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

A few stats . . . As of 2021, Spain has around 3.8m empty homes, or more than 14% of the total housing stock – a 13% increase since 2011. Galicia lead with the highest proportion, at 29% of its total stock. A 2025 survey indicates 38% of empty homes have been vacant for over 5 years. Only 3% of property owners report an empty home, but this number rises to 26% for those with 3 or more properties. You’d think something could be done to ameliorate this situation but: Many vacancies stem from poor condition, rural locations with low demand, or unaffordable renovations rather than speculation in high-demand cities. The real solution would be more construction in the right places. Notwithstanding that this would surely mean more corruption, at all of Spain’s administrative levels.

The UK

If you want a gloomy view of the UK as it now is and might become – i.e. worse – here’s one on a plate for you. I’ve no doubt there will be dissenters. Anyway, I doubt that the writer’s recipe for national restoration has much chance of being fulfilled. The only thing I know for sure is that I’d not want to be Prime Minister. Or even an MP. Oh, and that, if I were still living there, I’d want to emigrate . . .

An Islamophobic cartoon??

The USA

The excellent Daily Show gives Trump its own award, after showcasing the ludicrous FIFA Peace Prize ceremony.

I guess there are many ways you could summarise the Trump/Miller national strategy document. Here’s one: Get out of our way as we do our own self-interested thing in our self-appointed sphere of influence. Don’t do anything that will harm us, even though we are free to harm you. And will do so, as and when it suits us, regardless of the impact on the world. We are independent of you and everyone else but interventionist in others’ affairs wherever and whenever we think this would be in our interests. Russian and China are entitled to take the same approach in their respective spheres of influence. As they say . . . With friends like this, who needs enemies? The winners? Certainly not the USA. Surely Russia, China and even North Korea. Assuming we all survive the next World War.

With measures like this one, will anything remain of the US tourism sector by the time Trump is manhandled from the Oval Office in a straightjacket?

The Way of the World

The medieval city of Cordoba was the “ornament of the world”. Under Abd al-Rahman III (912-961), the city grew dramatically, becoming fantastically rich and cultured until it had no equal in western Europe. With a population of about 100,000, it was on a par with the imperial capitals of Constantinople and Baghdad, when London and Paris had populations of about 20,000. Muslim Cordoba was the illuminating beacon of ‘al-Andalus’ – an entity that existed from the 8th century to 1492 — and a centre of science and scholarship, trade, music, art and agriculture. And it was also the scene of ‘convivencia’, the more-or-less peaceful coexistence between Jews, Christians and Muslims. So begins a review of a book which aims to educate us on the benign influence of Islam on Europe. Not altogether successfully, it seems.

Spanish

• Flamigero: Flamboyant.
• Desposar: To marry, wed, espouse.
• Break: Break (= rest) . .

English

Disaster capitalism: A term for the form of capitalism that reigns over much of US healthcare. Where you can go bankrupt and lose your house if you fall ill without insurance cover. Anathema to Europeans, which Trump presumably sees as weakness.

Did you know?

Those clever Neanderthals . . .

You Have to Laugh

Finally . . .

During his Philadelphia rally this week, Trump insisted he loved miners. Would you believe that Fox News’ subtitles had this as ‘I love minors’. . .

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If you´re thinking of moving to Spain, this link should be useful to you.