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/Galicia

A not-terribly-attractive group of politicians has met in Madrid, including the egregious leader of Vox. Naturally, they vowed to ‘Make Europe Great Again’, hailing the ‘the Trump tornado’ that has made patriots ‘mainstream’. Sr Abascal – the leader of Vox* – is, happily, the least powerful of those on display.

* And the only leader wearing jeans

In her post yesterday, María mention the village of Esclavitud/Escravitude on the Camino Portugués. I was told of the origin of its strange name a few years ago and decided to see if my usual AI engine could explain it. Which it did . . . The name has its origin in a miraculous event that occurred in 1732. A pilgrim taking his sick wife to Santiago stopped at a fountain where there was an image of the Virgin. The man implored the Virgin to free him from his slavery to his wife’s illness. Which duly happened and a church was later erected there. Needless to say, the AI engine felt it necessary to add this rider: It is important to note that this name has no relation to the historical practice of slavery, but rather refers metaphorically to liberation from disease through divine intervention.

The UK

This might help to explain why Britain is less positive about its immigrants than Spain is about those from South America: The Office for Budget Responsibility calculates that a low-skilled migrant by the age of 80 will, on average, have cost the taxpayer £582,000 and that low-wage migration in general will end up producing a net fiscal cost running into the tens of billions. I suspect a major factor in this calculation is the number of non-working relatives who accompany the immigrant and make claims for benefits. Of which there are many in the UK.

Sweden

A depressing read . . . The once model society now plagued by guns.

The USA

To paraphrase Bill Clinton . . . It’s all about stupidity, stupid! This was the week in which the Chinese made incredible gains in artificial intelligence and the Americans made incredible gains in human stupidity. I’m sorry, but I look at the Trump administration’s behavior over the last week and the only word that accurately describes it is: stupid. . . We’re going to have to learn a lot about stupidity over the next four years. Nice metaphor therein: This Trump [USAID] policy was like trying to cure acne with decapitation.

It’s a commonplace statement that politics in the USA have long been performative. But possibly never as much of a soap opera as they are right now. Very confusing – and worrying – for foreign viewers. And quite a few at home, I imagine.

A great “attack ad” from the Republicans behind the Lincoln Project.

Quotes of the Day

• Trump never understands that overreach will always end up alienating the majority, which is ironic, because he owes his entire political career to the Left’s overreach.
• It’s because the left is so bad at dealing with the world as it is, rather than as it would like it to be, that demagogues such as Trump keep gaining power. 

Spanish

Impresentable Disgraceful

Did you know?

If, like me, you’re a nervous flier when it comes to turbulence, you need to know that the flights to avoid most are over the Andies, to/from the Chilean capital Santiago, or to/from the Argentinian cities of Salta or Mendoza. Those cities topped the global table of airports most afflicted by turbulence last year. I’m reminded of once flying, above a hurricane, from Tokyo to Hong Kong. As we rocked around the sky, the pilot said we should be happy we were in a Super Jumbo flying at 42,000 feet, not in an ordinary Jumbo at 37,000. Which, of course, did absolutely nothing to calm my nerves.

You Have to Laugh

To avoid any possible risk of distressing its students, a university in England has placed more than 200 trigger warnings on the works of Shakespeare. Very kind and inclusive, I’m sure. All the same, I’m puzzled by the one for “The Tempest”. Because it warns students that the play features “extreme weather”. I can’t help feeling that students will already have gleaned this fact from the clue in the title. Which makes it the most superfluous trigger warning since the University of Aberdeen informed students that Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel ‘Kidnapped “contains depictions of kidnapping”.

Finally . . .

Don’t you just hate the R in February, especially if you have to type it every day? I’m thinking of simply ignoring it. Apologies if Ive already said this.

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.