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

Expert Mark Stücklin has a go here at explaining what’s happening in the Spanish property market. Bottom line: The housing policy is not producing a healthy, well-functioning property market. Quite the opposite.

The Torre Pachecho troubles . . . Here’s the estimable Lenox Napier on racism down in Murcia, where he lives.

I get the impression that, with plenty to choose from, both major political parties hold back news of corruption in the other, so that they can release it as and when it could be useful in shifting the limelight. What you might call ‘one-downmanship’. . . . Rather as the British whips of all parties keep a black book of things which will force recalcitrant MPs into line.

Which reminds me . . . The ex Minister of Finance at the centre of the large-scale corruption I wrote about yesterday was also the head of the Tax Office. From which few of us plebs can expect leniency, no matter how small the offence, eg being a day late with a submission.

Cousas de Galiza

Times haven’t been good recently for those making a living from shellfish. Today there’s news of the marketing of the venus verrucosa in place of items is short supply. Here in Galicia this is called carneiro, but also escupiña, almeja vieja and bolo. In France (where it’s a delicacy), it’s praire and in the UK, the warty venus. Its price here has increased 4-fold in the last few weeks.

It almost makes one proud to read that the nearby ports of Marín and Vigo punch above their weight when it comes to the importation of cocaine. And that the EU counts them as being among ‘the elite’ when it comes to the trafficking of this pernicious drug.

Talking of crime . . . A cheeky thief was recently detained in flagrante delicto, climbing up the scaffolding on Pv city’s basilica in order to steal the tools left on the roof.

Portugal

Good to see that this article on how to escape the summer heat includes the nearby North of the country. But I should add that, back in 1999, I did experience a mouth-drying, tongue-swelling 42 degrees in the park cited. Oh, and If you plump for Sintra, expect to feel as if you’re in a sardine can.

The UK

A denial of recent reports on the obligation to have private medical insurance when visiting Spain.

THE MAGA REALITY TV SHOW

The ¨News¨

Projection on a humongous scale – Trump’s distraction strategy is to accuse Obama, Biden et al of election fraud. And to instruct his puppet Attorney General to waste FBI resources on investigating them.

Articles/Videos arising

Lawrence O’Donnell is always good value. This is his latest contribution to the saga of the vile personage that is Donald Trump.

Quotes of the Day

• Pam Bondi already knows every word in every trial that Trump and she are now saying they’ll seek from the Grand Jury. It’s the Donald Trump-Pam Bondi reality show called ‘The Epstein Files’. It’s an absurdity designed to stop Trump’s base continuing to flee from him. It will only convince the really gullible. It’s all about delay. And being able to later blame a ‘Lunatic Left-wing judge’ for declining to allow publication of a small fraction of what Bondi already has and could publish. Trump, of course, will never regard anything related to him as ‘credible’ or ‘pertinent’.
• Trump’s links with Epstein might destroy his presidency. American voters appear to be more alarmed by allegations of serious sexual misconduct than by his policies and the huge economic disruption and threat to Western political solidarity these have caused. He has, of course, responded in his characteristic way with volcanic rage, legal threats to the very existence of the media outlets which are reporting the unfolding story, and a diffuse hysterical vindictiveness toward any named individuals who attempt to investigate its history. Isn’t it alarming that the effects of so many of Trump’s policies, followed as often as not by the quixotic reversal of those policies, should have nothing like the impact on US public discourse as the exposure of an allegedly degrading secret life?

The Way of the World/Social Media

Research by the BBC shows that the 3 most viewed fakes [of military action in the Middle East] have accumulated more than 100 million views across multiple platforms. The lesson for those trying to find out if World War 3 has started is perhaps not to rely on X or TikTok.

Spanish

• Rehusar: Refuse, reject, decline.
• Antifaz: Mask, blindfold, eye shade.
• Redada: Raid, bust, roundup.
• Cacicada: High-handed/despotic act. [From cacique]

Did you know?

This piece of art behind the old museum in Pv city rather intrigued me.

It turned out to be a piece by a young Pakistani woman and is entitled Resilient/Resiliente. See here for why.

Finally . . . You Have to Laugh

Back to social media . . .

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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.