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 small Murcian town of Torre Pacheco makes the world news. Here and elsewhere. The (so far much admired) Spanish model of large-scale immigration might well come to be seen in a different light, beyond the execrable Vox party, I mean. Certainly, down South.

María comments on these developments here.

Incidentally . . . Yesterday it was reported that the Catalan town of Reus now has more mosques than churches.

Pamplona saw the final encierro today, which – as tradition dictates – involved the Las Miura bulls, said to be the most fearsome. Or at least the most feared. It was rapid and ‘clean’. And the bulls – however fierce – will very probably lose 6-0 tonight.

Cousas de Galiza

A Vigo restaurant owner goes too far. For some, if not all.

Strangely, it hasn’t rained for more than 2 weeks here in Galicia, in contrast to truly awful weather elsewhere in Spain.

The MAGA Reality TV Show

Trumpisms

• The USA hasn’t had a trade deficit with Brazil for 18 years but Trump has hit the country with a 50% tariff, the highest so far. The reason is that the megalomaniac doesn’t like political developments there and thinks he has a god-given right not just to criticise but also to punish them.
• I was saved by god. [Trump has posted this foto of himself – aged 15 – being protected by an angel deflecting a bullet that went on to kill an innocent spectator. Hard for theists to explain, I guess.]

Articles/Videos

• In a Cabinet meeting, Trump takes a golden opportunity to talk interior décor. And the obsequious sycophants all agreed that the corners of the Oval Room need gold-leafing
• Trump makes a victory celebration all about him and refuses to move from in front of the (understandably angry) star of the match, Cole Palmer. Who can be made out – at minute3.57 – to be asking what Trump’s doing there.

Quotes of the Day

• Trump is now pushing harder than ever for election reform, the most dangerous part of Project 2025. He sees the end coming, and he’s trying to lock it all down before the dam breaks completely.
• Trump made what may be the biggest mistake of his political life – his cover-up of the Epstein files. His own MAGA base isn’t just fracturing – it’s overflowing, erupting with anger and betrayal. I’ve spoken directly with people who were once among his most loyal defenders, and they are livid. Furious about his silence. Furious about what they see as his protection of pedophiles. [Other issues clearly aren’t anywhere near as important as this one.]

From the 2 psychologists of the Shrinking Trump podcast:-

• You couldn’t make this stuff up.
• As his power increases, his faculties are decreasing.
• The Cabinet of sycophants would be the people to remove him from power under article 27 of the Constitution. It’s never going to happen.

The Way of the World

For those interested in fashion, the delightfully waspish Marin Hyde tells us here that the era of Vogue’s Anna Wintour is dead. Along with chic.

Spanish

• Mordida: Bite. Bribe.
• Aunar: To join, combine, unify.
• A flor de piel: On the surface.
• Resarcirse: To recoup, recover.
• Tangano: In football, a fight.

English

• To be ratioed: Internet slang: To have more Dislikes than Likes to a social media post. [Trump actually achieved this among his Truth Social MAGA followers for a post re the Epstein files. In this, he praised Pam Bondi’s performance as “FANTASTIC”, while dismissing interest in the Epstein case with the comment: “Let’s not waste and Energy on somebody that nobody cares about.” ]
• Pacing: In online or texting slang, this can mean deliberately taking your time or going slow with something, like a conversation or a process. [Trump has been accused by his own MAGA base of doing this – “while lobbing insults at them”- in respect of the Epstein scandal. Trump has privately called angry fans of his ‘ungrateful fools’. But we already knew the latter bit of that.]

Did You Know?

Football star Cole Palmer was born in the same Manchester barrio as my elder daughter and went to the same school in South Manchester as my 3 English grandchildren. Well, one very close to theirs. Which he has visited. . .

You Have to Laugh

Once once again the world held its breath as the globe teetered on the brink of catastrophe, as America sent troops into America. Said president Trump, “America is a lawless shithole country and only America can restore law and order to the streets of America”. He continued “We will not tolerate violence against US police – unless its MAGA supporters when they storm the capital”. The president has vowed that he can stop the war between America and America in a day. Said President Putin, “I’ll just ring up Trump and he’ll do whatever I say. Said Trump in response”.“Whatever you say, Sir”. Private Eye mag.

Finally . . .

What a funny thing readers are. Saturday’s readership was 25% down on the average but yesterday’s was 50% up. I wish I knew why. Not that it’d make any difference to what I write. Unless the increases are due to words like sex and prostitution. Which I could easily add as Labels . . .

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 or on Substack.

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.
• Buying a property ‘off-plan’.
• 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.
• A warning re social security and VAT(IVA) payments for those who plane to be sel-employed
• Finally, from a tax lawyer: Everything you need to know about taxes and healthcare when retiring to Spain.