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

To live in Spain is to be bombarded with tales of political corruption and the biff-baff recriminations between the political parties. Here’s an article on what the writer terms the latest Spanish corruption scandal. A label which might well move on to something else today or tomorrow.

This is something which will affect working individuals but perhaps not pensioners or the self-employed (autónomas). A new solidarity contribution[=tax] is designed to increase social security contributions from high-earning employees and their employers to support the pension system, but it does not directly apply to pension payments themselves.

How and Why the Basques are different. BTW, they’re said to be the first folk who arrived in the south of England as the ice-cap melted 15,000 years ago. But why??

Mark Stücklin again: Catalonia – a testing ground for rent control policies- is under nationwide scrutiny as new rules expand to cover 90% of the Catalan population.

Mark Stücklin yet again- on property prices and reductions nationwide. Rent controls have unintended consequences that are a disaster for all involved.

There were 2 problems in parking in Lérez this morning:–

• 1. The flooding of my parking area, and
• 2. A foot race in the city, meaning a lot more cars than usual in un-flooded alternative places nearby. But it was nice to see this band playing as I entered the old quarter. [Seems I’m not allowed to upload my video without paying for a premium service but stuff that . .]

But it reminded me of something I noted when I first came here in 2000, viz. That the Spanish have little or no radar/antennae when it comes to other folk. I planned to take about 10 seconds of the band but had to abort the exercise after just 2 seconds when a guy came and stood right in front me and my raised phone.

I read many years ago that there are more than 40 ways you can order your coffee in Spain. I normally stick to 2 – un americano or un con leche, depending on the time of day. But I’ve been forced by one place I use on Sundays to confirm that, if you want less (bitter) coffee and more milk. it’s a café manchado. By the way, it’s advisable to read up on the difference between torrefacto and natural coffees. Most cafés are said to use the former, as it’s cheaper.

The UK

The estimable Camilla Long: A crack Labour team has gone to sort out America. Lucky there’s nothing to fix here in the UK. Sending Britons to the US to campaign for Kamala Harris might not be illegal, but it is embarrassing.

Ireland

This is a follow-up to the podcast on Irish issues that I cited a few days ago.

France

In his book – Citizens – on the French Revolution – Simon Sharma writes that – Just prior to the Revolution, France was gripped by a Cult of Sensibility(=sensitivity). As opposed to our era’s Cult of Woke.

The USA

Will Trump’s ‘fat pig’ supporters – as he hopes – get off the couch and give him a win?

Bearing in mind that few in the UK[Europe?] would vote for him, these are truly astonishing percentages of Trump voters from last time round:-

• Overall 48%
• 69% of white evangelical Protestants
• 65% of white men [the ‘fat pig’ constituency?]
• 53% of white women[!!]
• 47% of Catholics
• 42% of those with a university degree
• 38% of Hispanics
• 33% with postgraduate degrees[!]
• In rural areas, 65%
• In the suburbs, 43%

His share of the black vote was lower but he seems to have increased this, as he has with lower class Hispanic men, because the memory of a Trump-era economy is better than the Biden economy.

The only good news is that the percentage for white women is lower now.

I increasingly believe he could well win. Largely because of Harris’s weaknesses and her Progressive/Far Left’ history. A sheet anchor.

Parochially. I suspect all this means the UK will never risk having an elected head of state. And will keep its unwritten but highly flexible Constitution.

The Way of the World/Quote of the Day

Maybe even the furthest-Left liberal can now see that Asylum treaties are the greatest threat to the West. OK, maybe not. But such a (recalcitrant)person should be made to counter the arguments in the article.

English

PGB:- See here.

Did you know?

• The cry of a new-born baby is called a vagitus.
• These are some punctuation suggestions that never caught on but probably should have done so. At least in some cases. The latest denotes sarcasm/irony and is much needed by some of us . . .

Finally . . .

Reader Perry has commented on the pictures in the site I commented on yesterday. Which made me think further about them, and I finally realised what they reminded me of – illustrations in the Watchtower magazine that my JW friends used to give me . . .

Finally, Finally . . .

A different attitude from mine towards the recent heavy rain in Spain.

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.