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

The rain in Spain and its impact on Semana Santa. Would God really mind if Easter was a fixed date much later than the end of March

It’s surprising that no Spanish city features in the Top 10 list, featured here.

If you’re in the USA or can tune your VPN to a US city, you can read this article on Santiago de Compostela and see a foto of the percebe that I rate so poorly. Unlike some others, I have to say. And this link should work for everyone else

Gaudi masterpieces you might not be familiar with.

An intriguing leader from today’s VdG: Negative electricity: For the first time, the price of a megawatt hour reached negative values yesterday: it cost -0.01 euros. Today, between 1 and 5 p.m., it won’t exceed a euro, and running the washing machine or dishwasher during that period will cost zero. However, even if these negative prices are recorded, the consumer will not be able to charge for turning on the light, instead of paying for it. The fixed costs of generating energy and taxes prevent this. This drop in megawatts means that free market customers, who have a fixed rate, pay up to 3 times as much as those in the regulated market.

The UK

This good question is asked here: Why can’t we have European-style healthcare?

As a ‘ludicrous’ law comes into force in Scotland, the very estimable J K Rowing challenges the police to arrest her under its provisions.

France

M Macron is said here to have ambitious plans which risk turning cataclysmic for the entire eurozone. But perspectives will differ, I guess. Doomsday might well be postponed. Again.

The USA

Cartoon land?? Like Bugs Bunny battling it out against his arch-nemesis Elmer Fudd, neither Trump nor his enemies are ever truly defeated. As the show goes on, each side simply comes up with increasingly bizarre methods to get their enemy into trouble or escape it themselves. But this is not a laughing matter. Even though the individual twists and turns in this political drama may seem absurd or humorous, the underlying truth is that the American political system is rapidly being destroyed. More here.

The Way of the World

The challenge of this age . . . How to strike the balance between freedom and constraint on the tech giants who’ve so damaged Gen Z kids? Some thoughts on this here, ahead of a new wave of technologies which will shake the foundations of democratic nations. Still, it’s comforting to know that the politicians who’ll take the key decisions are so impressive. It’s hard not to despair.

Quote of the Day/Social Media

The final sentence from that article: What we have allowed to happen to a generation on social media is a tragedy. The lesson it teaches us about the future must not be lost.

Did you know? . . .

I mentioned yesterday, the Elector of Saxony and Martin Luther. Another major player in Saxony at their time was Johann Tetzel, a Dominican friar and a key figure in the events leading up to the Protestant Reformation. His aggressive and unorthodox preaching and selling of indulgences were a major factor behind Luther’s 95 Theses of 1517. Indulgences were documents issued by the Catholic Church, said to reduce the punishment for sins in Purgatory. Tetzel was appointed by the Archbishop of Mainz to sell them in order to help finance the rebuilding of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. He was infamous for making exaggerated claims about their power, including that “As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from Purgatory springs.” After a backlash against his preaching, Tetzel was forced to retire to a monastery, where he died in 1519. The rest, as they say, is history.

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.