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

A surprising factor in the mix that creates Spain’s serious – ‘structural’ – housing problem.

Three key dates in Spanish history we really should all know about, says this article.

Because of strikes, Madrid airport is currently in ‘chaos‘ . . .

Cousas de Galiza

Travel news 1: Las cercanías are local trains, as opposed to the ‘regional’ variety. We have none of them in Galicia. But there is talk – which might go on for years yet – about a service between Vigo to Pontevedra, which would be far more frequent than the current regional offering. Given that the longest cercanías line out of Madrid runs for c. 135km, the service could be extended to Santiago de Compostela, which is 73km, as the crow flies. We await developments, with breath unbated.

Travel news 2: It’s reported that the Ryanair flights lost because of a dispute re airport fees will be – partially- replaced by charter flights. These go on specific dates to specific cities, such as Marrakesh, Luxor and ‘Scotland’. So, not much like the regular flights you’d select from on the date you want to fly. A poor substitute, then. All a consequence, I believe, of the region’s senseless policy of 3 small airports for 2.8m residents. None of which provides anything like the range of Oporto’s international flights.

So, what we really need is a cercanías train to Oporto . . . Actually, there is one – run by Portugal’s national carrier from Vigo – but it’s only twice a day. And involves a change at Viana do Castelo. If you drive to the border town of Valença – 32km south of Vigo – the trains are far more frequent and some are both direct and ‘express’. The latter stop only thrice, as opposed to 22 times(!) on the slow train. Either way, it’s a very pretty journey, down the North Portugal coast. That said, only the Celta train from Vigo goes to the airport. For the others rom Valença, you have to go backwards by metro from Porto’s centre.

THE USA

A wonderfully excoriating, must-read profile of Stephen Miller. Think of any egregious policy from the Trump administration: Chances are, it was driven by Miller. . . . Everything you loathe or love about Trump’s America, you hate or cherish about Miller’s republic of fear. . . . For Miller, the only laws that matter are the ones he and Trump can pervert. He’s Jewish but you can imagine him being happy to work in Goebbels’ Propaganda Ministry. Who’d be surprised at the news that he’s an appalling boss? After all, he’s been denounced by his own uncle as a one-man betrayal of Jewish moral and political values. He makes it hard to avoid believing some assassinations would be a good thing. Of course, the fact that he has so much power, says everything you need to know about Trump. And Voight. And Project 2025. Which will continue under Vance when Trump pops his clogs, since Trump is only its pathetic figurehead, signing what he’s told to sign.

Need one add that the repellent Karoline Leavitt is a big admirer of Miller. Or says she is. Given her capacity for bare-faced lies, who really knows? It’s easy to imagine her saying the opposite when Vance gets shut of him.

One obvious question – How could a woman have 3 children with Miller before leaving him? For Musk, of all people. Maybe the question answers itself.

Charlie Kirk’s death prompts several extremely important questions.

• Will political leaders and influential media figures tone down the dehumanizing and apocalyptic rhetoric that has convinced so many Americans that violence is the only solution to their problems?
• Will our professors think long and hard about why over a third of American college students believe that employing violence to stop a campus speech is justified?
• Will everyday citizens diversify their media diets, or dig deeper into their rabidly partisan rabbit holes?

Quote of the Day

Evil preaches tolerance until it becomes dominant. From that point on, it seeks to silence the good: John Henry Newman.

The Way of the World

Apart from any one of the many articles on the sex lives of people whom I guess I’m supposed to know, this is the most unappealing article I can recall seeing in the mainstream media in recent years:- Paris Hilton: I have an entire room for my sunglasses collection. Pure clickbait, I assume. Impossible to imagine it appearing only, say, 10 years ago,

AI

Very much my experience too . . . Using AI rather than Google for my searches, I find that the quality of response depends a lot on the user, and the willingness to challenge the first answers. One good way to do this is to re-phrase the question.

Social Media

Read here how the evil potential of social media has never been dealt with and how it has helped us get to where we are.

Spanish

• Esquince: Sprain.
• Cuajar: To curdle, set, gel, coagulate, catch on, take shape.
• Trenzar: To braid, plait, weave.
• Cojo: Lame, limping.

You Have to Laugh

A nice coincidence . . .

Finally . . .

Well, another 2 weeks has passed and the house without a pavement and drive that I go past every day still looks like this:-

But it’s reported today that the nearby roadworks – after months of delay – will be finished in October. So, maybe then.

Which reminds me . . . I got no letters in August nor in the first half of September but today got 2 magazines and 3 letters. Odd, that.

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.