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

An interesting anti-tourist slogan in La Coruña, the home of Zara’s parent company.

Lenox Napier casts his experienced eye over the ‘guardians of Spanish morality’ here.

Talking about saviours . . . A quick-thinking railway worker in Spain ‘deliberately derailed a train that was moments away from causing a disaster in Madrid a few days ago’ Which rather clarified the original headline of ‘Crash probably due to sabotage’.

The Costa del Sol declares war on wild boars invading beaches. As I said recently, it’s open season on them now in Galicia and you can kill as many as you like. Especially those running at you with their razor-sharp tusks

This is a nice article on visiting Paradors by bike. Nice to see the one in Baiona/Byona cited but I was surprised not to see that of San Estevo up near Ourense. Maybe too much of a climb. Lots of fotos here.

A sad development reported in today’s VdG: Una encuesta en el colegio: “Un gay no merece vivir”: Mientras en A Coruña se juzga el crimen de Samuel Luiz [The beating to death of a young gay guy by a gang of 5 youths], sale a la luz una encuesta realizada por el Concello de Pontevedra, entre los alumnos y los profesores de los institutos de la ciudad, a los que se les preguntó sobre diversidad, para averiguar si se producían agresiones físicas o verbales contra personas del colectivo LGTBIQA+. Eso fue hace cinco años, con algunos resultados preocupantes. Ahora se ha vuelto a realizar el sondeo y la cosa va a peor. Los comentarios de odio se multiplicaron, otros contestaron para boicotear los resultados y otros protestaron aduciendo que están hartos de que les hablen de diversidad.

Last night Facebook threw up a ‘short’ about a church in Galicia described as having Celtic, Visigothic, Romanesque and Mozarabic elements. So, I did several AI searches but was repeatedly told the place was either in Pv city or in Toledo, even though the foto in FB said the location was Chantada, in Galicia. But I persevered and eventually got this info: The Ermida da Virxe da Fátima, also known as the Santuario Nacional de Nuestra Señora de Fátima, is in Chantada, Galicia. It was initiated in 1944 by Father Emilio Eyre Lamas on the site of an ancient castro in Centulle. The sanctuary was intended to be a [bizarre] blend of various architectural styles, including Pre-Romanesque, Visigothic, Asturian Romanesque, Mozarabic, Gothic and modern styles, with[!] an Irish-Celtic influence. Unfortunately, the project was abandoned in 1957 due to a lack of resources and remains in ruins today. Must be worth a visit the next time I’m up near Lugo. Possibly on the Camino Inglés again. Fotos and video tour on this site.

Today I got from the Xunta my Seniors discount card for establishments here in Galicia. I was quite excited about this, until I saw that I never patronise any of those listed . . . Maybe more will be added over time.

The UK

Let’s hear it for the British public. More accurately, its sense of humour.

The USA

I cited a quite recently that US Presidential elections are all about performance, at which Trump is talented. Now comes this statement: The secret of Trump’s success? His campness. The Republican candidate has raised a uniquely American version of kitsch to a winning formula. Another quote: In a democracy as heavily invested in the will of the people as America purports to be, politics will almost inevitably become a form of entertainment. This is the This Week article cited therein on the long-standing performative campness of Trump.

Fascinating reading but what on earth does it say about US society and its electorate?

The Way of the World/Social Media

Online friendships are all about self-deception.

Quotes of the Day

Both from that article

• A social species like ours has sophisticated methods of reading and judging other people’s behaviour – and not always in ways they might like.
• Nobody ever gave a good funeral eulogy that consisted only of what the deceased said on Facebook. 

Did you know?

The plastic thing placed in the middle of a pizza box is called a box tent.

You Have to Laugh

A right-handed writer named Wright
In writing write always wrote rite
When he meant to write write.
If he’d written write right,
Wright would not have wrought rot writing rite. – Anonymous

Finally . . .

As forecast, the sun shone gloriously today. So, naturally, I was too hot in my linen jacket.

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.