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

Young Spaniards now leave their parents’ home at the age of 30 on average, the fifth-latest in Europe. I’m not sure this is much later than it’s been for quite a long time.

Property owners across Spain can legally refuse to pay controversial community levies after the Supreme Court ruled in favour of residents who’d fought a decades-long battle against contributing to building improvements they never wanted.

That macro-micro distinction . . . Spain boasts enviable economic growth, and is the leader in advanced economies in 2025. However, Spaniards complain of low wages and a high cost of living. Real wages in Spain have only grown by 2.8% cent in 30 years, the fourth worst performance among the 38 OECD countries. Consequence:- Young Spaniards are turning to the ‘far-right’ populist party, Vox. One assumes they believe the party’s easy-to-make promises.

Across Spain, education costs have soared nearly 25% since 2020 . . . I’ve recently seen the back-to-school numbers for both Spain and the UK. I can’t recall them exactly but it struck me that Spain’s were considerably higher. I can’t say why, other that I see that the list of items include meals, transport, private lessons, IT and textbooks. I’m not sure British parents have to fork out for all of these. Especially textbooks. I was told years ago that these change every year and that their one-off annual sale keeps the Spanish publishing industry alive.

Talking of things living and dying . . . Back in 2006, I took fotos of every traditional building in central Pv city which I feared wouldn’t survive the construction boom of that time. Having just (finally) found said fotos, I’m about to embark on a survey of them. For now, I can say that, in the main street out of the centre, two thirds of the row of these houses have been replaced by flat block.

On the other hand, this house at the Alameda end of the street hasn’t been demolished.

More anon on this.

The UK

Only in the NHS?

THE USA

A good podcast episode: Why Trump won’t take on Putin. And other matters.

Spanish

• Cuentos: Tales, stories, accounts
• Chino: Chinese.
• Cuentos chinos: Tall tales
• Estela: Wake, trail. Stele.
• Hoja: Leaf
• Laurel: Bay.
• Hojas de Laurel: Guess.

English

Uninterested v. disinterested:

• Uninterested” means not showing interest or not caring about something. It describes a lack of attention, concern, or enthusiasm.
• “Disinterested” means impartial or unbiased, having no personal stake or vested interest in a matter. It is used to describe someone who is neutral and objective, not influenced by personal opinions or gain. ¨

In some cases, “disinterested” can also mean no longer interested, implying a change from being interested to not caring any more, but this usage is less common and sometimes discouraged in formal writing.

To avoid confusion, use “disinterested” to mean impartial and “uninterested” to mean not caring or bored. The former was used wrongly in a (London) Times article this morning. Albeit by an American. . . . I blame Trump.

Did you know?

I was searching in G Maps for street in Pv city but got only citations in various French cities, causing me to wonder why a Spaniard was so honoured in France. Wiki told me that JoachiN Costa was a respected French sculptor. On further enquiry, as they say, I learned that JoachiM Costa was a highly influential Spanish politician, lawyer, economist and historian whose ideas greatly contributed to the modernization and regeneration of Spain in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. And that: He had a role in shaping contemporary Spanish thought and his reforms in law, agriculture, and social policy. And that: His ideas – known as ‘Regenerationism’ (the scientific study of Spain’s decline as a nation) – rose to greater prominence in the aftermath of Spain’s defeat in the Spanish-American War of 1898.

But I still don’t know why the French Joachim had a Spanish surname, other than because he was born near the border with Spain, in Occitania.

You Have to Laugh

Finally . . .

I drove early into Pv city this morning – something I avoid like the proverbial plague – and had 2 unusual experiences. The first was a huge traffic jam at the bottom of my hill and across the bridge into town. I thought there might have been an accident but the cause turned out to be the droves of school kids using the 6 crossings after the bridge. The second unusual experience was at the hospital, where I was going for annual blood tests. They’d moved the check-in desk and changed the system completely. It now involves taking 2 tickets, the first from a machine and the second from the person the TV screen sends you to. Who then sends you to another room and another TV. I guess it’s been done in the interests of efficiency. How well this is working out can be assessed from the facts that, firstly, people were milling around in confusion. And, secondly, that a woman seems to be employed solely to tell people which desk or waiting room to go to. Perhaps it’s early days but I was reminded of the full-time employee at the side of the ticket machines on the Oporto metro, helping folk to follow the utterly confusing instructions. Progress.

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