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 antitourism movement gathers strength. the first coordinated demonstration in Europe, with protests also taking place across southern Europe on Sunday in Madrid, Palma, Venice and Lisbon.

Here are 2 articles on this from the UK press, penned by columnists with a strangely similar surname. Is one of them a nom-de-plume, perhaps?

• Kieran Kelly in the Telegraph: Many protesters insist their fight isn’t with the tourists themselves, but with the political and economic model that they say allows mass tourism to overwhelm their city.
• Graham Keeley in The I.

A headline read: Money is ruining television. I haven’t watched Spanish TV for a long time but, if it’s still as bad as it was years ago, I would have said that this was impossible. It could hardly be worse.

Cousas de Galicia

No sooner do I say that pick-up trucks are rare on Spanish roads than I come across a second one – a Nissan Navara:-

Galicia is said to be – because of a mild climate and excellent flight connections – increasingly popular for weddings between ‘foreigners’. As always with this word, one has to check whether it means folk from other Spanish regions or real foreigners. In this case, it means the latter. Very possibly fiancés who’ve fallen in love with Galicia when doing the Camino. When, luckily for them, it didn’t rain every day. It does happen. [BTW: There are no good flight connections with the UK from anywhere other than London or Edinburgh. Perhaps the columnist really meant Oporto, not far away in Portugal.]

We have another major sporting event starting on Wednesday. A range of triathlon races, I think. And our hotels are already 95% full. An article on local tourism in the DdP today ends with these sentiments: We celebrate that we have a council capable of bringing us pilgrim tourism, mass events that fill the city with athletes and fans who spend money in our hospitality and business sectors. And with luck, while they’re in Pontevedra [city], maybe one in ten, or one in a hundred, or one in a thousand, will take advantage of the opportunity to look for something else to do, because what I know is that there’s always a geek looking for something strange to see, and there’s something for everyone here. So, don’t be surprised if I start moaning again in a few days’ time about not being able to find a chair to sit on or a table to eat at. Though I do have some options up my sleeve. Which is a very good thing, as my daughter and grandson arrive right in the middle of the event.

Portugal

Playing its part in the the overtourism protest.

The USA

TACO Tonterías/Mentiras

• They claimed there was a 100% chance of rain but it didn’t: [It was 80%. And it did]
• [On climate change] So, how can they accurately predict the weather a hundred years from now. Or 50 years even.
• [Again] If we didn’t have the National Guard and the marines there, they’d rip up Los Angeles

Relevant parade videos here and here.

It’s claimed that Trump wants this foto deleted from the internet. As if.

There certainly seem some truth to the reports that the turnout for Saturday’s parade was poor – certainly not the 250,000 claimed. And also that the troops, to say the least, didn’t exactly put their heart into marching – or even strolling – for their Commander-in-Chief. See here. The Russian take is amusing.

Probably true . . . Trump’s humiliation is complete – his strongman image is in tatters. . . . Netanyahu’s decision to publicly show up Trump is the most blatant humiliation inflicted on Trump to date, but it is an inevitable consequence of the President’s own empty bluster. The man truly believes himself to be the world’s greatest negotiator and has come back with nothing. That must be quite the blow to the ego.

Apologies to those readers who got a rogue paragraph yesterday re military parades in the UK and other Anglo countries. If you thought it didn’t make sense, it was because it didn’t. I was trying to say that, although Trump claimed that ‘every other country’ has an annual military parade, this isn’t true. And that what parades do take place from time to time in the UK and elsewhere don’t feature weaponry a la Russia and North Korea.

Russia v. Ukraine

Apparently not going to be resolved by the world’s greatest dealmaker, possibly even before the End Times.

Spanish

• Disnea: Shortness of breath.
• Esturión: Sturgeon.
• Fotomatón: Foto booth.
• Alarde: Boast, display, boasting.
• Puntero: Leading, accurate, outstanding, vanguard. [Up-to-date?]

English

More bizarre Bertie Wooster words, from Chapter 2 of Very Good, Jeeves.

Unknown to me: Might or might not have been common or upper class slang in the 1920s. I haven’t bothered to loo up any of them:

• Wambler.
• Hipped.
• Whiffled.
• Chump: Head, apparently.
• Goop: Idiot, apparently.
• To biff off: To leave in anger?

Known to me: Some still in use, possibly. At least by my (boomer) generation.

• To beetle off: To leave quickly.
• Cove: Man, chap, guy.
• For the nonce: For now
• Bean: Head.
• Sozzled: Drunk

Finally . . .

That’s all I need . . . There will be Old Quarter guided tours in English for the athletes competing in the imminent event. But, thinking about it, maybe I’ll join one to check if my knowledge is up-to-date. Or to ask a few difficult questions. Like ‘Where was the synagogue? Or ‘Was Sr Lucíá of the apparitions really an impostor?

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.