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

Mark Stücklin writes: In a continued bid to clamp down on spiralling rental costs, the Spanish government has now designated San Sebastián (Donostia), La Coruña, and 21 towns in Navarre as “residentially stressed” or “tensioned” rental zones where rents can be suppressed by law. This brings the total number of formally stressed areas to 301 across four autonomous communities, encompassing over 8.28 million residents. I imagine the Law of Unintended Consequences will apply.

A Spanish town bans public Muslim celebrations on municipal premises.

An interesting find in Cástulo, an ancient city in southern Spain.

Cousas de Galiza

Recently, Galicia has been second only to Asturias in attracting foreigners to live here, which compensates for the low birth rate of the natives. [I’m assuming here that ‘foreigners’ means real ones, eg from South America, not Spaniards from other regions.]

On the other hand, Galicia is the second worst region when it comes to fatal work accidents. My impression is that this reflects the number of men dying when their cab-less tractors roll over.

THE MAGA REALITY TV SHOW

Trumpisms

• No one’s seen anything like it, even though they’ve done it twice before.
• Epstein never was a big character in terms of life.
• Tariffs are flowing into the United States like no one thought possible. [Not a single cent comes from outside the USA. Tariffs are a domestic tax, called by some US VAT. So, a deliberate lie? Or just plain ignorance/stupidity?]

Trump’s ‘incipient fascism’ is a symptom of something ‘much worse’: Trump thinks he’s a hero. He’s the Bond movie bad guy.

An opinion I share: The figure to watch in all this is Vance, who has lately maintained an unusual social-media silence on Epstein, before finally stirring himself to denounce the WSJ Scoop. Fun fact: Vance went to the Murdoch family ranch in Montana for a low-key visit in June. While many Republicans are fighting the last war – against Biden and his autopen – the smarter ones have their eyes on 2028.

Quote of the Day

The plan of Trump’s energy chief’s to ‘update’ climate reports is exactly what Stalin did.

Russia v Ukraine

It’s said that the war is being brought home to Russia, because the threat of drone attacks leads to the blocking of the internet. That said, experts say the blackouts are part of the Kremlin’s efforts to curtail online freedom and tighten its grip on the population.

The Russian and American presidents are due to meet ‘in the coming days’ but there is no indication the Kremlin is ready to scale back its demands on Ukraine.

The Way of the World

Populations are ageing and shrinking with calamitous ramifications for economic dynamism and for the viability of welfare states. We’re witnessing the slow extinction of the human race. Economic incentives alone are unlikely to raise below-replacement birth rates. Only a cultural revolution has a chance of achieving that.

Social Media

I have some beautiful young women following me on X. Needless to say, I don’t believe they really are young women inviting me to correspond with them.

Net Zero

The flop of a German wind auction sparks fears for an imminent UK sale. The Energy Secretary prepares to offer lucrative support from taxpayers to attract investors.

Spanish

• Burrada: Nonsense, stupidity. From burro, I guess. A much maligned animal.
• Chafa: Bum, tacky.
• Chafar: To mash, flatten, spoil.
• Tocateja: Cash. Cash down/upfront

Did you know?

80% of Britons over 65 write with joined-up handwriting, compared to 46% of 18-24 year olds.

You Have to Laugh

An unusual competition, with an unusual winner.

Finally . . .

I cited yesterday an article on avoiding being scammed. By pure coincidence, my daughter told me last night of an SMS from her bank’s number which she confirmed with the bank hadn’t come from them. Worryingly, it had gone into the group which all her bank’s messages go into. This is a feature of iPhones, it seems, but this might not be the case with other phones.

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.

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.