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
It’s pretty irrelevant to us up here in Galicia, where we have no choice but to pay Renfe’s high prices, but the national rail operator is trying to stop its competitor Oigo from offering significantly lower prices than theirs on other routes. Details here.
Something nice about the Catholic Church. It’s not all bad . . .
I get the strong impression it’s tough to set up a new business in Spain, largely because of the bureaucracy involved. If you want to be self-employed – as an autónomo – your biggest hurdle will probably be the Tax Office disbelieving everything you say and treating you as a nascent crook. Not to mention the high social security taxes before you’ve made even a sale, never mind a profit
Whenever I ask passing ‘pilgrims’ how many official Caminos there are, the answer is almost inevitably ‘2 or 3’. Last time I checked, the correct answer was 43. And now the VdG reports on a new one: The study of a map from 200 years ago has resulted in a new pilgrimage route to Santiago. The Vello Camiño is the result of an investigation by a team of historians. It’s about 100km long and has 2 variants – one from A Coruña and the other from Betanzos, meeting near Cerceda on the Camino Francés. A lot of local people will be pleased about the commercial opportunities arising. Especially as there are fortuitously, not just one but 2 variants. So no one needs to fall out over the goodies.
For serious (pedal)bikers – The most exciting Spanish city in which to do your stuff. Though you will probably have to pay all your own expenses.
The UK
At last, a positive view of the UK – In contrast with Spain . . . An amazing place to start a company.
Europe
Taylor Swift won’t be the only American you’ll encounter in Europe this summer. Travel industry estimates suggest a record number of Americans will flock to the old continent. The number leaving for Europe in May was up 8% on a year earlier, and 14% on 2years ago
France
The Corner also fears there’ll be a ‘Liz Truss’ moment quite soon. Lots of details here, ending with: Investors should expect a higher risk premium and market volatility in France, which could potentially extend across the wider euro zone if France’s problems escalate.
And here’s AEP again on this subject, with an unflattering portrait of M Macron. Unless you’re Machiavelli . . . It’s becoming impossible for markets to price the political risk of his capricious character. If we have learned anything from a decade of galactic grand-standing, it is that he won’t accept defeat lightly. He must always be the master of events.
The USA
- So, after a disastrous debate performance, will the Democrats finally ditch Biden before it’s too late? Click here for one view on the chances of this happening. As of right now, the Democrats are, understandably said to be in panic mode – while the rest of the world looks on, worried, seeing clearly that Biden has to go and Kamela Harris has to be prevented from taking over from him. Interesting times, as the Chinese course has it.
- Swift mania reflects a US economy on song. The pop heroine’s European tour is testimony to the power of American capitalism and its ability to shake off the old. Some interesting stats.
Quotes of the Day
- This wasn’t a debate, it was a medical emergency.
- The Democrats should end the Biden candidacy, before God does.
- The true losers of this presidential debate were the American people
English
Jejune : 1. Uninteresting; dull. 2. Lacking maturity; childish. 3. Lacking in nutrition
Did you Know?
Charing Cross – The place in London I used to meet my girlfriend before she became my wife. And where, quite some time before, a Norman-French-speaking English king had stopped the cortège of of his wife en route to her burial. And where he erected a cross to his chère reine.
Finally . . .
A nice April Fool’s joke
Finally, finally . . .
Given my luck with laptops over the last 5 years, it won’t surprise anyone to read that my new one of less than a month refused to boot up this afternoon. The online option for technical service didn’t work but I was able to call someone, who gave me the (force-start) solution. In response to my query as to why this would happen, he assured me it wasn’t the fault of my laptop but of a bug in Windows. Which, for now, I prefer to believe.
Pseuds’ Corner
On Wednesday, I had a ham sandwich in Madrid for breakfast, then a salami baguette in Paris for lunch. I felt like General Patton rampaging across Europe. Or like a ’good Hitler’. Hitler in sandwiches. Hitler but with a dominant interest in elite European club football. From the review of a football match . . .
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.
Thoughts from Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain 
Ahh, Shakespeare! “If you have tears, prepare to shed them now.”
Democrat tears are tears of woe, after the first & probably only presidential debate of 2024, as they cast about for a new candidate.
Republican tears are of joy, as Biden remains adamant he will not resign.
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I should obviously be better informed, but why is Kamala so unpopular?
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I think because she is so ‘progressive’
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But here’s Perplexity’s AI – rather longer – answer . . .
Kamala Harris’s unpopularity can be attributed to several factors:
It’s important to note that vice presidential approval ratings often track closely with those of the president. As such, broader issues affecting the administration, such as the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and the economy, may also impact Harris’s popularity.
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Biden’s cognitive decline has been apparent for at least two years & he set this inevitable juggernaut in motion when he picked Harris as VP, not for her ability, but because of her colour & gender. The Democrat party bigwigs are appalled at the thought of her becoming President. As ye sow, so shall ye reap. The answer to your question about Biden’s hesitation in letting Ukraine use ATACMS more widely, is now obvious. Joe is not the real president. It is his wife. fake doctor, Jill Biden, who has been making the decisions. She is guilty of “elder abuse”, because as First Lady, she enjoys being the unelected power behind the throne & her advice has been terribly bad, especially for Ukraine.
There is a lesson from history about this debacle. From 980 AD, Danish Viking raids began again on Anglo-Saxon England & after the defeat at the Battle of Maldon in 991 AD, the English king Æthelred II decided to pay tribute or Danegeld to the Danish King Sweyn Forkbeard. That didn’t work well as the Danes kept coming back for more & more. Eventually, after many disasters for the English, Danish kings sat on the English throne for a few years. The most famous was Cnut the Great. King Æthelred II is known to historians as Æthelred the Unready. His epithet comes from the Old English word Unræd meaning “poorly advised”; it is a pun on his name Æthelred , which means “well advised”. In the years to come, the 46th POTUS could become known as Biden Unræd.
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The biggest problem resulting from the debate debacle is that many Democrats might not go vote, perceiving Biden as a geriatric liability, while heartily disliking Trump. Lower voter turnout could give the victory to Trump. Democrats better get their act together, fast. I’m still voting, because if we don’t, it’ll mean a lunatic destroying more than just the US.
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Maria,
Voting for Biden means voting for Macbeth’s wife. It’s interesting to compare the US election with the UK. There are three choices; Starmerism (Socialist), Reform (Farage) & Sunak (Tory). I do not want Keir Starmer in any shape or form. I have met Nigel Farage. He is personable, but his analysis of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine could hardly be more wrong. He claims that Nato & EU expansion as provocative. In fact it was Western weakness & timidity that encouraged Putin’s aggression in 2022. Rather than making any attempt to oppose Russia’s seizure of Crimea in 2014, or helping Ukraine to do so, Western governments called on Kyiv to take no action that might lead to escalation. In spirit, it was a foreshadowing of Joe Biden’s offer in February 2022 to give President Zelensky a ride out of Ukraine.
When Putin saw the West was unwilling to confront him, he rapidly followed up with aggression in the Donbas. In the face of that, Europe desperately sought to revert as soon as possible to business as usual with Russia, even taking steps to increase energy dependence. Seeing he had nothing to fear, an assessment reinforced by Nato’s abandonment of Afghanistan, Putin returned to the charge in Ukraine in February 2022.
To give credence to Putin’s frequently trotted out excuse for starting this war is, to say the least, naive. Farage says that he admires him as a “political operator”. Well, the political operator understood only too well that Russia had nothing to fear militarily from Nato, having rubbed shoulders with the heads of Western governments for so many years. Not one of them has any aggressive instinct let alone intent.
Quite the reverse. As we have seen repeatedly in the pusillanimous responses from both Europe and the US to the 2022 invasion, with pretty much whatever Ukraine has needed to fight back being provided reluctantly, inadequately and with crippling restrictions, if at all. If Putin has any genuine fear of Nato’s eastward expansion, why has he withdrawn 80 per cent of Russian forces from the border with Finland shortly after it joined the alliance?
Beyond his imperialist motivations to recreate a greater Russia with him as Tsar, what Putin did actually fear was a democratic Ukraine & a Ukraine that has benefited increasingly from alignment with the West. He recognised the dangers to his own regime of growing economic prosperity just across the border, with the potential to create envy inside Russia that could lead to popular challenges to his repressive authority as he leads his country into economic decline & marginalisation on the world stage.
A serious political leader should not parrot the talking points of Vladimir Putin. Instead Farage should be encouraging our country & the West to stand up to this dictator against his criminal assault on a sovereign state. We have seen the consequences of appeasement play out over the last two years in Ukraine & we can be sure that anything short of Russian defeat there will inevitably lead to even greater aggression & bloodshed in Europe in the future.
In my opinion, a vote now for Farage is wrong. Which leaves us with the shallow, callow Sunak. He has brought likely defeat upon his own head by calling an early election, but I am free enterprise by nature & will vote Tory. The situation in the US is comparable. Many detest Trump. Many are appalled at the prospect of President Kamala Harris. There the third option, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The Democratic National Committee and Clear Choice PAC will have to eat “umble pie” & go cap in hand & beg forgiveness. Yeah, that ain’t gonna happen.
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Trump is the same as Farage. He would sell out his allies in Europe to benefit his friend, Putin. Trump would be Putin’s puppet. Apart from that, his political intentions domestically would take away civil liberties from many people. Robert Kennedy is a believer in a ton of conspiracy theories that fly in the face of science and common sense. It’s Biden for me unless the Democrats come up with a better candidate.
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