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’

Cousas de España/Galicia

Long-time readers will know that the Pv city mayor – a left-of-centre Galician nationalist – has been trying for 25 years to get rid of the city’s only major industrial employer, a cellulose factory on the border with the adjacent port of Marín. His latest move was to take the issue to the Constitutional Court, to appeal a Supreme Court decision of 2023 that the factory could stay until 2073. And he lost, which should please the factory’s 400 permanent staff and the c. 5,000 holders of other jobs in Galicia it’s said to generate – 800 of which are in Pv city or nearby.

The case has reminded me that Spain has possibly one layer too many of administrations – national, regional, provincial and municipal. Apart from increasing the opportunities for corruption at all levels – the Supreme Court and, then, the Constitutional Court. Which helps to explain why Spanish justice moves slower than elsewhere. Sometimes a lot slower.

Here’s a headline few will have expected to see . . Egypt defeats Spain in the Olympic football tournament.

Remember the botched restoration, which turned Jesus into an orang-utan? Well, here’s another one.

The UK

Some 1577 comments of William Harrison, which might also be made today . . .

• I will say nothing of men’s heads, which sometimes are polled, sometimes curled, or suffered to grow at length like woman’s locks, many times cut off, above or under the ears, round as by a wooden dish.
• Neither will I meddle with our variety of beards, of which some are shaven from the chin like those of Turks, not a few cut short like to the beard of Marquess Otto, some made round like a rubbing brush, others with a ‘pique de vant’, or now and then suffered to grow long, the barbers being grown to be so cunning in this behalf as the tailors.
• Some lusty courtiers also and gentlemen of courage do wear gold rings, gemstones, or pearl, in their ears. But they rather disgrace than adorn their persons, as by their niceness in apparel, for which I say most nations do justly deride us, as also for that we seem to imitate all nations around about us, like the chameleon, and hereunto bestow most cost upon our arses, and much more than upon all the rest of our bodies, as women do likewise upon their heads and shoulders.
• In women also, it is most to be lamented, that they now far exceed the lightness of our men and such staring attire as in time past was supposed meet for none but light housewives only is now become a habit for chaste and sober matrons. What should I say of their doublets with pendant codpieces on the breast full of jags and cuts, and sleeves of sundry colours? Their galligascons to bear out their bums and make their attire to fit plum round about them[Think Ms Kardashian]. Their fardingals, and diversely coloured stockings of silk, jersey, and such like, whereby their bodies are rather deformed than commended? I have met with some of these trollops so disguised that it had passed my skill to discern whether they were men or women. Thus it is now come to pass, that women are become men, and men transformed into monsters.
• Certainly, the commonwealth cannot be said to flourish where these abuses reign. Neither was it ever merrier with England than when an Englishman was known abroad by his own cloth, and contented himself at home with his fine hose, and a mean slop; his coat, gown, and cloak of brown, blue, or puke, with some pretty trimming of velvet or fur, and a doublet of dark tawny, or black velvet, or other comely silk, without such cuts and garish colours as are worn in these days, and never brought in but by the consent of the French, who think themselves the gayest men when they have most diversities of jags and change of colours about them.

The EU

Germany is still in the economic doldrums but good-ish data for France, Italy and, especially, Spain dragged up the second quarter GDP growth to 0.6% – still anaemic against the US figure of 2.8%.

France

The biggest rivalry in world football​​???

The USA

A gleam of hope, no larger than a man’s hand on the horizon* . . . ‘Weird’ JD Vance is becoming a big problem for Trump. Republicans are finding it hard to repel aggressively mocking comments about their choice for vice-president

* AI at its best . . . The phrase originates from the Bible, specifically 1 Kings 18:44, which describes a scene where the prophet Elijah’s servant reports seeing a small cloud rising from the sea. The relevant part states: “And it came to pass at the 7th time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man’s hand.”

No Donald, Kamala did not decide to ‘turn black’. This is a riposte to what I also thought was Trump’s most asinine comment the other night.

Venezuela

The USA has distanced itself from several countries – the usual [autocratic] suspects – in declining to accept Maduro’s alleged election victory and, indeed, has recognised his rival as the winner – on the grounds that there’s overwhelming evidence that he received the most votes. But I don’t expect the traditional invasion to follow . . .

An AI search tells me that: The Spanish government’s stance is one of caution and skepticism, focusing on the need for a transparent and verifiable election process’’’, rather than outright recognition or rejection of Maduro’s claimed victory. That said, the ‘far-left’ elements of the PSOE coalition – Podemos, Sumar, The United Left, Bildu and the BNG – have congratulated Sr Maduro. Perhaps, for them, the end justifies the means.

Quote of the Day /The Way of the World/Social Media

Unregulated social media disinformation is wrecking Britain. New technology can be used for good or ill, but the ability for false information to spread rampantly online now poses serious security threats in democracies like ours. Free speech must come with accountability, from TikTok influencers to newspaper editors. But Richard North points out here that this isn’t achievable on a national basis and that honesty in official communications is the only way to counter the downside of social media.

Transgender Issues

You will surely already have heard of this madness. Reading it, I’m reminded of the old saying that The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Which is said to date back to the 12th century and to mean that, as here, good intentions are not enough; actions must align with those intentions to avoid negative outcomes.

English

If you’ve read the RN article, you might need to know that ‘ratioed’ is an internet word meaning a post or article has got far more negative than positive comments/shares – moving the main information source and control of the narrative from the post/article to the Comments. Which can be a good thing or a bad thing, I guess.

Spanish

Enervar: 1. To annoy/exasperate/get on one’s nerves/irritate/drive mad. 2. To weaken, sap, enervate.

Did you know?

Almost every bit of the yew tree is toxic to man and beast. Which is why, for hundreds of years, in Britain it’s only been permitted to have them in (walled) churchyards. Where they are, naturally a common feature. One I know of is said to be a thousand years old or more*.

*AI again . . .The oldest yew tree in the UK is in in the churchyard of Fortingall in Scotland. Estimates vary significantly, with some suggesting it’s 2 to 3,000 years old, while others claim 5 to 9,000, making it one of the oldest known trees in Europe.

Finally . .

I just overheard the song my grandson was listening to in the modern version of Looney Tunes – about a cowboy who rides into town and asks for a Niçoise salad in the canteen, and who eats the right sort of carbohydrates, watches his sugar and cholesterol levels, eats raw carrots and greens, consumes only small meal portions and, finally, keeps a food journal. Presumably he’ll live forever. At least the tune was traditional.

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.