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

No wonder our premiums are rising . . . Almost 10% of car insurance claims in Spain are attempted fraud. The figure is 5 times higher than in 2009. The profile of the scammer is a driver under 30, unemployed or with a precarious job, who invents a story after an accident that he himself has caused. Attempts at deception not occur not only in relation to the car, but also with sick leave, disability due to accident or accidents at home.

Another article on the water problems in the North East.

UK government advice on English-speaking doctors in Spain. None in the NW, it seems.

Reader David confirms that, while it can cost between 140 and 200 euros to get from Galicia to Madrid, competition on the Madrid-Barcelona stretch means you can pay as little as 30 to 40 euros – return! – with another operator there.

Portugal

David also point out how prohibitive the cost of driving from La Coruña to Lisbon now is, thanks in large part to the tolls along the entire route. He figures the total cost is €260 return. I agree with David that that treating the Madrid-Lisbon connection as a first priority is likely to significantly impact the plan to have a high-speed train along the West coast of the Iberian peninsula.

Sadly I also agree with David that Oporto is ‘obscenely overcrowded’ these days. I blame Ryanair. And Brexit, of course.

The UK

I forgot to write yesterday that, as with 2 years ago, I am impressed by the courtesy shown by British car drivers to each other. But now, at least, I can add ‘except for the woman who this morning – in a Land Rover of course – ignored the rules of the road and forced me to reverse 40 metres so that she could get past a line of parked cars she should have stopped behind.’

Far more importantly . . . Suggestions that the NHS is moribund are hardly rare, with social care possibly in an even worse state. It’s not difficult, says The Times, to spot the problems in the NHS. The soaring waiting lists, overrun A&E departments, queuing ambulances and struggling GP surgeries are clear for all to see. I’ve seen several attempts at major reform in my lifetime, all of which have failed. But, undaunted, that newspaper has set up a Health Commission and this has come up 10 recommendations which the members think will save the institution. I rather doubt it

The EU

Another institution in trouble. Here and here are articles on the rise of agricultural populism, in which it’s alleged that an army of angry farmers has forced the EU to abandon its emissions goals. This, it’s said, happens only very rarely in the EU and is something of a humiliation for the Commission president. Richard North writes here that the EU Commission is sending out mixed messages and, despite this setback, is now doubling down on the net-zero targets, signalling that nothing fundamental has changed. There are, he avers, battles to come, especially after European Parliament elections in June, when the Right is expected to make significant gains There might then be some roll-back of the EU’s net-zero agenda. Interesting times.

The USA

A reader has kindly provided this link, on aid to Ukraine.

Did you know? . . .

Morocco’s sands are, it seems, fertile ground for archaeologists. Back in 2017, some homo sapiens remains dating back 300,000 years were unearthed in the northwest of the country – a breakthrough that pushed back the estimated origin of the human species by 100,000 years. And now archaeologists have unearthed there more than 80 human footprints dating back around 100,000 years. The footprints, probably left by 5 homo sapiens, including children, were discovered on the coast of Larache, a city 90km south of Tangiers. My late JW friend would have poo-poohed these claims, on the basis that homos only became sapiens around 6,000 years ago, in the Garden of Eden. Wherever that was. The footprints, he’d have said, were put thhttps://archive.is/Y7mdVere by the Devil to confuse modern homo (not very) sapiens.

I understand that Starbucks is a place where you pay handsomely for something which is mostly water but has your name on it*. Yesterday, I learned that their pumpkin and spice latte has a unique quality – it contains no pumpkin. Apparently, the company trialled numerous mixes before deciding the pumpkin element was best left at nil. Because pumpkin has no taste.

• I confess I stopped in one at 6.30 one morning. near Manchester, to have a coffee and draft a blog post. I told them my name was José. A short while later, I received a fine for being a few minutes over the limit in the motorway services car park. Despite various threatening letters – from Germany! – I never paid it.

Finally . . .

I’ll be meeting reader David in a local Persian restaurant on Thursday. A long way from his home in La Coruña. So, I’m polishing up at least a few bits of Farsi. Like this one . . .

تقریبا همه چیز را فراموش کرده ام I have forgotten almost everything. [For after the waiter has expressed delight that I’ve said Good afternoon to him in Farsi.(عصر بخیر)

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.