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 Galicia/España

The pro-Sanchista daily El País explains that announcing the summons to Begoña Gómez in the middle of the campaign breaks the custom of the courts of trying not to interfere in the elections.

Here’s Lenox Napier on Country Life

And here’s the 10 basic steps for buying a property in Spain.

A car-hire warning for those who live in Spain but use the cards of a Gib-based bank

The UK

Democracy at work. About which not everyone is happy. And the Labour party is more worried than it lets on. Probably.

An interesting observation: In France, the hegemonic party of the Right is now Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National. In Italy, Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy has displaced previous centre-Right parties. We are now at a tipping point whereby Britain could go the same way.

Most interestingly, if that really does happen, it will probably mean the prior death of the Conservative party – ‘The most successful political entity of all time’. Someone has actually claimed that: The Tories [the Conservative party] are on the verge of being sucked into a death spiral. About which there will, of course, be mixed views . . . I couldn’t care less, unless it results in a lower pound for everyone and a lower pension for me.

More on that phoney Spanish beer

The EU

Talking of interesting times . . . How could the European elections change the face of the EU?

That article also has something on e-cars.

The Way of the World

A query that’s occurred to me, reading all the UK pre-election political guff – Is it inevitable that a social-democratic party will move continuously to the Left? As the Conservative party is said to have done in the last 14 years. Meaning, it’s said, that there’s little to choose from between them and the (incoming) Labour party. Which is, at least, avowedly socialist.

Quote of the Day

Talking of socialists . . . George Bernard Shaw: My recreations are cycling and showing off. The longer I live, the more I see that I am never wrong about anything, and that all the pains I have so humbly taken to verify my notions have only wasted my time.

English

Reader Phil tells me the that correct spelling of zugwang is zugzwang, and that it loosely means “compulsion to move” in German.

Spanish

• Zugzwang : The RAE: La palabra no está en el Diccionario.
• A menos que:  Unnless

Did you know?

The VdG tells us today: A million molecules: Well, 863,498, to be exact. They are all molecules with antibiotic potential and can even fight superbugs. Members of a scientific team from the University of Pennsylvania led by the Galician César de la Fuente have managed to differentiate them. But the amazing thing is not only the number, but how it has been achieved. Something that would take researchers years to do has been accomplished in hours via AI.

Finally . . .

WordPress gives me readership stats, including the number of links perused per reader. They do this by day, week, month and year. I wonder how they can explain this:-
By day: 3 – Never varies
By week: 4
By month: 5
By year: 6
Notice a trend?

Finally, Finally . . .

A Guardian article with this title tempted me but I resisted, feeling it probably, on balance, wasn’t for me . . . The state of the bush – how should I be styling my pubic hair?

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.
• 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. Finally, some advice on getting a mortgage.