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

Valencia cracks down on numerous tourist rentals in the city.

This is how the sun rose over Pv city this morning, dulled by the smoke from fires in Galicia and Castilla Y León. The fire between Zamora and León is the worst since 1968.

I imagine it will have been much worse over the fires themselves. The smoke from these has caused massive disruption in road and train travel between the North West and Madrid.

Cousas de Galiza

There are a lot of pigs up in our hills. The Supreme Court has ordered that authorities stamp out pollution linked to intensive farming of them. The court said that residents of A Limia had had their fundamental right to living in a healthy environment violated.

Says Lenox Napier of Business Over Tapas: It’s getting a lot like Christmas. The Christmas lottery has been on sale since July 10, and Vigo, famous for its Christmas lights, has them up already. El Español reports: At 31 degrees, Vigo welcomes Christmas: Says the mayor: It will be the best in the history of humanity. This year, there will be 12 million LED lights, half a million more than in 2024. Some folk think he is insane.

Pv city has at least 5 kebab places. I’ve only eaten in one of them once. And, having read this warning, I probably won’t be having another kebab: They contain something similar to meat, bad fats, enough salt to stop a train and insane sauces that could preserve a mammoth.

THE USA and THE MAGA REALITY TV SHOW

Trumpisms

• We ended inflation.[An absolute lie]
• Inflation is down to a perfect, beautiful number. [Whatever that is. Incompatible with the first statement. Unless Trump wants his MAGA idiots to believe the number is zero.]

Russia v Ukraine

For whatever reason(s), Trump continues to help Russia:-

• Instead of getting hit with sanctions last week, Putin got a summit. This is a tremendous victory for him no matter what the result of it.
• The NYT: Trump has spent the week setting the bar extremely low for his summit. Hardly anyone expects him to make much progress in halting the fighting.
• Generally, the US media is lukewarm. Intuitively, if not more strongly, it’s felt the Putin has more to gain. And that, if Trump comes away without at least a pathway to a ceasefire, then Putin will have gained the upper hand.

The Russian view: Putin’s visit to the USA means the total collapse of the whole concept of isolating Russia. Total collapse. This is a breakthrough even if they don’t agree on much.

A relevant podcast of yesterday . . . How Putin is playing Trump.

Perhaps Putin will ghost-write Trump’s next book on the art of the deal.

Spanish

Arriar: Lower, haul down, strike.

Did you know?

El País says 14% of beer drunk in Spain is non-alcoholic and that, in a blind test, the best beers for taste were Althaia Mediterránea, Superbock and Cruzcampo. Not being a beer drinker, I doubt I could tell the difference-

You Have to Laugh

The Smithsonian Institute has been told that the government will review all its exhibits, so as to ensure that they align with American exceptionalism. This is: A belief that the USA is unique, distinctive, even superior compared with other nations. It holds that the USA is fundamentally different, particularly in its commitment to democracy, liberty, individual rights, and self-governance. It’s commonly associated the idea that the USA has a mission to serve as a model for freedom and democracy and as a beacon to the world.

I guess we can agree that, under Trump, the USA is very different from other democracies. As to whether it’s a model and a beacon, this is now so untrue as to be laughable. The major question now is: Will it ever be a model again. Assuming it really once was.

Finally . . .

I will be going South again in late autumn, with my old uni pal – trying again to visit Valencia and Alicante and then Murcia, Cartagena and Almeria. Thanks to Lenox Napier, was able to read these 3 reviews today. And I now await his kind, informed view of their accuracy . . .

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.