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 Notes

When H V Morton arrived in Mérida in summer 1955, he was told repeatedly by the locals that the city was the hottest in Spain. Given how warm it was today in late February, this is quite a credible claim/boast.

Mérida is famously full of Roman remains but it also has a super newish museum of Roman artefacts. Sadly for us, we found it to be closed for ‘expansion and repairs’. I’m not sure what these repairs entail but there are certainly bricks missing from the Mudéjar-style external walls.

Happily, the best bit of Mérida – the amphitheatre and circus complex – was open and it was as glorious and unforgettable as when I first saw it 20 years ago. And much better presented in a lovely park. The author can be seen here in the former, giving one of his famous comedic performances . .

To this audience . . .

The huge Alcazaba citadel down by the longest Roman bridge in the world was also an amazing experience

We’ve seen more groups in our Mérida hotel and at the tourist attractions than in any of the several cities we’ve visited in the last 8 days and I suspect they get much better deals than those available to us as individuals. That said, touring in February really brings room rates down even for the latter. I wondered if at least some of the groups were touring under the auspices of IMSERSO.

Mérida is on one of Spain’s numerous Caminos – El Camino Mozarabe – but there were no pilgrims in evidence either yesterday or today.

Tonight we are back in Portugal, en route home. In Estremoz, in fact – having decided to give Badajoz a miss. And, for the first time in 8 days we have bad weather. Hey ho. Tomorrow is another day.

Cosas de España

Folk are said – here and here – to be flocking from the USA to Madrid.

And here are the reasons why some of them aren’t staying, all of which I can relate to, of course. The net balance is everything.

Galicia

Pv city’s mayor talks here about his successful – and much admired – urban reforms of the last 25 years, turning the city into a paradigm.

The UK

A short dissertation here on Englishness, from someone who loves England but doesn’t feel English despite being born and raised in the country.

The USA

A former Obama administration official has said Trump’s new plan to let foreigners gain citizenship if they buy a $5 million Gold Visa as a great money laundering scheme.

Incoming leaders of the free world normally tread lightly as they adjust to their new position. But Trump has spent the first few weeks of his term doing exactly what he’s done for the past few decades of his life: shooting his mouth off incessantly about anything that passes through his mind.  Here are some ‘zingers and clangers’ among the dozens of verbal bombshells he’s dropped.

Not included n these is his comment to his his cabinet that the EU had been “formed in order to screw the United States”. This, of course, is because be acquaints a trade deficit as being screwed by the country you’ve got it with. Idiocy. As Richard North has pointed out it was always a strong feature of the history of the EEC and then the EU that US politicians and diplomats were keen to see the European venture established and succeed. Very possibly wiser folk than Trump.

Russia

What US CEOs know about Putin and Russia that stumps Trump.

Spanish

• Como llegue: As it comes
• Blanca: What they call gaseosa/Casera in Andalucía and Extremadura.  
• Duende: See here for what this is – courtesy of Lenox Napier of Lenox Napier of Business Over Tapas

Finally . . .

When you see both Muslim and Christian art in close proximity, it becomes clear that the former eschews divine and human representations, whereas the latter majors on people in agony.

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.