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

Here are the (astonishing) 21 reasons to apply for a Golden Visa, before the government ends the scheme ‘next year’.

In an article on places in Spain serving gluten-free tapas dishes, I saw that one in Oviedo has Asturian bean stew as its speciality and is called Fartuqín. Suspecting this might be a joke name, I checked with Google, who suggested it’s Irish. I rather doubt that. The RAE is no help with the word. So, perhaps just a coincidence. Though I note that the pronunciation coincides with Far too keen.

Talking of coincidences . . . There was an item in a local paper this morning about a Festa da Fartura north of Pv city. According to the RAG, Fartura is: Abundancia, mesmo ata o exceso, de calquera cousa. Wind even? So, Fartuquín, a little abundance??

A very big day today . . . I think I saw – for the first time in 24 years – a Spanish driver use the inside lane on a roundabout ahead of taking the 2nd exit. Though he did, of course, have to avoid someone in the outside lane who didn’t go off at the first exit. On reflection, it could, I guess, have been a foreigner – even a Portuguese – in a Spanish car. Need I add that, at the next roundabout, the driver in front of me made a U-turn in the outside lane and without bothering to indicate his/her intention at any point. Fortunately I’ve developed a 6th sense. Or am just routinely cautious.

It seems I was very wrong about having to wait years for cheap train tickets between Madrid and Galicia. Renfe have announced that, starting today, their low-cost AVLO trains will offer trips for a mere 7 euros. At least until September.

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

The UK

If you-re burgled, the British police will merely send you a leaflet. But, should you commit a hate-crime – such as defacing something related to Gay Pride – both the local and national police will pursue you from pillar to post. I suspect the poor bobbies on the beat aren’t responsible for these priorities. Indeed, morale among them is said to be very low. As the saying goes, a fish begins to stink from the head.

France

An intrepid Times reporter writes from the Paris front-line . . .

More amusing is this article on how not to offend the French, should you brave the war zone in Paris.

The USA

No optimism here.

Here’s one example, I think, of an attack ad aimed at Kamala Harris.

English

This phrase occurs in the above article on Kamala Harris: If Biden would have allowed his successor to be elected at the upcoming party conference. This use of the Past Conditional sense is very American, and all my Spanish, French, German, Dutch and Irish[??}friends use it. It’s never used in British English, where the shorter, simpler ‘If I had’ is used, not ’If I would have’. Just in case you think I’m off beam here, I append a lengthy AI answer on this below.

Spanish

• Cosificación: Objectivisation. From the word for thing/object – cosa. Hence Cosifar: RAE – Convertir algo abstracto en una cosa concreta. Reducir a la condición de cosa a una persona
• Greña: Messy/poorly composed hair.
• Andar a la greña: 1. Said of 2 or more people: To argue by pulling hair. 2. To alter badly and heatedly.

Did you know?

Mesopotamia, in modern-day Iraq, was the original cradle of human civilisation. Cities and writing — and so much else — were invented there first, between the banks of the rivers Tigris and Euphrates. There was no precise moment when this civilisation emerged, but safe to say that by the end of the 4th millennium BC Mesopotamian society was flourishing. First were the Sumerians, after whom rose the Akkadians, and in their place the Babylonians.

BTW: It was the Babylonians who exiled the Jews, not the Egyptians. This occurred in 2 main stages:-

• In 597 BCE, Nebuchadnezzar II besieged Jerusalem and deported around 7,000 Judeans.
• In 587/586 BCE, Nebuchadnezzar II destroyedJ erusalem and Solomon’s Temple, leading to a larger deportation.

Finally . .

Funny how phrases you didn’t like as a kid come straight out of your mouth when dealing with your own children or grandchildren. The one I find myself using most often with my 5 year old (half-British, half-Spanish grandchild) is one of my mother’s favourites – ‘I want doesn’t get’ – A very British stress on the need to say Please. And then Thank-you. Which, it has to be said, the Spanish aren’t so big on. So, my grandson is unlikely to have heard them in school, for example. Where Quiero would be far more common – and acceptable – than Por favor, quiero . . Not surprisingly, my daughter says she’s struggled to get him to play to his British half.

Finally, Finally . . .

The past conditional forms in British and American English exhibit notable differences, particularly in spoken usage.

British English

The past conditional typically adheres to standard grammatical structures:

• Type 2 Conditional: Used for hypothetical situations in the present or future. The structure is: If the past simple would be[is!] the base form of the verb. Example: “If you left now, you’d be on time.”
• Type 3 Conditional: Used for hypothetical situations in the past. The structure is: If the past perfect would have [had!] been the past participle Example: “If I had cooked the pie, we could have had it for lunch.”

American English

There is a tendency to simplify[?] these structures, especially in spoken language:

• Type 2 Conditional: Similar to British English, but in informal speech, Americans may use “would” in both clauses, which is generally considered non-standard in formal writing: ‘If you would leave now you’d be on time  This form is widespread in spoken US English but is often avoided in writing due to its non-standard status.
• Type 3 Conditional: Americans sometimes use “would have” in the if-clause, which is also considered non-standard in formal contexts: ‘If I would have cooked the pie, we could have had it for lunch’.  This usage is common in spoken language but is still seen as informal or incorrect in written English.

Summary of Differences

• British English: Adheres to traditional structures using past simple or past perfect in the if-clause and “would” or “would have” in the main clause.
• American English: Informally, “would” and “would have” are often used in both clauses, though this is considered non-standard in formal writing.

These variations highlight the flexibility and evolving nature of conditional forms in American English, contrasting with the more rigid structures in British English. [Well, I guess that’s one way of putting it.]

BTW: Any British reader would see that this answer is written in American English. And the suggestion that adding ‘would have’ is simpler is nonsense . . .

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 this 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 . . .

• 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. And this article ‘debunks claims re wealth and residency taxes’. Probably only relevant if you’re a HNWI. In which case, you’ll surely know what that stands for.