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 occasionally wondered why there are so many billionaires in Spain. Here’s one explanation – the inheritance of real estate that has increased massively in 50 years. By fewer offspring that used to be the case, of course.

Lenox looks back here on the events in Spain during his 2-week break.

Sanchez triumphs, says this observer.

A decent article on eating in Spain.

To the horror of many, Franco is currently popular with Spain’s (disenchanted) Gen Z youth. Here’s something on what most of them don’t seem to know – The truth about Franco.

Someone who got what she wanted from Franco . .

Driving into the several mares’ nests of the roads around Madrid, I wasn’t helped by Google using different exit road numbers from the actual ones. Though, admittedly, this might not be their fault. But not being up-to-date with new roads and roundabouts surely is. As was my inability for find the 2nd church in central Madrid yesterday. Or perhaps my phone app has a bug . .

Walking up Gran Vía, having taken my grandson to a Jurassic Park extravaganza, I stopped off near by daughter’s flat to get bottle of Galician wine. Walking on with a bottle of plonk in one hand and a 6-year old in the other, garned me a few looks. Unless it was the Richard Geere thing again . . .

France

Some folks are on the verge of revolting. But isn’t this always thus in France?

The USA

Under Kennedy, the USA Health Department is in the business of promoting Kennedy.

The Way of the World

As expected, the infamously obsequious president of an infamously corrupt organisation gives a peace prize to an infamously corrupt president who is waging war against one of its members. As this columnist put it: The ceremony had about as much drama and suspense as reading a dictionary or watching election results come in from North Korea. To the surprise of no one, Donald Trump won the inaugural Fifa peace prize at a cheesy, gaudy and gauche World Cup draw expertly designed to flatter the world’s most precious ego. How could anyone parody this?

I’m reminded of one of my favourite Bill Tidy cartons, featuring an oleaginous hotel receptionist bowing low and asking a guest: Is my fawning obsequiousness to your satisfaction, Sir?

Spanish

• Pedanía: District, village, hamlet.
• Manitas: Trotter. Handyman. Tinkerer.
• Escalibada: A traditional Catalan dish of smoky roasted vegetables.

A reader improvement – Sacarle a uno de sus casillas: To molest, tease, or harass someone. Better still: Make someone blow their top.

Did you know?

During WW2, the Brits did everything they could to avoid revealing that they had radar and so could – critically during the Battle of Britain in 1940 – see the German planes coming. This included the false assertion that pilots’ nighttime accuracy was down to extra carrot consumption.​ In fact, for folk who already get enough vitamin A, eating carrots won’t sharpen night vision or allow seeing in complete darkness.

You Have to Laugh

These struck me as being similar to the modern boxes from which you can collect parcels from Amazon or Correos and the like:-

They’re actually burial niches in the crypt of one of the churches I visited yesterday . . .

Finally . . .

Walking past piles of rubbish waiting to be collected in Madrid yesterday, I had a sudden thought – If Catholic priests have the power to transubstantiate bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ, can’t they ask God for the ability to turn rubbish into the work of the Devil and send it to burn in Hell?

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 . . .

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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.