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 ex PP president of the Valencia region has been jailed for 10 years for corruption, bribery, and money-laundering. And he’s been ordered to repay €25 million earned from personal kick-backs from rigged contract awards for privatised TV concessions. Doubtless there’ll be something left in Andorra when he exits the the ‘luxury’ jail* for politicians in rather less than 5 years. Assuming his appeal(s) fail. * Soto de Real: A reference prison for the Audiencia Nacional. It’s equipped with various recreational facilities: Swimming pool; squash courts; handball, basketball, and indoor soccer courts; and gymnasiums

You will recall that the Spanish political parties are, as ever, playing the game of Y tu más! Which never has a winner.

It won’t surprise Mark Stücklin, and others, to hear that Barcelona’s rent control gamble has horribly backfired. Especially as he was interviewed for this article.

The mayor of the town which borders Gibraltar – La Linea – states the bleedin’ obvious, viz. that failure to strike a deal with the UK will damage his impoverished town. From which 11,000* Spaniards go every day to work on The Rock/La Roca. [The figure usually given is 15,000]

The strange case of Pablo González – Journalist or Russian spy?

Driving in Poio this morning, it occurred to me that my recently-posted list of the motoring offences you can get fined for in Spain, didn’t include:-

• Using the wrong lane on a roundabout (for which you will get fined in Portugal)
• Not indicating at all
• Indicating wrongly
• Driving all the way round a roundabout to make a U-turn in the outside lane, creating a risk for all drivers exiting earlier;

and what would be the most lucrative offence of all . . . .

• Instructing learner drivers to do all the above.

I write, of course, as a disgruntled driver whose daily route is used by 20+ driving schools.

Yesterday’s Diario de Pv had a feature on the excursionists replacing longer-stay tourists during October. One group snapped was from Jaén, down in Andalucía and were quoted as asking on a sunny Sunday: We came here for the rain. Where is it? Well, their wish was granted today.

Which reminds me . . . It’s chestnut season and the chap with his brazier and his bell is now in his customary position in Pv city’s main square. I imagine he had a lot less business under the sun of Sunday than he’ll have had under the clouds and rain of today.

Germany

Folk in Germany are said to be happy that one of their compatriots has been appointed manager of the England football team. Should English fans start worrying that Germans know something they don’t​?

The EU

• The EU’s Chief Prosecutor has said that, while Spain has an excellent model for investigating national corruption cases, this isn’t true of cases of fraud around EU monies. Communication with Spain is very difficult, she claims, adding that Spain lags behind other EU states in cooperating with the European Public Prosecutor’s Office in investigating corruption using the EU model. She has demanded more robust cooperation and resource allocation from the Spanish authorities. Who might well had their hands full, of course. And higher priorities.
• The EU is said to be considering a scheme rather like that of Italy with Albania, to stem the flow of would-be immigrants. This columnist fears this would increase the UK’s problems/challenges. Probably right to do so.

The USA

Worrying to hear that:-

• Harris is doing better than Biden did with college graduates. But . . .
• Harris is doing even less well than Biden did with non-graduates (the ‘working class’) . . . And
• Trump is doing far better than Harris with the working class, including its non-white members.
• The working class are 60% of voters

All to play for, then. Trump could still win, whatever the Harris-supporting liberal media is saying about the latest polls.

The Way of the World

Not news for cynics . . . The myth of plastic recycling is finally unravelling . . . How much of our waste gets recycled really and are ‘sustainable’ plastic alternatives actually any better for the planet?

Spanish

• Derribos inteligentes: Clever demolitions. On the sign of a company reforming the place in Pv city’s old quarter which I think might have been the posada in which George Borrow stayed in 1837. You have to wonder what ‘stupid demolitions’ would involve.
• Posada: Establecimiento económico de hospedaje que solía servir de aposento destinado a albergar viajeros, en ocasiones con sus carros, caballerías, etc.
• Aposento: Lodging
• Mala hierba: Weed. Lit. Bad grass

Did you know?

The plastic or metallic covering at the of your shoelaces is called an aglet.

Finally . . . You Have to Cry

I don’t know about the grape harvest here in September but the October weed harvest in my garden has been truly spectacular. I don’t recall ever seeing it before but the mala hierba which I think is lawnleaf has covered every square centimetre of (previously bare) earth front and back of my house. Time to get spraying before I go away on a road trip to the Valencia and Mercia regions.

Finally, Finally . . . .

My laptop has started to type words backwards . . . Witness dluohS. Anyone got any idea why?

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.