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

As one would expect of a left-wing government, the bogey-man[person?] of ‘speculators’ has been fingered as the guilty party behind the cancellation of Spain’s Golden Visa scheme. I wasn’t surprised to see property expert Mark Stücklin questioning this logic here. In reality, he says. Golden Visa investors are the opposite of speculators. They are long-term investors who see real estate as a safe place to put their money in return for a long-term visa, as well as a home to use when in Spain. If you call Golden Visa investors speculators, then you either don’t understand the concept of speculation, or you are using the term as a smear. MS adds that: The scheme failed to do what it was introduced to do, and is now being eliminated for being too successful.

Some health ‘news’:-

• Parkinson’s disease is the fastest-growing neurological condition in the world. There are 160,000 sufferers in Spain and this number is expected to rise significantly with the ageing of the population.
• Swapping red meat for fish such as sardines or boquerones(anchovies) could save up to 750,000 lives a year worldwide by 2050 and significantly reduce the prevalence of disability resulting from diet-related diseases. There’s no better place than Spain in which to do this.
• Over half of Spaniards s don’t do any kind of sport or physical exercise. There’s a sexual divide with 51% of men exercising, as opposed to 46% of women. The younger you are, the more likely you are to exercise. Which can’t be any great surprise.
• Spain has started the process to introduce its new anti-smoking plan by announcing a public consultation on instigating plain cigarette packets and banning vape flavourings.
• The second biggest cause of lung cancer in Spain is radon gas. I believe there’s a strong connection with granite. So, it’s not surprising that Galicia is one of the areas most at risk from this invisible, radioactive gas.  Which is why those of us with underground rooms are advised not to work or sleep in them.

The UK

This news will probably go down with Madrid, even if Cataluña’s case is different from Scotland’s. . . While the Conservative party’s polling woes have been headline news for months, they are not the only party staring down the barrel of electoral disaster. The Scottish Nationalist Party is facing a crisis of its own. For those few interested, more here.

France

I am beginning to think this French lady doesn’t like her country. Or maybe it’s just the President and the Mayor of Paris she abhors. . . . France’s glorious Olympics now risk becoming a national humiliation.

Russia v Ukraine

The news from the front is not getting any better. For Ukraine, I mean. Sadly, not for Putin.

Iran

So, the expected attack on Israel has occurred. Surely a huge mistake and I fear for ordinary Iranians. Iran has vowed a ‘stronger response’ to any ‘reckless’ Israeli move. Which is surely guaranteed.

(A)GW/Energy/Net Zero

Quite possibly true: Climate science is making you miserable. Hysterical experts give the wrong impression. Rationale here.

Quote of the Day

The concept of human rights has transmogrified into a parody of its original Enlightenment intentions. The human rights cult has replaced common sense compassion: the noble belief that all people are entitled to basic freedoms has become a narcissist’s charter. Rationale here.

The Way of the World

Says Effie Deans here: Transgender has become phrenology. Any doctor or politician that assumes that it is literally possible to change sex is a pseudoscientist and must be careful in case they are prosecuted in the future for malpractice.

Spanish

Fenecer: To pass away; die

English

Ollocation: When a particular way of saying something becomes standardised for no necessary linguistic, etymological, or cultural reason. Think of how economies always “boom”, products are always “launched”, and problems are always “posed”. And coffee can be ‘strong’ but is never ‘powerful’.

Finally . . .

I confess to being duped for a while by a foto of dimples on a steering wheel which were said to be for blind drivers who wanted to blow the car’s horn . . .

This amused me . . .

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.