Colin Davies

10 April 2026

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 y Galiza

The EU’s EES is still causing problems. Here’s advice from the UK government for Brit coming to Spain.

The dimensions of Spain’s housing shortage. On this, a reader has commented: The real reason for Spain’s housing crisis is the massive untrammeled increase in one-person households. In the country, where 50-60 years ago most people lived in large families crammed together under one roof, the housing market has undergone an enormous transformation in the last decades. That and, of course, speculation, immigration, foreigners buying properties all over. TBH, I was doubtful that the undoubted trend towards single-occupancy was the main reason for shortages and an AI search endorsed my view: The shift from multi‑person to single‑person households in Spain is an important factor behind the housing‑market stress, but it is not considered the main cause of the chronic crisis. Spain now has around 28% of households consisting of just one person, which means each new household typically demands a whole dwelling rather than sharing one. This raises effective demand for dwellings faster than population growth, especially in cities, pushing up rents and prices where supply is already tight. But several structural factors are usually ranked above household‑size changes as the “main” reasons:-

  • Chronic undersupply of new building: Since 2008 Spain has run one of Europe’s lowest housing‑starts‑per‑ capita rates, so the country is effectively building far fewer homes than new households form.
  • Speculation and tourist rentals: A large share of available housing is held vacant [certainly in Pv city] or used as short‑term tourist lets, withdrawing units from the long‑term rental market and inflating prices.
  • Regulatory and land‑use constraints: Delays in land‑use planning, complex permitting, and labor shortages limit the speed at which new, appropriately sized homes can come online.

Demographers and economists see the shift toward single‑person households as a long‑term trend that amplifies pressure on an already constrained market, rather than the root cause. In policy debates, the main focus is on boosting supply, curbing speculation, and regulating tourist lets, more than on reversing household‑composition changes, which are largely driven by social and demographic forces.

There’s been yet another local tractor death.

And another local lockdown on a zebra crossing. Which reminds me . . . I forgot about a crossing in a minor road that U traverse 4 times a day. So, it’s 16 times a day – not 12 – that I brave this hazard.

It was 29 degrees today but tomorrow’s high will be 14. Time for some secondary heating, if not the central version.

The Middle East War

See my earlier post.

The United States of Trump USA

Relevant podcasts.

      Hegseth’s holy war: the militant Christian theology animating the US attack on Iran. . . . The second Trump administration is rife with Christian nationalists in leadership positions.

      Quotes of the Day

      • Caroline Leavitt is the nation’s chief gaslighter and she does her job well. She is a master of spin and deception and consistently contradicts reality with ease. It’s a skill that would cause mental collapse in a person with a conscience.
      • Hegesth: Our successful military operations were carried out under the protection of divine providence. A massive effort with miraculous efforts

      Social Media

      Quote of an industry expert on a law: However a social media initiative starts, it eventually moves to video.

      Spanish

      • Exprimir: To squeeze, to juice.
      • Sainete: Farce, comic sketch.
      • Cómico: Comedian

      Did you know?

      Strange facts behind the Great Fire of London.

      You Have to Laugh

      Another uncomfortable Finn . . .

      Finally . . .

      A 1773 chat:

      Samuel Johnson: A man grows better humoured as he grows older. He improves by experience. When young, he thinks himself of great consequence, and everything of importance. As he advances in life, he learns to think himself of no consequence, and little things of little importance. And so he becomes more patient, and better pleased. All good humour and complaisance are acquired. Naturally a child seizes directly what it sees, and thinks of pleasing itself only. By degrees, it is taught to please others, and to prefer others; and that this will ultimately produce the greatest happiness. If a man is not convinced of that, he never will practice it. Common language speaks the truth as to this. We say a person is well bred. Just as it is said that all material motion is primarily in a straight line, never per circuitum. Never in another form, unless by some particular cause. So, it may be said, is intellectual motion.

      Lady McLeod: Is no man naturally good?

      Johnson: No, madam, no more than a wolf.

      James Boswell: Nor no woman, sir?

      Johnson: No, sir.

      Lady McLeod (in a low voice): This is worse than Swift. .

      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 until April 30 on Facebook. And on X at Thoughts from Galicia.

      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.

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