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 government continues to present itself as anti-foreigner giving fuel for the execrable British tabloids. To the surprise of some, I’d guess, it’s cracking on with the doubling of taxes payable on the purchase of a property here. This is what Mark Stücklin of Spanish Property Insight has to say on this. Basically: It’s a move that looks more like political theatre than evidence-based policymaking. . . . It wouldn’t help locals in strained housing markets. Instead, it would likely depress coastal and island housing markets, harm local economies, reduce municipal revenue, and undermine employment in areas that rely on foreign homebuyers. . . . This will do nothing to solve Spain’s housing crisis and will only create new problems.

A very nice thing about Spain is that when you play football in a plaza with your grandson, just about everybody joins in if the ball goes astray. And it seems that every male in Spain is pretty good at keepy-uppy.

Portugal

Why not go here instead of Spain? Here’s The 10 best places in the country says the (financed) Times travel correspondent.

And this is about another lovely place, that I’ve visited a couple of times but never seen any animals besides (normal) cows and dogs.

The UK

It’s reported that Boris Johnson is considering trying to take back the leadership of the Conservative party, albeit a few years before he planned to. This is hardly surprising, as he was always going to do this. Such is his ego.

Europe

After a phone call with the EU president, Trump has retreated from plans to hit the EU with 50% tariffs from 1 June This will will revive hopes in Europe’s industrial heartlands that Brussels can reach a deal to avert the worst of the White House’s tariffs and avoid economic catastrophe.

The Latest Insane Pronouncements of the Jester

I’ve always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin, but something has happened to him. He has gone absolutely CRAZY! [Projection again?]

Trumpworld/LA LA Land

An autoimmune disorder’: how Trump is turning American democracy against itself. A fascinating read.

The crypto millionaires who bought the US president’s ‘meme coin’ say the dinner at the ‘exclusive’ reception was woeful, while his speech was rambling. And they were surprised? [BTW: The value of his coin fell 16% immediately after the dinner]

Trump calls his tax and spending plans “big, beautiful,” and a once-in-a generation opportunity to bolster the prosperity of the US economy. The bond market disagrees.

Quote of the Day

Forever starts with friendship, surrounded by the women who’ve lifted me up, illuminated my path in dark times, and shaped my heart along the way: Lauren Sánchez, fiancée of Jeff Bezos, I think. Ahead of her massive hen do in Paris.

Russia v. Ukraine

Hard to forget . . . In the 1930s, the Ukraine and the Ukrainian Cossack and other areas to its east— a stretch of territory with some forty million inhabitants — was like one vast Belsen. A quarter of the rural population, men, women and children, lay dead or dying, the rest in various stages of debilitation At the same time (as at Belsen), well-fed squads of police or party officials supervised the victims. This was Stalin’s so-called “revolution from above,” in which he crushed two elements inimical to the Soviet regime: the peasantry as a whole and the Ukrainian nation in particular.

Putin has rehabilitated Stalin and erected a statue to him.

The Way of the World

I went to 3 major stores in Madrid on Saturday to buy something for my grandson. The webpage of each of them said they sold it but none of them had it in store. So I ended up on Amazon. And with a very disappointed grandson. Is it really any wonder that the retail business is in decline?

Spanish

• Querella: Lawsuit, case, charge
• Corte y pega: Cut and paste (Imperative)

English

Obscure words that are all in the OED:-

• agroof: face downward
• amphoric: resembling the sound produced by blowing into a bottle
• benedict: an apparently confirmed bachelor who marries
• bort: the fragments removed from diamonds in cutting
• callipygian: having shapely buttocks
• charette: a period of intense group work to meet a deadline
• clishmaclaver: gossip
• crepitaculum: the rattle of a rattlesnake
• famulus: a magician’s assistant
• favonian: like the west wind; mild
• formication: the feeling that ants are creeping over one’s skin
• fucivorous: subsisting on seaweed
• genethliacon: a birthday ode
• gobemouche: one who believes everything he is told; literally, “one who swallows flies”
• Grimthorpe: to restore a building badly
• illth: the reverse of wealth: ill-being
• kittly-benders: thin ice that bends under one’s weight
• nevermas: a time or date that never comes
• nixie: a piece of mail that can’t be delivered because it’s illegibly or incorrectly addressed
• quavery-mavery: in an uncertain position
• supermuscan: greater than that which is typical of a fly

Finally . . .

My trip back home today was in the same bloody coach and seat* as on Friday’s down to Madrid. I’m told this awful experience can also be endured on media distancia trains in Galicia, eg from La Coruña to Vigo, passing through Santiago de Compostela and Pontevedra. Or between La Coruña and Ourense. It’s impossible to believe that Renfe didn’t know about the shortcomings of the AVE S106 “Talgo Avril” trains before introducing it in May last year. They should all be sold – or given away – to countries where customer expectations are far lower. The Sudan maybe? [BTW: It wasn’t a great surprise to see even more complaints about it when I investigated it in Spanish. Apart from the dreadful ride quality, it has a poor operational record and a very low punctuality record of only 41%].

*Actually, it was the one next to it and I knew from Friday that the seat release catch was broken. And the seat even more uncomfortable. So, no sleeping.

The journey started badly at Chamartin station, where works have been in progress for years now and the walk from the Metro is long and thronged. When our gate was called, there seemed to be a vast number of folk heading for Galicia. But, in fact, there were also passengers for at least one other train and we were all being corralled through 4 check-in points and then through a single door and down 2 escalators before being split. I do hope this place returns to normal before I die. Or even before my next trip in about a month. But fat chance, I fear. Bring back the night train, say I.

Need I say that:-1. The train left 6 minutes late. People get shot for this in Japan. 2, The Metro-like bumping and shaking began immediately, 3. The PS system is crap, 4 My water bottle and my mouse both slid off the table more than once, or headed towards the passenger opposite me . . . 5. The vibration was so bad, I wondered if the lady next to me might be at risk from a pleasurable experience or two. She certainly kept her eyes closed for the entire trip.

The good news is that I changed to a normal seat when folk got off at Ourense and could finally stretch my legs after 2 hours. The seats are inferior to those of other carriages but far better than the 4-table seats. For which there surely should be a discount!

Finally, Finally . . .

LOVERS

From The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon.

• To meet one’s lover, summer is indeed the right season. True, the nights are very short, and dawn creeps up before one has had a wink of sleep. Since all the lattices have been left open, one can lie and look out at the garden in the cool morning air. There are still a few endearments to exchange before the man takes his leave, and the lovers are murmuring to each other when suddenly there is a loud noise. For a moment they are certain that they have been discovered, but it is only the caw of a crow flying past in the garden. In the winter, when it is very cold and one lies buried under the bedclothes listening to one’s lover’s endearments, it is delightful to hear the booming of a temple gong, which seems to come from the bottom of a deep well. The first cry of the birds, whose beaks are still tucked under their wings, is also strange and muffled. Then one bird after another takes up the call. How pleasant it is to lie there listening as the sound becomes clearer and clearer!
• A lover’s visit is the most delightful thing in the world. But when the man is a mere acquaintance, or has come for a casual chat, what a nuisance it can be! He enters the lady’s room, where numerous other women are ensconced behind the blinds chatting to each other, and he gives no sign that his visit will be brief. The attendants who have accompanied him sit outside impatiently, convinced that “the handle of his axe will rot away”. They yawn loudly and complain of their lot. “Oh, the bondage!” they mutter to themselves. “Oh, the suffering! It must already be past midnight.” Probably they do not realize that anyone is listening, and in any case their words mean little. Yet it is disagreeable to hear such remarks, and one’s visitor finds that the things he would normally be enjoying on such a visit have lost their charm. Sometimes the attendants do not dare put their sentiments into words but clearly show them by the look on their faces and by the great groans that they let forth. At such times I find it amusing to recall the poem about the waters seething far below”. But, if they go and stand by a fence in the garden and say, “It looks like rain,” or words to that effect, I find it hateful. The attendants who accompany young noblemen and other people of quality never behave in this rude way; but such things often happen with men of lower rank. When paying a visit, a man should take along only those attendants whose character is known to him.
• A man’s heart is a shameful thing. When he is with a woman whom he finds tiresome and distasteful, he does not show that he dislikes her, but makes her believe she can count on him. Still worse, a man who has the reputation of being kind and loving treats a woman in such a way that she cannot imagine his feelings are anything but sincere. Yet he is untrue to her not only in his thoughts but in his words; for he speaks badly about her to other women just as he speaks badly about those women to her. The woman, of course, has no idea that she is being maligned; and, hearing his criticisms of the others, she fondly believes he loves her best. The man for his part is well aware that this is what she thinks. How shameful! When a woman runs into a lover with whom (alas!) she has broken for good, there is no reason for her to be ashamed if he regards her as heartless. But if the lover shows that he has not been even slightly upset by their parting, which to her was so sad and painful and difficult, she is bound to be amazed by the man and to wonder what sort of a heart he can have. Oblivious of his own callous attitude, her abandoned lover carried on a glib conversation in which he criticizes the behaviour of other men. How shameful when a man seduces some helpless Court lady and, having made her pregnant, abandons her without caring in the slightest about her future!

More anon . . .

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The Usual Links . . .

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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.
• And here’s a personal guide to moving to Spain – to work, not to retire.