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 latest high-profile politician convicted of corruption has been sent to prison, protesting (as they all do): I am the victim of a political persecution.

It’s an ill wind . . . As Trump shuts out migrants, Spain opens its doors and fuels economic growth. Defying the anti-immigrant trend in the U.S., Spain is reaping economic benefits by granting citizenship to tens of thousands of newly-arrived workers.

HT to Lenox Napier of Business Over Tapas for these 2 items:-

• The coolest cave houses for sale in Spain. These offer a naturally cool escape from the summer heat in Spain, with some on sale for less than €50K.
• An enormous sculpture of Jesus Christ is to be built in Boadilla del Monte (Madrid), between the M-50, the Ciudad Financiera, and the M-501. Its location and size – at 37m meters in height and 60m meters in width – will make it visible from almost any nearby location. The aim is to transform this Madrid municipality into a global pilgrimage centre

Cousas de Galicia

Not huge surprises:-

• The late-June temperatures in Pv city were a record.

• In Pontevedra province, only 10% (8,000) of tourist flats are registered, as required by the law. Fines can be as high as €500,000.

The 10 day international sports event that finished 2 days ago inevitably meant inconveniently closed roads in and near to the old quarter. Most of the barriers have now been removed but not all of them. For we have a J-Lo concert by the river in a few days’ time. Which will surely keep nearby residents awake until the early hours. And will be audible to me 2km away . . .

Another mail dump today – including my 2 magazines (again late) and differently-dated letters from my UK bank. Further evidence that the Correos modus operandi is ad hoc. Things will surely get worse now that July has begun.

The USA

Not much is happening in the world at the moment, so the US president – and Daddy of the world – took the day off to go golfing, to launch a new perfume (at 249 dollars a bottle) and a new cologne, and to threatene to destroy the career of any Republican senator who doesn’t vote for his Big Bad Bill.

As for that BBB, here’s a guide to its provisions.

And here’s what Musk will do to any senator who votes in favour of it.

Spanish

• Lisiados de por vida: Disabled for life.

Yesterday, the Pilates teacher, speaking to a prospective client, said “ . . . si pudieras venir mañana.” I asked him why he’d used the imperfect subjunctive for a future action but got no sensible answer. Raising this with my daughter later, I understood that this was a polite form, as with ‘quisiera’(I’d like) in place of ‘quiero’(I want). And then my grandson added “Yes. Grandad. For example, ”Si pudieras cortar ese árbol, estaría bien”. Humbled by a bloody 6 year old! A later AI search gave me: Pudieras expresses hypothetical, uncertain, or contrary-to-fact situations, often in subordinate clauses after expressions of doubt, desire, emotion, or condition.

Finally . . . Did You Know?

In Japan, the ownership of 20% of the land is unknown, reflecting property divisions over time and the complexity of Japanese land law. This area is greater than the size of Denmark. And I thought things were complicated in Galicia!

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.
• What to do if your visa application is rejected
• Finally, from a tax lawyer: Everything you need to know about taxes and healthcare when retiring to Spain.
  

As it’s 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.