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

HT to Lenox Napier of Business Over Tapas for the news that . . . Not only facing the right and far-right, the banks, the media, business and foreign interference, the Government now has The Church to deal with. An Archbishop calls for the end of the government. The president of the Episcopal Conference says that he sees a need for “a vote of confidence, a motion of no confidence, or giving the citizens a voice. I had thought the days of political interference by the Church ended some 10 or 15 years ago.

It’s traditional to see Spain as a country of happy, close families but it’s reported that 20% of Spaniards suffer from loneliness. Specifically, almost 2m people over 65 live alone, many lacking a daily support network. A saddening surprise.

The Tax Office has confirmed that – for now at least – it won’t be seeking from their banks details of Bizum payments between private individuals. This will only be required of payments received by businesses and professionals. To stop, inter alia, self-employed folk claiming phony ‘Entertainment’ expenses.

This is an article on the usual pre-Xmas prices here in Pv city, giving you a chance to see a foto of the awful percebes, or goose barnacles. BTW: Una pularda is a pullet – a young female chicken under one year old that has not yet begun laying eggs.

I was surprised to read that a third of workers in Pv city earn below the minimum wage. An AI answer: Many Spaniards earn below the official minimum wage, owing to widespread informal employment, self-employment loopholes, and part-time or undeclared work arrangements. High unemployment rates and job insecurity push workers to accept under-the-table payments or reduced hours to avoid total job loss. The dual labor market—separating permanent and temporary contracts—exacerbates this, as temporary roles often pay less and skirt regulations.

The UK

For masochist Brits – How and why it’s all gone wrong in the last 25 years. Coincidentally, after I’d fled the UK for pastures less brown.

The USA

A leopard, they say, can’t change its spots. After the worst speech ever given to the people by a president, these are sample descriptions of the seminal event:- A psychotic breakdown . . . An unmitigated disaster . . . An angry and frustrated old man, playing his greatest hits . . . A performance more closely resembling one of his predecessor, Joe Biden, with the uncharacteristically wooden president stumbling over his words and mixing up figures. . . Essentially: “I don’t get you and am annoyed by you” . . . A rant with monotone anger. . . . It will go down in history as the “Bah! Humbug!” address. . . This was not an address by a self-confident man dishing out Christmas presents to the nation. It smacked of desperation from someone one who can feel the December windchill of opinion polls – one of which shows just 33% of US adults approve of how he has handled the economy. See here and here if you really want more.

Surely it’s alomost all over.

Meanwhile . . . Trump v. The BBC.

Russia v Ukraine

That other nice chap says European leaders are ‘little pigs’ and that Russia will achieve Ukraine goals by diplomacy or force. Well, he would say that, wouldn’t he? He certainly seems to be in line for achieving some of his goals.

The EU’s new policy towards Russia’s seized assets isn’t about helping Ukraine, claims this columnist.

The Way of the World

Is AI creating monster?

Spanish

• Puerro: Leek.
• Elfo: Elf, elvish.
• Coletero: Scrunchie, hair-tie. Made fashionable by a major footballer in the UK. 10m sold.

English

• Content provision: What old-fashioned copywriting is called on the internet.
• Sneezeguard: An acrylic or glass screen designed to protect food or people from the exposure to respiratory droplets, dispensed when coughing, sneezing, or speaking. 

Did you know?

My friend – and ex piano teacher – Alex tells me why the fishing grounds south west of the UK are called, in Spanish, El Gran Sol. This is derived from the French term for them Le Grand Sole. Because they’re shaped like the flat fish also called ‘sole’ in English.

The Spanish word is lenguado. . . So, the zone really should El Gran Lenguado.

You Have to Laugh

Trump installed bronze plaques below the portraits of previous presidents in the White House. Written – ‘because he is a student of history’ – by himself. Obama is labelled divisive and Biden lazy. Maybe under Trump’s portrait, it should say ‘Golfy’.

Finally . . . A confession.

I have quite a lot of classical music CDs and I regularly attend concerts in Pv city. But I’ve never admitted to anyone that my approach to the latter is exactly that as described in this extract from a novel I’m reading: I thought about the psychological characteristic that others possess and I don’t – the characteristic that means their enjoyment is immersive and rapt, while mine is partial at best. When listening to classical music, I want to be able to read the paper at the same time, or potter about. If forced to devote my attention wholly to the music, I wonder what I’m missing out on, what secret channel of sublimity I’m not receiving, what tiny disposition of cartilage in the inner ear means that classical music is little more than nice background noise to me, high-quality aural wallpaper. Obliged to gaze upon this wallpaper for a couple of hours, my mind will always turn to other things.

On a point of detail, I read my Kindle during concerts. But I do have classical music on all day. Even when writing posts for this blog.

Finally . . . Finally . . .

After 200 warnings, my (non existent) Cloud account has now been closed. Or so I’ve been told at least 10 times today.

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.