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

Global warming seems to have bypassed both the UK and North West Spain so far this summer. Yesterday it was reported that the first half of July here has been the least-warm for 10 years. But at least Galicia is greener than ever . . .

Politics: Hard as this might be to believe, the Vox leader is reported to have ended their pact with the right-of-centre party because he wants to take on some group even further to the right than Vox. Presumably named something like Hijos de Franco.

HT to Lenox Napier of Business Over Tapas for the news that construction in Teruel of the country’s first national civil war museum is being delayed by disagreements and disputes over the representation of Spain’s civil war years. Who’d have predicted that?

The Voz de Galicia today gave over its first 11 pages to the victory of the Spanish team in the Final of the Euros Cup last night. But nothing until the back pages for the country’s young tennis hero. The Diaro de Pontevedra, in contrast, gave only the first page, albeit to both achievements, but with a 12 page supplement dedicated to the footballers’ success. A tad OTT, in my objective opinion.

BTW . . . In case you thought the Spanish players were particular ignorant about the words of their Spanish national anthem, you should know that there aren’t any. And that all attempts over the years to get all 5 Spains to agree to some have ended in rancorous failure. Only football has the ability too unite them, it seems

This is a car I pass 4 times a day on my way into and out of town from my parking place in Lérez.

A case of spontaneous combustion in the engine, I guess. It reminds me of the time the loom* in my car engine caught fire in the UK back in the 1980s.

*  The collection of electrical cables and wires bundled together and protected by a durable material such as vinyl, rubber, or electrical tape.

The Camino de Santiago . . . Below, there’s some advice for pilgrims leaving Pv city across O Burgo bridge.

The UK

Some advice here on running a business and having children in the UK. Viz: Don’t. Or move to Spain.

Football . . . Oh, yes . . . In a word: The better side won; it’s as simple as that. On the plus side, at least we didn’t lose on penalties.

The Way of The USA

Words to make the blood of many folk run cold: Trump is now certain to be the next president.

Unless there’s another – successful – assassination attempt, of course. Which – given the nature of US culture and politics – can’t be ruled out. US democracy looks less and less of a model for the benighted bits of the world. Assuming it ever did/was.

An ominous comment: It would be nice – highly unlikely but nice – if the weekend’s violence leads to its repudiation. Sadly, the historical record tilts the other way. Political violence follows like the ancient Furies, tit or tat, making unimaginable horrors feel inevitable.

Meanwhile, my own conspiracy theory – Trump hired the best sharpshooter in the USA to clip his ear, with a photographer placed below the podium to record the gesture of defiance that will take him back to the White House. The said photographer has said: The job is all about anticipation. Yeah, well. Not in my world . . . Prove me wrong . .

You probably didn’t hear that theory here first . . . Especially, as – at 10.10 – I read this: Already, social media is abuzz with allegations and insinuations of – depending on how one interprets it – either a botched deep-state inside job against Trump or an elaborate setup to induce sympathy votes for the Republican candidate. Worse is the suggestion of a false-flag Reichstag fire-style operation to pave the way for Trumpian autocracy, conforming with recent chatter over Project 2025. This all indicates that many Americans will not be content with the explanation that a lone gunman did it. For a population primed to think in terms of sinister plots and cabals, there can be no such thing as coincidences or one-off-events. What is certain is that the shots will reverberate for years to come.

Did you know?

Some kimchi facts . . .

• The South Koreans eat an awful lot of the stuff
• Only 7% of the total is commercially made, with 93% being made at home
• They all make it at the same time each year, during the cabbage season
• The price rockets at that time, like sardines in Galicia ahead of the summer equinox
• It need to be kept at 1 degree, as above that it goes off
• So, a normal fridge is not good enough and a freezer is too cold
• Samsung make a special kimchi fridge
• 97% of South Korean families have one of these
• The Chinese, who say it’s their invention, are invading the kimchi market. Naturally. Is there any market they won’t try to?

Advice for pilgrims leaving Pv city via O Burgo bridge.

At the moment, the main route up through the barrio of Lérez is closed and you’re advised to turn left and take the first right, just after the petrol/gas station. My advice is not to do the latter but to keep walking a minute or two until you arrive at a zebra crossing, where you’ll see a path to your right, alongside a tributary of the main river. This is flat and far more shaded. After a few hundred metres, you’ll arrive at a tarmac road, with a small, narrow bridge to your left. Here you can either carry straight on across the road or turn right onto the road and then join the main route after 200m. If you take the first option – my recommendation – you’ll follow a path as it bends to the right and comes out on the main route, further along than with the 2nd option.

The Usual Links . . .

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.

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.