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

A warning from the VdG this morning: Nuevas ciberestafas con IA  Un número desconocido y la voz de su marido al otro lado: «Hola, no te puedo llamar, envíame un mensaje a este móvil». Ese fue el inicio de in intento de nueva ciberestafa, muy elaborada, en la que los ciberdelincuentes habían reproducido la voz de su esposo gracias a la inteligencia artificial (IA). A la mujer le sonó a voz enlatada y finalmente no picó*. Lo denunció a las autoridades. Es una de las nuevas técnicas que los suplantadores usan para lograr su objetivo: lograr los datos personales y bancarios.

*Apart from its usual meanings: Picar: Acudir a un engaño o caer en él.

María returns to the blog fray today with this post about a special wine.

An Irish friend tells me that her Galician husband, now in his 40s, was as a kid given a small shot glass of fortified wine and a fried egg as a “starter” every day before the midday meal. I guess this custom has died out by now.

Voracious seagulls might be a problem in Pv city but at least these aren’t. Yet.

The UK

Because there’s no None of the Above option on today’s ballot papers, tomorrow’s return to power of a left-of-centre Labour government is an absolute certainty. The big question is whether the right-of-centre Conservative party will be wiped out or simply devastated. As so often, the UK is going the opposite direction from the rest of Europe. Given the problems he’s inheriting, I’m not sure the Labour leader will be able to sleep well at night, notwithstanding the size of his majority. In situations like this, a party’s extremists tend to be rather bolshie. And left-of-centre parties are notoriously fissiparous at the best of times. Labour might well have only 4 years in which to do the impossible and turn the situation around. And a fairly torrid 4 years at that, once the honeymoon is over. Hey, ho.

Hang on . . . At least one paper thinks the Conservative party might fare rather better than all the poll-based predictions. We’ll soon know.

Meanwhile, Boris Johnson – his hair looking worse than ever – has belatedly appeared on the electoral scene to warn of the disaster of a Labour party having a huge majority. One wonders how much credibility the man has. I’m reminded of the comment that One of Johnsons talents is the ability to assert 2 incompatible things with equal conviction, while believing neither of them.

Finally . . . This is a nice analysis of where the UK now is, politically. Final para: The big deciding fact of this election — that after 14 years of Conservative government people want change — will produce a very large Labour majority indeed. But this should not be mistaken for political stability. Labour’s victory will be wide but it may also prove shallow.

On the economic front, no one seems to think things will get better. But the country has been there before and this can’t be ruled out.

I predict a hung parliament in 4 years’ time. If not tomorrow.

The USA

Big day tomorrow. Can’t recall why. Unless it’s the day that Biden decides to throw in the towel. And then remembers to do it. Amid much rejoicing. Around the world, as well as in the USA. Russia excepted.

Meanwhile, here’s something on the madness of Queen Jill. Who’s a whippersnapper of 73. Clearly, then, someone sat in for her for her official foto here..

The Way of the World

Another of those headlines you don’t expect to see: A BBC presenter deletes a tweet urging Biden to kill Trump.

The political commentator who made that tweet has (re)learned 2 things about the state of the world:- 1. It’s almost impossible to satirise things these days, and 2. If you try to, an awful lot of folk – especially in the USA – won’t get it. And there’ll be a social media pile-on. And who wants that? He has apologised, of course.

If you differ and think satire is still possible, I offer you this tweet from Trump on why he won that debate:  TRUMP WAS REALLY GREAT!” In all fairness, and I say in complete and total modesty, many, on both sides of the political spectrum, have said it was the greatest single debate performance in the long and storied history of Presidential Debates. Never knowingly undersold, as a famous UK store used to boast.

Covid

Is this a judgment confined to the UK? The ongoing Covid inquiry is confirming what many already suspected: that the government’s mishandling of the pandemic was feckless at best and opportunistic, profiteering and murderous at worst.

Spanish

Los pross: Not ”prostitutes’ but the English football team. Explanation: El equipo inglés de fútbol es conocido como “los pross” debido a una abreviación del término “professionals” (profesionales en inglés). Esta denominación tiene sus raíces en la historia del fútbol y el desarrollo del profesionalismo en este deporte. A principios del siglo XX, los futbolistas ingleses fueron pioneros en cobrar por jugar, convirtiéndose en los primeros profesionales del fútbol. En ese momento, el profesionalismo en el deporte era un tema controvertido, ya que muchos consideraban que el fútbol debía ser practicado por aficionados. Debido a su condición de profesionales, los jugadores ingleses comenzaron a ser llamados “profesionals” para distinguirlos de los jugadores “amateurs” o aficionados del resto del mundo. Con el tiempo y el uso frecuente, este término se abrevió a “pross” en español. Es importante destacar que aunque otros países también adoptaron el fútbol profesional, Inglaterra fue la primera en hacerlo, y por eso se quedó con este apodo. La expresión “los pross” se ha mantenido desde entonces y es comúnmente utilizada en la prensa deportiva española para referirse a la selección inglesa de fútbol.

Did you know?

‘Emoji’ means ‘picture letter’ in Japanese.

Finally . . .

An interesting question . . . “Did anyone ever have a boring dream?” 

To amuse . . .

Finally, . . Finally . . . Pseuds Corner

A good espresso coffee is sexy as hell. It flows out of the machine at a languid pace, initially dark and brooding, before shifting into a golden foam that would bat its eyelashes at you if it had them. Someone in The Guardian

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.