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 wants to re-classify primates like gorillas and orangutangs as humans – this is why.

Lenox Napier possibly speaks for many in this post on an upcoming change to an important law.

We’ll be in Valencia city in a few days. I do hope this chap has moved on by then . . .

Changing Spain? Twice in recent days I’ve had to check in on line, attaching a foto of both sides of my ID card to my email. Might this be happening because of the planned increase in the details which hotels will have to obtain from tourists?

Galician News: There’ll be competition for Renfe on the Madrid-Galicia line by ‘the end of 2026’. Maybe. . . . . El ADIF confirmó que prepara las condiciones para esa segunda liberalización ferroviaria, que incluirá esta vez el Noroeste. La firma hispano-italiana Iryo, la francesa Oigo o el consorcio español formado por Alsa y Eco-Rail entrarían en Galicia si realizan la importante inversión de adquirir trenes de ancho variable. Las rutas que ya disfrutan de la liberalización total en España han reducido sus precios un 25 % y aumentado las frecuencias diarias.

This is what the Galician police fined drivers for last week. I’m convinced you’ll be booked for reaching to turn on the radio or put on a CD. Assuming anyone does either of these any more . . .

Germany

My friend in Hamburg has advised me of reports of massive lay-offs of VW employees. Bad times, indeed for the motor of the EU economy.

The USA

Why Jews have every reason not to vote for Donald Trump.

English

A reader has kindly told me of this fascinating video on Anglish. And has provided this – very accurate – quote on our bastard tongue: “English doesn’t ‘borrow’ from other languages: it follows them down dark alleys, knocks them over & goes through their pockets for loose grammar & valuable vocabulary.” – James Nicoll.

Finally . . .

Travel News

It was wonderful to see Chinchón’s Plaza Mayor lit up last night. This foto doesn’t really do it justice.

There’d been a bullfight there 10 days ago, the last of the year.

We stayed last night in a hotel in Chinchon set up in a centuries old house. Nondescript from the outside, it has a magnificent interior, with the rooms set around an atmospheric courtyard. Our rooms were large and well furnished but, as with many older hotels, plug sockets were very few. Only 2 in fact, and one of these was taken up by the TV, until I yanked out the plug. Worst of all, for the first time in decades of travelling, there was no glass/plastic/cardboard beaker for the water I needed this morning, after too much wine last night. Two hours too late, I recalled I had a water bottle in my overnight bag . . .

Finally – at the end of October – there was no heating visible, suggesting they close down during the winter.

But the hotel shower did re-teach me a valuable lesson – Don’t stand in the shower until you know which way the lever goes to cause cold water to deluge you from the upper shower-head.

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.