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

Tourism is ever more important to Spain. God help the country if the sun ever goes on strike. Or gets blotted out by a volcano. 

January’s price changes in Spain 

 New places to visit in Madrid. Here’s a foto of a room in one of them, El Palacio de Liria:

I can’t imagine a more unappealing place in which to try to relax.

The VdG today: Few low emission zones: This year, 7 Galician cities should have low-emission zones delineated and monitored, through which the most polluting vehicles cannot circulate. However, only 2 – Pontevedra [of course] and A Coruña – have established them. All the rest are processing a plan, except Ferrol, which has not started. The Ministry of Transport has issued a warning: The €1.5billion[?] available for this task is at stake and there will be penalties for those who do not comply, even for those who have areas but do not sanction violators.

Life in The UK

In British pubs when you ask for a glass of wine, you’re usually asked if you want a large, medium or (pathetic, they imply) small glass. These, I read today, are 125ml, 175ml and 250ml. I can’t recall what size I asked for a couple of weeks ago but I do recall it was 8 quid. So, quite possibly the small one, given booze prices here these days.

Did I say that the bin rules here in South Manchester are odd? You have to separate plastic items into different bins – hard and soft — but you can put hard plastic items in the same bin as glassware and metal cans. Rather different from Spain. But the biggest problem is that the bins allocation seems insufficient for a family of 2, never mind 5 or 6. And, while I’m on, I went today to the site of the local council – to find out which days the different bins are emptied – to find that this information isn’t available to me unless I register with them and provide personal details. Why? Bin emptying days are a state secret?

The Way of the World

It occurred to me last night that the best way to stop WW3 would be to nuke every little troublesome country in the world that doesn’t have nuclear capability. Probably impractical. And I’m not sure if Iran would be included as a target. but something has to be done about the mad regime that’s run the place since 1979.

After I wrote that this morning, I read a UK columnist wonders whether the Iran-Pakistan developments means we’re witnessing “the opening salvos of WW3” and whether “small but distinct local skirmishes could trigger a new global conflict”.

And 2 other well-paid, professional columnists – jealous? Moi? – write about the mullahs and their malign influence on the stability of the world.

• Here
• And here 

Finally . . .

I confess to trying the self-checkouts in a supermarket yesterday and today. On both occasions, the machine suddenly stopped and the on-screen message was that someone was coming to help me. When I asked the assistant today why this happens, she replied, with resignation: I have no idea. Reader David in La Coruña has kindly sent me this relevant article on these modern monster-ettes.

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.