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 ‘troubles’ down in Torre Pachecho . . . A Vox party mayor in Murcia is being investigated for a hate crime. Hardly surprising.

The Guardian reports here on the unhappiness of the Canarians with the level of tourism they suffer from.

Spain is said to have the lowest percentage of social housing in the EU. You´d think that – with all the media emphasis on a housing shortage – things might be improving. Well, while they might well be nationwide, in nearby Vigo the supply is reported to have reduced.

Cousas de Galicia

I’ve mentioned that local residents were not at all happy with the noise of the various music concerts in Pv city’s Tafisa Park of the last few weeks. The DdP reports here on the official complaints at the breaching of local noise ordinances. Well ahead of a repeat next July. But I imagine they’ll be ignored.

This looks like a bit of a wasteland but, until recent harvesting, it was a eucalyptus forest and is now a eucalyptus ‘nursery’.

Eucalyptus is a famously fast-growing tree, so I expect it’ll be ready for re-harvesting here within 5 years or so. Hardly surprising, then, that it’s a cash crop, feeding a (unpopular) cellulose factory on the edge of Pv city. This is the city’s only major employer, so it`s a tad ironic that the left-wing mayor has been trying to get it closed and moved for at least 25 years.

The ‘leading businessman’ in the local town of Portonovo has been arrested with 118 kilos of illegally trapped octopus in his van. Well, the price has risen rapidly since Covid and a man can’t live on bread alone.

The UK

Reading this article, I was reminded of the (valid) comment of a Spanish reader several years ago, to the effect that Spain – at street level – isn’t a corrupt country so much as a ‘country of low ethics’. For, the author claims that: Britain is no longer a civilised country. The rise in shoplifting is just the tip of the iceberg. We’re abandoning our basic moral principles. Our social order is collapsing.

THE MAGA REALITY TV SHOW

Hard to believe these really are true:-

• The Club World Cup trophy held aloft by the Chelsea captain was actually a replica. The original, valued at roughly $230,000, is now in the Oval Office, after FIFA’s president allowed Trump to display it there. Trump has said that he’s going to keep it.
• Trump ordered that his White House portrait be printed with a golden border so it would ‘glimmer’.

Trumpisms

• We have the perfect administration. The talk of the world.
• I don´t understand why anyone would be interested in the Epstein case

Articles/Videos

• On Trump not being fooled by Putin.
• On the failings of the administration in responding to the Texas floods.
• On the Speaker ‘stabbing Trump in the back’ as regards Epstein: See at minute 4.05 . . . We should put everything out there and let the people see the facts. Pam Bondi needs to come forward and explain everything.

Quotes of the Day

• Trump’s initial call for mass detentions and deportations was always based on the lie that “America is facing a huge immigrant crime wave”.
• Epstein . . . For the first time in memory, MAGAworld isn’t just acquiescing to Trump’s distorted reality field. It’s in open revolt. It’s finally finding out what it’s like to deal with Trump’s hostility.
• His Epstein blunder exposes Trump as the ‘unaccountable elite’ his supporters sent him to attack. He is the embodiment of the elite.
• Trump is trapped in his own stupidity.

Spanish

• I´d be very surprised if you didn’t know not to use these phrases.

Did You Know?

• The Canary Islands aren’t named after canaries, but after dogs. Latin: Can, Canis, Canes. The Roman name was Canariae Insulae.
• The carcasses of 400 whales have been found somwhere under the Sahara sands.

Finally . . . You Have to Smile

Well, I added a Prostitution Label and had exactly the same success as I had with Sex. Zilch.

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.