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

Bad news for Telegram.in Spain.

I suspect it will shock those Galicians who think they’re the only Spaniards with Celtic roots to hear that the town of Alarcón – almost 800km down South from la Coruña – was inhabited by these folk. I confess it was news to me.

Talking about Galicia . . . HT to Lenox Napier of Business Over Tapas for this item re rail links with Madrid: From El Español: ‘The five days in which Galicia proclaimed itself an independent state: the First Galician Republic. The story of an insurrection that captured the attention of half the world to demand that the railway reach Galicia’. From June 23rd until 27th 1931, Galicia was its own boss. The article says that the rail-link to Madrid was first approved (and later discarded because of the cost) in 1860. It ends with:’ Regarding the railway to Galicia, the work was intended to be completed in 5 years, but it took more than 30 years, a republic, a civil war, 2 dictatorships, more than 15,000 people and several hundred victims to complete a pharaonic work with 14 viaducts, 182 tunnels, 692,000 cubic meters of concrete and more than 19 million m3 of earthworks. On July 1, 1957, Franco inaugurated the section to Ourense and no one remembered what had been known as the First Galician Republic.‘

UK

Given all the bad news in which the UK currently wallows, is it any surprise that the country’s young are Generation Anxious?

A UK columnist: There is no greater contrast than that between the dignified Princess and the sickening online trolls. . . . We already knew that social media was a sewer, occupied by faceless rats intent on infecting others with their disease of hatred. But their cruel treatment of Kate since it was announced that she would be undergoing abdominal surgery in January has been sickening beyond belief. A vocal minority may have behaved appallingly, but the silent majority will have huge admiration for the courage she has shown.  Surely the truth.

The USA

Dear dog . . Even worse than I feared: “Regardless of whether Donald Trump wins or loses, there’s going to be violence,” said a retired police officer who was seriously injured by pro-Trump rioters at the US Capitol on 6 January 2021. “If Donald Trump loses, he’s not going to concede and he’s going to inspire people to commit acts of violence, just like he did in the weeks and months leading up to January 6 2021. “If he wins, there’s also going to be violence committed by his supporters – targeting people who previously tried to hold him to account, whether it was members of the press, average citizens like me, Department of Justice officials, or state and federal prosecutors. I believe him when he says that he will have his vengeance.

Russia

Richard North this morning: There is no doubt, with the full details yet to emerge – if they ever do – that this outrage will fuel any number of conspiracy theories. Even a superficial run though Twitter will yield commentators alleging a false flag operation by the Russian security services, with the assent of Putin, of course, while suspicions of Ukrainian involvement run close to the surface.

Russia v Ukraine

The Special Operation that finally became a War is slowly and surely escalating. Can anyone see any sort of end to it, never mind one that is ‘just’? I guess history tells us there will be one some day.

The Way of the World

Says this columnist: Betrayed voters are finally exacting revenge on our arrogant elites. Maybe.

Social Media

Who would have guessed . .? On social media, the royal conspiracy theories keep coming. . . Numerous new baseless and conspiratorial posts and videos are circulating prominently across TikTok, X/Twitter, Reddit and other social media platforms. Some TikTok posts, which suggest Friday evening’s video showed an AI-generated princess, have been viewed millions of times. The phenomenon has demonstrated the extent to which baseless conspiracy theories and misinformation are able to spread on social media platforms that are owned by billionaires and employ thousands of the world’s greatest minds.

Sometimes one is tempted to think that a major war would be quite useful, especially one involving a lot of cannon fodder . . Failing that, what??? Nuke said billionaires?? And their lawyers.

English

Strived: The modern – (mal)usage-approved – version of striven. The people rule.

Did you know? . . .

This is where the richest folk in the world live. It would be useful to see what percentage of respective populations they are in, say, the US, the UK, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Singapore. I suspect the table would look rather different.

Did you clock how US wealth grew? Almost twice as much as the 2nd highest.

Finally . . .

It would be funny if it weren’t so serious . . .Welcome to #katespiracy, where no idea is too bonkers. See here, where Spanish TV gets a special mention.

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. And this is something on the so-called Beckham Rule, which is beneficial – tax-wise – for folk who want to work here.