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

Mark Stücklin gets blunt here about the attempts of the Barcelona authorities to control the rental market.

I made an email request to a UK NHS hospital in mid-September and have just received a reply, almost 2 months later. This has reminded me that, not infrequently, one doesn’t get a reply to an email sent to a Spanish company or organisation. It used to be said – back in the days when banks had rows of desks for you to go to – that you could never get anything done in Spain other than face-to-face. Or via a gestor who would do this for you. This is no long totally true but it certainly does seem to be true that making a phone call can be far more productive than an email or a letter. Which is as good a reason as any for learning Spanish.

It’s not uncommon here in Galicia for drivers to go the wrong way on an autovía. These are called kamikazes. The funniest – and most Spanish – one I can recall is the octogenarian on an electric wheelchair who was stopped on his way to a brothel.

There’s an upcoming TV series on Galicia TV called Land Rober. Which is how Spaniards pronounce Land Rover. From the title, I thought it might be some sort of spoof but it seems not. First aired in 2009, it‘s not a fictional drama or narrative series, but a branded content series created by Land Rover to showcase journeys and adventures.

Pontevedra city is blighted by graffiti but I was astonished this morning to see that the blighters had done their stuff on the roof of a 9-storey building . . .

Portugal

This article might please my one reader in Portugal . . . A nice trip from Porto up the Douro river to the wine terraces of the interior. BTW . . The statement ‘Porto is known locally as Oporto,’ has things the wrong way round. ´Oporto´ is English for the local name Porto.

The UK

In recent years [decades?], the BBC has “lurched from crisis to crisis”. But it might now be facing it’s biggest crisis ever – and not just for upsetting Trump and the MAGA movement. It has lost 2 million viewers in 5 years, and is losing revenue at a rate of £1.1 billion annually. The latest crisis – over impartiality – has led to the resignation of both the director-general and the chief executive of BBC news. For those interested in the fate of this important organisation, here are 5 articles:-

From the (right-wing) paper which initiated the crisis:-

• Things could get very messy.
• Apologies mean nothing when the BBC is so obviously unrepentant
• The future of the BBC is now in doubt.

From a centre-right paper:-

• What’s the point of the BBC, if it can’t be impartial

From a left-wing paper:-

• The BBC is facing a coordinated, politically motivated attack.

As someone says: There are some who believe that the BBC – like the NHS – is beyond reform. Of the 2, I suspect the BBC is more likely to materially change. Or be broken up. Meanwhile, like tariffs, its annual fee is a universal tax. Hard, but not impossible, to avoid.

The mad, bad world of MAGA

Another Deluded Trumpism

• Republicans who are unhappy don’t realise what I’ve done for them. They don’t talk about it. And the Democrats lie about it.

Quote of the Day

• Trump’s word for ‘Things I don’t like’ is ‘Emergencies’. He’s declared 9 of them.

The Way of the World

Reading these words about Germany in the mid-1930s, I found myself wondering whether this, too would find echos in future Trump Executive Orders aimed at distraction. Though not of the same type or magnitude, of course: Nazi discrimination against minorities such as homosexuals, gypsies, a-socials, the mentally ill or handicapped or African-Germans was designed to purify the German race and render it fit for a war of world conquest. . . . One minority, however, was seen as not just as a tiresome burden, but a vast threat, not merely idle, or inferior, or degenerate but actively subversive, engaged in a massive conspiracy to undermine and destroy everything German, a conspiracy, moreover, that operated on a worldwide basis. This minority, no more than 1% cent of the population, was the Jewish community. But initial anti-Jewish measures – post 1933 – actually tailed off for while. However . . In early 1935, agents reported a sharp increase in popular discontent, as material conditions remained miserable, real levels of unemployment stayed high, prices of food and other basic necessities rose sharply, and people became weary of constant demands for acclamation, support and money. The Nazis were well aware that it was actually losing support. Action was needed. So, antisemitic measures and activities were stepped then up.

Spanish

• Divisa: Currency, money.
• Cazarrecompensas: Bounty-hunter
• Aguadar: To soften

English

Factoid: 1. A false or misleading statement presented as fact, 2. A brief, trivial piece of true information whose importance is overstated or misrepresented .

Finally . . . Did you know?

Why we yawn . . . Almost certainly not for the reason you think.

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.