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

The government says it has (cunning?) plan to build 2.4 million new homes in 1,069 urban areas. From what I’ve heard locally, this might be constrained by a severe lack of construction workers. So, maybe a pipe dream.

HT to Lenox Napier of Business Over Tapas for the news that rural Spain (la España vaciada) accounts for 45% of all vacant homes. The 2 Galician provinces of Ourense and Lugo lead with 43% and 36% of total properties lying empty, followed by Ciudad Real and Zamora, with 28% and 26%.

Private Eye tells me I’m not the only person being asked to pay a ludicrously high duty on issues and that they’ve complained to Correos. Who’ve said there was a ‘technical fault’. Hmm. Vamos a ver what happens with the next copy. I certainly won’t be surprised to see it happen again.

Well, we haven’t reached the end of March and Pv city is already seeing a large number of Caminoers, of all ages and types. With the sun shining this week, I’ve been taking advantage of the short window open to me to enjoy the terrazas which used to be available all spring, summer and autumn. But are now foreigner-full from 6pm. Hey, ho. I’ll try not to mention this issue again.

Europe

The German president, after declaring Trump’s war illegal and founded on a lie, stressed that: “Just as I believe there will be no going back to the way things were before February 2022 in our relationship with Russia, so I believe there will be no going back to the way things were before January 2025 in transatlantic relations [Trump’s inauguration]. The rupture is too deep”. Well done, Donald and co.

The Middle East War

See my earlier post.

It’s a cruel irony that the USTA’s economy and stock markets are holding up better than those of other countries, especially the poorer ones, who lose out in the fight for oil.

Nice quote: The West overwhelmingly does not understand that Iranians are not tribal Arabs but come from an ancient civilization that has a storied history of defeating great powers. A few of us do. We know that the Persians have been fighting off would-be oppressors for almost 3,000 years. And that they have truly bitter memories of the US mounted/UK-inspired overthrow of their government in 1953. They didn’t trust either country even before the insane Trump became involved. And have even less reason to do so now. Someone should have told Trump. But, then, he wouldn’t have listened, of course. The most powerful man in the world and the most ignorant and stupid.

Searching for an off ramp to a reckless, irresponsible war.

The United States of Trump America

This video is entitled Trump’s psychotic breakdown. It features his megalomania, derangement and dishonesty, which are so bad it’s hard to believe the video isn’t an AI fake. Specifically, it’s beyond astonishing that Trump still seems to believe tariffs are paid by foreign companies, not the US importers and consumers. But, amidst all the lies, there was a nugget of truth from the sycophantic Speaker. After taking about a new phony award for Trump he said: The first year of Trump’s 2nd administration will go down as the most consequential of all time. And then he repeated the greatest lie in history: Trump will go down as the greatest of all US presidents. Utterly shameless and shameful. And the nation seems powerless to stop him and his madness. Will it ever be respected again?

The (many) criminals in Trump’s administration will be hoping for/ expecting pardons before 2028. We can only hope that Trump dies suddenly of a heart attack before he issues these, both for his slavish acolytes and himself.

Talking of his acolytes . . .

• JD Vance: Isn’t it a little weird that he came out of nowhere to win a Senate seat? And weirder still that Peter Thiel managed to convince Trump to make this virtual nobody his running mate even though Vance was the most unpopular VP pick in polling history? Elon Musk, JD Vance, and Peter Thiel are executing a long-planned agenda to take over the government. Trump is just a dementia-addled old man along for the ride, ranting about windmills and magnets and taking over canals, and content to just sign large pieces of papers for the TV cameras all day. Back in 2016, Vance said of Trump: “I go back and forth between thinking he’s a cynical asshole like Nixon who wouldn’t be that bad (and might even prove useful) or that he’s America’s Hitler”.
• Stephen Miller: Obergruppenführer Miller went full sycophant mode this morning, calling Trump’ s chaotic team “the greatest in history” because Trump “believes in merit, in competence, in people who get things done.” He claimed Trump picks people based on “skill, their competence, their ability, their determination, their dedication and their loyalty”. As if. Only slavish loyalty counts. Oh, and their looks on TV.

It’s no exaggeration to say that ICE detention camps now threaten to become a central instrument of repression under the Trump administration. As many as 40people have died in the camps since Trump returned to office in January 2025. And those are only the deaths that have been publicly acknowledged.

Erstwhile US allies in the liberal west have been forced to accept that Trump’s USA is no longer a reliable partner in the service of international stability, but perhaps the main source of global uncertainty. They are becoming aware that Trump will offer up any number of hogwash excuses to justify his belligerence. It is foolhardy to believe that this episode of wanton aggression is a freak occurrence, that US belligerence will end after the 2028 election, or maybe earlier if Democrats manage to take over Congress in November. Tens of millions of Americans in the Maga base are motivated by contempt for the rest of the world, which they perceive as treacherous and abusive and, well, “other”.

Quotes of the Last Century

The most delightful advantage of being bald — one can hear snowflakes: English magistrate R.G. Daniels, 1976

Spanish

• Veredicto popular: Can mean a jury verdict.
• Jauría: Pack
• Making off: A behind-the-scenes video or feature showing how something was made, especially a film, TV show, music video, or ad. 
• Resguardo: Receipt, ticket, slip, chit
• Resguardo bancario: Bank slip/receipt
• Recibo: Receipt. Chit.
• Volante (médico): Referral. [Hoja de papel en la que se manda, recomienda, pide, pregunta o hace  constar algo en terminos precisos].

English/Did you know?

The Oxford comma.: The comma used before “and” or “or” in a list of 3 or more items — e.g. in the list after ‘Making off’. It’s optional in many style guides but it can help avoid ambiguity. I use it sometimes.

You Have to Laugh

We all make mistakes but this is a real lulu(cock up)! Reminds me of an old joke, the final line of which is a surgeon saying to a (now one-leg-less) patient: ‘But the good news is that I’m sleeping with that beautiful nurse over there’.

Finally . . .

I’m not always a curmudgeon . . . This is a shout-out for Lenovo, makers of my latest laptop. Their on-line technical advice re a touchpad problem was immediate, comprehensive and effective. But then they called me – 2 or 3 times over a few days before they got through to me – to check if the problem had been solved. And didn’t try to sell me anything when I spoke to a nice lady of – I’d guess – a certain age. Exemplary service. [P. S I got an email from the nice lady, thanking me for the feedback I’d sent].

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.