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

How Spain’s tomato-flinging festival stamps out sexual harassment. In the past, La Tomatina has been marred by incidents but organisers are taking steps to prevent them this year

There was an article in a local paper this week on these caminos. This are some I’ve never heard of and none of them appear in the list of 40+ caminos on the most comprehensive site I know of. More evidence of the brilliance of the Catholic Church is generating revenue for itself and for others . . .

• El camino de Padre Sarmiento
• La ruta del mar de Arousa y el río Ulla
• El camino de Ignacio Taverneiro
• El Camiño da Geira e dos Arrieiros
• La Via Mariana

Not being a beer drinker, this article on Spanish beers was of no interest to me but will be to some. I guess.

This is said to be a Spanish proverb: How beautiful it is to do nothing, and then rest afterwards. See here and here.

The EU and the UK

Probably true . . . Keir Starmer’s Berlin affair will fail: Brussels calls the shots on Brexit. The Labour leader and Olaf Scholz may be close allies but to think Germany can approve a transformational deal is a mistake

Germany

Populists are poised for victory in the East German polls, as Scholz faces a rout. Immigration is an issue, of course.

The USA

As well they might . . . Republicans fear that Trump’s campaign strategy against Kamala Harris is failing.

Spanish

HT to Lenox Napier of Business Over Tapas for this article on Spanish teen-slang, including un boomer’, un heater, stalkear, and ser una cabra.

Did you know?

In “Tristram Shandy” – finally finished – Sterne has TS search for the tomb of 2 star-crossed lovers in Lyons, in France. Only to find that it doesn’t exist. It’s said that Sterne here was poking fun at tourists who blindly follow guides. Anyway, I did an AI search and thought I’d come up with a Byron poem on the lovers. Only to find he hadn’t written one, as Sterne had fabricated the myth involving them. Which was pretty far-fetched, it has to be admitted.

Talking of fare-fetched myths . . . I can’t help wondering what Sterne would make of the 500,000 ‘pilgrims’ plodding to Santiago de Compostela this year. Via one ‘authentic’ camino or another

Finally . . .

I spent quite some time this evening compiling a list of price increases since 2019 but, trying to move it from one part of my draft to another, I deleted it and can’t get it back. I doubt if I’ll be arsed to do this again tomorrow. Or any other day. For what it’s worth, here are the prefatory sentences: Here, as promised, are the price increases since 2019 in the Mercadona supermarket I use. It’s not at all scientific and only serves to give a general impression. Certainly, most food items on it are way above the general level of inflation.

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.