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

Some little-known ways you can get a driving fine from the lovely but officious chaps in El Tráfico.

Something that seems very unlikely to happen. Until Hell freezes over, at least.

The Spanish Route 66, from Madrid to La Coruña. En passant, I keep the English voice on my SatNav/GPS, as her pronunciation provides amusement on long – or even short – drives. She refers, for example, to the N-VI as the En Vee One. Not as funny, I admit, as many others.

The UK

Whatsapp messages that Nicola Sturgeon didn’t get deleted have provided evidence that the Scottish government, way back in early ’21, took the decision to `politicise’ the pandemic with the aim of advancing the cause of independence. Well, I mean, what nationalist leader worth his/her salt wouldn’t do that? Can anyone really be surprised? As opposed to delighted at La Sturgeon’s fall from grace.

Just a hint of a gleam of light at the end of a long tunnel? UK consumer confidence hits a two-year high in January, adding to signs of improved sentiments at the start of the year.

In contrast . . .

The EU

The rise in consumer confidence in the UK compares with a larger-than-expected drop in the eurozone. I blame it on Brexit, of course.

Germany

• Once I really am in power, my first and foremost task will be the annihilation of the Jews. As soon as I have the power to do so, I will have gallows built in rows . . . Then the Jews will be hanged indiscriminately . . . until all of Germany has been completely cleansed of Jews. Adolf Hitler, in an interview with Josef Hell in 1922.
• The fiendish treatment of German jews was always to be anticipated by anyone who had read Hitler’s Mein Kampf – published in 1927. The Yorkshire Evening Post of 14 November 1938, a few days after Kristallnacht.

So, why was anyone surprised – never mind shocked – at what happened from 1933 onwards?

The Way of the World

One of those headlines, from The Telegraph: Admiral Nelson is included in the National Maritime Museum’s ‘Queer History Night’. Presumably because of his alleged Kiss me, Hardy exhortation as he lay dying on the deck of HMS Victory.

English

A dream catcher: This sort of thing. Not to be hung on your rear-mirror in Spain.

Did you know? . . .

A fascinating list of ‘laws’.

Finally . . .

It being Friday, I took myself off to Sol’s, the chippy in this neck of the woods. And what a chippy! Specialising, of course, in fish’n’chips, it also offers sheesh kebab, dona kebab and freshly-made pizzas. Not at all like either the traditional chip shop or the many places long in the hands of Chinese owners.

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.