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

As in the UK, so in Spain: La vivienda pasa de problema a desafio crucial.

I doubt that many folk believe the Spanish government is acting in good faith to continue to demand the acceptance of Catalan as an official EU language. It’s one of the demands of one of the small parties that keep the PSOE in power. Going through the motions, I suspect.

HT to Lenox Napier of Business Over Tapas for this information from El País: Madrid’s Latino population surpasses one million. When I came to Spain, the number was a mere 81,552 but now it’s 1,038,671 – the population of, say, Málaga, Spain’s 5th largest urban area. I seem to recall that, 25 years ago, none of Spain’s waiters, waitresses and receptionists were immigrants from South America. Whereas they now all are. And a bloody good job they do, too.

Cousas de Galicia

One of Pv’s prettiest plazas is dedicated to the Greek warrior, Teucro – the mythical founder of the city. It’s a lovely place to eat and drink but I’ve always thought it rather incongruous that there was a printing business in one corner of it. But it was still sad to read this week that, after being there more than 100 years, it’s closing down. So, another restaurant in due course? Or a boutique hotel for the ever-increasing number of folk who’ve learned about the city’s summer appeal.

There was another of those Xunta institutional ads in today’s local press, this time asking you to drive ‘as if you had the main meal for the Xmas lunch in your car’ . . . Confused/bemused by this message, I clicked on the QR and got this . . . Click on Ver video’ for full enlightenment. I have 2 daughters. If they’d been like the 2 in this, they wouldn’t be alive by now. And they wouldn’t have died in a car crash . . .

Talking of visitors . . . The total number of camino pilgrims who passed through Pv city on the Camino Portugués this year has been confirmed as 500,000. This is exactly 100 times more than 15 years ago. . . So, it’s not much like it used to be, even if the thrill of arriving in Santiago de Compostela is the same. On the upside, I guess you can meet a lot more people. In truth, these days you can’t really avoid them.

Good to read that, up in Lugo, the sweets to be thrown during the Reyes calbalgata next week will be gluten-free.

Portugal

This has to be very good news . . . Portugal will eliminate tolls on several of its roads from tomorrow. This marks a significant shift from the policy implemented in 2012, when Portugal started charging for previously free highways (SCUT) as a revenue-raising measure during the financial crisis. The rationale behind this decision includes:

1. Reinforcing road safety by encouraging the use of high-capacity highways that lack safe alternative routes
2. Benefiting various groups, including carriers and caravanning enthusiasts
3. Addressing the financial burden on drivers and potentially stimulating economic activity in affected regions. The roads affected:-

1. A22 in the Algarve (connecting to Andalucia)
2. A4 (connecting to Zamora)
3. A13
4. A23
5. A24 (reaching Ourense)
6. A25 – Beiras Litoral and Alta
7. A28 – Minho (Esposende-Antas, and Neiva-Darque)

The UK

The bizarrely beckoning boutiques of Bicester*

*Pronounced Bister, I think.

France

OK, another Frankish king – but the one who replaced the last Carolingian king, started the Capetian dynasty and laid the foundations for modern France. From the Autodidactic Professor, of course. En passant, the last king of France –  Louis Philippe I – was also a Capetian king, 900 years later. Albeit of a ‘cadet branch’ of the dynasty – the House of Orleans.

The USA

Nothing unusually stupid to report. But that’s going to be the way of things for at least 4 years, I fear.

The Way of the World/Quote of the Day

Trigger warnings are a form of madness that masquerades as compassion but is really about the need to conform.  No one dies from being offended, but – trigger warning here – everyone dies in the end.

Spanish

• Al ras: Flush, level. Close thing.
• Moco(s): Snot
• Moquear: To sniffle. To have a runny nose
• Mogollón: Loads/ton/lots of

Did you know?

• Año: Year
• Ano: Anus
• Feliz Año: Happy New Year
• Feliz Ano: Happy Anus.

So, you need to be sure you include the accent in your wotsap messages. As well as in any verbal greetings, of course.

My thanks to those readers who take the trouble to Like my posts.

And HAPPY NEW YEAR to all. [Imagine a series of emojis here]

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.