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

Souvenirs and selfies are stealing the soul of Sagrada Familia, say Barcelona residents. Both they and business owners claim they’re drowning in a sea of souvenir stands that have driven out the butchers, grocers and fishmongers.

Cousas de Galiza

A global warming effect?? The VdG today: Galicia, where land prices have risen the most: After the Balearic Islands, Galicia is where agricultural land prices have increased the most, although the price of Galician arable land has not reached the levels it has in the Canaries, at more than €148,000 per hectare. In Galicia, a hectare costs an average of €19,335. . . Properties in O Salnés, with a strong winemaking tradition, or those in agricultural and livestock areas, are highly sought after. Traditionally, Galician villagers never sell land, as their neighbours will conclude they’re highly in debt. Perhaps this will now change. Everyone has a price, they say.

A somewhat startling statistic – more than 80% of the people who’ve died in Spain from the recent high temperatures have been here in Galicia. I realise we’re not at all used to such heat but, nevertheless, this does seem very disproportionate. . . .

At the recent festival of live-folk-in-coffins I cited, one of the participants chose to proceed on his knees below his empty coffin:-

This rather annoyed the spoilsport stickler of a priest, who declined to let the sinner into his church.

The UK

A blast of a trumpet against the monstrous regiment of the pandering, middle-class owners of dogs – Folk who give a half-arsed apology for being too lazy or entitled to train their pet.

THE MAGA REALITY TV SHOW

Trumpisms

• During my last administration, China was paying us hundreds of billions of dollars in tariffs. [Utter bilge. Not a single cent.]
• The Dems are CRAZED LUNATICS!!! [Projection again.]

Good to know that Trump’s rating are now massively net negative on both immigration and inflation. And that 58% of Americans disapprove of his handling of the Epstein affair. But this doesn’t necessarily portend a Vance takeover of the GOP before 2028. If not, lots more insanity to come.

Killing Democracy – And Not Bothering to Hide It. The assault is happening in plain sight, from the Epstein case to Texas reapportionment to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Trump administration and its radical right foot-soldiers in the federal government and in the states are undertaking a comprehensive scheme to undermine future state and federal elections, in effect rigging the rolls to keep themselves in power no matter what the voters decide. So far, other than the report itself, by the Brennan Center for Law and Justice at New York University, there’s been little—or little-noticed—response. 

Quotes of the Day

• The key to understanding Trump’s world is that he believes that the only person who can be trusted is him.
• Trump doesn’t know how to solve a problem, only how to cover it up.

Russia v Ukraine

A 1939 manual shows Trump how to wreck Russia’s economy. As the president threatens to choke Putin’s finances, a British handbook circulated before WW2 has come back into vogue.

The Way of the World

• A tongue-in-cheek rejection of the 16 unofficial [British]middle-class holiday rules.
• And – far more seriously – a harrowing, heart-breaking indictment of social media’s ruthlessness.

Spanish

• Rótulo: Sign, label
• Candado: Lock, padlock. Goatee(?)
• Pintada; Graffiti

For clarification . . . P’alante, as I said, is short for Por alante. But this is a slang/dialect version of the true Spanish Por adelante. It might not be recognised in, say, Valladolid.

English

• Phubbing; Half scrolling and half listening. Said to a be a passion-killer . . .
• Typosquatting: The technique of registering false email addresses/domain names similar to legitimate ones.

Did you know?

Two things to be cautious about . . .

• Phishing via Instagram.
• Innocent-looking wotsap messages.

Finally . . .

Good question . . . What would it take to perfectly demonstrate the ignorance, stupidity, vanity and self-centredness of much of humanity? Why, social media, of course.

Another couple . . . How to put the genie back in the bottle? Is that even possible?

My thanks to those readers who take the trouble to Like my posts.

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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 . . .

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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.

If you´re thinking of moving to Spain, this link should be useful to you.