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

I first read several years ago that the Russian mafia were using long-term lets in Barcelona to illegally rent them out on a daily basis to tourists, at a vast profit. Still going on, it says here: Organised gangs are earning millions by renting out illegal flats in swanky neighbourhoods. Is the local government really powerless to stop this? If so, why?

A very Spanish saga . . . On the south coast of Spain stands a four-star hotel that should never have been built and has never been occupied —  but still can’t be destroyed . . . 

Hard to understand . . . Car sales in the rest of Europe fell 3.1% in the year to end February but rose by 11% here in Spain. Given recent reports, a goodly portion of the Spanish sales might well have been Teslas. If so, will this continue or will sales of BYD e-cars now surge?

Cousas de Galicia

Talking about cars . . . I was surprised to read that here in Galicia 10% of those on the road are more than 25 years old. [Did I already write that?]

The weather is warming up and the Camino Curse is raising its head – thirsty/hungry, upmarket ‘pilgrims’ in sufficient numbers now occupy many of the tables at those places which open as ‘early’ as 7pm. Soon it will be all of them. I already have to go down to town far earlier than ever but soon I might have to pay retainers to ensure I have a table at my favourite watering holes. Damn them all! I hate tourists. Except for the old friend – in Spanish Mi viejo amigo viejo – I go on road trips with. We are travellers like Washington Irving not tourists . . .

An interesting beer tap up in the Galician hills . . .

Europe

So, what will it take and how long for the continent to see the USA as a real ally again? And what damage will be wreaked in the interim by the ignorant, arrogant people managing US affairs under the insane Trump?

One immediate answer to the second question . . .Trump’s shoddy deal puts Europe in a bind. With a Ukraine ‘ceasefire’ signalling an end to Russian sanctions, leaders are forced to pick a side. The Trump administration is worse than unreliable. It is actively undermining Europe’s security. That is the upshot of the agreements brokered by the US in Riyadh, which leave Ukraine betrayed and Russia rewarded.

The USA

This looks about right . . .Says an American columnist: The USA is now in the business of extortion. The Atlantic Signal leak spelt out baldly quite how self-destructive the Trump administration’s foreign policy really is.

At the other end of the political spectrum, a Guardian columnist suggests: Let’s put it in language the Signal leakers will understand: What a bunch of pathetic sleazebags.

If you are little but a narcissistic reality TV ‘star’ who appoints folk on the basis of their looks, Fox News familiarity and their sycophancy, the odds are you’ll get a Cabinet full of incompetents. I’m reminded of the old dictum about paying peanuts and getting monkeys. Mutatis mutandis. A pertinent comment: The only person Trump ever hired who was actually qualified to do their job was Stormy Daniels.

And a relevant FT article on the amateurism of the Trump White House.

More oft-repeated Trump phrases/words:-

• Witch hunt
• Tremendous(ly)
• Hannibal Lecter
• I love women
• Women love me
• Overwhelming majority
• Historic landslide
• Groceries – an old fashioned word but beautiful and very descriptive
• Thank-you, Sir
• Golden Age of America
• Destroying our country
• Mandate

I asked Chat GPT to give me a Trump speech containing all the above words but not the ones previously – that’s for tomorrow – and you can see below what it came up with. Frighteningly familiar.

JD Vance in that group chat: “Godspeed to our Warriors. I will say a prayer for victory”. As an ex-Catholic atheist, I have difficulty with anyone thinking prayer achieves anything. But praying to a god to bless slaughter? Is that really ‘Christian’? Just askin’, as they say. I believe I’ve said before that Vance was once a fanatic Evangelist but is now a fanatic Catholic. And the next holier-than-thou president??

Key Question of the Day

Is Marjorie Taylor Greene more even more arrogant than she is nasty and stupid? In fact, does she have these qualities in even greater abundance than Pete Hesgeth? [BTW: The good news is that the more powerful Vance is only arrogant and nasty].

Spanish

• Trébol: Clover, shamrock
• Artimaña: Skulduggery

English

A hacky sack, also known as a footbag, is a small, round bag typically filled with plastic pellets or sand. It is used in a game where players kick the bag into the air, aiming to keep it off the ground using any part of their body except their hands and arms.

Finally . . . You Have to Laugh/Cry: Chat GPT’s Trump Speech

Ladies and gentlemen, what we’re witnessing today is nothing short of a witch hunt. They’re coming after me, but let me tell you, they’re not just coming after me—they’re coming after you, the overwhelming majority of hardworking Americans who love this country. And we’re not going to let them get away with it.

You know, people say to me, ‘Sir, how do you do it? How do you keep going?’ And I say, ‘Because I love this country, and the people—women love me, by the way, they really do.’ They say, ‘Thank-you, Sir, for fighting for us.’ And I say, ‘You’re welcome, but it’s not about me—it’s about all of us.’

We’re going to win, folks. We’re going to win in a historic landslide. It’s going to be tremendous. They’ll talk about it for generations.

We’re bringing back the Golden Age of America. Remember when you could go to the store and buy your groceries—an old-fashioned word, but so beautiful and very descriptive—without worrying about inflation? We’re going to make that happen again.

But right now, they’re destroying our country. They’re tearing it apart. And we have a mandate—a mandate from the people—to fix it. And fix it we will. Together, we’ll make America great again, better than ever before. Believe me.

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 . . .
• I can also be read on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/colin.davies.752861 or on Substack at https://doncolin.substack.com/
• 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. But see here on this. 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.
• Getting a mortgage in Spain: Some advice on this challenge.