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

What happens when you interfere in the property market . . . Renting is now more expensive than buying in Spain’s most populous areas.

Spain is gradually ceasing to be different. The wonderful institution of the menú del día is dying out in at least Madrid, it says here. Thanks, in part, to fast food outlets. And maybe to the slow ending of the 2-3 hour midday break in the more commercial of Spain’s cities.

Here in Pv city, the evening opening hours have come forward in some tapas bars to as early as 7pm, thanks to the throngs of ravenous guiri ‘pilgrims’.

Portugal

Has never been more popular, it’s claimed here

Braga – recently described as the booziest city in Portugal – is ‘poised to shine’ this year. I’ve always enjoyed visiting it. Especially for suckling pig.

The UK

A depressing commentary, in line with the vibe of the times. ‘I’ve witnessed the disintegration of everything that I loved in Britain’.

This one is even more depressing, on Gen Z.

Politics on a smaller claim: The dilemma facing the both the Conservatives and Reform parties is – If they do not merge or form an electoral pact, might they not just succeed in allowing a hopelessly adrift Labour government back in at the next general election? . . . We need to start discussing the real political drama of our times: the collapse of democratic socialism which has dominated Western government since the end of the last world war?

Europe

Putin may not get the opportunity he hopes to revise the whole European security architecture, but seeing the alliance degenerate into recrimination and suspicion is the next best thing. Guess who’s caused that.

Germany

Oh, dear . . . As Germany’s economic miracle unravels, its dark past is coming back to haunt it. The spectre of far-Right nationalism looms as Germans prepare to cast their ballots.

The USA

The gems keep coming from the lips of that awful orange face:-

• The US will be flooded with jobs as nations rush to avoid tariffs
• He who saves a country does not violate any law. [This one even more revealing and terrifying than others. Though not unexpected from a man suffering from delusions of grandeur]

Some responses:-

• We’re getting into real Führerprinzip territory here.
• This was the single most un-American and anti-constitutional statement ever uttered by an American president.
• Trump is making an excellent argument for his own assassination. [Which continue to foresee.]

‪The incipient trade war . . . One columnist’s view of the real reason Trump started it..

On the (planned autarchic) economy:-

• No foreign country has ever paid one penny in tariffs to the USA in the history of tariffs
• Donald Trump doesn’t want you [Americans] to know that you are paying the tariffs. [As a sales tax, effectively].
• It’s pathological to tell a lie to people [Europeans] who all know it’s a lie.

On Trump himself . .

• A petulant 3rd grade [8 year old] bully.
• Trump has restored Russia to the status of global superpower and restored Putin’s credibility on the international stage. Putin has been gifted with the most spectacular triumph he could have wished for without making a single concrete concession – all in the name of “making America great again”.  It is impossible to exaggerate the irony or the significance this cataclysm. The ignorance of historical precedents and defiance of international law that it represents are so staggering that even the thousands of words that have attempted to describe its consequences fail to do it justice. 

Russia

Does a country deserve to be a (restored) superpower when its economy is the size of Canada’s? I guess the answer is: If it’s ruled by an autocrat and stuffed with nuclear weapons, Yes. So, M. A. D. still rules. The remaining question is How will it be restored to that status? Probably not in Trump’s way, if the rest of the developed world has anything to do with it. Though there will always be the capitalists and financiers – Musk and Trump most of all? – keen to return there. And to deal with whomsoever.

Spanish

A few more words from Julio Camba’s book of essays of a hundred years ago:-

• Morrocotudo: Very big, extraordinary. Corpulent.
• Fiambrera: Lunchbox
• Mancebo: Shop assistant, especially in a pharmacy. Salaried apprentice.

You Have to Laugh

Me to 6 -year-old grandson: Where’s your mummy?

She’s having a poo.

Dani, the nice way to say that is that she’s in the toilet or in the bathroom

Well, at least you know what she’s doing in the toilet.

I never thought anyone would have quicker ripostes than my elder daughter, his mother . . . Can it be genetic?

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.