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.

TRAVEL NEWS

Harking back to our off-piste experience getting down to the bodega in Portugal . . . This is a narrow track we walked to get to a gate in the walls of Ciudad Rodrigo

If you can imagine this strewn with granite rocks of various sizes and with a precipice to the right, you’ll have a good idea of how what hairy descent was like . . .

Oh, and this once handsome pensión is right next to the ultra-modern Roman Baths museum in Chaves, providing one of those contrasts one sees quite a few of in Portugal.

Today was another day of driving on Spain’s superb roads. But, having driven from Plasencia to the nearby magnificent Jerte valley, we then made an abortive trip up into the hills to the Monastery of Juste, finding it closed for the day. Which I had forgotten was the day – Monday – when places of interest in Spain nearly all close. Even when the sign says, as here, Open every day. But our reward was the spectacular views of the valley.

Then we had another little merry dance courtesy of Google maps before driving south to what’s known as Spain’s Stonehenge. Only to find that the last 5km to it was another baked earth track. With jutting stones. After half a kilometre of that, we decided to call it a day and headed back to the main road and to the Monfrague National Park. Where my old friend had his fill of raptors, and I had a zizz. Then on to Caceres.

Cosas de España

Spain is said to head the list of the 10 best places to be a digital nomad – followed by the UAR, Curacao, Montenegro, the Bahamas, Hungary,  Canada, Romania, Portugal and Brazil.

This is said to be the real story behind Spain’s alleged ban on tourists.

As for Brits frightened by the stories in their media they are said to be increasingly interested in Morocco and Turkey.

Cousas de Galicia

I didn’t know it – it might or might not be true, and I mention it only because of media excitement – but Richard Gere and his Galician wife are said to be viewing luxury properties in the ‘exclusive enclave’ of Oleiros, near the city of La Coruña. I’ve never been there, though I have have been to the exclusive community in Moraleja, north of Madrid, where they have a home.

Germany

Humiliation for Schulz in the weekend’s general elections. Merkelism is pronounced dead, with the centre-right now in power. Far far/hard right AFD party doubled its share of the vote of the last elections to just under 20% but will remain excluded from whatever coalition emerges. MAGA’s oligarchic clique will surely regard this as anti-democratic. For the moment, one UK newspaper is speculating that it’ll be months before coalition negotiations are concluded, bringing us up to Easter, leaving Scholz as caretaker chancellor.

However much the parties and the media try to downplay it, yesterday saw a truly remarkable result for the AfD, fighting attempts at suppression and with no legacy media support. Their appeal to new voters is indicative of a deep malaise in German politics and there is every reason to believe that the party will continue to gain in popularity.

Germany faces its worst nightmare – becoming France. Friedrich Merz, the chancellor-in-waiting, has the in-tray from hell as country tries to cope with increasing economic downturn.

Richard North: These “fun and games” will, of course, be watched closely in the UK, as the progress of the AfD is seen as a strong indicator of how Farage’s Reform UK might perform.

The USA

A new book cites multiple examples of Trump’s ignorance, if not downright stupidity.

Trump – a man worried about excessive government expenditure – has cost the US taxpayers 11m spent golf trips in just 4 weeks.

Russia

Quite an ally in India.

Spanish

Nutría: Otter. [Unless you are my 6 year old not-yet-totally-bilingual grandson, who suggested Notter to his mum].

Did you know?

Just in case you’re tempted to watch it . . . The Baldwins’ dreadful reality show is a new low for TV. This fly-on-the-wall series about the actor’s family in the lead up to the Rust trial feels in extremely poor taste. It’s entirely unnecessary television that makes the actor and his wife look dreadful. But probably made them richer.

My thanks to those readers who take the trouble to Like my post

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.