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

Travel Advice

• 1. Hand luggage developments.
• 2. The best and worst time to arrive at Spanish airports, if you’re a Brit.

Sevilla has at least 715 illegal tourist homes and the mayor has vowed to ‘act firmly and with zero tolerance’ against law breakers. One plan is to cut off the water supply to them.

Moving North . . . The Olive Press has an article on Vigo and Pv city. Like other residents will be, I was surprised to read that there are ‘many’ Michelin-starred restaurants in (tiny) Lérez Square. Or more than one, in fact.

Talking of our city . . . Something I didn’t know until today . . . The Apparitions chapel in the old quarter – the site of miraculous sightings by a famous nun – was(until 1492) the location of the city’s synagogue. If Christopher Columbus really was, as claimed by some, born in my barrio of Poio, he will have studied maps there, it’s said.

The Diario de Pontevedra reports today that the (bored) local police not only have a raft of motoring fines to hit you with but also a ‘surprising number of beach fines’. One example: En la costa gallega de Nigrán las multas pueden llegar hasta los €200,000 euros para quienes se salten la prohibición de hacer agujeros en el arenal y la policía utiliza drones para asegurarse de que se cumplen las normas.

Best not to ask me how I know this but I’m a tad shocked to see by just how much prices have risen in one of my favourite restaurants in Pv city since pre-Covid 2019. In the case of the dish I enjoy most, the increase has averaged 15% per year, meaning a doubling of the price in 5 years. But at least a glass of (Spanish) wine hasn’t increased anywhere near that much. Anyway, I’m now moving on to check what’s happened in Mercadona, where bills certainly rack up far more quickly than they used to.

Which reminds . . . Many cafés in the city which used to supply newspapers and wi-fi don’t do so any more. And a bowl of crisps now serves as a tapa in many places. I guess we can’t blame them for trying to claw back profits lost to Covid, by reducing expenses. Those that remained in business, that is.

Things could be worse . . . The NYT tells of a disgruntled US tourist in Marella who spaffed €243 on a seafood feast and was charged €3 for an ‘extra cube of ice’,

The UK

Britain is being pushed to the brink by official neglect of the white underclass, says this insightful but always-controversial columnist.

And I guess this is pretty controversial too . . . Labour are gearing up for a moral crusade against the centre-Right : Starmer’s renewed zeal for law and order is just one front in a wider war against diversity of thought and free speech.

The USA

Two of the oddest men in the world interviewed each other last night. Not all went well, it seems.

But, says this columnist, at least Musk is useful to us in forcing us to confront the biggest, scariest conundrum of the internet age, which liberal governments worldwide, despite tentative legislation here and there, have thus far swerved. Which is, bluntly, how does a free society cope when the unspeakable are free to speak?

The Guardian’s view of the event almost certainly accurate . . . The incoherent in full pursuit of the unendurable. As expected, it was a display of two planet-sized egos, toxic masculinity and breathtaking mendacity. More surprisingly it was also dull, like sitting with two drunks at a bar trying to set the world to rights over more than two hours. Bring on the clowns . . . Oh, they’re already here.

As for the VP . . Harris is a wholly new kind of politician. One who’s not meant to be known but felt. It’s less her policies we’re meant to be wowed by than her vibes. Brace yourselves: America might soon be ruled by a meme made flesh.

Should we be worrried​​​???

The Way of the World

Drunk visitors, rocketing rents and homogenised cafes: living in Europe’s tourist hotspots. Here in Pv city, we’re not quite there yet. We just have larger and larger guided-tour groups. Oh, and rapidly rising rents. And 3,000% more camino ‘pilgrims’ than 15 years ago.

Spanish

• Rorcual: Especie de ballena
• Varar: To beach or run aground: to put in a dry dock. Hence, varamientos, of rorcuales

Finally . .

The BBC has a new series on Africa, in which they don’t give a pass to Africans heavily involved in slavery before the Europeans arrived there. Which makes a change.

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.