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

A couple of spectacular drug-running events involving the Guardia Civil this week:-

• A GC boat was rammed by the much larger craft of the narcos being chased, resulting in 2 officers being killed, with a 3rd being seriously injured. The VdG had this to say this morning: The anti-drug fleet is Galician: The deadly attack that occurred in Barbate, where two civil guards died at the hands of drug traffickers, has put the means available to the security forces under scrutiny. There’s a lack of adequate personnel and material. The renewal of the fleet of anti-drug vessels and boats is going slowly and these vessels are being built in Galicia. Three Galician shipyards are in charge of manufacturing the main new generation ships that the Civil Guard will have. What the VdG doesn’t say is that the larger narco craft are built just across the nearby Portuguese border, possibly commissioned by Gallegos and their Albanian and Dutch friends.
• An Atlantic drugs bust took a dramatic turn after an alleged smuggler ‘kidnapped’ his crew and held them hostage. The GC eventually got the hostages released and found 2.3 tonnes of cocaine on the vessel. Details here.

Talking of unfortunate boats . . . A Spanish historian tells the real story of the Armada of 1588.

The UK

The Times restaurant critic claims to have found the worst restaurant in the world. It’s in London but has branches throughout the UK, he says. But don’t be misled by its name, German Doner Kebab.

The USA

This article purports to tell us what Trump doesn’t understand – and is hostile towards – the US-led global order. Trump’s anti-imperial instincts, says the writer, will lead to the end of the American empire and the weakening of Nato. Little wonder, then, that other Western leaders are worried and are rushing to increase spend on armaments. Very probably to be bought from friends of Trump in the USA.

China

More on that row caused by the non-appearance of Little Lionel on a Hong Kong football pitch.

(A)GW/Energy/Net Zero

AEP claims here that: This is the year the world’s green juggernaut becomes unstoppable. Selected bits, from an article I can’t claim to fully understand: –

• The greatest economic growth story since the industrial revolution has crossed a critical threshold.
• Beyond a superficial wobble in Europe, there has been no retreat from the post-fossil fuel transition across the world.
• The pace of decarbonisation accelerated last year, and has crossed a critical threshold.
• The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation[???] is closer to a tipping point than feared, due to Greenland ice melt.
• The collapse could come at any time. It could be nonlinear and sudden, and it could lower average temperatures in North European cities by 5 to 15 degrees.
• It would set off a global chain reaction and destabilise rainforests.
• It is not a remote tail risk. It is more likely than not.

So, we’ve been warned. I guess we’ll hear rather less about global boiling. if all that comes to pass.

The Way of the World

To my surprise, the NATO member which devotes – by a county mile – the highest percentage of its GDP to defence expenditure is Greece. (They presumably fear Turkey more than Russia). And the laggard is Spain, possibly reflecting the impact of a relatively recent vicious civil war.

English

I noted – in a column on Trump by a US columnist – the phrasal verb ‘rile up’. I’d never heard it and wondered why ‘up’ had been added to the verb stem. It turns out to be an intensifier, possibly more used in the USA than in the UK. Actually, it was written ‘rial up’ in the article but I’m sure this was a mistake. The rial is a unit of currency, of course, so would not have been picked up by the spellchecker. Or an ignorant proof reader.

Did you know? . . .

I see there’s a ¡premium sexual pleasure brand’ called Coco De Mer. I wonder if this is because these large nuts – which only grow in The Seychelles – look like the thighs and groin of a young adult female. I used to have one, bought during my VSO stint in the islands, but lost it in a warehouse fire a few years later and have never replaced it. A shame, as they – understandably – make good conversation pieces.

Finally . . .

Like most of us, I guess, Charles Dickens changed his signature as he aged. A ver . . .

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.