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

With the help of the far-right Vox party, the regional government of Castilla y León has introduced a controversial law – one that is alleged to have “resuscitated Francoism”.

I’ve seen one of these odd things in a convent wall somewhere but can’t recall where.

What a Spanish chef has done for London in the last 25 years.

Lenox Napier has the graffiti blues. And greens, and yellow and reds, etc.

This article in Spanish says that the Parador hotel in Baiona is the prettiest in Spain. And this article, in English, includes Baiona – along with Combarro – as one of Spain’s greatest seaside towns. Both Baiona and Combarro are in Southern Galicia – the Rías Baixas – close to Pv city.

The UK

Oh, to be in England now that April’s here. Maybe not this year. . . . A despairing right-of-centre – but apparently accurate – comment on the dire state of British politics.Disgust in our political elites is turning us against democracy itself. The crises were worse in the 1970s but, back then, the social contract was still intact. Lockdowns and other failures have torn it up. . . . This crisis is much more serious than the familiar one that arises when one party has been in power for too long. The general disillusionment and futility now encompasses all the major political parties. . . . What should concern us is this catastrophic loss of faith in government itself. That is to say, in the possibility of democratic government providing the path to fulfilment and prosperity which has been its trusted promise. More here, if you can bear it.

The USA

Things are possibly worse here. Or even in Spain, where high-level corruption is an additional element in the (unsatisfactory) political mix. And at least there’s, as yet, no burgeoning far-right party in the UK. Contrast Germany, France, The Netherlands, etc. And Spain, of course. Not to mention the mad MAGA Republicans.

Quote of the Day/The Way of the World

Launching a lifestyle brand has become the favourite career option for famous and/or posh women blessed with time on their hands and extremely healthy self-esteem. Once, they would have gone into PR, but launching a lifestyle brand takes PR to its natural conclusion, because the brand you’re PR-ing is yourself. We live in the secular age of identity, in which a person’s selfhood is celebrated in the way more religious eras obsessed over the idea of the soul. So brands that claim to express their maker’s identity while helping consumers realise their own are the new gurus, their websites verging on cultlike. . . This age of identity has less to do with realising one’s sense of self — whatever that even is — and more with participating in a nonstop popularity contest. How many likes did my tweet get, fortysomethings ask themselves fretfully. (And then we wonder why our children are so anxious and dependent on external validation.)

English

Edentate: Lacking in teeth.

Did you know? . . .

Buddhism didn’t originate in Tibet or China. And Arabic numbers didn’t come to us from Arabia Both originated in india and went East and West, respectively.

Finally . . .

On the M60 south of Manchester, there’s an exit sign to Cheadle Royal. It’s brown, which indicates a place of interest. Or a ‘notable tourist destination or amenity’. There are 2 candidates – a large mental health hospital called ‘Cheadle Royal’ and a shopping nexus on the other side of the road with the same name. I suspect it’s to the latter that the sign really points. The hospital is a huge and magnificent pile in Elizabethan style, in plentiful and beautiful grounds. It was established by a pioneer in 1849 and got its Royal moniker from being the successor to Manchester Royal Infirmary, built in the (then) wilds of Cheadle’s fields in the county of Cheshire.

I spent some time in it in 1991, though not as an employee . . . And had the radio stolen from my car the first night of my stay. As I recall, this didn’t bother me anywhere near as much as it normally would have done . . .

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.