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

Spain has shrugged off Trump’s decision – merely a threat? – to stop all trade between the US and Spain – on the grounds that it’s not a good ally. Or perhaps because Madrid isn’t doing what he’s commanded it to do.

‘The gravy train is over’: Spain is turning on British expats. Rising house prices make life unaffordable for locals who blame holiday lets and foreign buyers. Since it’s greedy sellers raising their prices, I’d have though the real guilty parties were closer to home.

Some folk in Spain think we’re heading for our latest and last change of the clock, next Sunday morning. I rather doubt it, as the topic is a perennial one. Like that of changing Spain’s traditional split working day. Even up here where it’s not often very hot.

The Diaro de Pv today celebrated progress on the new commercial centre in O Vao that I pass 4 times a day. . .

What it didn’t say is that – assuming in really does open in ‘summer’ – this will be a year late. But, then, no one’s been holding their breath. It took 14 years to get permission for it. And a couple of false starts.

I have an acquaintance in Pv city who dresses extraordinarily elegantly. Here’s a back view of him this morning, with a top hat and cane.

Here’s some AI gen on him . . . Draculín, also known as Vladimir Dragossán is a well-known eccentric figure in Pontevedra – a local celebrity often dubbed the “Vampire of Pontevedra” for his gothic, dandy style reminiscent of Dracula. Born Rafael Pintos, he adopted the persona of Vladimir Dragossán in the 1980s, dressing in elegant black capes with red lining, visiting cemeteries, and embracing vampire lore; he’s portrayed as an artist, intellectual, and gentleman in a city that appreciates his uniqueness despite occasional mockery or violence. Featured in local literature, media interviews, and even short films, he embodies Pontevedra’s quirky charm—elegant, cultured, and nostalgic for lost chivalry amid its historic streets. We attended the same concert on Monday evening, when he was, indeed, sporting his black cape, lined with red silk.

The UK

There’s no serious thinker – nor a politician – who doesn’t know that there’s no real ‘special relationship’ between the USA and the UK and there never has been When it suits the interests of USA, the UK has always been as screwed as much as any other ally. But the British public likes to believe there is a special Anglo relationship, hence all the current angst over what Trump would call his ‘nasty’/’horrible’ comments about the British PM,

Israel v. Iran

Israel’s defences are said here to be crumbling. Which surely came as a surprise.

The USA

See my earlier Delusional Bellicose President post.

An official statistic is that c.54% of US adults aged 16-74—around 130 million people—have reading skills below the 6th-grade level. This doesn’t necessarily mean they’re stupid but it does mean that, while they can handle simple, short texts or routine tasks like reading basic instructions or signs, they struggle with dense materials such as news articles, job applications, medical forms, or financial documents requiring inference or multiple steps. Understandably, they are susceptible to short, simple slogans, regularly repeated. Strike any chords?

Keystone cop Patel fired all the FBI’s Iran experts just before the attack on that country. Perhaps on the basis of the old saying that bullshit baffles brains.

And Hegseth reached into his thesaurus of antonyms to say what the US isn’t doing but failed to answer questions about what it is doing – demonstrating a rich mixture of anger, arrogance, condescension and, of course, dishonesty. Not to mention rank sycophancy towards the imbecile who put him in his job. See also The Guardian on his address here.

Spanish

• Proeza: Feat
• Rozar: Rub, touch, graze, brush against, etc.
• Ensayo: Test, trial. Essay. Rehearsal.

You Have to Laugh

More Finnish discomfort . . .

Finally . . .

I’ve mentioned Sunday’s flea market . . . This (50 year old?) haircutting tool was on display on one stall, rather more worse for wear than it appears to be in the foto.

I expect to see it many more times over the year.

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 there.

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