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

Read here and here of the massively increased number of foreigners in Spain over the last decade. Most from South America, so very easy to assimilate.

I read that 6% of Spaniards don’t watch the TV here, a number which the reporter clearly thought was high. Given the quality of most of the programs, I saw it as remarkably low.

I also read something about the expense of learning to drive here in Spain, one factor being compulsory lessons. No parent or friend teaching here. As I can see cars from up to 25 driving schools on my way into and out of my parking space in Lérez every day. I gauge that profitability is high. And the barriers to entry pretty low. Which would explain why there’s said to be a cartel.

The original cowboys are from Andalucía, it says here.

From “The Conquistadors” . . .Gonzalo Pizarro [one of the brother of Francisco Pizarro] was certainly a tough customer. Angry that the Indians did not tell him what he wanted to hear, he tortured them – sometimes burning them alive on wooden frames, or casting them to be eaten alive by dogs – including some women. I asked Bing if there’s a statue to him in Trujillo, his birthplace. . . No but there is a large equestrian statue of Francisco Pizarro in Trujillo, his hometown. Where his sins are clearly forgive. Or at least glossed over.

A (sort of) amusing headline in the DdP: Six Years in Gaol for The Head of a Drug Clan who Claimed He Was Only Looking for Cockles.

A trivial Spanish incident . . . As I was walking up a narrow street this morning, I came close to a parked van. The owner came out of a door and crossed towards the van. He had a choice of going in front of me or behind me. The latter never clearly occurred to him. It never does. But at least he had the decency to do a little skip to hasten his passage through my personal space. Something not recognised in Spain. After more than 20 years, I’m getting good at dealing with it . . .

Europe

War or peace? Dictatorship or democracy? Europe’s future is on the line . . . These two Europes will do political battle with each other at the important EU summit  that starts in Brussels on Thursday. What they decide will significantly influence the larger question of whether we are moving towards a Europe of war or of peace, of dictatorship or democracy, of disintegration or integration. Possibly true. More here.

(A)GW/Energy/Net Zero

A realist’s view of the COP outcome?

English/Spanish

If our language’s highest pleasure is Shakespeare, its second highest pleasure is its swearwords. English, with its abundance of plosive and fricative sounds and its versatile syntax, might have been designed for profanity. German is too sinister. The European romance languages are too beautiful (the Spanish ‘puta madre’ sounds like a kind of rose; the French ‘putain’ sounds like a cake you might buy in a patisserie). English swearwords are comic, heartfelt and charged with ancient malice. More here.

I confess to thinking that Joder, Gilipolla and Carallo/Carajo are pretty powerful when said properly.

Spanish

Polizón: stowaway

Did you know? . . .

The sheep’s head fish has rather human-like teeth and is said to have a taste for human testicles . . .

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.