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

Back in 2021, it was announced that a national museum of the Civil War – the first in Spain, if not the world – would open in Teruel in 2023. The Independent had an article on it in December that year. But it seems that the much-awaited opening has been pushed back until 2025. Meanwhile, there’s only a virtual museum – a Canadian initiative I believe. The Guardian had this article on it in 2022.

Fascinating Spain bring us:-

• The secret language of fans – albanicos, not aficionados.
• Spain’s Pompeii

All about ‘sentiment’?? . . . . Inditex, the [Galicia-based] textile empire that owns Zara, has become the Spanish company with the highest stock market value – almost double that of Banco Santander. But this difference bears no relation to profit, neither present nor foreseeable in the medium term. Comment/rationale here. Nice clothes, nasty banks.

The UK

Going to Hell in a handcart?? . . . . There’s a widespread view in the UK that politicians should stop worrying about horrible things happening in faraway places and do something about horrors close to home. At one end of the scale is the (moribund?) NHS and at the other, perhaps, unrepaired potholes. Or blocked grids at the roadside that lead to permanent features like this one outside my daughter’s house:-

The council was alerted to this – by me, as it happens – more than 2 years ago and have yet to clear out the grunge, both here and elsewhere on the village’s main throughfare. Hence the cone, to prevent pedestrians being drenched. This wasn’t put there by the council, by the way. But my lips are sealed.

I blame the Tories. And Brexit, of course.

The USA

An intriguing question.

The Way of the World/AI

Can a future of undetectable deepfakes be avoided? Time is running out.

(A)GW/Energy/Net Zero

Net zero Britain is already hopelessly hooked on China. . . . It’s even worse on the Continent. . . China deliberately set out to take advantage of credulous Western net zero targets by massively supporting its own solar panel producers and, as with so many other industries, it has succeeded. We can only guess at the costs of securing such dominance.

Quote of the Day

If you know 20 people, it’s likely that one of them is a sociopath. You know the type: charismatic, entertaining, manipulative, doesn’t care about social norms or anyone else’s feelings. You’ve probably had at least 3 bosses who fit the description. But are they really monsters? This question is presumably answered here by someone who’s both a sociopath and . . . a therapist. A remarkable and scandalously entertaining memoir, it says there.

Social Media

Cretinous behaviour from a world of megaphoned morons . . .

Finally . . .

Better late than never . . . A comment on the winters of both the UK and Galicia:-

Finally, Finally . . .

Hmm. The day after I joined Substack – where I am my only Follower – readership of my blog fell by c.30% from the average. Strange forces at work? Or a reflection of the fact I posted very late in the day?. My preference, of course.

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.