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

The devil will be in the details, I guess . . . Two tourist ‘hotspots’ in Spain have confirmed their plans to curtail numbers because of the impact of overtourism on residents. Sadly, Pv city ain’t one of them.

These two articles seem to highlight that national and local authorities which interfere in the rental market – instead of promoting construction – do so at their peril:-

• Available properties fall in number.
• Crises are unresolved – worsened even.

The blackout . . . Says this columnist, almost certainly correctly: It reinforced the case for investment in electricity storage and backup generators, as well as supporting the case for investment in nuclear. [Assuming it’s not too late for the latter.]

The joy of Spanish alfresco dining. (BTW: Am I the only person in the world who finds anchovies too salty to eat?)

Cousas de Galicia

There are – as ever – 3 or 4 places in Galicia which share the name of the town featured here. But I thinks it’s in south east of Ourense, not too far from the A62 which I’ve been up and down more times than I care to recall. I might pop over to see the church there one day.

The UK

These 5 things are said to make at least some Brits proud to be British:-

• A rich heritage
• The sense of humour
• The royal family
• Pubs
• Politeness

Details here, for the desperately bored . . .

More seriously . . . The results of this week’s local election might well have shown that the country now has a 4-party electoral system, where voting is so fragmented that very small shifts can make the difference between success and failure – a pretty fundamental change. I guess we’ll see at the next General Election in 2029.

Trumpworld/LA LA Land

Some interesting observations on Trump and MAGA . . . .

It needs the iron will, daring and vision of an exceptional leader to concert and mobilize existing attitudes and impulses into the collective drive of a mass movement. The leader personifies the certitude of the creed and the defiance and grandeur of power. He articulates and justifies the resentment dammed up in the souls of the frustrated. He kindles the vision of a breathtaking future so as to justify the sacrifice of a transitory present. He stages the world of make-believe so indispensable for the realization of self-sacrifice and united action. He evokes the enthusiasm of communion—the sense of liberation from a petty and meaningless individual existence. What are the talents requisite for such a performance?

Exceptional intelligence, noble character and originality seem neither indispensable nor perhaps desirable. The main requirements seem to be: audacity and a joy in defiance; an iron will; a fanatical conviction that he is in possession of the one and only truth; faith in his destiny and luck; a capacity for passionate hatred; contempt for the present; a cunning estimate of human nature; a delight in symbols (spectacles and ceremonials); unbounded brazenness which finds expression in a disregard of consistency and fairness; a recognition that the innermost craving of a following is for communion and that there can never be too much of it; a capacity for winning and holding the utmost loyalty of a group of able lieutenants.

This last faculty is one of the most essential and elusive. The uncanny powers of a leader manifest themselves not so much in the hold he has on the masses as in his ability to dominate and almost bewitch a small group of able men. These men must be fearless, proud, intelligent and capable of organizing and running large-scale undertakings, and yet they must submit wholly to the will of the leader, draw their inspiration and driving force from him, and glory in this submission.

Not all the qualities enumerated above are equally essential. The most decisive for the effectiveness of a mass movement leader seem to be audacity, fanatical faith in a holy cause [tariffs], an awareness of the importance of a close-knit collectivity, and, above all, the ability to evoke fervent devotion in a group of able lieutenants.

A leader of a mass movement has an overwhelming contempt for the present—for all its stubborn facts and perplexities, even those of geography and the weather. He relies on miracles. His hatred of the present (his nihilism) comes to the fore when the situation becomes desperate. He destroys his country and his people rather than surrender.

Some readers will have realised that these paragraphs weren’t written about Trump but about Lenin, Mussolini, Hitler and Stalin in a 1952 book called The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements, by Eric Hoffer.

Trump is an authoritarian populist but not a tyrant in the class of those leaders of mass movements. One huge difference is that each of those was very successful, for a while. But, much as he seems to fit the profile, Trump isn’t going to be successful. As this writer puts it: One hundred days in, Donald Trump faces a problem: he can rage, but he can’t govern. It’s fair to say the 100 days have not gone as Trump would have wished. And thanks to those serial failures, you can see the first, small signs that his power to terrify is fading. . . . None of this should be a surprise. Trump’s conman promises and delusional dreams of turning the clock back were always bound to fail. This is the nature of nationalist populism, It is expert at turning grievance, division and nostalgia into votes. But when it comes to governing, it will always fail. It offers an outlet for complaint – and has no answers at all.

As for The Jester’s Cabinet toadies . . . Perhaps Marjorie Taylor Greene is no longer the most stupid woman in the USA, following the claim of Pam Bondi that two thirds of all Americans would have died in 3 months but for his brilliance in reducing imports of fentanyl.

I heard it said yesterday that, while Trump might sit in regal splendour while his arse is being licked, once back in his office he mocks his subordinates mercilessly. Seeing them as weak, I’d guess. It reminded me of the Shah of Iran in 1972 commenting that the Ministers he forced to walk backwards out of his office were too obsequious to be fit for the offices he’d appointed them to. As self-aware as Trump, it seems.

Russia v. Ukraine

What it’s really like to negotiate with Russia’s foul-mouthed foreign minister, who has become the symbol of Putin’s uniquely mendacious brand of diplomacy. I had to laugh at some of the citations, eg this one: When Russia’s invasion went off the rails and Ukraine’s forces drove Putin’s tanks back from Kyiv, Lavrov said: “As a sign of goodwill, the Ukrainians asked us to withdraw troops from Kyiv, which we did.” Perhaps Napoleon’s retreat from Moscow in 1812 was also a goodwill gesture.

Bear in mind that Lavrov’s US opposite number is a real estate agent mate of The Jester who has no experience of diplomacy or international negotiations. Which is rather less funny.

Spanish

• Acarrear: Lead, carry, bring.
• Plasmar: Capture, translate, express.
• Anegado: Flooded, waterlogged, drowned

Did You Know?

Welsh culture is alive and well in Argentina.

You Have to Laugh

On the eve of November’s election, the most frequently asked question of Google in the USA was Did Biden stand down​? Maybe this gives an insight into the outcome.

Finally . . .

We had a tremendous thunderstorm last evening but the claps of thunder I just heard in tonight’s storm were possible the loudest ever. God must be moving some big furniture around in Heaven . . .

Finally, Finally . . .

As it’s (almost) the start of the month . . .  Some readers, I hope, will know that the verse I cite at the top of my posts is the opening quatrain of Fitzgerald’s wonderful – but very ‘free’ – translation of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, which you can read about here. Some verses are well known, of course, eg:-

The moving finger writes; and, having writ,
moves on: nor all thy piety nor wit
shall lure it back to cancel half a line,
Nor all thy tears wash out a word of it.

My favourite:-

Myself when young did eagerly frequent
doctor and saint, and heard great argument
about it and about: but evermore
came out by the same door as in I went.

If you enjoyed any or all of that, here’s an article on the Persian poetic tradition.

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.

If you enjoyed any or all of that, here’s an article on the Persian poetic tradition.