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

Someone else finds the Spanish police both confusing and officious.

One of the problems for drivers in Spain is that it’s not illegal to park right next to a pedestrian crossing or to place huge bins there. And sight lines at crossings are sometimes obscured by vegetation or street furniture. I used to think this was just stupidity but now I suspect it’s deliberate, designed to force drivers to slow down. In the majority of cases, anyway.

Cousas de Galicia

Price increases in Pv province since Covid

• Housing 57%
• Fuels 26%
• Tourism 20%
• Food 18% (but some items almost 100%)

The EU

Whatever problem Brussels thought it had with containing immigrants has surely just got a lot worse with the return of civil war to Syria, and the probable installation of an Islamist regime

The USA

Anyone wondering how well informed the US electorate was before the election will find little reassurance in data from Google. Election day itself saw a huge spike in North American users asking the search engine: ‘Did Biden drop out?’

So, that that video of the post election Kamala Harris giving a drunken Thanksgiving message was an AI spoof. Apparently slowed down at times to ¾ speed. Others say there’s no proof of this and that it was genuine. Either way, if she’d had any future presidential campaign hopes/plans, it’s surely kaiboshed them,

Russia

Events in Syria are said to have been a massive blow to Moscow, because it’s lost a key ally at the heart of the Middle East. Hard to feel sorry for them, though.

Iran

Ditto for this sponsor of terrorism. Per one observer: The consequences of the atrocity on Oct 7 last year has reverberated well beyond slaughter grounds of the kibbutzim on Gaza’s borders. Each wave has weakened Iran, hurting its regional ambitions of dominance, diminishing its stature and prising loose its network of proxies and clients across the Middle East. Hard to see this as a bad thing.

Spanish

The RAE is the custodian of the Spanish language. It’s published a 680 page Guide to this. More astonishingly, it spent 13 years deciding whether the word solo should be sólo. Sticking with the former in the end.

I heard this on a podcast today but wonder if it’s really true, because I don’t believe the English phrase translates into Spanish as suggested . . . The Academy has said that one phrase can only be said and never written down. This is the phrase which in English would be ‘Leave him’. If you wrote it as you should, it would be ‘Salle. Which would be pronounced Saiye, like Çalle. So, you’re not allowed to write it. You have to find some other way of writing ‘Leave him’.

As I say, I wonder how true this is, as the Spanish for ‘Leave him’ is Déjalo (and maybe Déjale), and the verb Salir means ‘To leave’ only in the sense of going out, not leaving alone.

Quote of the Day

Based on current developments, the next evolutionary step for humans will be the elimination of wisdom teeth. Proof that we are getting stupider.

Did you know?

I’ve long thought that the oldest city in the world was Ur, built c. 3,800 BCE, but it turns out to have been the nearby city of Uruk, founded around 4500 BCE.

You Have to Laugh​[?]

A final Spanish joke . . . Sabes qué es un pez el el cine? . . . Un mero espectador!

Finally . . .

Reader Aleksander says that all problems with dogs are caused by bad owners. This reminded me that 2 or 3 nights ago I watched in amazement as a couple came into a Pv city bar pushing a small pram with a dog sitting in it. No sign of a baby.

I just checked and, yes, there are numerous models of such prams on the market. I suspect mostly bought by childless couples, in the USA.

Finally, Finally . . .

Relatedly . . . Something which has been my opinion for years . . The basic concept of a dog in a coat is stupid. Though I admit I did once consider one for a whippet who clearly didn’t like to go for a walk in winter.

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 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.