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

February’s inflation fell in line with forecasts to 2.9%, taking it back below 3% for the first time in 6 months, but an acceleration in fuel prices partly offset lower growth in electricity costs.

Quite a development . . . The Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont is to be investigated for terrorism, says The Times here. Spain’s supreme court has opened a terrorism investigation into Puigdemont, who is both a member of the European parliament and a fugitive from Spanish justice. The decision is a setback for the Socialist-government which struck a deal to grant an amnesty to him and hundreds of others involved in an illegal and failed Catalan independence drive in 2017.

Fascinating news from ThinkSpain re a fabulous find in Alicante, in the Valencia region.

Fascinating Spain brings us the country’s coldest village, and its impressive castle. Between Madrid and Zaragoza

The UK

A new sport is upon us – competing over whose bit of Britain is most broken – From DIY dentistry to pretending trans killers are born women, so much has gone wrong that one-downmanship seems like the answer.

The USA

The suggestion has been made that, if the failing Republican candidate, Nikki Haley, were to run as an independent, she might well be seen as the alternative to the two aged and unpopular figures that voters seem to crave. Because: Her strength among moderates in the Republican primary is exactly the sort of crossover appeal that no other candidate in American politics currently seems to have. Which, I guess, must be seen as good news. Or straw-clutching. Dressed up as an intriguing thought.

Quote of the Day

Parents can see with their own eyes what the data is increasingly showing: rampant smartphone use has precipitated a marked and significant decline in child and teenage mental health across the developed world. . . . Rates of suicide, depression and anxiety have been rising for the past decade and psychologists studying the data believe we are running out of alternative explanations for these trends . . . The average correlation between increased depression or anxiety and heavy social media use is stronger than the correlation between IQ impairment and lead poisoning. More here.

The Way of the World

Who needs creativity when you’ve got fame? The boom in books by anyone with a ‘following’ shows we’re losing respect for the beautiful illogic of talent. From a depressing read here.

English

The ouroboros is an ancient symbol depicting a serpent or dragon eating its own tail. It entered Western tradition via ancient Egyptian iconography and the Greek magical tradition. More here.

Did you know? . . .

Synthetic biology research could eventually enable as yet unimagined bioengineering, leading to the creation of new synthetic fuels, foods and medicines, helping to tackle challenges such as carbon capture. More here. Who knows, we might one day be able to get away from the carbon products which have enriched and still enrich unstable states such as Russia and Iran.

Finally . . .

The wit of Samuel Johnson; No.10: Such is the delight of mental superiority, that none on whom nature or study have conferred it would purchase the gifts of fortune by its loss.

I rather doubt I’d have invested in what it cost to have this personalised number plate:-

Perhaps it means something pleasant in Urdu.

Finally, Finally . . .

As it’s the start of the month . . . Some readers, I hope, will know that the verse I cite at the top of my posts is the opening quatrain of Fitzgerald’s wonderful – but very ‘free’ – translation of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, which you can read about here. Some verses are well known, of course, eg:-

The moving finger writes; and, having writ,
moves on: nor all thy piety nor wit
shall lure it back to cancel half a line,
Nor all thy tears wash out a word of it.

My favourite:-

Myself when young did eagerly frequent 
doctor and saint, and heard great argument
about it and about: but evermore
came out by the same door as in I went.

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.