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

More here on the extreme measures planned by the government aimed at reducing tourist lets and foreign property purchases. Possibly not sufficiently supported even by Spaniards. Or their politicians, at least.

Here’s someone’s – superficial and sponsored – idea of Spain’s ‘most amazing’ visit options. My advice is to stay away from Galicia unless you adore the colour green: it rains constantly here. Honest. As for Santiago de Compostela . . . It’s now a Caminer-crammed nightmare. Go there at your peril. And coming to Galicia just to visit the Cíes Islands for a few hours strikes me as stupid. Especially as the sea around them is freezing cold. But opinions will differ . . . [P.S. Sevilla is even worse that Santiago de Compostela. And a LOT hotter.]

The Spanish are the most helpful folk in the world, provided only that they’re aware of you and your needs. So, the same people who block the path to have a 4-way chat until you force your way between them will leap to help you, if you trip over in the street. Or even to pick up your Panama hat, if it falls off the table. As I’ve said more than once, it’s a question of having other-oriented antennae/radar. Or not.

Cousas de Galicia

The region’s hostelry trade is said to short of 6,000 staff. Even South Americans don’t seem to be attracted to the low wages and the long hours. One wonders why.

I’ll say this for Caminers, at least they don’t smoke. Ever. Too busy eating salads and veggie dishes maybe.

Being at the mercy of the Atlantic, the weather along his coast can be crazy. The forecast for yesterday was 33 degrees but it was actually 35 at 6pm. Today, though, with a cold wind from the sea blowing through the city, the temperature fell by 14 degrees. And there was a quasi Atlantic Blanket over it when I returned from town at 2.30. In fact, we’ll have a storm from 9 tonight. And, of course, rain for at least a couple of days . . . But we’ll be back at 37 degrees a week today.

The UK

This is hard to believe – dinner reservations at 10.30pm. In bits of London, at least. Perhaps someone should tell them that the late-eating Spanish have the worst sleep patterns in Europe.

Trumpworld/LA LA Land

The Orange Clown:

• Greta Thunberg needs anger management. [More projection]
• If we had not sent in the national guard, LA would have been completely obliterated.

We are witnessing the first stages of a Trump police state. The national guard’s deployment in Los Angeles sets the US on a familiar authoritarian pathway. History shows the results . . . These are frightening and depressing times.

Trump has unleashed something terrifying in the US – that even he may be powerless to control. . . Suddenly, the idea that this presidency could ultimately end in civil conflict no longer seems quite so wildly overblown as it once did.

The evil power behind the throne . . . There are multiple credible reports that Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff and a principal architect of Trump’s immigration policy, has threatened senior ICE officials with termination, if their offices did not significantly increase arrest numbers. In mid-May, he warned that leaders of ICE field offices ranking in the bottom 10% for monthly migrant arrests would face the sack. 

Miller is merely the most prominent member of the administration to be ‘working towards Trump’, as was said of Hitler’s ultra-obedient military officers and civil servants.

It’s impossible to understand how 30-40% of US voters can be so stupid or so ideologically twisted that they don’t understand what Trump is and what he is doing to their country and their very lives. Perhaps we’ll have a definitive explanation in 20 years’ time. Assuming we’re all still here then.

The Way of the World

If you’re at all worried about the state of the world and the risk of wars, I recommend you don’t read Robert Kaplan’s Waste Land. You might never again achieve sleep. [Concertar sueño in the lovely Spanish phrase.]

Spanish

• Agotamiento: Exhaustion. Burnout. Fatigue. Tiredness. Weariness. Frazzle.
• Atajo: Shortcut.
• Apaño: Clever trick. [As in doing something underground to stop your water use being registered.]

English

• The wellderly: Old folk who are healthier than their parents were at their age.
• Onboarding: Current US business jargon for ‘induction’.

Did You Know?

Might be useful if you’re travelling this summer . . . 10 ​holiday red flags to watch out for.

You Have to Laugh

A book toilet.

Finally . . .

Super-soft suede drawstring chinos are the new business uniform – whatever that means.

Finally, Finally . . .

Getting ever closer to the end of Sei Shonagon’s Pillow Book . . . I underestimated how much I had Highlighted. [Why don’t we say ‘highlit’?]

On Writing materials . . .

I hate seeing a dusty, dirty-looking inkstone with an inkstick that has been used in a slovenly way so that it is rubbed down on only one side.

It also makes an unpleasant impression if someone puts a cap on a writing-brush whose head has become large and shaggy.

One can judge a woman’s nature by looking at her mirror, her inkstone, or any other belongings of this kind. Nothing gives such a neglected impression as an inlaid inkstone-case when dust has collected in cracks at the corners.

It is even more important for a man to keep his writing-table in perfect order. If his inkstonecase is not made in several tiers, it should have two fitted boxes, and its gold lacquer design should be attractive without looking contrived; his inkstick, brush, and other equipment should all be chosen to attract attention.

Some people seem to think that the actual appearance of their writing utensils is unimportant. They have a box of plain black lacquer with a cracked lid; into this they put a tiled inkstone, which is broken on one side and whose every crack is so embedded with dust that one feels that a lifetime would not be long enough to clean it properly. They rub a little ink on the stone, barely blackening the surface, and pour water over it all out of a celadon jug, whose tortoise-shaped spout is broken so that there is only a gaping neck. Yet they are quite content to let people see this unsightly collection of objects.

When one takes another person’s inkstone to practise some calligraphy or write a letter, it is very unpleasant if the owner says, “Would you mind not using that brush?” One feels awkward if one puts it down at once; yet to continue writing is sheer impudence.

Since people know my views on this matter, they often come to borrow my brush, and I never raise any objection. Sometimes it will be a woman who has a poor hand yet who always wants to be writing something. She picks up a brush which one has used until it has acquired just the right hardness, and very awkwardly she soaks it in ink. “Is there anything inside this chest?” she asks as she starts scribbling something on the lid. Then she flings one’s brush down on its side so that the head is immersed in the ink. Her behaviour is hateful, yet how can one bring oneself to tell her so?

– When one is sitting in front of someone who is writing, it is very unpleasant to be told, “Oh, how dark it is! Please get out of my light.”

I also find it painful to be scolded by someone when I have been peeping at his calligraphy. This sort of thing does not happen with a man one loves. [Loving men seems to have a been a major aspect of Lady Shonagon’s life]

Letters are commonplace enough, yet what splendid things they are! When someone is in a distant province and one is worried about him and then a letter suddenly arrives, one feels as though one was seeing him face to face. Again, it is a great comfort to have expressed one’s feelings in a letter, even though one knows it cannot yet have arrived. If letters did not exist, what dark depressions would come over one! When one has been worrying about something and wants to tell a certain person about it, what a relief it is to put it all down in a letter! Still greater is one’s joy when a reply arrives. At that moment, a letter really seems like an elixir of life.

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.
• A comparison of UK and Spanish living costs.
• And here’s a personal guide to moving to Spain – to work, not to retire.
• Finally, from a tax lawyer: Everything you need to know about taxes and healthcare when retiring to Spain.