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/Cousas de Galicia

The Spanish PM levels his lance at tech billionaires and social media. Nice line: “The owner of a small restaurant is held accountable if their food poisons customers. Social media tycoons should be held accountable if their algorithms poison our societies.”

I think I’ve mentioned this tunnel ‘plan’.

In our region at least, for every every e-car sold last year, a total of 22 second hand cars were sold. It probably wasn’t necessary for the VdG to point out that this is very contrary to Brussels’ plans.

Another narcosub has been found off our coast, the 3rd in recent years. This one was empty of people and of a cargo estimated at 4,000 kilos of cocaine. And there was clear evidence on a beach of the latter having been unloaded and sent to wherever.

Portugal

As with Spain, its economy is outpacing that of the eurozone, driven by the services and tourism sectors.

You can get Portuguese nationality in 2 years, it’s reported. This compares with a few months in Ireland but more than 4-5 years in Spain, if you’re not from an ex colony.

The UK

Why TF did Boris Johnson get an invitation to the Washington bash? Was it because his insults towards Trump counted less than his (phoney) championing of Brexit?

As I read the news of the UK government making it harder and harder to buy kitchen knives, I recalled all the shops in Toledo selling every imaginable type of weapon, including broadswords and huge spiked flails. The UK’s problem is not the excesses of its retail trade but its culture. Which the government appears to be unwilling or incapable of dealing with.

Germany

Is there no good news coming out of Germany these days. Germans are no longer ‘world champions’ of recycling.

The USA

This would be amusing if it weren’t serious . . . The pitch was as plausible as it was persuasive: a second term for Donald Trump would be less erratic, more disciplined, and savvier about the presidential powers he barely understood when he had them the first time. His team would also be better calibrated to keep him coloring in the lines. All of the worst impulses had been excised and fresh energy was his tailwind. Rather than gunning from his gut, Trump had reams of drafted ideas at the ready thanks to his pals in Washington’s back-hall think tanks and their Project 2025 agenda. The argument proved to be foolish, as evidenced in the first days’ sloppiness. Read on here.

A nice observation from a Guardian columnist . . . The US is a nation increasingly governed by a court. But this governing court is not a court of law. It’s the reign of King Donald: now a people who fled cruel monarchs have their own.

The Maga movement is out to get Elon Musk – and so is China. Musk has already made himself arch-enemy of the Maga priesthood, who increasingly regard him as a globalist carpet-bagger.

Ukraine v Russia

I might have missed it but did Trump end the war on Monday? Or since then?

Quote of the Day

The Maga theology of primordial traditionalism is at odds with everything about the Silicon Valley plutocracy.

The Way of the World

A friend was asked today by a friend of hers if she really was following Trump and Vance. It seems that this can easily be ‘forged’ and that, if you remove yourself, you will immediately be re-instated as a follower.

Net Zero

• It’s claimed that the UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer has realised that Net Zero is becoming too costly a luxury for her cash-strapped Government. What she’s as done in Davos, it’s said, is accept the reality of trade-offs and is no longer denying that pursuing lower emissions has no growth impact. Near term, this has huge implications for the issue of enlargement of London’s airports.
• One of those realities . . . AI’s thirst for power delivers a nuclear renaissance in Trump’s America. Energy-hungry data centres are making the case for clean energy that’s impossible to ignore.

English

• As you’d expect, Trump got it wrong in saying there are only 2 genders, when he meant sexes. . . Sex is about biological differences, while gender is about social and cultural roles and identities. See more detail on this difference below.
• Gramscian Of or pertaining to the Italian Marxist theoretician and politician Antonio Gramsci or his works.

Spanish

• Coche de ocasión: Second-hand car. [I always thought this meant ‘bargain’]
• Sideral: Stellar, astral
• Escabullirse: To sneak off/away, slip away, slip out, wriggle out, weasel out.

Did you know?

Karma is another word which has changed its meaning significantly, now seeming to mean something like just desserts for someone you don’t like. In Sanskrit, “karman” simply meant “act” or “deed” without any ethical significance. Over time, it evolved to represent: 1. The principle of cause and effect, where good or bad actions determine future modes of existence

You Have to At Least Smile

A puzzle by Lewis Carroll:

Dreaming of apples on a wall,
And dreaming often, dear,
I dreamed that, if I counted all,
How many would appear?

Finally . . .

SEX AND GENDER

The official view . . . These terms are often used interchangeably, but have distinct meanings:

• Sex refers to the biological and physiological characteristics that define humans as male or female. These include chromosomes, hormone levels, reproductive/sexual anatomy, and other physical attributes. For example, males typically have XY chromosomes and females typically have XX chromosomes.
• Gender refers to the roles, behaviors, activities, and expectations that a society considers appropriate for men and women. Gender is a social and cultural construct that can vary widely between different societies and cultures. It encompasses a range of identities that do not necessarily fit into binary male or female categories, such as non-binary, genderqueer, and genderfluid.

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

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.