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/Galicia

Given the wave of ‘anti-tourism’ protests sweeping the country, anyone visiting Spain this summer would be forgiven for thinking they’re not welcome. My Canadian cousin’s daughter was certainly shocked by recent demonstrations in Barcelona and won’t be returning.

The article from which that quote came is entitled How to be a good tourist and be found here.

Revolting Spanish nuns . . . In a series of not-everyday-events, 10 nuns in a convent near Burgos are close to finding themselves on the street. ‘Follow the money’ seems to be good advice in trying to understand why. Mammon, not God.

This article – on the 18 items middle-aged men shouldn’t wear in summer – reminded me of this foto I took last week:-

This of one of the many Spanish men who dress like American teenagers. This chap is, I think, in his 60s, possibly his 70s. I got to thinking how he’d have dressed 40, 50 or 60 years ago. I imagine that, during the Franco era, he’d have been shot for going into the street like this . . .

Life in Spain . . . When I left for the UK in December, work had begun on clearing the ground on a road out of Pv city ahead of the extension of the small industrial park I pass through 4 times a day. After 20 years’ delay in obtaining the licence, it finally looked like we really would be getting some major shops – eg Decathlon and Leroy Merlin – and a 2nd MacDonalds. But, when I arrived back last week, I noted that all the heavy machinery had gone and that nothing was happening there. A net search threw up 2 articles from the VdG from March. The first said that the work the work would be completed by December and the second, of a few days later, said it had been suspended ‘until they find somewhere to put the soil and rocks thrown up by the ground clearance’. To say the least, this looked like a highly unlikely reason. But, anyway, the machines were back this morning, so we await the next chapter. Maybe the licence to start the work was finally granted.

The UK

The Muslim theme of the moment . . . Says Wiki here: The Muslim Vote organisation is a British pressure group which seeks to support candidates who oppose the Conservative and Labour leadership stances on the Israel-Hamas war among other policy positions.

Per Richard North this morning: How far ‘The Muslim Vote’ represents the entire 4 million (and growing) Muslim community in the UK remains to be seen. But that faction which does support it had declared a 25-year war against the rest of the UK. And, at last, elements of the legacy media are beginning to wake up to the presence off this group, with The Times headlining a long piece: “Muslim campaign group backs election candidates who justify October 7 atrocity”. But, says RN: The paper is only scratching the surface. There is growing within the nation a “fifth column” of Muslim activists intent on shaping that national narrative to suit the preferences of what amounts to a squatter community that lives amongst us but is not part of us and has no intention becoming so. The Times article is a small move towards identifying this ‘enemy within’. Much more must be done before the full scale of the threat becomes apparent, but at least it is a start. Depending on how TMV performs though – and it seems to be downplaying its activities – the general election results may pave the way to a great awakening.

Let’s hope RN is worrying unduly.

The EU

Oh, dear . . Trouble at t’mill. . . Le Pen’s protégé is plotting a ‘Thatcher assault on the EU’. The National Rally candidate to be prime minister has included in his manifesto a promise to cut France’s contribution to the EU budget by €2 billion. This is setting the scene for a showdown between Paris and Brussels.

China

An offal mess . . . China takes – in large quantities – the (few)pig bits that Spaniards don’t eat. But these exports are now threatened by a potential revenge move arising from EU threats to raise import duties on Chinese e-vehicles. BTW, Galicia is one of the Spanish regions where pigs’ ears are regarded – though not by me – as a delicacy.

BTW 2 . . . I think Spain’s burgeoning exports of jamón are also under threat.

Did you know?

• England’s peasants were poor but free in the Anglo-Saxon kingdom which preceded the Norman occupation but were serfs for several hundred years after that. Bloody, arrogant (semi)French!
• The Domesday Book was put together by a monk in Winchester, who forgot to include Winchester . . .

Finally . . .

My poor disorientated sister can’t believe what she sees Spanish drivers do at roundabouts. Which is staying in the outside lane whichever exit they’re going to use. And usually not signalling. She was even more astonished to see learner drivers near my house still being taught to do this. It was some slight comfort to her to learn that this is totally contrary to regular advice from El Tráfico. Who go to the length of publishing diagrams in the press to show how roundabouts should be negotiated. And how they are in every one of the many countries I’ve driven in. Including next door Portugal. Where you risk a fine of 300 euros for using the accident-generating modelo español.

Finally, Finally . . . Pseuds’ Corner

Katalin Halasz gives an autobiographic account of dressing in a Victorian dandy costume for a job interview as a way of unpacking emotional experience around her sense of (non)belonging in post-Brexit Britain. From the Sociological Review.

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.