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

The current state of play in the political game . . . I was surprised to read there that Cataluña is fast losing its historic economic clout to Madrid

The way things are going in parts of Spain.

I spent more than an hour this morning on the Spanish equivalent of Ordinance Survey maps trying to find the towns on a route – GR-94 – I plan to walk with friends on Nov. 1. Very frustrating as there are hundreds of villages and towns. And Google Maps couldn’t find most of the ones I wanted. Nor WikiLocs.

Hence . . . Final quote from Cees Noteboom’s Roads to Santiago: Run out of time. So, tune in to tomorrow.

China

If you want to see ‘a cheesy propaganda clown show’, try When Marx Meets Confucius. The film, seeks to explain and promote the “second combine” of Xi Jinping Thought. This is the canonical new philosophy credited to China’s supreme leader that’s said to be required learning for any ambitious young thing.

Quote of the Day

While our leaders indulge in puerile squabbles, tyrants seize the moment. Western complacency has allowed China, Iran, North Korea and Russia to amass a frightening advantage.

Gallego/Spanish

The things I learn in the Pilates class . . . After I’d pointed out to the teacher this morning that one exercise with weights was more risky for me than anyone else, my Gallega colleagues introduced me to the word minga, I checked with the RAG and found it to be equivalent to pene. Which is a tad ironic, given a British slang word which shares the first 4 letters.

But a word I tabled foxed the Gallega ladies. . . I had seen what I noted was the Spanish word rifo, which was said by someone somewhere to mean a ‘swindle’ and also a ‘debt’. But, as with my Spanish friends yesterday, they contended this and cited rifa, meaning a ‘raffle. And an ‘argument’ in Gallego. So, I did both a Google and a Bing search and eventually came up with:-

• Acunó el balón en el centre del campo y desafíó a su marcador y se lo rifó dos veces. Picking up the ball in midfield, he challenged his marker and feigned [made a feint?]twice.
• Me vendieron este coche por una ganga, pero resultó ser una rifa. They sold me this car for a bargain, but it turned out to be a scam.

So, I now throw this open to Spanish and Galician readers . . .

Meanwhile . . .

• Oriundo: Native/local/originating from.
• Cisjordania: The West Bank?

Did you know? . . .

There’s now a new Dali museum in the town where he was born.

Finally . . .

When I was a lad, the usual instruction to a barber was ‘A short back and sides, please”. Now, it appears to be ‘Razor the bottom half of my head and put something silly on top of it’. How the grandchildren will laugh at the fotos . . .

Talking of mingas . . .A nice joke from the wonderful Barry Cryer:

“Excuse me, but aren’t you The Great Stupendo?” an old lady on holiday in Blackpool asks. “The magician who used to bend an iron rod over his erect member?”

“Yes, that’s me,” says the elderly man on his deck chair.

“Do you still perform?” she asks.

“No, no . . .” the reply comes, “. . . the wrists have gone.”

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.