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/Galicia

Before today’s effort . . . . Here’s yesterday’s missing foto, of the phantom roundabout:-

Politics: Giving an amnesty to criminal Catalans is ‘worth the gamble’, opines the FT here. Not an opinion shared by very many Spaniards, it has to be said.

I ask of all the guiris I show round Pv city’s old quarter if they can guess what the biggest source of money along this coast is. No one ever gets it right. So I refer them to the Netflix series Fariña/The Cocaine Coast. A propos . . . Today’s DdP page 1 headline: Organized crime places Galicia at the centre of the global cocaine business – as the meeting point between the drug dealers of Colombia and those of Europe. ‘The hot spot’ of the international network.

Here’s a non-surprise . . . In Pv city these days, dehumidifiers are outselling heaters and stoves. Well, it was the wettest October since 1987 . . . I look forward to the day when I open the front door at 06.30 and water isn’t dripping from the balcony.

A 2nd non-surprise . . .Getting from La Coruña to the border with Portugal on the AP9 cost us €12 in tolls back in 2005 and now costs us €24. Close to as much again as the petrol/gas. One of the most expensive stretches in the country – in a ‘poor’ region. No wonder the traffic is light.

In contrast . . . Is it really a surprise that, paying for the best lawyers, so many of our narcos, get their sentences quashed in the Supreme Court? Eventually.

This foto of logjams at O Burgo bridge gives me the chance to show you our (ugly) modernised bridge, which, when the wind is strong, moans through the slats. And when it’s really strong, wails like a banshee. Am not convinced this was planned or expected:-

The UK

Any hope that the Covid inquiry might actually help us prepare for a future pandemic was surely extinguished this week. More here.

Germany

Germany puts Britain to shame with its zero tolerance of anti-Semitism: Informed by their history, the Germans have displayed remarkable moral clarity in supporting Jews.

The Netherlands

The way tourism is going . . . By 2019, the Tourism Board had become so concerned at over-tourism that they decided to stop promoting the country – the first in the world to do this. This year Amsterdam went further, launching a “digital discouragement campaign” warning young British sex and drug tourists to “stay away”. A cap has also been put on flights landing at Schiphol. Experts have reported that the scheme is working – arrivals from Britain this year are down by 22% compared with 2019. I wonder which poor country the louts are now going to instead.

The USA

It’s almost fun watching Trump – ably assisted by his lawyers – turn one of his several trials – the civil one – into a political rally. Said lawyers surely aren’t being paid for their legal expertise. Assuming they ever get their bills paid, of course. Trump has (bad) form in this regard.

The Way of the World

What Generation Z – overly involved in putting stuff about themselves on social media – really cares about when it comes to privacy. Not about being defrauded, it seems.

The Way of the Football World

Money talks. Especially to the ‘clownish’ and ‘self-interested’ head of FIFA, it seems.

Gallego

I saw this headline this morning: Se hai un galego na lúa, hai un galego no corazón de deus, teño por seguro. Or: ‘If there’s a Galician on the moon, there’s a Galician in the heart of God, I’m sure of that’. I’m not clear why the speaker said this. But he is a priest. So, questionable assertions are his stock-in-trade.

Did you know? . . .

Nice to read that: The Colombian government has said that a Spanish galleon lying off its Caribbean coast with treasure on board that could be worth as much as £16 billion will be brought to the surface urgently. The 62-gun San José was sunk in battle by the British in 1708. It was believed to be carrying treasure that had been accumulated over 6 years, including silver from Bolivia, emeralds from Colombia and 11 million gold coins. The exceptional value of its cargo meant that it became known as the “holy grail of shipwrecks”.

Another non-surprise . . . Nike’s £45 baby trainers are a waste of money, say podiatrists. Worse: Wearing shoes too early and without proper fitting can hinder development. Who knew?

Finally . . .

My 4 year old grandson in Madrid raised with his mother the subject of adoption. She said that some parents aren’t responsible enough to look after their kids. His reply: Yes. They just smoke. I wonder if I’ve been indoctrinating him. En passant . . . The 69 year old ‘grande dame’ of French fashion says she started smoking 5 years ago and began having tattoos last year. It takes all sorts.

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.