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

Showing more statesmanship than his predecessor, the current PP (opposition) leader is backing a conditional pardon for the main Catalan rebel, currently holed up in Belgium. Certainly a surprise, to all and sundry. Especially in his home region of Galicia, where elections are imminent. See The Guardian on this here.

Also from The Guardian – a couple of Spaniards discuss the ‘sexist divide’ that lingers in modern Spain.

And still with the Guardian . . . A Spanish development that looks less than appetising.

The Irish Post claims that farming protests are highlighting Spain’s rural conundrum. And posing for the ñeft-wing PSOE government a problem that won’t be solved with any future agreement on pro-farming measures in Brussels.

Big bears, says the NY Post, have returned to Spain and are causing commensurately sized problems for rural villages. Or those that remain occupied at least.

The UK

It looks as if Charles 3 might not be long on the throne. I wonder if he’s ever read this commentary on the fate of Kings, given by Richard 2 in Shakespeare’s eponymous play:-

For God’s sake, let us sit upon the ground

And tell sad stories of the death of kings;

How some have been deposed; some slain in war,

Some haunted by the ghosts they have deposed;

Some poison’d by their wives: some sleeping kill’d;

All murder’d: For within the hollow crown

That rounds the mortal temples of a king

Keeps Death his court and there the antic sits,

Scoffing his state and grinning at his pomp,

Allowing him a breath, a little scene,

To monarchize, be fear’d and kill with looks,

Infusing him with self and vain conceit,

As if this flesh which walls about our life,

Were brass impregnable, and humour’d thus

Comes at the last and with a little pin

Bores through his castle wall, and farewell king!

North Korea

Should you have an itch to visit this bizarre country, you can now scratch it, says The Telegraph here. Or maybe only in a while.

Did you know? . . .

Back in 1370 a particularly unpopular tax collector in England was called William Payable. Or ‘Bill Payable’.He ultimately lost his head in the – mis-named – Peasants’ Revolt. I doubt he saw the funny side of paying his dues..

Finally . . .

Anyone want to adopt an English child? Either a male aged 6 or a female aged 8. Or, preferably, both.

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.