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

The writer of this article critical of the president of the Valencia region can’t seem to decide whether he was at lunch or dinner at 6pm. Surely the former having started around 3pm.

Political questions raised by the floods.

One of those headlines . . . A money-laundering chief is accused of stashing away several million euros at his home and in his office. Making you wonder in which country you live . . .

The role – here and here – of incoming and outgoing foreigners on Spain’s population. One wonders why the thousands of Brits have left.

As for those staying . . . The Foreign Office is urging all Brits to ensure they have exchanged their old residency cards for the TIE card\ as soon as possible, warning that problems lie ahead for those who don’t. With the new EES system about to come into force next year, travelling anywhere out of the Schengen area, even briefly, Brits without a TIE could suffer big problems trying to return.

This might be of interest to fans of football . . . Real Madrid’s current woes.

The USA

The future and its possibilities is, as ever, more important than the past and its causes. This is a guess which is as good as any, I suppose.

The Way of the World

Iraq is to lower the ‘age of consent’ for girls to nine, the age of one of Mohammed’s wives, as I recall.

Quote of the Day

“It is a common experience that a problem difficult at night is resolved in the morning after the committee of sleep has worked on it.” ― John Steinbeck, Sweet Thursday

Spanish

Salir bien/mal parado (or bienparado/malparado): To turn out well or badly.

You Have to Laugh

A book seen on a table in the lobby of one of the hotels we stayed in . . .

Finally . . .

A Spanish friend in Madrid has just got a (destructive) border collie puppy. When I brought mine to Pv city in 2000, it was the only one there. Now there are dozens. I wonder if this is a nationwide development.

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.