Awake, for morning in the bowl of night has flung the stone that puts
the stars to flight.
And, lo, the hunter of the east 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

These are said to be the 42 data bits required of tourists. The form is more difficult to fill in than a tax return, said one wag.

Pretty bad news . . . Spanish kids don’t do well in maths and science and, this year, feature even lower in the international table. Not what you want in a modern society.

Better news . . . Spain is a far more equal society than many others, with a better distribution of wealth. Especially compared with the USA, of course.

I’ve never heard of the ‘pensioners visa’, though I suspect this is what I got 24 years ago. Details here. Note that it can’t be used to circumvent the 90/180-day rule. You have to become resident for that, after 6 months, I think. And pay Spanish taxes.

Hornet news: There are at least 3 kinds of these, all of which kill bees:

• The Vespa soror or Northern giant hornet. The largest.
• The Vespa mandarinia or Southern giant hornet. Sometimes referred to as “murder hornets”, these are native to tropical and subtropical regions of Southeast Asia, including India, China, Thailand and Vietnam. This one appeared in nearby Asturias 2 years ago and desperate attempts are being made to find their nests, so they can be eradicated before they get to the rest of Spain. Let’s hope they succeed, as we already have enough problems with . . .
• The Vespa velutina or Yellow-legged hornet or Asian hornet. These are native to Southeast Asia and are smaller than the other 2. They’ve been in Spain since 2010 and great efforts are made to control them. They love the caterpillars of the box moths, which breed in box hedges. I unfortunately have one of these . . .

Cousas de Galicia

As predicted, our Kings light up at night . . .

More Xmas features, in Pv city’s main square.

There’s also an ice-ring and a toboggan slope near the Alameda. As I’ve said, all free. Presumably financed by our municipal taxes (called the ‘rates’ in the UK).

And I thought I had a problem . . . A young woman up in Ourense has been sent a €908 fine for parking in a street she always uses. Naturally, she can’t get any bureaucrat to tell her why she got it and how she can get it cancelled. They all hang up on her.

Talking of driving . . .Possibly the best news I’ve heard all year: The DGT’s driving test might be moved from my route to and from my daily parking spot in Lérez, taking with it the irritating students of the 20+ driving schools which plough/plow/plague the roads around it.

Portugal

Why the country is so popular with Americans/Yankees. You can probably guess.

France and the EU

The French crisis shows that no nation is too big to escape the eurozone curse . . . France is usually the powerhouse of the EU. Now, rocked by insurgent populists and burgeoning debt, it could threaten the single currency’s stability.

M Macron, as expected/feared, has refused to resign. L’état est el.

The USA

What makes the USA truly exceptional.

Trump’s no freak; he’s the ultimate American. [Can’t get the link. Maybe tomoz]

Spanish

El Complejo/Sindrome/Efecto de Penélope: Es un concepto psicológico que describe una situación en la que la espera se convierte en una constante existencial en la vida de una persona. Este término fue acuñado por la psicoanalista austro-argentina Marie Langer, inspirado en el personaje mitológico griego Penélope. Or maybe . . . The Penelope syndrome is an epileptic encephalopathy that occurs during sleep exclusively in childhood. It’s named after the Greek mythological figure Penelope, wife of Odysseus. The analogy suggests that, like Penelope unraveling her weaving at night, the brain’s daytime progress is undone during sleep due to abnormal epileptic activity.

You Have to Laugh

In 2021, German collector Peter Esser paid £20,000 for a painting Wild and Free, done by a pig with its snout. Inevitably nicknamed Pigcasso. The pig, not Herr Esser. Who surely has other nicknames . . .

Finally . . .

A film you might want to avoid. Or watch only for its comedic quotient, as I will do soon.

My thanks to those readers who take the trouble to Like my posts, either after reading them 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 link 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.