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

An interesting video on the legacy of the Moors in Spain.

This is an article I read yesterday after writing about Galicia being the – very logical – meeting point’ for cocaine smugglers from South America and Europe.

Spain – specifically the Canary Islands – seems to have a far greater ‘migration’ problem than, say, the UK, with most wretched folk arriving there from Senegal. But the issue seems to be of very less public concern here than it is in, say, the UK or Italy. A relevant article.

A large cruise ship was marooned last weekend in the Bay of Biscay, during a fierce storm. When it finally got going again, it sailed – says The Times this morning – towards the NW Spanish city of ‘La Corona’. This is even worse than anglicising A/La Coruña into La Corunna but I guess The Times will eventually change La Corona to the latter.

A ground floor shop is un local in Spanish. In Pv city, there seems to be an ever-increasing number of these boarded (or brown-papered) up, as retail trade declines. Not only are these a waste of what could be precious residential space, they’re also responsible for uglifying handsome buildings. Witness:-

Hopefully the plans to make these more easily convertible into flats will bear fruit, killing 2 birds with one stone.

Well, today wasn’t the day of a non-dripping balcony first thing. We continue to hope the water will stop ‘precipitating’ one day soon. Meanwhile, the patch of soil below my bird-feeder has become a thick thatch of something. Possibly bamboo shoots. I should be so lucky.

I had both a Covid and a flu jab yesterday. Shame that – before going to the Xunta offices – I’d forgotten to remove the little bit of toilet-paper stemming blood from a razor cut on my cheek.

The UK

The Scottish government – showing just how daft nationalist administrations can be – has said that, when the country is independent, one of the items on its points-based visa scheme will be the ability to speak Gaelic. And not just any old Gaelic but the Scottish version. The number of foreigners around the world who can do this is said to be very close to – if not at – zero. But, for the ‘Nats’, that’s not the point, is it? As with the Far Left, purity is everything.

The USA

Donald Trump has admitted that some of the asset values in his bank-loan applications were, indeed, wrong. But not too high. Rather, too low. He’s also claimed that he made some ‘suggestions’ about lowering some values he felt were too high. It’s just possible that he’s the only person among more than 7 billion who really believes this. But I wouldn’t bet on it. On second thoughts – given his mental make-up – I might well be prepared to take that risk.

Russia

Russia is carrying out ethnic cleansing against the indigenous Tatar population of occupied Crimea, their leader has said. As with the 120,000 Armenians recently ejected from Nagorno Karabakh, I doubt there’ll be street protests against this in London, or elsewhere, next weekend. Even though the Tatars are very largely Muslim.

Quote of the Day/The Way of the World/Social Media

What kind of person takes selfies beside a drowning man?

Did you know? . . .

From “Younghusband: The Last Great Imperial Adventurer” by Patrick French. Many folk commented publicly on Youngbusband’s ill-advised invasion of Tibet in 1903. One of them – a Tibetan clairvoyant called Tuesday Lobsang Rampa, author of the highly successful ‘The Third Eye’ – was actually a Cornish plumber called Cyril Hoskins. Nice one, Cyril.

Finally . . .

Everyone who learns a second language knows that the slightest error of pronunciation or syllable stress can leave your interlocutor looking completely baffled. As I was in London years ago, when a US visitor asked me where TRAfalgar Square was, instead of TraFALgar* Square. Yesterday, a Spanish friend pronounced ‘taxi’ in a way which left me nonplussed. Until, after 3 attempts, she described ‘a white car which takes you from place to place’. And when I told her what the word was in English, she insisted that this was how she’d pronounced it. How we laughed. Well, I did . . .

* Incidentally, TrafalGAR in Spanish.

Something I don’t find particularly funny . .

Some of you, while enjoying this 2nd cartoon, will realise that the man could also have said that it should be ‘fewer’, not ‘less’. But I fear that ship has sailed, as they say. By popular demand, ‘less’ is now the correct thing to say. That’s English for you. Nothing if not democratic.

Finally . . .

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.