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

I saw a reference to cristales de leche materna which had adorned an outfit worn on New Year’s Eve by TV presenter Cristina Pedroche. These turned out to be not a biological phenomenon like perlas de leche but synthetic crystals containing real mother’s milk. I wonder if UHT milk would have been just as effective. And a lot easier to acquire. [I was going to say ‘get hold of’ but changed my mind because of an image that came into my head]

Cousas de Galicia

The high-speed train between Madrid and Galicia is called the AVRO – to distinguish it from the real thing – the AVE. It has a poor record for punctuality. Rock bottom was reached yesterday when some battery-recharging problem meant they couldn’t run at all. Causing chaos, of course. at a peak travel time.

In the last few days, there’s been a police car parked at the side of one of the several roundabouts I go through on the way back home at night. In the UK, the sign as you approach a roundabout merely say SLOW. Nothing so simple here. There’ll be a series of at least 3 signs showing a combination of any of these numbers: 90, 80, 70, 60, 50, and 40. The one in question has 70, 60 and 40. Providing 3 opportunities to fine you, of course. This is how suspicious one gets.

The UK

Something to try to remember in 2025:-

• The UK is officially known as ‘The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland’,   comprising, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
• ‘Great Britain’ is a geographic term that refers specifically to the largest island in the British Isles, which includes only England, Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland is not included as it’s located on the island of Ireland
• Thus, while all of Great Britain is part of the UK, not all of the UK is part of Great Britain.

Don’t worry if you can’t get your head round this; most Brits can’t either. Foreigners – and many English folk – avoid the choice by simply using ‘England’. Which doesn’t go down well with the other 3 countries. Like Holland and The Netherlands.

Sweden

A sad experience and a huge change of heart, which have echoes in The Netherlands, I believe.

The Way of the World/Social Media

I’d be the first to say that the internet has markedly improved my life in the last 30 years or more. But I wonder if there’s anyone in the world who thinks it has improved their opinion of humanity. Thanks to the cesspit of social media, of course.

That comment was inspired by listening to several episodes of a BBC podcast – Things fell Apart: A series of strange, unexpected human stories from the history of the culture wars. This started a couple of years ago and in an early episode we’re told that the internet and social media are what they are because the original creators were ‘utopian, libertarian’ engineers, who fought and won to keep it the way they wanted it to be. For which we are now all paying a huge price. In a later episode, it’s stressed that the tech entrepreneurs behind social media have always known exactly what the consequences of their algorithms would be. In a sensible world, they’d be shunned as the destroyers of lives, not idolised and courted. Sometimes one wishes there really were a Hell.

Quote of the Day

My Resolution is to write 2025, not 2024 . . .

Did you know?

Significant Scandinavian DNA has been found among individuals who died in Britain, Germany, Italy, Poland and Slovakia during the first 5 centuries AD, ie before the Viking raids of later centuries. This indicates that a wave of ‘Northmen’ migrated from northernmost Germany and Scandinavia southwards into the heart of Europe over this period. The language they brought with them – Proto-Germanic/North Germanic/Old Norse? – would eventually evolve into modern English, German and Dutch.

Spanish

• Cosificar: To objectify, commodify
• Aterrorizado: Terrified, etc.
• Aterrado: Ditto
• Aterrizado: Landed
• Zafarrancho: Havoc. Row
• Dar el pésame: To offer condolences
• Empoderar: To empower

You Have to Laugh

This is the dress (almost) worn by the TV presenter mentioned above . . .

Some folk, as they say, will do anything for a laugh . . .

Finally . . .

We’ve had a longish spell of sunny but cold-at-night weather. My (underfloor) heating has underperformed and, while I wait for attention to it, I’ve had to use supplementary forms of heat. One of these is a fire. As I cleared out the ashes this morning, I had a sudden memory of doing this in my parents’ house, specifically of coaching embers into a new fire. This was done by putting a shovel in front of the fire and then placing a sheet of newspaper in front of that, creating a draught which stimulated flames from the embers. Occasionally, if not quite often, the paper would catch fire and I would quickly fold it into flames. If a child were to do this today, I suspect the parents would be imprisoned. Or at least have their kids taken into ‘care’. Progress.

My thanks to those readers who take the trouble to Like my posts. Especially to Noemi, who reads them in batches, possibly when she’s bored . . .

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.