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 devastating floods:

• The Balearics, Málaga, Majorca, Huelva, Cádiz and Jerez have now all ‘fallen prey’ to the DANA storms.
• A comprehensive retrospective from The Times
• The death toll is now 250 and around 1,900 people are still missing in the Valencia and Castellón provinces of the Valencia region
• The BBC: Public anger is growing over how a developed European country appeared to fail to warn many communities of the flood danger in time. Questions have been asked over whether disaster management services issued warnings too late. The civil protection agency, deployed during national disasters, did not issue an alert until 20:15 on Tuesday evening local time, by which time several places in Valencia had been flooded for hours.
• The Times: Spaniards are angry. Could more have been done? Some damning statements therein.
• Lenox Napier
• A response to the inevitable question Why is the death toll so high? BTW – the relevance of climate change is questioned by some, who claim that the rainfall data of the last 50-60 years suggests this gota fría was not unique. If so, perhaps other human factors are more relevant. Like, as in the UK, continuing to build where flooding is likely. Or failing to have sufficiently rapid response measures in place. Or failing to build a dam and reservoir.

Need I say that Spain’s tribal political parties are indulging in their favourite pastime of – appropriately – hurling mud at each other, reflecting the fact that the national and regional governments are of different parties,

The latest news . . . Spain deploys 10,000 soldiers and police in a stepped-up floods rescue effort. Amid criticism of ‘too slow’ regional authorities, the Prime Minister admits that response so far has not been enough.

The UK

I recently mentioned UK motorways. Here’s an article on the country’s first of these, now 65 years old. The headline . . . The M1 at 65: from free-wheeling speedway to a riot of roadworks.

I’m reminded that I once hitch-hiked down the M1 and the driver attempted to terrify me by driving at over 100mph. Successfully, but I never showed it.

Time to admit I once reached 140mph on the M1, with my wife’s permission, of course.

Germany

This has become increasingly clear in recent times. . . Leni Riefenstahl was a liar who curated her own reputation as though it were one of her propaganda films

The USA

The Orange Loon’s week.

More seriously, . . . A dire warning: Whoever wins the US Presidential election, civil strife is sure to follow

Russia

A surreal development.

Finally . . .

If any reader knows where to go to find out if I unwittingly committed a speeding offence last Saturday, please advise in the Comments. Whenever I go to the (allegedly|) relevant DGT site, I get this:-

BTW . . . The windscreen wiper which distracted me last Saturday has, indeed, turned out to be faulty. The end bit of the wiper is separated from the frame. No real consolation, of course.

Travel news

Yesterday . . .

Uclés: 2 things to say . .

• When we arrived in this sleepy place, there were only 2 or 3 cars in the main square, as befitting a village with only c.200 residents. When, at 2.30, we came out from the only restaurant open in the square, there were 30-40 cars there. God knows where they all came from. But the restaurant had certainly filled up during an hour.
• There was a huge battle there in 1809, when the invading French attacked the monastery-cum-castle. This is a report on it, which possibly only reader Perry will access . .

At midnight last night, I changed hotel rooms because the heat in mine was stifling. This morning I was told it’s not enough to have the control panel on Cool and the thermostat at zero. The system will still blast out hot air. Which would have been to good to know last night.

Today . . .

Another day of castle visiting – in Almansa this time – and driving a short distance, this time to Elche. If you’ve read this, you’ll know that I spent a very uncomfortable night there with my fiancée many years ago. It’ll be interesting to see what emotions visits to the cathedral and to the Palmera throw up this evening.

Elche is in the Alicante province of the Valencia region but, as yet, no sign of storm damage. Tomorrow we will check on the feasibility/advisability of travelling to Alicante.

No regular reader will be surprised to hear I got another fine today. This time for not putting enough money in a parking machine, after I’d misread the note re Saturdays. So, innocent again. But still guilty.

BTW . . . The reason for that strange sign in Chinese the lift of the hotel in Almansa . . . There was a coachload of Koreans staying here last night. Yes, Korean . . . But they do get Chinese groups too, they told me.

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.