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

Lenox Napier reminisces about different times in his Murcian village.

My first thought on seeing this was that it was a tad ridiculous. And then I recalled the irritating selfie-taking idiots in Granada’s Alhambra of Granada and Córdoba’s Grand Mosque.

Details here of places in Spain – some in Galicia – where tourists are still welcome.

Talking of tourists . . .

• How the Americans are viewed in several European countries, including Spain. The Spanish are said to be unimpressed by ‘cultural misunderstandings and historical ignorance’.
• Have the anti-tourism protestors won? British tourists are ‘increasingly opting to holiday away from Spain’. Allegedly . . . The dramatic shift comes in the wake of mass demonstrations in several Spanish hotspots last week, where protesters blamed tourist apartments and speculators for driving up housing costs to unaffordable levels. Still, it’s hard to believe that the northern Dutch city of that Amsterdam has overtaken Spain as the most sought-after holiday spot for UK travellers.

Cousas de Galicia

An astonishing percentage of folk here reject inheritances, the main grounds being assumable debts and taxes which possibly aren’t imposed in other regions.

This has been a miserable week, weatherwise. Rain, followed by more rain and, this morning, a huge clap of thunder and a hailstorm. The only consolation is that the whole of Spain is suffering likewise. But the sun has come out as I am about to publish this. . .

Portugal

Not everyone loves Oporto as it is these days. Which I can sympathise with.

Hard to believe but it currently takes 10 hours to get from Lisbon to Madrid. However, this could reduce to just 3 hours by 2030, fundamentally reshaping Iberian travel patterns.

The UK

A famous comedian and comedy writer fears it will be decades before the country recovers from the madness of transgender zealots. Essentially, because the media is ‘still captured’.

France

Trump’s US-Russia envoy, Steve Witkoff, is a real estate ‘mogul’ with no experience of diplomacy. So, it’s hardly surprising that his attempt to build ties with France turned sour. “This is beautiful,” he said of the Elysée palace, then added: “It looks like President Trump’s club in Mar-a-Lago.” The French just about masked their distaste, but everyone raised their eyebrows at the comparison between a gaudy, Floridian swankathon and a neoclassical building that predates the US itself. Shouldn’t have given up his day job.

Europe

Brussels is not happy about Spain et al thwarting its plans for financial homogeneity, eg by ‘gold plating’ directives. Something the UK bureaucrats were once famous for. In their own interests, of course.

La La Land

Trump has found in El Salvador a model for the repressive state he wants to build – and he’s just getting started.

Trump famously never apologises. So, when he screws up, he insistes he was never actually involved. It had nowt to do with him. So, his obvious climbdown over the pressure on Harvard was naturally via a claim that a letter was sent by someone who shouldn’t have done so.

Of course, another way to avoid failure and or an apology is simply to walk away. As Trump is now expected to do from the Ukraine-Russia peace deal challenge.

It’s claimed here that 57% of Gen Z kids in the USA​ 57% aspire to be ‘influencers’. Certainly not workers in Trump’s new onshored factories.

Russia v Ukraine

It’s reported that Russia is ramping up illegal gas attacks to secure its gains.

Rubio’s words are the latest American gift to Putin’s cause, meaning that at every turn since the inauguration, Trump or his top national security aides have issued statements that played to Russia’s advantage.

The Way of the World

Our rulers are visionless. Bizarre ideas have so deranged governments across the West precisely because they stand for so little. They have no ideology, no vision for society, and so they latch on to transgenderism or critical race theory or climate alarmism to lend some meaning, some semblance of purpose, to what is otherwise power for its own sake.

Give him his due, this probably couldn’t be said about Trump. Who surely has an ideology and a vision of the society he wants to dominate, as king-cum-emperor of the entire North American continent.

Quote of the Day

Bedlam, pandemonium, ecstasy and simply wow: Manchester United’s 3-goal, 6-minutes blockbuster extra-time comeback from 4-2 down is one for the ages, and a thrilling advertisement for the heart-stopping drama football can generate. Like basketball, I guess. My son-in-law fortunately declined his 8 year old son’s request that they leave when there wasn’t long to go to the end of the match.

Spanish/Galician

• Bocarte: Anchovy
• Jurel: Horse mackerel
• Xouba: Small sardine
• Pantalán: Dock, pontoon, jetty

English

• Friend zone/Friendzone: Where one person in a friendship wants to enter into a romantic or sexual relationship with the other, who doesn’t.
• To friendzone: To confine someone to friendship.
• Friendzoned: Describes the person whose romantic advances have been rejected

Not a huge surprise . . . The man in a cross-gender friendship is more likely to be attracted to the woman than she is to him, and he is more likely to overestimate her interest in a romantic or sexual relationship. First noted in a cave many thousands of years ago, I imagine.

Did You Know?

The history of Asturias, from the Autodidact Professor.

You Have to Laugh

There’s not enough cocoa in the American Hershey bar for it to classify as chocolate in Europe.

Yesterday Through the Ages

Courtesy, again, of the Autodidact Professor

Finally . .

Being an admirer myself of Persian culture, I was impressed to read this.

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.