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

The self-exiled, fugitive and be-wigged ex-Catalan president, Carles Puigdemont, gives us here an insight into his recent exploits. He talks of ‘Southern Catalunia’ (ie Spain) and ‘northern Catalunia’ (ie France) and uses the word ‘exfiltration’, which is defined as: 1. The process of exiting an area (usually behind enemy lines or in enemy territory), and 2. A method for managing storm water run-off. I guess he means the former.

HT to Lenox Napier of Business Over Tapas for this blogpost by Guy Hedgecoe, which seems not to have shown up in my feed back in June. As Lenox says: It’s about how the Spanish, thanks perhaps to bad television, lowbrow punditry and ‘the unfiltered op-ed sewage that fills Twitter’, are losing their edge. GH is less than impressed by a former PM’s attempts at football commentary. He complains about the teaching emphasis on the minutiae of grammar and syntax, something which I regularly heard about when I came here 24 years ago. His indictment: The skill of expressing oneself with words, putting thoughts into concise and clear prose, is being crushed by the education system.

I noted recently that price increases in the supermarkets might well have moderated but are not yet falling. So, no great surprise that they’re enjoying record profits. So much for competition.

An article here on the hottest place in Spain by someone with a famous surname. A nom-de-plum​e?

As I’d expected, this article on 6 great island escapes around the world features our Islas Cíes. In first place, in fact. Again, I’m left wondering how real the research was. The writer claims that the Nautilus in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, salvaged Spanish treasure there, whereas this happened in the Bahía de San Simón, through the Rande Straits from the Bahía de Vigo. 10km away.

HT to my friend David for the news that, here in Galicia, signs are beginning to be seen exhorting Madrileños to go home.

Germany

More on that story of tricky Afghans

France

Is different . . . President Macron is trying to increase the retirement age and both the Left and the Right are trying to reduce it. The current age of 62 compares with:-

• Italy: 67
• UK: Rising to 67 by 2028
• Germany: Rising to 67

Backcloth: The [highly expensive and debt-expanding] French state pension is based on final salary. On average, pensioners receive around 74% of their pre-retirement earnings compared to just 58% in the UK and 68% across the EU. The highest is in Greece, at 81%.

The USA

The reinvention of Harris is all hype, without heft: will she dupe America? Harris has been remade from a losing, unpopular, conventional political hack into an icon of statesmanship . . . . The most ambitious reinvention of a political persona ever attempted. . . . In its first month the campaign has looked less like a bid for control of the most important country on a dangerous planet and more a kind of vast sleepover party for excitable followers fluent in the argot of modern teenage fandom. . . .

Quote of the Day

From that article . . . There is a certain irony in watching as Trump, who has made several careers out of successfully deceiving people, now finds himself the victim of what may be the biggest con of all.

Spanish

• Madamita: A figure made of wire and paper.
• Álgido: Of an event: Peak/high (point), culminating, decisive, crucial

Did you know?

In life-support suites in western private hospitals, Middle-Eastern princes are kept alive way beyond decency presumably in order that their vast familial entourages continue to receive the funds that flow from them and dry up considerably on death.

Finally . .

The latest type of grass to invade my lawn – or at least the patches where seeds failed to flourish – is Pennisetum clandestinum, these days called Cenchrus clandestinus. Being of African origin, its common name is Kekuyu grass. As it’s very green and flattish, I prefer it to gramón, which has hard, spikey seed stems, tough on bare feet.

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. If you do this but don’t read the posts, I will delete your subscription. So perhaps don’t bother if you have other reasons for subscribing . . .
• 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.