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

Spain’s Golden Visa is explained here, where it’s said you can still get one despite government plans to abolish it.

Come to Galicia if you really want to live more than 100 years.

There goes the peace and quiet of our Ribera Sacra . . .

I went down a wormhole today around the issue of British attacks on Vigo and Pontevedra.

• The first one was in 1589 and was revenge for the Spanish Armada of 1588. This was led by Francis Drake, who wasn’t great at obeying his orders. His unauthorised attack on La Coruña was not a great success but Vigo was a much softer target. As was Pontevedra. Though he never demolished the church on Illa de Tambo .
• The 2nd attack was in 1719 and was devastating for Vigo. Fifty years later, a British soldier visiting the city was both shocked and ashamed that the local populace hadn’t recovered from what had been done to it and them. Actually, this too had been a vengeful expedition, following the invasion of Sicily by the Spanish. “As on too many occasions throughout history, it was the subjects who paid for the foolish obstinacy of their king.” Anyway, the British forces moved on to Redondela and then Pontevedra where they damaged the barracks and set fire to 2 defensive towers. And drank themselves silly. Like future generations of British visitors. Links:-
• The English Armada
• The Capture of Vigo and Pontevedra
• Vigo, 1719. A forgotten raid during a forgotten war

Walking 10 minutes from the centre of Pv city’s old quarter to my car on the other side of the river this evening, I passed 17 locales boarded up. My guess is that, by 2034, they’ll have been converted into ground floor flats.

The UK

Scottish nationalism is a very odd form of nationalism indeed. We feel separate from the other parts of the UK and are desperate to emphasise our difference even to the extent of dressing up in clothes we don’t normally wear so that everyone knows we are Scottish. But our separatism is not serious. The least disadvantage of leaving will see us stay. No other independence movement in the world has ever worried about currency or pensions or indeed borders. Effie Deans.

Sounds rather like Galician nationalism . . .

France

The unholy alliance of Macron and Le Pen: Their dangerous liaison could reshape Europe.

India v China

From William Dalrymple’s book ‘The Golden Roads’ . . . . In contrast to India, China has become very good at telling the story that it was always the centre of the Asian world. But history tells quite a different story. In the crucial period between the end of antiquity and the onset of the High Middle Ages, you can make at least as good a case for India being the cultural and intellectual centre of Asia, influencing and changing the course of religious, artistic and cultural life in all the regions around it, not least in China itself. . . . India was one of the two great intellectual and philosophical superpowers of ancient Asia, fully equal to China in the broader ancient world. It set the template for the way much of the world would think and express itself, and would significantly alter the trajectory of the history of the great swathe of mankind. For more than 1000 years it was a garden that issued the seeds that, once planted elsewhere, flowered in new, rich and unexpected ways.

The Way of the Worl

• Effie Deans on freedoms lost/going .
• Might be worth a read – Infantilised: How Our Culture Killed Adulthood.

Finally . .

Apologies for the lateness of this post. I was checking out a new pijo café, where the local white costs 3.80 a (small) glass, against a norm of 2.80 elsewhere for rather more. Won’t be going back. Even though it was a decent Ribeiro.

My thanks to those readers who take the trouble to Like my posts, either after reading on line or in my FB group Thoughts from Galicia.

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.