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

Is Spain still affordable?, asks Barcelona resident Mark Stücklin here. Depende, as they often say in Spain. For incoming North Americans émigrés, say, very much so. For the locals, much less than it used to be. And for those of us who’ve seen the value of the pound against the euro plummet by nearly 30% in 25 years . . .

HT to Lenox Napier of Business Over Tapas for this article on The top ten worst places to live in Spain. Spain is often ranked amongst the best countries in the world for quality of life. But, as with any country, some places are considered less desirable to live in than others’ The Golden rule: Do your research. There’s a link at the end of this post which will help you with this key challenge.

Reader David – one of those who has problems with WordPress – tells me that a delegation from Galicia will attend the unveiling of a Camino de Santiago marker stone in Winchester later this month. I guess this will be the 44th Camino, joining the start of the Camino Inglés in Southampton or Portsmouth. Like Chaucer’s famously rude Wife of Bath. The distance given in the article suggests Southampton.

The UK

In the grip of a ‘juvenile leadership farce’, says a left-of-centre paper here.

The mad, bad world of MAGA

More Delusional Trumpisms:-

• Increasing your mortgage from 40 to 50 years isn’t a big deal. [A very contrary view here].
• The Democrats are trying to bring up the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax again because they’ll do anything at all to deflect on how badly they’ve done on the Shutdown, and so many other subjects. Only a very bad, or stupid, Republican would fall into that trap.

Howard Luttnick rather upsets Trump with his honesty, here and here.

Some citations from a history of 1930s Germany which might just put you in mind of someone else:-

• The year 1938 confirmed Hitler in the belief that he could not fail.
• He was convinced in the myth of his own invincibility.
• Said Hitler: ‘I will follow the path assigned to me by Providence’. [î. e. he thought he was divinely chosen.]
• He achieved unfettered command of foreign, military and economic policy.
• He was surrounded by acolytes who constantly reiterated their admiration for him.
• He had nobody who was willing to restrain him.
• For 2 hours he lectured the Austrian leader on his invincibility, asserting: ‘I have achieved everything I set out to do and have thus become perhaps the greatest German of all history’.

But at least Hitler was open about his style of government. Talking to Mussolini, he said: We must do everything to prevent opponents of the authoritarian system of government from concentrating upon us as their sole object.

As I said yesterday, Teutonic genes . . .

Quotes of the Day

• Regime change in Venezuela is a euphemism for US-inflicted carnage and chaos.
• Of course Trump knew about the girls: Jeffrey Epstein.

Spanish

• Manejo: Management, handling, driving, operation.
• Loa: Praise, encomium.
• Asestar: Strike, hit

English

NSFW: Not safe/suitable for work. Internet slang or shorthand used to mark links to content, videos, or website pages the viewer may not wish to be seen viewing in a public, formal, or controlled environment. [Another HT to Lenox Napier for this bit of new knowledge.]

Did you know?

Britain’s most famous sailor, Horatio Nelson, suffered from sea-sickness every time he took to the main. I believe this to be the case with everyone who is so afflicted.

Finally . . . You Have to Laugh

Joachim von Ribbentrop, was a prominent German diplomat and Nazi politician who became Ambassador to the UK in 1936. He liked neither Britain nor the British and the feeling was mutual. So:-

• He went home to Berlin so often that Punch called him ‘The Wandering Aryan’.
• His style of diplomacy – brusque, peremptory, authoritarian – did not go down well with diplomats, and he soon acquired the derisive nickname: ‘von Brickendrop’. 
• Because of his pretentiousness and his social ineptitude, he was also called ‘von Ribbensnob’.

Things didn’t turn out too well for him. He was the first Nazi bigwig to be executed in 1946, having been found guilty of war crimes, including conspiring to wage aggressive war and crimes against humanity. His last words were: “God protect Germany. God have mercy on my soul. My last wish is that German unity be maintained, that understanding between East and West be realised and there be peace for the world.” A tad late with the final sentiment, of course.

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 and on X.

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.