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

Those weird Semana Santa processions explained here.

And 5 good places to see them.

How you might well be travelling around bits of Spain by the end of the decade – on Air Nostrum.

The ‘incredible’ city boasting 3 of Spain’s biggest cultural icons

María says that John Donne got it right, quite some years ago. And, much later, Ernest Hemingway

China

Set to be declared a threat to national security. Britain and US expose the scale of cyberattacks designed to undermine democracy and repress critics. And say they will impose an asset freeze and travel bans on individuals and ‘blacklist’ companies. I’m not clear how these will help. Anyway, the The Chinese embassy in London has given us all a good laugh with the outraged statement that: “The so-called cyber attacks by China against the UK are completely fabricated and malicious slanders. We strongly oppose such accusations.”

AI

Good to see it being used for commendable reasons . . . Velázquez’s Expulsion of the Moriscos was lost to a fire in 1734 but – using AI – an artist as recreated the masterpiece. More here.

North Korea

The presenter of a British gardening program has his jeans blurred out whenever it’s shown on TV here – this legwear being regarded as a symbol of US imperialism. I might take the same attitude if I hadn’t just bought 2 pairs.

Quote of the Day/The Way of the World

It wasn’t newspapers that fuelled the Kate cranks: With millions of voices, the online sphere is cumulatively both nastier and less accountable than the press at its worst. . . The princess’s video was a masterstroke. . . What manner of monster would still speculate after that? In print, nobody. Call it ethics, or call it an instinct for professional self-preservation: whatever, there’s a line, and this is it. Online, though, well who knows? Are there lines there too? Will there ever be? Maybe one day we shall have an internet that in fact does at least “claim to operate by ethical standards” after all. Perhaps stories like this make a difference but I wouldn’t hold your breath.

Spanish

Lenox Napier here on Spanish pronunciation of foreign products and places.

English

Spear phishing: A cyberattack method that hackers use to steal sensitive information or install malware on the devices of specific victims. Such attacks are highly targeted, hugely effective, and difficult to prevent. Hackers use it in an attempt to steal sensitive data, such as account details or financial information, from their targets. More here.

Did you know? . . .

Booking car rental should be a stress-free purchase but, in Spain in particular, car hire companies are coming up with ever more ingenious ways to part customers from their cash. The latest ruse is to insist all non-EU driving licence holders have an International Driving Permit (IDP) to rent a car — but an exception will be made if you agree to buy their expensive excess insurance. In fact, you don’t need an IDP to drive in the EU, Switzerland, Iceland or Liechtenstein. The easiest way to avoid being ripped off is to book through a reputable broker. Here is an AI-sourced response on the issue:-

• Q: I have a British driving licence. Do I need to have an international driving permit to hire a car in Spain?
• A: You may need an International Driving Permit (IDP). While there is no legal requirement for UK licence holders to have an IDP for Spain, some rental companies may request it, especially if your licence is not issued by mainland UK authorities – eg Gibraltar, Guernsey, or the Isle of Man. Check with the rental company. Obtaining an IDP is relatively easy and can provide added peace of mind during your travels.

Finally . . .

An anonymous piece of doggerel:-

Somebody said that it couldn’t be done —
But he, with a grin, replied
He’d never be one to say it couldn’t be done —
Leastways, not ’til he’d tried.
So he buckled right in, with a trace of a grin;
By golly, he went right to it.
He tackled The Thing That Couldn’t Be Done!
And he couldn’t do it.

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.