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

Probably a minority view in Spain – The hard right is a bigger threat to Spain than the secessionists,.

I been known to exaggerate and say that the Spanish are only really serious and industrious – and punctual – when it came to fun events. Witness the wonderful September Medieval Market in Pv city. But I see from this impressive video that I should have included religious events too. HT to Lenox Napier of Business Over Tapas for this item. Disturbing as it is to even my pious Catholic sister. .

Another HT to Lenox for this . . El Huff Post: Cuenca, the forgotten Spanish city that is a world heritage site and with a dream Parador Hotel. And combines history, heritage, nature, gastronomy and breathing space’

A village that’s in both Spain and Portugal. So, on 2 different times.

Inevitably . . . Spain’s Holy Week pastries/‘sweets’.

Portugal

A big vote for our lovely neighbour.

The UK

Three cheers for the pub: Traditional drinking holes are becoming scarcer as big chains move in, but the best of them connect you with a sense of history and community.

The EU

Two articles – here and here – on the row-back of Net Zero ambitions, born of a date with reality.

The USA

I have vague memories of supermarket shopping in New England in 1998 . . . So, I guess this might be a valid comment . . . An English friend who is leaving New York after 17 years said she’d “kill for an M&S Simply Food — no, scrub that, I’d kill for a bloody Sainsbury’s”. You don’t appreciate fresh, cheap, mainly unadulterated produce in British supermarkets until you’re grocery shopping in America, where food is either so chemically enhanced it glows or comes from fancy-schmancy delis and farmers’ markets and costs one million bucks.

Russia

Putin’s mad paranoia takes on another shape as gays are labelled domestic terrorists. I wonder if he – like, say, Tony Blair – ever worries about how History will view his legacy. I rather doubt this disturbs his slumber. He surely enjoys the sleep of the wicked.

Russia v Ukraine

A depressing comment but possibly valid . . . It’s time we talked about the fall of Kiev. Far from this being a frozen conflict, a nightmare scenario is edging into view because the West is failing to send arms.

See also Richard North today. On Fantasy Warfare.

Quote of the Day

The main characteristic of fascism is a mobilised society – a society that is either in a state of war or in a state of preparation for war. And in order to keep society mobilised, external and internal enemies are needed – A dissident’s view of Russia.

Social Media/The Way of the World

Dear dog . . . Gen Z brains are wired for ‘second screening’. We can’t enjoy films, gigs or shows without our phones. . . How many times have I muttered at morons — sorry, art lovers — snapping photos of Monet’s sunbathers and Degas’ ballerinas, rather than, oh, I don’t know, looking at them? . . . “The fastest-growing sector of the culture economy,” said the American critic Ted Gioia this year, “is distraction.”

Anger is growing that super rich and powerful Big Tech has been given a free pass to push an addictive product on our children. . . . Several times while reading ‘The Anxious Generation’ I had to put the book down, overwhelmed with sadness for what our children have lost. . . . The US Surgeon General has said that if social media were a pharmaceutical drug, it would be withdrawn for safety reasons. . . We must restrict the sale and use of smartphones for children – it cannot be beyond the wit of tech manufacturers to create a child-safe phone. Childhood is precious and irreplaceable; we must stop at nothing to protect it. 

English

Fugly: Short for ‘fucking ugly’. Extremely ugly. As you might have guessed.

Finally . . .

The house I mentioned yesterday with 6 cars on the small drive, today had 2 more half on the pavement(sidewalk) and another 2 on the other (houseless)side of the road. And all the windows were blinded. Suggesting I was right to thinks someone’s offering – probably illegally – a ‘cheap offroad’ parking facility for nearby Manchester airport. Easy money.

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.