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 of Spanish Property Insight reports on national and local developments in Spain’s booming but (increasingly?) dysfunctional property market.

Six towns around Spain still bear a reference to Franco.

Has God/Allah spoken? I get the impression the fire damage in the wonderful Grand Mosque in Cordoba is confined to the Christian bit plonked in the middle of it.

Cousas de Galiza

Oh, god. Santiago de Compostela gets the ‘Must visit’ treatment here. Where ‘nearby’ does, as they say, some heavy lifting. The city has already been changed so much by over-tourism – in large part due to more than 500,000 Caminers a year – that I’ve vowed never to go there again. If you do decide to visit, expect to be jostled and to receive poor service, at inflated prices.

The first of our 3 firework displays duly began at 24.00 last night but, in my view, was outdone by ‘the sturgeon* moon’.

*This name is traditionally given to August’s full moon and originates from the time when sturgeon fish were most plentiful in the Great Lakes during late summer. The Sturgeon Moon marks the final full moon of summer, and in 2025 it reaches peak illumination on August 9. Other traditional names for the August moon include the green corn moon and the cereals moon.

THE MAGA REALITY TV SHOW

The Huckster-in-Chief at work, to everyone on his email list:-

Responding gives you another chance to send money to the president’s bank account.

BTW . . . Trump is in charge of the ‘swampy establishment’, not the ‘deranged liberals’.

The tariffs are set to hit Americans in their pockets.

An ex-Fox host warns of an insurrection over the handling of the Epstein files.

From Private Eye . . . A Conspiracy Theory hits the Ironymeter: There was consternation among the MAGA base this week as rumours swirled that the legendary Washington Ironymeter believed to be monitoring the extreme levels of irony during the Trump presidency does not, in fact, exist. This extraordinary conspiracy theory started to get traction after Donald Trump, the world’s greatest purveyor of conspiracy theories, who had been voted into power by a MAGA fan base built on belief in conspiracy theories, who had appointed a number of key advisors on the grounds they believe in conspiracy theories, accused his supporters of being idiots who believed in conspiracy theories. Donald Trump shouted over the engine of a helicopter that the Jeffrey Epstein list, which he had previously said was being covered up by the Democrats, was a ‘hoax’ and that his supporters had ¨bought into this ‘bullshit’ hook, line, and sinker.¨ On hearing this statement, Washington braced itself for a seismic Ironymeter explosion of extinction-event proportions, yet astonishingly none came. Said respected shaman, Mr Q Anon, “The fact that the White House hasn’t been covered with burning oil and there isn’t a crater the size of a football pitch where the Washington Memorial used to be is clear indication that the Ironymetre was a deep state fabrication designed to keep Democrats in power and steal the election.” Said mega supporter @pedopizza911, “This is absolute 210% proof that the so-called Washington Ironymetre is Fake News and never existed. Either that or it was switched off by JFK in 1969 while Hollywood was filming the moon landings”.

The latest episode of Shrinking Trump. Even the Republicans have begun to notice Trump’s deterioration. Expect Vance to step up to the plate. Just as soon as he can.

Spanish

Burrada: Nonsense, stupidity

Finally . . . You Have to Laugh

[North] American excesses . . Deranged brown-nosing.

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.