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

Navigating the changes in Spain’s new driving laws.

This article claims that something I have long called Tapas Street is the best for food in the whole of the Pv province. At the top of it are 2 places co-owned now by a Panamanian chap who was the only waiter who spoke English in the city when I came here in 2000 and who became a close fiend of me and, coincidentally, my 2 young and beautiful daughters. I josh with him that he’s on the way to becoming a millionaire but it’s very possibly true. Thanks to his personality and the quality of both his staff and the food, these 2 tapas bars are the most popular in the city. As I’ve noted here, this is not good news for everyone, as bloody tourists and ‘pilgrims’ fill the terrace tables from 6pm from May to November!

Well, it might well be 3 degrees and there might well be hailstones on the pavement but young women in Pv city are still walking around with bare midriffs. Well, one anyway. You’d think it was Newcastle or Sunderland. Where this is obligatory, apparently.

The UK

Britain should embrace European and other middle powers. With the US and China facing off in a tariff war, the time has come for the UK to pivot away from the USA back towards Europe.

Europe

There is fury in Europe over Trump’s statement implying that NATO troops kept out of the front line in Iraq and Afghanistan. Given the number of British troops killed – over 400 – the UK PM has demanded a retraction and an apology. But no one expects Trump to do this for the first time in his wretched life.

The USA

I read that the Supreme Court had declared Trump’s tariffs illegal but, as one does these days, I checked with an AI engine and found it was one of those detailed bits of misinformation. Designed, I guess, to generate clicks and to ‘justify’ higher prices for ads on the site.

The revised White House website is an “insane and offensive” attempt to rewrite the history of the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The Trump administration unveiled the site on the fifth anniversary of the riot, prompting immediate backlash from Democrats, historians and civil rights groups. Critics accused the administration of promoting false narratives, including claims that Democrats orchestrated the attack and that Capitol Police were responsible for escalating violence.

When the police on the your street look like this, I suspect you have to think hard about your society:-

But nice to see he’s in fashion with his Macron glasses . . .

Russia

Putin is reported here to have shown himself willing to throw Iran under the bus but I wonder just how true this is.

Spanish

• Calentar motores: To warm up.
• Adoquinado: Cobbled.
• Halago: Compliment, praise, flattery, etc.
• Echar por tierra: Torpedo, scuttle, scupper, etc.

English

Moving/shifting the dial: Another of those phrases which soar and then plummet in the media.

You Have to Laugh

Finally . . .

Talking of young women . . . Twice in the last week, I’ve received DMs on FB from pretty women who have greeted me, told me they are 38 and asked me if they could send me fotos. Both of them gave up after I’d wasted their time for 2 days ducking their questions and declining to send them my wotsap number. Of course, I never believed either of these was female, never mind 38 and desperate to talk to someone as obviously ‘nice’ as me

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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.

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 there.

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