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

The economy: Some dry stats here and a more colourful comment here? A decade after the country was written off as a basket case, booming Spain is on track to a new age of prosperity.

The 2nd article features Oviedo. I fear this will be the latest place to lose the charms it had 20 years ago, before it was ‘discovered’. Progress. The city is on one of the numerous Caminos de Santiago, albeit the most difficult – El Primitivo. So, it’ll have seen a large increase in ‘pilgrims’ in the last 10 years.

One main driver of the national economy is a surge in immigration, of mostly Latin Americans. As I’ve said a few times, these “assimilate easily”. Rather more so than immigrants from some of the UK’s ex colonies. And most of them – in the hospitality sector at least – seem to speak the lingua franca of English.

Cousas de Galicia

I seem to recall a headline that our region’s economic growth last year was even better than the national achievement. Tourism and the Camino Portugués? Ever more Madrileños and Andalucians fleeing the summer heat of the South? And, indeed, buying property here.

Portugal

In fact, Galician business folk look with envy – and jealousy – at the economic growth of North Portugal. And accuse it ‘unfair competition’. Competencia desloyal in Spanish.

I can certainly vouch for the staggering development of Oporto’s airport and its hinterland since 2000. Which is in sharp contrast to Galicia’s 3 inadequate international facilities. Stoppress: Oporto airport says it aims to take almost 900,000 passengers from Galicia’s airports this year. I expect them to succeed in this.

Which reminds me . . . Ryanair has said it would be best for the region – and no doubt for Ryanair – if management of these airports passed from AENA to the Xunta. Surely right.

The EU

A contrast . . The urozone economy flatlines as recession fears grow. Germany and France go in reverse. Even the UK is doing better. For the moment, at least.

EU leaders have voiced their fears over the growing divide between the booming US economy and a stagnant continent. This week, the European Commission launched a “simplification” agenda for its swathes of regulation that affects businesses.

The USA

The country in a nutshell – The President doesn’t know when to stop and no one knows how to stop him.

Meaning that – unless he is stopped – Trump might well be heading for a narcissistic explosion of unparalleled force.

The President’s vengefulness was never in doubt but the institutional willingness to restrain him appears to be fading. You don’t become a plutocrat of modern American capitalism without knowing all the right things to say in the public square. Among the managerial and strategic skills and others needed to get to the top of a big company, an ideological suppleness is crucial, an intellectual flexibility that enables the corporate chieftain to bend his views on political and cultural matters to the prevailing winds. It’s the sort of flexibility most easily achieved by not having a backbone.

Is it possible to look on the USA these days without feeling profound disgust? The irony, in my view, being that it was moralistic ‘progressives’ who created the conditions ripe for Trump’s return. No wonder they are keeping quiet.

‘Manifest destiny’? More like ‘Manifest Regression’. Or worse.

Quotes of the Day

• China’s DeepSeek triumph should really worry the West, because they are winning at innovation. . . If this moment teaches us anything, it’s that when it comes to China, we must be able to hold multiple notions of it in our heads at the same time.
• Trump has no sense of anything except his own importance.
• If you work in the Trump White House, you have to learn TrumpSpeak. [So it is that, his 27 year old Press Secretary is referring to Gavin Newsom as Gavin Newscum.]
• L’ état, c’est moi: Louis XIV of France. Or was it King Donald the First?

The Way of the World/AI

In an unsettling development, researchers in China have demonstrated that AI systems have crossed a critical “red line” by successfully replicating themselves without human intervention. This has sparked alarm within the global tech community, as it could pave the way for unpredictable and potentially harmful AI behavior. . . . “[It] is a crucial step for AI to outsmart humans and is an early warning sign of rogue AI,” the researchers wrote. They are urging international collaboration to establish strict safety regulations for AI development. 

Spanish

• Profesor a: Teacher
• Docente: Teacher
• Educador/a: Teacher
• Maestro/a: Primary school teacher.

Did you know?

By pure coincidence, every one of Trump’s rich supporters is called Faustus.

You Have to Laugh. Or Cry, in disgust.

Finally . . .

A hundred years ago . . . My grandparents’ pub was close to the Birkenhead entrance/exit. But I think this is the Liverpool end.

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.