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

Hardly surprising that Spain, back in the mid-1940s, was a natural hideout for Nazis. I think we even had a ‘German village’ up in the Galician mountains, near Ourense. To do with wolfram production, as I recall.

So, that kiss might be the least of Sr Rubiales’ troubles. He was arrested on Wednesday, when he returned from an overseas trip, ‘as part of a corruption investigation about the relocation of the Spanish Super Cup to Saudi Arabia’. He was released pending a 2nd trial.

Here’s something on the various ways group meals are paid for in Spain. Or not, in the case of some members . . .

I warned yesterday that Immigration might apply the Schengen rules to folk going from Gib to dinner in Spain. Here’s a reminder of what’s involved, courtesy of Lenox Napier of Business Over Tapas. ‘As 3rd-country nationals, Britons must meet 2 important rules: 1. Their passport must be valid for between 3 to 6 months beyond the date they plan to exit the EU. 2. Their passport must not be older than 10 years on the date of planned departure from the EU. It’s said that around 200 UK nationals are turned away at EU airports daily, for failing to comply with these rules.

OK, the Galician city of Vigo only comes in at number 58 on the global list of happy cities but it’s still the highest ranking Spanish city and, so, does better than Bilbao, Valencia. Barcelona, Zaragoza, Madrid, Málaga and Las Palmas.

According to the UK Met Office, this winter has already been the wettest for almost 250 years in England. But I’ve hardly needed an umbrella in South Manchester, reputed to be the wettest city in England. My perception is that this must be because rain falls mostly at night here. Which is decidedly not true of Galicia. Where . . . The rain has paralysed the countryside: At this time of year, farmers should be fertilizing meadows to cut grass and prepare silos, and planting lettuce and peppers. But the farms are so wet, the fields so flooded, that they can’t work. Not even cows can go out. The pastures are inaccessible and when the animals do step on them they end up being fields of mud. Since they can’t cultivate, they can’t fertilize either: the slurry ponds are full.

As I’ve said, I’m not altogether unhappy to have missed this winter in Galicia.

The UK

The ‘ludicrous’ hate-crime law introduced this week in would-be independent Scotland is – as expected – already tying the police in knots. Partly because they received more than 3,000 complaints in its first 24 hours. But at least you can still laugh at this video to compensate for the lack of police interest in,say, a burglary in your home.

Quote of the Day

Meghan Merkle is the true product of the identity age, someone not very interesting nonetheless thinks there is no one more interesting.

The Way of the World

Time’s up for the West. And it’s all the fault of feminists, says this columnist.

Spanish

El bote: The kitty(fund).

Did You Know?

I mentioned the Elector of Saxony and his immense collection of holy relics. But he was preceded – some 1200 years earlier by Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine, who went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem having announced that she’d be in seach of relics of Jesus there. Needless to say, entrepreneurial locals were able to supply her with:-

• The True Cross, plus those of the 2 robbers
• The Holy Nails from the Cross
• The Holy Tunic, worn by Jesus during his crucifixion, and
• A piece of the rope used to tie Jesus to the Cross

Incidentally, there’s a myth that Helena was a British princess and the daughter of King Cole of Colchester (‘Old King Cole’). This led to the dedication of 135 churches in England to her, many in Yorkshire. The myth was revived as a suggestion in the 20th century in a novel by Evelyn Waugh, entitled: Helena.

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.