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

Changing Spain 1 . . . This isn’t yet happening in Pv city, though some restaurants open a lot earlier than they used to, to satisfy the needs of the hordes of hungry Caminoers.

Changing Spain 2: My house was built 37 years ago. It’s not constructed of the best materials but I do have good front and back gardens and access to a community garden and pool. Houses built in 2006-7 behind mine have no front garden and tiny back gardens, jutting up against a granite escarpment. This (expensive) house being built below mine doesn’t even have that, as it abuts granite retainer blocks and even seems to have no windows on the ground floor. It does have a good view though . . .

With an old friend, I’ll be making in November a 2nd attempt to visit all these Castellón villages, having been thwarted by the dreadful floods of last November.

Yet another fining opportunity for the police. . . A new road marking, unofficially dubbed “dragon’s teeth” (dientes de león), is appearing on Spanish roads and drivers should take note. These white triangles, painted along the edge of the lane, are a visual cue designed to slow down traffic and could result in a €200 fine for those who ignore them.

Cousas de Galiza

Well, I didn’t take any relevant fotos during the Feira Franca, partly because we didn’t get down to it until the evening and then wasted time waiting in a long queue for the jousting tournament in the bullring before being told – 4 metres from the door – that it was full. So, here’s a link with lots of fotos taken by others.

It was slightly weird in the city this morning. Most of the cafés and bars which would usually cater for the (non-visible, still-abed) locals were all closed – as you might expect after an exhausting day and night yesterday – but there were clearly several groups of Spanish visitors being given guided tours or filling the tables of the few cafés and bars that were open.

We took the opportunity to visit the city’s art gallery and, in particular, to look at the work of the great Galician artist Castelao. Of which this is a typical sketch – an old peasant woman bent double under a coffin – with the title in Gallego of How heavy it is and how it stinks. Presumably her husband, though it might be a child:-

Europe

Spain and Portugal are calling for more power links to Europe after their massive blackout. Despite new projects like a Bay of Biscay subsea link, the Iberian peninsula remains cut off from Europe’s electricity market. The EU is closely watching the investigation to prevent a similar outage.

THE USA and THE MAGA REALITY TV SHOW

Trump insults a reporter (Kaitlin Collins??) at minute 5.10 here, as only he can. And does. Pure projection, of course. Always so presidential.

Finally . . . Did you know?

How the English king Edward 2 died. Or didn’t.

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.