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 odd use of cling-film, But needs must.

Here’s Lenox Napier on names, and the Spanish treatment of foreign versions. All Spanish institutions treat Colin – actually my second forename – as my first surname. Which often causes problems with computer searches. I wouldn’t mind the inevitable ‘Señor Colin’, if it weren’t always pronounced Coleen. An Irish female name, of course.

Private e-scooters are illegal on roads or pavements in the UK but have become a common sight, particularly in urban areas. So, the government there is going to legalise and, of course, regulate them. Not before time. I think they’re already regulated in Spain, though possibly on different bases in the 17 regions, unless El Tráfico’s rules predominate. Of course, one sees e-scooterists ignoring whatever laws are in place, eg as regards the number of people on them, and the wearing of helmets. Worst of all, the speed at which they’re allowed to slalom through pedestrian areas. I’m tempted to hit them with my souvenir walking stick from the Seychelles. [See this post, if you’re new to this bog . . .]

The UK

• A very modern tale, the account of which tells you how to react if a couple of coppers knock on your door these wokeish days, assuming they’re not actually there to arrest you under a warrant. Hard to do, if you’ve been falsely accused of something, as I once was, but very advisable. BTW: PACE stands for Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984. And The Plod are, of course, the police. I sort of pity of them having to waste their time on such incidents, especially in view of the paperwork they involve them in. Possibly by hand, or on an old typewriter.
• I’m not sure the same advice would be applicable to a visit from the Spanish police . . . But, then, there probably isn’t under Spanish law the wonderful concept of a ‘non-crime hate incident’ – an NCHI. Or not yet, at least.

The EU

Circumstances change principles . . . When Boris Johnson cut a deal to process several thousand asylum seekers to the UK in Rwanda in 2021, the EU’s reaction was dismissive. Three years on, it has executed the most complete U turn. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen now wants EU governments to agree to set up migrant ‘hubs’ outside the EU where their claims can be processed. The model is Italy’s deal with Albania, but Rwanda is also on the list.

Germany

Continuing economic woe and political instability. So . . . New elections next April. Not good for the EU. Just as well that by then there’ll soon be a Europhile US president, only too willing to help[⁈]*. No wonder the euro has fallen.

• A punctuation mark for irony. Por si acaso . .

The USA

• Poverty of chutzpah ain’t Trump’s biggest weakness . . . Trump floors Washington with a one-two punch of shock cabinet picks. The president-elect embraces controversy as he dares Senate Republicans to defy him on his choices of Tulsi Gabbard and Matt Gaetz. And liberal commentators are beyond gobsmacked. Not a huge surprise to read that: The core attribute for the new cabinet is loyalty to Trump – a man who’s never shown any understanding of ‘meritocracy’. The only real surprise is that he hasn’t appointed a family member to every position. Just sycophants, as you’d expect.
• Trump’s biggest (only?) British friend – the Honourable Member for Mar-a-Largo.

Russia Watch

From the UN special rapporteur on human rights [in Private Eye] . . . Vladimir Putin’s regime has taken total control of Russia’s laws since 2022, so that now all dissent and human rights activism is deemed criminal. Those who have fallen foul of the changing law include human rights defenders, political opposition figures, artists, playwrights, religious figures, LGBTQ activists, 200 media organisations, more than 100 journalists and 2021 Nobel Priest laureate Dmitri Muratov founder of Novaya Gazeta newspaper. At least 1,322 people had been convicted on politically motivated charges in closed trials. Sentencing can be draconian: paediatrician Nadezhda Bayanova, 68, faces 10 years in gaol for allegedly making an anti war comment to a soldier’s widow during her child’s check-up. Torture of detainees – including beatings, sexual violence, electric shocks, and worse – is now overt and clearly sanctioned by the government. Prison conditions have worsened dramatically since 2022, with prisoners completely at the mercy of the regime. Prison deaths surprise nobody in Russia but the death of Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchyna,27, on 19 September did shock the world. More dystopian still, at least 86 people have had coercive psychiatric treatment imposed on politically-motivated grounds this year alone. The rapid deterioration of human rights in Russia has been accelerated by 2 things: the invasion of Ukraine; and Russia’s decision to leave the European Convention on Human Rights, the only country ever to have done so.

And yet Trump appears to admire Mr Putin . . .

The Way of the World

Azerbaijan is using Cop29 to ‘greenwash’ corruption, says the opposition. Anyone fainting in astonishment? They’ll be saying the Pope’s a Catholic next.

English

As you’ll know, English is a language of far fewer syllables than Spanish. A relevant report . . . When an editor complained that Gerald Kersh used too many long words, Kersh bet him £50 that he could write a story entirely in monosyllables. Kersh won with a tale starting: “We met on the stairs of Time: I was on my way up; he was on his way down. I was young; he was old, and poor — so poor that he did not know when luck would send him a meal and a bed”. The Spanish version of that: Nos encontramos en la escalera del Tiempo: yo subía; él bajaba. Yo era joven; él era viejo y pobre, tan pobre que no sabía cuándo la suerte le enviaría comida y una cama. I haven’t checked the syllable ratio but it must be at least 2:1. No wonder Spaniards talk fast . . .

Did you know?

One foggy night in 1687, a resident of Mechelen in Belgium emerged from an inn, looked up at St. Rumbold’s Cathedral, and raised an alarm — the tower was on fire. Residents flung open their windows and saw the same reddish glow. The rumour raised an uproar, and the mayor organized a chain of volunteers to pass buckets of water up the tower stairway. Before they reached the top, though, the fog cleared and the alarm was called off. The red glow had been only the moon’s light shining through the tower’s red bell windows. Ever since, residents of Mechelen have been known as Maneblussers, or moon extinguishers.

You Have to Laugh

A Spanish guy has set up as business as a Marriage Stopper. For a woman with cold feet, he will stand up in church when the priest asks if anyone knows of any impediment to the marriage and claim something like he and the bride-to-be are lovers and intend to abscond together. Enterprising chap. Good business, he says.

Finally . . . The Horticultural Section.

I’ve mentioned that the weeds have grown in profusion wherever they have the chance. I don’t suppose a foto is really necessary but here’s one of the side of my house, where I’ve planted a ground/covering weed against the wall.

I turned this patch over before I went on my road trip, only to find hundreds of weeds emerging 2 weeks later.

But there is good news . . . The self-seeded Virginia[?] creeper looks like this at this time of the year:-

And the fine grass that refused to grow in the summer has sprouted all over the front lawn, vividly filling the bald patches very unexpectedly.

Inside the house, I have this Christmas/Easter ‘cactus’ rescued from a bin outside my mother’s house in the UK, when it had only 2 leaves.

At this time of year, it usually produces 20 or more beautiful blooms like this one

But, this year, this is the only one. So far at least. And no buds in sight. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for Easter.

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.