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/Galiza

I’ve often wondered if the verb Mentir can mean not only To lie but also To be mistaken. One reason is that Spanish politicians – national and local – regularly accuse each other of it outside parliament. But my Spanish friends insists it only means To lie. Probably accurate.

The madness of modern youth . . . This is a regular sight in my daughter’s street in Madrid, wherein there’s a café promoted by influencers on social media . . .

I’ve mentioned the Galician writer and artist, Castelao, whom I much like. There’s to be a film – featuring Pv city – about him, called ‘Antes de Nós’. I’ll let you know when it’s out.
The UK

That visit . . . Trump clearly views Britain as some kind of pettable, cosplaying Maga vassal state, and nothing that happened last week – and certainly nothing Starmer did – will disabuse him of that.

THE USA

Listening to Trump, Vance and Miller this last week, forces one to ask;: Can you believe these are the Americans lecturing Europe on free speech? And: Is there anyone sane at the top of the US government?

And talk about ‘mushroom management’ . . .Trump on Saturday unleashed a blistering criticism on his hand-picked Attorney General Pam Bondi.The president took to his own social media site, Truth Social, over the weekend, where he posted an open letter addressed to “Pam.”

And see here on that, and on another great appointment.

Things must be bad if this friend of Trump is worried about them.

This is true but neither the ‘radical Left’ nor the ‘fascist Right will want to hear it.

Quotes of the Day

• It’s obviously not in good taste to celebrate anyone’s murder, but the fact that calling out Kirk’s divisive and bigoted vies could possibly be considered “rationalizing” his death and get you[as a foreigner] deported is chilling.
• This is where identity politics gets you: in a bid to include everyone, you lose all sense of self, of culture. You just end up saying whatever you think will please the last person.

Spanish

• Cortar la respiración: To take your breath away.
• Perder los papeles: To go off at the deep end. To go crazy.

English

Receipts: Seems to be the fashionable US word for ‘evidence’ or even ‘proof’.

Finally . . .

Astonishingly, Robert Kennedy might actually have said something correct, viz. that there is research into the relationship between the gut biome and mitochondria in the brain, with poor levels of the latter being associated with several mental health problems. See this book, that I cited a year or two ago. Needless to say, Kennedy’s comments have been criticised for being superficial.

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.