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

Good to know that there’s at least one sector of the property market in which supply is keeping up with demand . . . Possibly something to do with profit margins.

International tourists in May rose only marginally – by 1.5% – but their spending rose by 4.9%. Brits were well up but French and German visitors were both down. So, are poorer Brits – stimulated by tabloid press reports of nasty protests – going elsewhere​? And is Spain achieving its goal of improving the wealth profile of its visitors? All the stats for May and Jan-May here.

Cousas de Galicia

It’s reported today that flat rental prices in Pv city have risen this year more than in an other Galician city – at twice the rate of the average salary increase, in fact. This, of course, has made it even more difficult for young people, in particular, to find accommodation.

Until 1996, I’d never heard of Pontevedra, nor – indeed – of Galicia. And like 99% of Brits, i imagined the latter to be as brown as Andalucía. Thanks to the Camino and to Pontevedra’s global promotion as a perfect 15-minute city – not to mention the millions who’ve read my blog and web page over 25 years – the city is now pretty well-known around the world. And is increasingly seen as an attractive residence option. But, as elsewhere, construction of new properties has fallen further behind demand. With the usual consequences.

Relevantly . . .To the left of this foto is a massive new flat block, nearing completion and I imagine all the flats have already been sold, off-plan. Even though it’s across O Burgo bridge in Lérez:-

Even more relevantly, it was taken at the same spot as the one of the Chapel of A Santiña I posted the other day, at the start of the Camino – the old Roman road – parallel to the main road through Lérez.

You can seen that the 1st house now has a 3rd floor, and the 2nd one has been replaced by a 4-storey house, but the 3rd one is just as it was a century ago. There’s now a large block of flats where the chapel stood.

I’m dining tonight with my daughter and grandson and 2 local families, in a churrasquería out of town. You can tell it hasn’t been Camino-ised as the kitchen doesn’t open until 8.30. This compares with a lot earlier in Pv city these days. In fact, it struck me today that Pv city is now an
an upmarket costa del sol, catering more and more to foreigners. Or bits of it, at least.

The UK

A nascent Muslim party? Which even France doesn’t have. It’s very hard to see a separate party for immigrant being created in Spain. Despite the large increase in population arising from high numbers of immigrants. Very different factors at work, making assimilation far easier.

MAGALand

Given his sway over the terrified-for-their jobs Republicans, Trump’s BBB was always likely to pass, as did late yesterday. Some views on it here from this side of the pond, for those not yet weary of the US pantomime:-

• Might be his biggest success and his undoing.
• A big, beautiful bomb dropped on the US economy.
• Trump tightens his grip on power.

So . . . .The backlash begins. . . . Trump is no populist.

Meanwhile . . . The Trump-Musk civil war explodes.

A propos . . .

Americans must be very proud of passionate and articulate Representatives like Marjorie Taylor Greene. When asked by a BBC reporter if she still believed that Israeli space lasers caused the California fires, wittily responded: You can fuck off. How about that?

Spanish

Says the lovely Spanish lady of El País who writes for The Guardian: Like English, Spanish is constantly evolving. Unlike some English speakers, we welcome that.

Chévere; ‘Cool’. An example of a South American word not commonly used in Spain, where the equivalent is guay. [Chévere is said, by some, to come from Chevrolet]. Some more . . .

	South/Latin America	Spain
Car	carro, auto	coche
To drive	manejar	conducir
Cell phone	celular	móvil
Computer	computadora	ordenador
Bus	colectivo, camión	autobús
Room	cuarto	habitación
Glasses (eyewear)	lentes	gafas
To rent	rentar	alquilar
Potato	papa	patata
Peanut	maní	cacahuete
Avocado	palta (esp. Argentina, Chile)	aguacate
Fridge	refri, refrigerador	nevera

English

Pissed: UK: Drunk. US: Angry

Finally . . . You Have to Laugh

Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene has a controversial history involving “space lasers” related to Israel. In 2018, she propagated a conspiracy theory suggesting California wildfires were caused by “lasers or blue beams of light” from space, which she linked to “space solar generators” allegedly funded by the Rothschild family, a claim widely debunked and criticized as antisemitic. More recently, Greene introduced an amendment to a U.S. foreign aid bill for Israel that would fund the “development of space laser technology” on the U.S. southern border. Greene framed this amendment as a way for the U.S. to adopt Israel’s advanced defensive technology for border security. Yet, many observers see her proposal as performative or trolling rather than a serious legislative effort, given her past promotion of conspiracy theories and the somewhat absurd notion of “space lasers” for border control.

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.