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

To celebrate Santa Eulalia festival – Barcelona’s biggest wintertime celebration in honour of one of its patron saints – the Sagrada Familia will hand out thousands of tickets for members of the public to peruse the iconic basilica free of charge.

It’s been said that Spaniards are willing to obey all laws, except those that inconvenience them personally. Some evidence for the validity of this slur might come from the number of illegal flat rentals in the country – 86,275 – and from this map of their distribution.

As you can see, even less-sunny Galicia has a fair number of these – 3,820. While Pv province has 2,600. Advantage seems to be being taken of slow action on the part of authorities, which might or might not be deliberate.

This map shows that it’s not only us being hit by severe storms and endless rain. The Costa del Sol – where my sister is currently staying for some winter sun – is said to be bracing for torrential rain for the next week.

As regards our local weather, official stats confirm the rainfall so far this winter is far from that of 2000-1. Largely because we had an unusually dry December. Which no one remembers now.

Hmm. Not pleased – nor terribly surprised – to see that a woman was hit on a zebra crossing in Pv city yesterday, in a street I cross regularly. Fortunately, she wasn’t seriously hurt.

A 1989 film called Sempre Xonxa sparked a fashion for the Galician female name Xonxa (Shonsha), which is a diminutive of Asunción. But interest died down and now it’s said that hardly a dozen ladies bear this name nationwide, almost all in the provinces of La Coruña and Pontevedra. I don’t recall ever hearing it.

Portugal.

Also being badly hit by storms, even as far south as the Algarve.

Europe

The EES rollout has been been delayed again, as the teething problems are worse than expected. I wonder if the planned EU arms industry will be any more efficient . . .

The USA

See my earlier Trumplandia post.

Quote of the Day

I always feel an optimist when I emerge from a tunnel: Robert Lynd [I thought it said ‘funeral’ at first. Which struck me as odd.]

Spanish

• Pasaje: Passage
• Paisaje: Landscape, scenery, countryside
• Me suena: It sounds familiar
• Ejemplo de libro: Textbook example

You Have to Laugh

Finally . . .

Seen in a Chinese bazar . . . A coat for an animal with fur.

It’s at times like this you realise some folk have too much money. Or too little sense. Or too few kids.

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.

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.