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

Quite a claim, though there’s at least some evidence of its validity . . . Spain is realising it made a huge mistake in recognising a Palestine state. Thanks to its own laws, it’s said. Shades of the ill-thought-out rape law of a couple of years ago.

Only a few months ago, it seemed that the PSOE deputy leader – a communist as it happens – was making all the waves. After seeing off the previous ‘far left’ faction – Podemos – she converted her Sumar ‘movement’ into a party and added their seats to those of other parties of the Left – plus those of the Catalan nationalists – to give the PSOE government its working majority. But, after disappointing results in Sunday’s European elections, she’s now resigned from the leadership. A cunning plot???. Or just a victim of the swing to the Right?

More cheapie Japanese-style ‘capsule hotels’ are to be built down South.

The Portuguese company Altri is proposing to build a new large-scale rayon factory in the
town of Palas de Rei, in Lugo province of Galicia. You can add your name to a petition aimed at stopping desecration of the countryside here.

The EU

Europe is facing turmoil as it reckons with a seismic shift to the right after votes were cast by 190 million people in 27 countries, a huge exercise in democracy. Here are 4 key things you need to know:

So, is it a revolt again top-down bureaucratic/technocratic rule​? Are the EU members increasingly nationalist and, so, averse to ‘ever closer union’ – while not being exit-minded? Not yet, at least.

France

On the brink of a new revolution, says my favourite Macron-hater here.

The UK

A fascinating theory(?) on why Britain is going down the pans – via a very British sort of corruption. Very different from, say the Greek, Italian, Spanish model, which I once saw praised for – being based on commissions (i. e. bribery) – actually gets things done to everyone’s benefit,

As for the July 4 general election . . . Everyone agrees that Labour is a shoo-in, though not an awful lot of folk seem to be excited about this. Richard North believes the Prime Minister’s [Conservative party’s] manifesto is designed not with a view to attracting votes but with the purpose of defining the shape of the post-election Right, and the battles for the heart and soul of a reconstituted party which is going to fight the 2029 election.

So, what is the next Prime Minister really like. This is a fascinating profile of him as a arch technocrat. His reaching the top of the greasy pole suggests I’ve not been wrong in saying, for years now, that we’re living, in the West, in the Age of the Bureaucrat. The man is a close fit with The Perfect Bride criteria for it.

Although the Labour Party is expected to win with a handsome majority, Richard North insists that: Labour isn’t getting it all its own way, having to fend off a challenge from the Moslem Vote, the scale of which is not as yet clearly defined. This overlaps with the attack from Galloway’s Workers Party and the resurgent Greens, both of which are also bidding for the Muslim Vote in some seats.

I’m reminded of Tony Blair’s spin doctor’s comment on the relevance of religion to British politics: ‘We don’t do God’. Those were the days, a mere 20 years ago. . . . Religion and, indeed, demands for a blasphemy law are back. After a century or more without them. At least it’s only fundamental Christianity in the USA, I believe. And they go easy on apostates . . . .

Did you know?

Elephants give each other names, and they answer to them. The discovery also suggests that they may also have “words” for other animals and things.

Finally . .

I came in the wrong year . . . June temperatures are at half the level of this time last year. The Met Office says the cool temperatures are not unusual historically but they are a clear contrast with 2023. So, a double calvario.

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.