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

More, possibly, on the odd case of the British secret service trying to purloin the (alleged) Holy Grail from Valencia during the Civil War. Thwarted by a cleaner, (María) Sabina Suey. No surprise to read she had a – probably older – sister called María (Milagro). Maria the Wise and Maria the Miracle. Not by any means the weirdest Marías in Spain.

Well, history wasn’t made in Galicia yesterday. True, the right-of-centre PP party lost 2 seats and the left-of-centre nationalist ‘block’, BNG, gained seats from both the PP and the PSOE party, but not enough to stop the PP retaining power with an absolute majority. Plus ça change, then. Maybe next time, in 2028.

An interesting article from, of all things, The Miami Herald, on Roman camps near Lugo in Galicia. This was an important city for the Romans and their massive walls are among the most complete and impressive in the world. It takes quite some time to walk along them.

Russia

Grim and shocking – but unsurprising – reading –Inside the brutal Polar Wolf prison where Alexei Navalny was jailed. And died, of course. Also not much of a surprise.

Iran

I was interested to see that the terrific Iranian historian featured in this podcast on 20th century revolutions in the country* was living there at the same time as me – during the carpetbagger boom years, not long before the surprise downfall of the King of Kings (Shahanshah). He – the historian, not the shah – was a pupil at the British School there and might well have attended a comedy evening I directed in the British (summer) embassy garden. Managing to stay out of the infamous Evin prison, of course. So, not too many ‘topical’ jokes.

* Starting at episode 118

AI/The Way of the World

The Times reports here that: One of Google’s top executives has warned that an explosion of AI-powered “deepfakes” and other disinformation poses a “very serious” threat to democracy in a momentous year of global elections. Tech giants have pledged to eliminate suspected fake videos and audio clips designed to distort public opinion. Sounds familiar.

Spanish

• Chingón: Heard in Better call Saul: ‘Competent in an activity or branch of knowledge’. Possibly only used among Mexicans. Said by the RAE to be:-
• Malsonante: Bad-sounding. ‘Offending modesty, good taste or religiosity’.

English

• Goldendoodle: A dog breed, half golden retriever and half poodle. Now the UK’s most sought after dog. Because: Families who had children in the pandemic are attracted to its calm and sociable temperament. Astonishingly, they currently sell for up to £1600, though this is much less than during the pandemic.
• Groodle: The same creature.

Interesting to note that the popularity of this breed has been at the expense of (ugly) ‘toy breeds’ such as chihuahuas and French bulldogs, demand for which almost halved in 2023.

Did you know? . . .

As it does, the wheel turns. And the pendulum swings. Full fat milk was better for us all along, it’s now claimed. Long-living Galicians could well have told you this years ago.

Finally . . .

The wit of Samuel Johnson 3: Men more frequently require to be reminded than informed.

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.