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 said more than once that it’s misleading to claim that Spain has shown the UK, France, Germany, Sweden, etc, how large scale immigration can be successfully achieved. My contention is that Spain, unlike the other countries, has benefitted hugely from the assimilability of folk from its old colonies. Some evidence for this came from one such individual, who told me last night that the Spanish invaders are not seen as monsters but as people who gave them a language, a culture and a religion which make it easy for them to come and work in the ‘motherland’. Which they’ve done in their millions here in Spain in the last decade or so. And have caused few problems, if any.

I can’t say I follow the subject closely but this is something for followers of the football scene here in Spain, where Real Madrid and Barcelona are very much the dominant teams. In fact, today they played the latest clásico match, with the former running put the winners. Whereupon a fight broke out on the touchline.

I’ve mentioned that I suspect that Correos is amalgamating mail before delivering it. So I wasn’t surprised to read that folk who could have applied for a popular Imserso program were annoyed to have received their application forms after the closure date.

That macro-micro divide . . . When I came to Spain 25 years ago, there was much talk of how many people were failing to be achieve the status of mileurista – someone earning 1,000 euros a month, or 12,000 a year. So. I was taken aback to read this week that a third of Galicians – 600,000 souls – still don’t earn this much. Judging from the cars I see in Pv city, not many of these will be trying to survive in these environs. Except for the numerous panhandlers, of course. Though some of these might, in fact, be ding better than 1,000 a month.

The UK

As it happens, there was an article in one of the main UK newspapers today on the challenge of integrating immigrants The current government seems to be failing on this, as has every administration before it. As I insist, not as easy as it is in Spain and no one has ever come up with a solution.

The Mad World of MAGA

I know that at least one or two readers think I overdo this section and, indeed, I’ve thought more than once in the last month or so about reducing the content. But there’s so much going on and the consequences are important not just for the USA but also for the rest of the world. Anyway, I think this nicely sums up the last year . . The tragic change a single year has made in America.

Can this really be true?

Well, it looks from this comment that it is:-

Russia

Finally buckling? Panic in the Kremlin??

BTW: Putin knows a thing or two about grandiose constructions. Perhaps that’s what he and Trump really talk about when they’re alone.

Spanish

• No es poca coña: It’s no joke.
• Cascado: Broken, cracked. Worn out.
• Chirriar: To screech, squeak, creak.
• Pajarita: Little bird. Bow tie.
• Tejer: Weave, knit, crochet.

English

Disanalogy: A lack or failure of analogy.

Did you know?

How can the German establishment have got Hitler so wrong?

Finally . . .

I saw that a columnist had written about a woman who didn’t know how to deal with a plague of these cute insects, called ladybirds in Britain:-

The advice given to her was to recite to them this charming little verse, which I’d not heard for many a year:-

Ladybird, ladybird,

fly away home.

Your house is on fire,

and your children are all gone.

As I recall, very few of them ever took the advice. Well, not until you launched them into space.

Finally . . . Finally . . .

I’ve mentioned that attractive young women claim to be followers of my blog on X and that I don’t believe they’re genuine. But today’s just might be, as she describes herself as a: Travel lover, independent woman, finance lover, no financial advice, #Defi lover, #XRO holder, accept any advice, no porn. Not that I know what some of this means . .

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.