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 Secretary of Labour is a (very well-dressed) communist who has her own ‘movement’ – Sumar, a member of the governing coalition. She’s made – or is making – several changes to labour laws, with a view to increasing job security. I confess I’m not up on these but, anyway, it seems, from this, that she’s not beyond fiddling the employment stats. . . Which wouldn’t make the Spanish government unique, of course.

Coincidentally, a headline in a local paper yesterday suggested her new laws haven’t changed much – The majority of newly contracted employees are sacked or quit within a year.

Deer and wild boar are a major risk on roads around the entire country. These are now designated by El Tráfico: Tramos de especial frecuencia de incidentes viales con implicación de animals. Or, more catchy, Tefiva. The sign P-24 will appear on at least some of these.

Cousas de Galicia

Two very minor but amusing experiences yesterday . . .

• Despite having rows and rows of key shapes, 2 key-cutters said they couldn’t duplicate my post-box key, as it wasn’t from Spain. You can surely guess where it came from.
• Just after reading a joke about flies (next section), I went to the bar toilet and found myself in front of one of those urinals which gives you a fly to aim at . .

I’ve cited this building before, as possibly the posada in Rúa da Ponte in Pv city where George Borrow stayed in 1838. It’s being refurbished opposite a larger building recently rather beautifully converted into 6 tourist flats. Being only a couple of metres from the Camino, it’ll make a perfect albergue for some of the ever-increasing number of ‘pilgrims’.

And this is a pole on a tight corner in Pv city which stripped the plastic wheel rim off my car 3 weeks ago. I was rather gratified to see the paint evidence of at least 4 other cars glancing it, Basically, you can’t take the corner if another car is coming out of the road you’re turning into. But this, I insist, is less than obvious. . . .

The UK

In his book Obras 1916-1923, Julio Camba relates an English joke of that era, leaving me wondering how much humour has changed in more than 100 years:-

An Englishman, a Frenchman, a Spaniard, a German, a Russian and a Chinese man are sitting round a table. Each of them has a glass of beer. It is very hot. A fly lands in the Englishman’s glass. Another fly lands in the Frenchman’s glass. Another lands in the Spaniard’s glass. Another lands in the German’s glass. Another lands in the Russian’s glass and another fly lands in the Chinese’s glass.
The Englishman goes to drink and sees the fly; he picks up his glass, pours out the beer and gives it to the waiter for more beer.
The Frenchman, seeing the fly becomes frantic; he swears, shouts and does nothing.
The Spaniard looks at his fly, makes a disdainful gesture, puts his hat on and leaves the place with great pride.
The German removes the fly from his glass and calmly drinks the beer.
The Russian drinks the beer and the fly.
Finally, the Chinese man picks up the fly, looks at it for a moment and eats it. Then he finishes his beer.

Boom, Boom!

The USA

The major question arising: Can the courts really stop Trump and Musk from taking unconstitutional measures in implementation of Project 2025, which Trump (unconvincingly) claimed he knew nothing about? This lays out the plan for expected battles with any judges opposing an increase in the power of the Executive. As per this, Trump, Vance and Musk are attacking ‘corrupt’ federal judges and are clearly gearing up to ignore their rulings. Will anyone be imprisoned for contempt of court? Can Trump be stopped?

Given that Trump acts like the emperor of the entire world, I asked an AI engine if it’s felt he’s compensating for an inferiority complex. The answer: Trump’s behavior and statements suggest he employs psychological strategies to deflect criticism and project his own faults onto others. Trump frequently accuses others of wrongdoing he himself has committed, a tactic known as ‘projection’ This behavior can be interpreted as a way to compensate for feelings of inadequacy or insecurity. Possibly obvious for years, if not decades.

Right on cue, Trump has provided a nice example of projection by calling another party a bully. And, of course, we’ve heard a lot from him about ‘nasty’ or ‘corrupt’ folk. On the former: Trump prompts awe as he launches into an attack on ‘bullies’. See a video here on this.

And here, where the reality of the Musk-Trump relationship is highlighted.

And there’s a humorous take here, from minute 3.30.

It might well have been overshadowed by some other outrage(s|) today but we witnessed a truly astonishing press conference from the Oval Office yesterday. Video here.

Quotes of the Day

• Not everything Trump wants to do is wrong. But everything he does is done wrongly.
• Irony died while he was talking: Nicole Wallace on Elon Musk’s takeover of the Oval Office 

Spanish

• Nalgas: Buttocks
• Avasallador: Overwhelming
• Enardecer: To inflame

Finally . . .

I’ve mentioned that I suddenly got a wave – 15 in fact – of FB friends requests, nearly all from women, some of whom were young and sexy. I suspected they all stemmed from accepting a local guy and promptly unfriended him. And rejected all the requests from young women. But not before I’d asked one not-so-young woman why she wanted to be my friend – she might have been a blog reader, after all – and I got this DM:-

• Hi, I’m Ellie, nice to see you here. How are you?

When I said this wasn’t an answer to my question, I got:-

• We’re strangers now. We’ll be friends when we get to know each other.

Needless to say, I also rejected her request and blocked her.

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.