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

Politics: That amnesty for rebellious Catalans

• Here’s today’s (critical) FT comment.
• The Guardian has 2 articles on the developments and on the state of Spanish politics – here and here – plus an editorial which is supportive of the amnesty. Essentially, the newspaper adopts the approach we sometimes have to take in life, asking not which is the best option but which is the least worst. And the Guardian, as a left-wing journal, naturally prefers the (‘messy’) PSOE coalition to that of the right-wing PP party and its far-right ally, the egregious Vox party.
• On the PP, blogger Maria has this to say about its approach to pardons. Note the numbers.
• As for comments of from PP and Vox leaders, these are hardly designed to reduce the tensions and divisiveness they complain about . . eg: The PSOE is introducing a dictatorship via the back door, and Sánchez is carrying out a coup d’état.

On to smaller matters . . .

Civil service jobs are much sought after in Spain. Here in Galicia, the regional health service – SERGAS – has around 1,000 posts available, for which it’s received 22,100 applications.

We occasionally have small 2-man submarines delivering cocaine to our coast. I guess it comes as no surprise to learn that the capo of the clan sending these from Colombia is a Gallego.

Talking of vessels . . . A catamaran recently drifted on to our coast, the crew being thought to have been lost somewhere in the Atlantic. Its name – The Lucky Cat.

One of those headlines . . . Walking topless or with sex dolls is banned in Málaga from today. [Sometimes the voice-to-text app goes awry. This came out as: with wessex tools expand in Málaga . . .]

In nearby Vigo, the in-place for the young to go – El Palacio de Oliva – has been ordered to close because of the lack of a licence. The owners are reported to be disputing this allegation and to be defiantly keeping the place open. A very Spanish tale.

Another one . . . Nine houses in Foz have been demolished, in accordance with a court order issued 40 years ago. Sic.

I mentioned yesterday the government’s very generous free rail-travel scheme. As reader David in La Coruña has advised, a wrinkle in this means that you can, cost-free, book a seat on several different trains on your day of travel and then ride on the one you prefer. As the unwanted seats are not cancelled, I guess this means empty seats on ‘full’ trains. The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men gang aft agley, as someone Scottish once said. Not to mention the badly-laid schemes.

I said it had rained for 30 days here in Pv city but the VdG says it was 32. And that this was only ‘bested’ by Ferrol, where it was 33. There was water dripping from the balcony first thing this morning but it’s not raining right now and we’re even promised 3 days of sun. Whatever that is.

The EU

An astonishing account of how Cyprus rose to become the beating heart of the Putin regime’s shadow financial system, despite laws designed to prevent this.

Did you know? . . .

On November 12, 1933, Charles Lindbergh and his wife, flying from Geneva to Lisbon, were forced by bad weather and shortage of fuel to land their plane on the nearby Miño river, the border with Portugal. Says Bing: They landed on a sandbar in the river, near the town of Tui, spent the night on an islet and were helped in the morning by local fishermen and the authorities. This photo is said by Bing to show the plane surrounded by curious spectators and a boat but it clearly doesn’t. Taking off the next day, perhaps.

Finally . . .

Talking of famous folk . . . The biographer of the English adventurer, Francis Younghusband (1863-1942) writes that, that according to FY’s wife, in their village of Westerham he knew every one of the children intimately and would introduce them to the joys of hunting for white violets and wild roses. He would give them sweets and walk hand in hand – an activity, says author Patrick French, which in the 1920s was doubtless regarded as an innocent diversion. Simpler times.

From that book, another odd early-20^th-century British name – Alfred Cotterell Tupp. ‘To tup’ is ‘To copulate with a ewe’. How he must have been ribbed as a kid.

Welcome to new subscribers, Bryan Coyne and Jerry Johnson

The Usual Links . . .

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.