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

This site will be useful to those interested in mysterious tales from around Spain.

The number of foreigners in Galicia has risen dramatically since I came here 25 years ago – from around 20,000 in 2001 to over 187,000 in 2025, driven by immigration that offsets native population decline. As a percentage of Galicia’s total population, the rise has been from 0.7% in 2000 to 7% in 2025. Topping the group are the Portuguese, followed by Latin Americans (Venezuelans, Colombians, Brazilians) and then Romanians, who have filled jobs in sectors like construction and services. Rather to my surprise, there’s been no significant increase in norteamericanos from the USA, Canada, and Mexico. These have remained only a small fraction of Galicia’s foreign population, with US nationals being the most numerous but totalling under 1,000 throughout the 2000-2025 period. Or less than 0.5% of foreigners, mostly retirees or remote workers drawn to Galicia’s coast and lifestyle.

What lies behind Spain’s curious and ancient tradition of holding a funeral for a sardine during Carnaval?

Here in Pv city, we’re different, in that we immolate an effigy of a parrot, called Ravachol. This year he was sympathetically presented as a Greenlander.

Last night was Pirate Night in Pv city, when the streets teemed with pubescent girls who all seemed to have bought their (rather scanty) costumes from the same Chinese bazar. Despite the light but persistent drizzle – the type that even a gentle breeze blows under your umbrella – very few wore any sort of coat or jacket. Drum bands converged from all parts of the city into the old quarter, followed always by dancing troupes whose numbers included girls as young as 3 or 4. As I walked out of the city at 11.30 there were still bands and troupes arriving from across the river. Entertainment was provided in Plaza España by King Africa – actually an Argentinean, I’m told . . .

In true Spanish style, the noise was truly deafening. Even drowning out the constant drumming from nearby streets, which had me wanting to shout “The drums! The Drums!”. Not that anyone would have heard me.

This morning I felt obliged to check on the incidence of old-age deafness in Spain and got surprising answer from Perplexity: Despite its reputation for noise from social culture, traffic, and fiestas, there’s no strong evidence that Spain experiences higher rates of age-related deafness compared to other European countries. Such loss is primarily driven by universal factors like aging, genetics, cardiovascular health, and noise exposure over decades, with Spain’s overall prevalence aligning closely with EU averages.

Despite being told the train of storms had ended with Otilia, we now have the 9th – with a male name beginning with the letter P. Either Pedro, Pablo or possibly Putin. And it certainly rained today! Sun and 20 degrees are promised for the weekend.

The UK

The Amazon van and the lying satnav/GPS . . . .

The USA

See my earlier Trumplandia post.

The Way of the World/Social Media

People are becoming more reluctant to hard launch [?] their relationships on social media because it makes them seem too heteronormative, and dull.

Spanish

• Codera: Elbow patch
• Arroaz: Dolphin
• Soso: Bland, dull, boring [So-so, I guess]

You Have to Laugh

Topical Valentine gifts . . . .

Finally . . . A potholes special section . . .

These are some of the several hidden holes that I have to remember to avoid 4 times a day . . .

And this is advice which came too late for my punctured tyre of last week . . .

Finally . . . A topical cartoon from Private Eye

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 . . .

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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 there.

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