s previously sent to one of his contacts. So, I haven’t opened either of the 2 links therein. And am now wondering if it’s wise to open any links in emails which are apparently from one’s friends.

After I wrote that, I read this: I’m head fo fraud at a bank and my identity was still stolen. Even the most vigilant can still be a victim of identity theft

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.