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

Politics: In this FT article, Pere Aragonès, president of the government of Catalonia, says that: Catalonia will pursue its right to a referendum: Our new relationship with Spain means that now is the time to launch a fresh round of negotiations. Sr Aragonès writes that this region of Spain is a nation which wants to be a nation state and that Catalonia is not asking for anything extraordinary. By which I suppose he means, for now, just a legal referendum on independence. But, given his reference to the UN, he might well mean the formation of a new – friendly-to-Spain – nation state. His problem is that under the Spanish Constitution, Cataluña – even after a ‘successful’ independence referendum – would still have exactly the same right as Scotland has to independence under the British Constitution and, say, Hamburg has under the German Constitution. In other words, none. And the probability of Madrid agreeing to independence even after a ‘successful’ referendum must be nil. So, this show will run and run. At least until the next PP administration.

Pizarro the Conquistador and Peru: He was possibly even crueller than Cortés, in Mexico . . . Peru fell to the Spanish and the Incas’ ancient culture began to be systematically demolished. This enabled the Pizarro clan – and especially the 4 brothers – to dominate the Andean world and almost create a private empire. They were 16th century venture capitalists, the progenitors of today’s globalizers. That was why Lima was created. Cuzco was the capital of a mountain world, and the Incas looked to the mountains. The Spanish outsiders had their eyes on a wider world, they needed a port to ship out the silver and gold they had extracted from the veins of Peru. And their ships left ballasted with gold. The Incas eventually revolted – unsuccessfully – not so much for the theft of gold and silver as as for the endless defilement of their women, including members of the royal family. Truly horrible men.

As for modern crimes . . . Earlier this year, a chap was caught doing 215kph in a 120 stretch on the A52. Such a speed is quite rare these days, as there are many cameras. And, sure enough, he was snapped, turning out to be a Senator and the then President of the Ourense Diputación. Driving an official car. Possibly thought this made him inviolate.

As I’d have expected, PV city will initiate next year a `pioneering from of ZBE’ (Zona de Bajas Emisiones). Our mayor doesn’t want to lose his garlands and his halo, I’m sure.

Meanwhile, the bad news is that El Mundo says that Spaniards have voted Pv city as the best place in the world to visit next year Not for much longer, then. Going the same way as Oporto, Santiago de Santiago and Lisbon.

The TV series I cited yesterday was Channel 5’s Portillo in Andalucia. Apart from having access to British TV, you’ll have to sign up to C5, if you want to see it.

The UK

It pains – and still shocks – me to write that, after being referred to A&E in Manchester’s biggest hospital with a faulty heart, my son-in-law yesterday had to wait in a chair for 24 hours before he was given a bed. There were, it seems, just 30 of these available for 120 patients. I’ve no doubt the care he’ll be given now will be excellent but yesterday’s ‘3rd world situation’, as my daughter called it, is an absolute – and shameful – disgrace. The NHS’s problems have been a political hot potato during most of my (longish) life and politicians have consistently avoided talking honestly about it and taking the measures needed to solve its problems. Perhaps this is the consequence of being a/the pioneer as regards a free national health service, ‘the envy of the world’. A sacred cow, in short. Resulting in counter-prodiuctive tinkering over several decades. I doubt that either the Conservative or the Labour party has any real idea of how to fix the NHS. Other than throwing money at it.

(A)GW/Energy/Net Zero

Still in positive mode, AEP writes here of heat-pump take-up around Europe, with particular reference to his house in rural France.

The Way of the World

You have to laugh . . . Opera-goers entering the Colosseum for ‘The Seven Deaths of Maria Callas‘ were confronted by a notice: “This production includes themes of suicide, strangling, asphyxiation, assault, and violence. If you have been affected by any of these, please speak to a member of staff.” And then . . .?

Spanish

Tener las narices de hablar de . . .: Lit. To have the nostrils to talk about . . To have the cheek/nerve to talk about .

Finally . . .

Back to Spanish politics . . . My Pilates class contains a woman who talks throughout every session. She wasn’t there this morning and, after 5 minutes of silence, I commented on this rarity, only to have the woman who was in the normal place of the habladora to launch into an impassioned attack on the Catalans. There followed quite a long discusión, for which the teacher blamed me. Quite rightly.

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.