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 pressure is increasing on Spain’s many thousands of illegal tourist flats.

The Spanish government seems to endorse the view that the Eurovision voting system was somehow rigged to favour the Israeli entrant.

Cousas de Galicia

I’ve said that I’ve been finding new places for my tiffin, because my favourites of more than 20 years are now (irritatingly) full of English-speaking Caminers. And these places do exist. Actually not very far away. So near, in fact, that I wondered why these are far less patronised. ‘Trip Adviser and Google’ is the answer. My (ex) favourite places fully deserve the reputations that used to be purely local but are now plastered all over the net for the more than 200,000 a year ‘pilgrims’. Which is why you can see a constant stream of folk standing outside them, consulting their phones. And which is why I’m only half-joking when I say that a long-standing friend of mine will one day be very rich. Possibly even a millionaire! Perhaps I should stay close to him.

One thing I haven’t ever mentioned is the explosion of laundrettes (lavanderías) in Pv city – from 3 a few years ago to over 30 now. There has to be a good reason for this but I can’t figure out what it is – other a massive surge in sweaty Caminers, perhaps. Are people really saving money using these?

The Latest Insane Pronouncements of the Jester

• Biden has Stage 9 cancer [This doesn’t exist. Biden is reported to have Stage 4 prostate cancer]
• Bruce Springsteen is not a talented guy. He’s a dried out prune of a rocker.
• Companies should not blame tariffs for price increases. They should eat the tariffs. [Not quite consonant with his claim that it’s the foreign companies who pay the tariffs.]
• We have deep-seated craziness in our country. [As if we didn’t know]

Unhinged at 1.30am, accusing others of being corrupt and unlawful.

In case you were wondering . . . How bad is Trump’s mental health?

Trumpworld/LA LA Land

Note the MAGA Imperial obligation to wear a blue suit and a red tie. Even on Fox:-

Russia v. Ukraine

Trump, who said that he was going to end the war single-handedly on day one of his administration, seems to be extricating himself from whatever negotiations are to take place. These, he says, should be between Ukraine and Russia, perhaps with the Vatican hosting the negotiations. But who knows what he really thinks/means?

The FT comments on this theme twice apparently as confused as I am.

• Has Donald Trump abandoned Ukraine?
• Donald Trump leaves Russia and Ukraine to settle war in talks. One person familiar with the conversation said the leaders were stunned by the US president’s description of what was agreed. They added it was clear Trump was “not ready to put greater pressure” on Putin to come to the negotiating table in earnest.

What we do know is that:-

• During an-hour phone call with Putin, Trump appears to have offered Russia a “large-scale trade”, if Moscow ends the war. And quite possibly a Trump Tower and hotel in the capital. and,
• Trump has abandoned his own peace plan. So, another failure to blame on someone else, probably poor Biden

Spanish

• Bidón: Water bottle, can, drum
• Destrozos: Carnage, wreckage, destruction
• Jactar: To boast
• Juerga: Party, revelry

Did You Know?

There’s no reason why you should know it but this is a very nostalgic time for us Everton fans, as the team moves to a new stadium from a 133-year-old ground which, in 1924 even hosted an exhibition baseball match between the Chicago White Sox and the New York Giants. Sadly, my 6-year-old half-Spanish grandson is a Real Madrid fan – unlike his father who tragically died 2 years ago of undiagnosed meningitis. And who was, like me, was a fan of the other – underdog – team in the city of his birth.

Finally . . .

Insights into the personality of Sei Shonagon, a lady-in-waiting at the court of the Japanese Emperor in the early 11th century and writer of The Pillow Book. She certainly seems to have been quote opinionated.

10 RANDOM THOUGHTS/COMMENTS

• 1. One’s attachment to a man depends largely on the elegance of his leave-taking. When he jumps out of bed, scurries about the room, tightly fastens his trousers hash, rolls up the sleeves of his court cloak, over-robe, or hunting costume, stuffs his belongings into the breast of his robe and then briskly secures the outer sash – 1 really begins to hate him.
• 2. A preacher ought to be good looking. For, if we are properly to understand his worthy sentiments, we must keep our eyes on him while he speaks; should we look away, we may forget to listen.
• 3. The driver of an ox-carriage should be a big man. His greying hair should have a slightly reddish tint and his face should be ruddy. He should also look intelligent.
• 4. Attendants and escorts should be slim. I prefer gentlemen also to be on the slender side, at least when young. Stout men always strike me as sleepy looking.
• 5. I like page boys to be small. They should have beautiful hair that hangs loosely, likely touching their necks. Their voices must be attractive and their speech respectful; for these are the marks of an adept page.
• 6. Gentlemen should always have escorts. Even young noblemen, however handsome and charming, strike me as dull creatures if they are unescorted. I have always regarded the position of Controller as a fine and honourable one; but it is a shame if his under robe-should be so short and that he is not provided with an escort.
• 7. I was hoping that we would be seen by someone on our way back. Alas, all we met was an occasional indigent priest and a few other people too common to be worth mentioning.
• 8. Whenever I go to stay in a temple, or indeed in any new place, it seems pointless to be accompanied only by servants. One needs a few companions of one’s own class with whom one can chat congenially.
• 9. [About her fellow ladies-in-waiting] As they stood there in their light grey skirts, Chinese jackets, matching dresses of online silk, and scarlet petticoats, they really looked as if they might have descended from heaven (though one could hardly have called them angels).
• 10. In our discussion of men and women, Tandanobu and I often use the terminology of [the board game] Go. Thus, when we want to imply that 2 people are on intimate terms, we say that they have ‘yielded their hands’ or ‘filled up the spaces’. Or, again, we use exactions like ‘he’s going to keep his hand’ or ‘the time has come to part the pieces’ (meaning so-and-so has become far too familiar). In this way we can understand each other without letting anyone else know what we have in mind.

Finally . . . Finally

• Something to admire . . .Amazing Amazing Grace.
• And something tear-inducing that isn’t Trump . . . Bathos is best accompanied by a bit of pathos, they say.

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.
• This post of mine contains several relevant articles from ThinkSpain.
• 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.