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

Very possibly an exaggeration but it’s a headline in a serious UK newspaper: Spain is being torn apart by its migrant amnesty. I can’t pretend to know how true it is. But I do know that the columnists don’t write the headlines to their articles. Clickbait in this case?

The new EU entry and exist system is so bad that Portugal and Greece have suspended it, as they’re allowed to do. But not Spain, so far. Brits flying into Malaga, Alicante and Palma suffered delays of up to 3 hours over the holiday weekend.

A bizarre income tax obligation for those having the misfortune to have defaulting tenants or squatters in their property . . . It’s surely valid to conclude: This further strains a rental market that is completely broken owing to a lack of supply and a long series of political measures that are clearly counterproductive.

In Galicia it’s the airports that the politicians have destroyed. In Barcelona, it’s the rental market – says Mark Stücklin here.

A sad report. A retired bullfighter who survived that dangerous career fell into a crushing machine on his estate, almost losing his legs.

Leading Galician politicians have met to decide how to increase flight to and from our 3 small airports. Instead of rationalising them down to one big one, they opted for giving them each 600,000 euros of taxpayers’ money to fund new routes. Maybe..

The Middle East War

The latest update from Naked Capitalism. Renewed shooting. Another large-scale US attack and Iranian response are now seen as very probable.

The United States of Trump America

The good news is that, whereas not so long ago it was felt the Democrats only had a 10% chance of taking the Senate in November, this has risen to 80% now.

This is the FT on Trump’s megalomaniacal naming frenzy. Per Trump: You’ve got to put your name on stuff or no one remembers you. Says the columnist: Trump’s puffery marks a striking departure from US political tradition, which has tended to valorise modesty. Given that Trump will go down as the worst US president in history, I suspect it’s going to be difficult to forget him – he’ll always be the How-Not-To-Be President exemplar.

Commentaries:-

The rest is politics US Podcast or Video

Trump is fading before our eyes. Podcast or Video

Trump is clueless about how to manage the war. . . . . . How on earth can any person or any country negotiate with someone whose only tactics are bullying and threatening legal action? And in the case of Iran, he can only do the former. Along with lying and breaking his word. Just as he has all his life.

See below under The Usual Links for commentators I follow via podcasts or YouTube videos.

The Way of the World

We are watching the rise of democratic fascism. [BTW: It’s an exaggeration to say the remix of the Falangist hymn “Cara al Sol” topped Spotify’s main playlist. It was very briefly top of their Viral playlist.]

Spanish

I learnt last night of the Spanish idiomatic phrase: No se puede estar en misa y repicando. You can’t be attending mass and bell-ringing at the same time. Today I learnt of the variant: No se puede repicar y andar en la procesión. You can’t ring the bells and also be in the procession. This led me to dig out the list of Spanish idioms below.

Did you know?

You should never send an SMS to “prove you’re human.” Legitimate CAPTCHAs run entirely in your browser. They won’t open your SMS or dialler app.

You Have to Laugh

Finally . . .

Another of my mother’s saying. When she was asked by any of her kids what was for dinner, she replied: Ifit. Short for: If it goes round, you’ll get some.

Finally . . . Finally . . .

SPANISH IDIOMS

I can’t swear they’re all accurate or still in use.

• Estar como una cabra – doing something bizarre, a little out of the ordinary – a little nuts or crazy.
• No tener pelos en la lengua – is a straight shooter and will always speak their mind.
• Tirar la casa por la ventana – no expense has been spared or that money is no object.
• Quedarse de piedra – to be amazed.
• Lo dijo de labios para fuera – a person didn’t mean what they said.
• Estar hecho un aji – “to be made a chili” – to be very angry
• Tener un humor de perros – to be in a bad mood.
• Se me hace agua la boca – an item of food or a meal is so delicious it makes my saliva flow
• Tiene mas lana que un borrego – a person is loaded with cash. “Lana” is slang for “cash.”
• Echar agua al mar – something is pointless.
• Poner al punto – To fine tune, perfect.
• Hay/hacer tomate – To be/do something wrong
• Si, pilla antes un mentiroso que un cojo – A liar will always be caught out
• Moneda corriente – Very common, routine, or frequent—nothing unusual or surprising
• Poner en tela juicio – To call into question, to challenge.
• Dar la lata – To nag
• Surtir efecto – To have an effect
• En toda regla – Full scale
• Dar las palmitas – To award first prize, consider the best (?)
• Sacar partido – To gain advantage?
• Hacer las vista gorda – To ignore
• Reir las gracias – To laugh only to gain favour
• Punto de inflexión – Point beyond which I won’t go.
• A tumba abierta – 1. doing something with extreme speed and risk. 2. speaking or acting “without holding back,” exposing everything
• Hace gala de – To show off, boast of
• Predicar en el desierto – to speak or preach to no avail, addressing an unresponsive or indifferent audience whose message falls on deaf ears
• El examen era tela – The exam was tricky
• Tener mucha tela -To be very tricky
• Hay tela (para rato) There’s no shortage of things to do
• ¡Tela marinera! That’s too much!
• De corta edad – Young, of tender years
• Esto tiene tomate – This is tough; this is a tough one
• Sacarle a uno de sus casillas: To molest, tease, or harass someone
• Echar en falta – To be missing.
• Estar a sus anchas – To be at one’s ease, to be comfortable.
• Dar en la tecla: To get it right. To pick it up, get the hang of it. To fall into the habit of
• Caerse el pelo – To lose one’s hair.
• Mantener a raya – To hold off, keep at bay.

My thanks to those readers who take the trouble to Like my posts.

The Usual Links . . .

The US commentators I follow, all on Podbean and/or YouTube for free:-

• The Daily Beast Podcast/Video
• Inside Trump’s Head Podcast/Video
• The Daily Blast with Greg Sargent Podcast
• The Rest is Politics US Podcast/Video
• The DSR Network Podcast
• The Politics Girl Video. Amusing
• The Daily Show Video. Very amusing

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 X at Thoughts from Galicia. I no longer post 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.