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

If you’re a lessor in Spain you’ll surely be aware of the Tenancy Act(the LAU). Which is somewhat infamous because it (over)protects tenants at the expense of landlords’ rights. But do you know that, if your property is upmarket enough you can take advantage of legal loopholes to neatly circumvent lenient LAU tenant entitlements.  Details here.

The Spanish company which makes Doritos doesn’t appear to have learnt from the recent Budweiser setbacks.

Here’s Lenox Napier on books. And rats.

María returns to blogging from her Galician town here.

Portugal

Positive signs on economic growth.

The UK

Another Cassandra voice. This time from a political commentator – Andrew (‘Brillo pad’) Neil – whom I certainly respected years ago. He begins his column with a (long) tweet of a few days ago: The UK is drifting, unhappy, losing faith in previously respected institutions (like the police), buffeted by extremists (often allowed to run amok), dismayed by decline, angry at the inability of the political class to do anything about it, despairing that the Westminster politico/media bubble pursues an agenda, issues and priorities which are not most people’s — and had enough of being lectured to by a disconnected, de haut en bas chattering class. ‘Yet we have a Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition incapable of speaking up for the moderate majority, who still have pride in their country and are desperate for strong leadership and guidance through the current morass — plus some hope/sign things will get better — all within the bounds of traditional British tolerance and fair play. This vacuum is dangerous. This, he says, certainly struck a chord. So . . . What’s the way back? Assuming there is one? On this, Neil avers: We are beset with problems on all sides yet solutions are scarce. It’s not just a failure to implement what needs to be done. It isn’t even clear the politicians know what to do.

I fancy similar despair is being felt in, say, France and Germany. But I might be very wrong, of course. For sure, the USA certainly doesn’t offer offer a model for future success.Time for that dream of centuries – a benevolent dictator???? By default.

The (PISA) numbers are in on the effectiveness of ‘progressive’ models of education in Britain’s regions-

Russia

The  Deputy Chairman of the Security Council unveils a worrying new map.

Quote of the Day/The Way of the World

From this articlehttps://archive.is/a2DXs:-

• All this is utter madness. 
• This fundamental denial of reality is one of the most successful conspiracy theories going, for it has convinced half the establishment that it must repeat lies as truth. 

Gallego

Here’s an article for galegofalantes on the Galician role in US football,

English

Ha, Ha . . . I sometimes think the French should just throw in the towel and speak English instead. How does one cope when translating English idiomatic words and phrases into French? And into Spanish, of course.

Finally . . .

The aphorisms of 18th-century German physicist Georg Christoph Lichtenberg: How close may our thoughts come at times to grazing on a great discovery?

Finally, Finally . . .

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.