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

Today – All Saints Day – is when you see cars driving around with ladders poking out of their windows. These are being taken to cemeteries, to help in cleaning burial niches way above ground. If you don’t own a ladder, your church will kindly rent you one. As it does the niches themselves.

Last night I passed through Plaza de Teucro, surrounded by primary school kids all dressed in one costume or other. The Americanisation of Halloween. Or Samhain, as it used to be called in Celtic times here. And still is by some.

Looking back, I don’t think any of the kids were dressed in the costume featured in this article on a particular Spanish excess. I guess I would have noticed.

I’ve long been surprised how expensive fish here is in Galicia. And now an article in the DdP has reported that, because of this, the locals – in these straitened times – are cutting back on seafood. But there is a fish which is much cheaper that all the others – mackerel. This sells at c. €5 a kilo, against €18+ for more popular varieties. This is said to be because the Spanish find it too strong. Which is unfortunate, as this chart – top left – gives mackerel as the healthiest of all fish, whatever age you are.

France

Worth a try. I guess . . . France sues the EU over the adoption of English as a standard language: The government has filed 2 claims with the European Court of Justice, accusing the European Commission of discrimination against non-English speakers. Not that the French government really cares about any of these other than the French. Who simply don’t want to to see the modern Lingua Franca grow in usage.

Quote of the Day

A former Facebook executive, avers that Far too many smart people ignored the issue of misinformation on TikTok: And now, a few years later, we are paying for this major misstep.

The Way of the World/Social Media

Allegedly . . . A wave of disinformation and pro-Hamas propaganda is spreading across social media. This is fuelling concerns that content on apps such as TikTok could drive anti-Semitism and radicalise young users, particularly as conflict in the Middle East drags on. Some experts believe this could mean countries rue the decision not to shut out TikTok once and for all.

It’s reported that 74% of the false news items re Israel and Hamas on X are published by verified users. Make of that what you will.

English

Brits, it’s claimed, once used to speak in either Queen’s/BBC English – ‘received pronunciation’ – or in working class dialects. But these are said to have disappeared among young people, replaced by 3 new accents:-

• Standard southern British English (SSBE), as spoken by Ellie Goulding – a modern, updated version of received pronunciation(RP)
• Estuary English, as spoken by Adele. Similar to cockney but more muted and closer to RP.
• Multicultural London English, as voiced by Stormzy.

More on this here.

Did You know . . .?

Netflix tells me it no long supports my Panasonic TV, obliging me to lash out on a new one. Which I won’t, as I see that I can cast films from my laptop to the TV, using Chromecast. Which was a wellcome surprise and might be useful for others to know.

At last . . .

Finally . . .

I’ve signed up for email notifications from Pv city’s excellent museum. It would be nice if these could be in Spanish as well as Gallego but this ain’t the case. Money talks, I guess. In the form of grants/subventions from a city council headed by a Galician nationalist. Anyway, here’s a bit of yesterday’s notice: Bos días. O pasado venres celebramos no Museo o centenario do Seminario de Estudos Galegos cunha xornada na que afondamos na contribución de Pontevedra a este proxecto cardinal da cultura galega. Fixémolo a través de oito conferencias nas que, ademais de trazar o marco do papel da cidade e a provincia no nacemento e desenvolvemento do SEG, exploramos as achegas de sete figuras clave: Filgueira, Castelao, Losada Diéguez, Aller Ulloa, Vilarelle, González García-Paz e Cordero Carrete.

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.