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 odd lead article from the VdG this morning: Ghost companies in Galicia: Every month an average of more than 333 companies are born and a hundred die. Although these are the official figures, there are some that have not been active for years. They have neither been deregistered from the Commercial Registry nor have they submitted accounts. Statistics say that there are almost 40% of businesses, or about 70,000, which are “zombie” companies, neither providing employment nor contributing to the state coffers – because they are not operating. But why are they created? For no good reason, according to experts.

I doubt anyone in Spain will be surprised by this article on food price increases in Spain in the last year or two. And few Brits will argue against the claim that some items are now dearer than in the UK. Though not a glass of wine! Or a bottle, of course.

Something I missed in Aragón. For when I do Castellón and Valencia.

The UK

Having braved the self-checkout machines in a large supermarket, I can understand why many folk avoid them. And why there’s always staff on hand to help customers use them. Or to stop them being wrecked. Perhaps you have to be younger than 40 and a member of MENSA.

Germany

First The Netherlands, now their big neighbour.

France

Next in line for farmer protests against NZ policies that will bankrupt them?

The Way of the World

On the up-escalator in a department store, I stood behind a woman and her long-haired teenage daughter. I noticed that the latter’s calves below her knee-length skirt were quite muscular and, then, that her voice was rather deep. So, I wasn’t too surprised, at the top of the escalator, to see that she had a beard. Talking to my daughter, I said I’d seen either my first transwoman or or very mixed-up teenager. She replied that he was possibly gender fluid. I felt ‘brave’ would be a better adjective.

English

I read that: “In [North]America, the trans agenda has interfered with medical lecturers’ ability even to talk about “women’s” health or flag sex-specific medical risks.” This led me to wonder whether we shouldn’t have two new terms for everyone:-

• Menoaks: Men of all kinds. Or Menoas: Using ‘sorts’, instead of ‘kinds’. And:-
• Womenoaks and Womenoas.

Did you know? . . .

Adolf Hitler was so crazy he took gun-cleaning oil for a chronic gut problem. Needless to say, this resulted in a range of side effects. And quite possibly caused the invasion of Austria. The rest is certainly history. Sad to say.

The Usual Links . . .

You can get my posts by email as soon as they’re published. With the added bonus that they’ll contain the typos I’ll discover later. I believe there’s a box for this at the bottom of each post. I guess it’s logical that this doesn’t appear on the version given to me . . .

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.