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 rag-bag of items from my notes:-

1. Pv city folk queued for up to 90 minutes to buy Xmas pastries.
2. A very large wolf was run over just 16km north of Pv city. (I didn’t know we had them so near).
3. We are unlikely – to say the least – to see a high speed connection with Portugal via Vigo until 2035
4. Pv city now has an average of at least 25 folk sleeping in the street at night. Or during the day, even.
5. In the last decade, Galician cities have quintupled the amount spent on Xmas lights. Vigo, of course, is the highest per capita, while Pv city is the second lowest, at only a 5th of Vigo’s.
6. The Diario de Pontevedra tells us that going out on Xmas Eve – before a huge meal – is a religion in Pv city Which explains why I thought every one of the city’s 85,000 residents was on the streets that night.
7. The price of cocaine has fallen so far that Colombia’s narcos are being forced to significantly increase the number of narcosubs being sent to our shores. Some of which are crewless, it’s reported.
8. The average age of a car in Galicia is 16 years, up from 14 the last time I saw a number. This makes me feel a tad better about mine being only 12. Long gone are the days when I changed my car every 2 years . . .
9. The Royal Academy has chose arancel as its word of the year. Tariff.
10. There’s yet another new and ‘authentic’ Camino de Santiago. Though not officially recognized by Spanish Camino associations, it attracts hikers for its uncrowded trails, biodiversity, and transhumance history. Infrastructure remains basic. Ideal for nature-focused pilgrims. Which presumably means those with a tent.
11. An unpronounceable Galician word.
12. A Spanish Flamenco singer is called María Rosa García García. The Anglo equivalent would be Mary Rose Smith-Smith

Spanish culture . . . At my lunch yesterday for resident guiris* of 7 nationalities, we discussed the schedule I posted yesterday morning. We ended up deleting 9 of the 41 items as being actions we felt Spaniards would regard as impolite. This left the list at the end of this post – of actions we felt the Spanish don’t regard as impolite. If anyone – Spanish or otherwise – wants to disagree with anything on this list, please feel free to comment. I stress that all of us regard Spanish culture as enjoyable. On balance . . .

* Not exactly – 6 guiris and one South American.

Portugal

Faster with high speed train plans to the border with Galicia.

The USA

Trump is not above the law. Which must worry him quite a lot . . Karma approaches?

Meanwhile . . . A psychotic Xmas Day breakdown . . . More than 200 insane posts.

Quotes of the Day

• Christmas Day sloth, a surfeit of food and alcohol combined with a state of advanced lethargy creates a recurrent problem for the working blogger seeking material for a Boxing Day post.

• American author Joan Didion: I write entirely to find out what I am thinking.

The Way of the World

Our king, our priest, our feudal lord – how AI is taking us back to the dark ages. . . . AI is a black box. It produces knowledge, but without necessarily deepening human understanding. 

Spanish

• Festequín: Big fiesta/meal. Feast.
• Engullir: To engulf, swallow up, gobble down.
• Búnkerizar: To isolate or fortify something or someone, like in a bunker.
• Encrucijada: Crossroad, junction, turning point.
• Afanarse: To strive, toil.

Did you know?

How to deal with a python problem.

You Have to Laugh

Men of different hair tints . . .

Finally . . .

People with deep roots on the Wirral show a relatively high chance of having some Scandinavian (often Norwegian) ancestry. Male lineages with Norse‑Scandinavian origins can reach around 40–50% in men whose families have been in the Wirral for many generations. Which I why I tell folk that one of my ancestors was a (not-very-tall) Viking. . .

WHAT SPANIARDS DON’T REGARD AS IMPOLITE. POSSIBLY

A question mark indicates a lack of certainty or different opinions within the group.

Tailgating another car

Showing anger in public

Using a toothpick in public

Blocking the pavement to have a chat

Invading someone’s personal space

Leaving the newspapers on your table after reading them in a café

Leaving the newspapers in a mess when you put them back in their central place

Doing all the puzzles in a newspaper when others are waiting to read them

Taking someone’s umbrella from the stand when you don’t have yours

Smoking near someone who is eating

Jumping a queue? [Less acceptable than it was 2 or even 1 generation ago]

Talking very loudly in a quiet restaurant

Talking with your mouth full of food?

Putting you elbows on the table?

Flashing you headlights at the car in front of you

Tipping less than 10% of the bill

Being late for an appointment

Not turning up for an event you’ve said you’ll attend*

Cancelling attendance at an event at the last moment. *

Blowing your nose in public?

Speaking when someone else is speaking. [Actually, more or less compulsory]

Letting your children be run around or be noisy in a restaurant

Starting to eat before everyone is served?

Eating food with your fingers? [Prawns, OK Croquetas?]

Wiping your plate with bread

Not saying Please

Not saying Thank-you

Blocking the entry onto a roundabout when in a traffic jam

Not moving to one side when someone is coming towards you

* Our South American member said we had to understand that, in Spain, a commitment (compromiso) is never absolute. Or, as I have long put it: When a Spaniard accepts an invitation, it always comes with the unstated proviso – Unless I get a better offer. Effectively, the concept of a true compromise might well be not-existent. Like that of personal space. And that, some would say, of punctuality . . .

My thanks to those readers who take the trouble to Like my posts.

The Usual Links . . .

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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.