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 harsh report here on unforgivable bureaucratic sins in respect of housing regeneration. An opportunity turned into a fiasco, says expert Mark Stücklin

News of a deep-water expedition to the 300 year old wreck of a Spanish bullions ship, off Colombia. Containing 20 billion dollars worth of gold, silver and emeralds. So, worth the effort. Colombia discovered the San José in 2015. Need I say that this prompted a slew of legal and diplomatic disputes and shrouding its exact location in secrecy. And that: The legal battle over the ship’s ownership has spilled over into the US, Colombia, and Spain.

Closer to home . . . If you’re going to be anywhere near Pv city on 7 March, you could do (much) worse than accept this invitation: O presidente da Deputación de Pontevedra, Luis López Diéguez, convídate á inauguración da exposición ‘Castelao: o retorno a Galicia, 1984, Xan Carballam fotografías‘, que terá lugar o xoves 7 de marzo, ás 19:30h, no Edificio Castelao do Museo de Pontevedra. Entrada libre ata completar a capacidade.

David in La Coruña tells me it’s pretty wet and windy up there right now. This article speaks of pretty bad weather over much of the rest of the country this week.

The UK

Richard North writes here of attempts to – illogically and unwisely – shift the core of the definition of Islamophobia from religion to race. If this happens, he avers, the UK will be a very different and much more dangerous place. And he’s surely right.

Germany

So, the problem is not confined to the UK. Germany is (literally) the sick man of Europe.

The USA

I imagine to no one’s great surprise, a new book reveals there was a ‘cold war’ in the White House between Trump’s wife and his ‘princess’ daughter.

Russia

Western sanctions have failed to cripple Putin but the damage will only grow over time. Russia’s economy faces death by a thousand cuts. Undue optimism?

Meanwhile . . Just what the world needed . . . Moldovan separatists will ask Putin to annexe their region. The rebel government will submit its request to the Kremlin during a special congress on Wednesday.

(A)GW/Energy/Net Zero

The article cited above re housing regeneration stresses that, rather like in the UK,  83% of Spanish homes don’t meet the minimum “green” requirements that will be in place in 10 years time, without which homes can’t be sold or rented. One naturally wonders about, say, Germany and France. And how long it will be before requirements born of ideology and idealism are watered down in the face of reality.

AI

Google is facing renewed criticism of its artificial intelligence after users of its chatbot claimed the system refused to condemn paedophiles and had equated Elon Musk with Adolf Hitler.

Quote of the Day

Google has drowned the internet in a sea of stupidity. AI models are being fed a diet of low quality data – and the search giant is to blame. More here.

Did you know? . . .

Britain’s country names explained.

Finally . . .

The wit of Samuel Johnson – Number 6: Every state of society is as luxurious as it can be. Men always take the best they can get.

More mundanely . . I have long been a touch-typist but I always type certain words wrongly. That admitted, I guess I’m not alone in this. These are 3 of mine:-

• Abrazo: Usually abarazo
• Believe: Beleive
• Interesting: Intersting [I just typed the correct one incorrectly!]

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.