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

We arrived in Estremoz in the rain last evening and decided to say in our hotel, play pool and table tennis, and eat and drink. My old friend was marginally worse than I was at the former but better at the latter.

Here’s what Estremoz is famous for: The city is internationally known for its fine to medium marble that occurs in several colours: white, cream, pink, grey or black and streaks with any combination of these colours. Especially the pink marble (Rosa Aurora and Estremoz Pink) is in high demand. This marble has been used since Antiquity as a material for sculpture and  architecture. The first exports in Roman times were probably for the construction of the Circus Maximus of Mérida in Spain. The Portuguese navigators exported this marble to Africa, India and Brazil. It was used in famed Portuguese locations such as the Monastery of Jerónimos, the Monastery of Batalha, the Monastery of Alcobaça and the Tower of Belém.

Portugal is the second largest exporter of marble in the world, surpassed only by Italy. About 85% of this is produced around Estremoz. In its quarries, marble blocks are cut from the rock with a diamond wire saw, a durable steel cable with a series of circular diamond beads. The initial conduit for the wire is made by drilling a horizontal hole and a vertical hole of which the ends meet exactly inside the rock. The wire saw may need a day to cut through the marble.

There is so much marble around Estremoz that it is used everywhere; even the doorsteps, pavements and the cobble stones [and the surface of a large carpark] are made out of marble. It is even converted into whitewash for painting the houses. [All around the outskirts of Estremoz there are piles of what look like rejected/abandoned marble but which might just be stores of the stuff, as it doesn’t need a roof and can’t be easily stolen.]

Having done a tour of Estremoz’s (totally marbled) town centre, we set off northwards late morning for Bragança. Or Branganka, as the English woman of my satnav, said. Persistently. A long drive – 415km – but in increasingly good weather. Which was quite glorious, as we again drove alongside the Douro river and marvelled at the views.

A very positive aspect of this trip was that the government has removed all the toll gantries that I ignored for years and for which I finally paid a fine. These would have added at least 45 euros to our journey cost. The price of an exceptional dinner in Portugal . . .

We stopped only once, for a light lunch near Guarda. As light as it could be, in fact – sopa and a bag of crisps(potato chips). I didn’t ask what the sopa was as it is invariably vegetable soup in Portugal . . .

Tomorrow we head for home, possibly stopping in either Verín or Pueblo de Sanabria. With Lent starting next week, there will be Entroido celebrations in both towns, where we could well see costumes like these on display:-

Cosas de España

Some travel tips from the Guardian, including Galicia’s ‘Lighthouse Way’, or El Camino de los Faros, along the Coast of Death . . .

Those tariffs and their effect on Galician and Spanish exports . . .Los aranceles también impactan en Galicia: El arancel del 25 % a los productos europeos con el que amenaza Trump tendría un fuerte impacto en las exportaciones de las empresas gallegas a este país, que el año pasado ascendieron a 800 millones de euros. Para España significaría unas pérdidas de hasta 4.300 millones de euros. Ante esta última ofensiva del presidente de Estados Unidos, la UE señala que reaccionará «con firmeza e inmediatamente». Ayer, el ministro de Economía, Carlos Cuerpo, apostó por la negociación, quizás pensando que la amenaza sobre Europa seguirá el mismo cauce que las anteriores sobre México y Canadá, ahora emplazados al mes de abril. En todo caso, aseguró que «Europa está preparada para hacerles frente».

Portugal

Entremeada is a popular Portuguese pork cut, typically from the belly area of the pig. It’s characterized by alternating layers of meat and fat, which give it a rich flavor and tender texture when cooked. It was on our hotel dinner menu last night as ‘Pork shovel nape and leg steak’. Your guess is as good as mine.

The UK

An amusing account of the PM’s visit to Washington.

Europe and the EU

No, Mr Trump – The EU wasn’t created to screw the USA. In fact, it was a US project created to screw Russia. The state department files reveal that US intelligence funded the European movement secretly for decades. [As I wrote yesterday, it has been strongly supported by all previous US presidents. Obama even instructed the UK not to leave it].

That article gives a good idea of how the EU actually worked out in practice, to the massive benefit of Germany. And the EU’s (unelected) technocrats.

The USA

Authoritarianism moved one step closer yesterday when the White House said it would pick and choose which media outlets would to listen to its lies. Guess who.

And surprise, surprise . . . Trump – replying to a blunt question from Paul Preston – lied once again about who pays the tariffs. Or, alternatively, again revealed how ignorant/stupid he is.

Can we call the government Press Secretary a ‘distortionist’? After all, she’s pretty good at the task.

Trump

A must-see video, from minute 5.35 . . . The Grifter in Chief is now selling gold dollar bills with his name on them. And possibly the Trump Double Cross necklace.

A couple of days ago Trump called Zelensky a “dictator”. He now doubts he ever used the word. So . . . Is Trump calling Trump a liar? [Who’d be surprised if he was?]

Ever the cad, he’s accused President Zelensky of being disrespectful and of gambling with WW3. One assumes the Ukrainian president disagreed with him on something.

And he’s been caught on a hot mike instructing Fox News – known to some as the state broadcasting service or government mouthpiece – to say that the Cabinet meeting was incredible.

Quotes of the Day

• The lesson for any country tempted to deploy Trump as an ally in domestic politics – He puts himself first and will drop a cause if it gets in the way of his national priorities. [But ‘twas ever thus for US presidents, of course. Though most were more consistent than Trump in knowing what these were.]
• The Tate brothers is one British export the Americans are welcome to keep.

Finally . . .

A remarkable achievement.

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.