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

Foreign demand for Spanish properties is declining, possibly reflecting measures being taken in popular locations and government threats to massively increase transfer taxes,

How to buy a holiday home on the Costa del Sol – and avoid Spain’s anti-tourist laws.

Every year, I’m astonished at the very high mark in the Oposición exam demanded for university courses in nursing. I’ve been told that low availability against high demand is one reason, perhaps the major one. This year there were just under 8,000 applicants for 2,000 places.

Yesterday,I drove to the supermarket at 9.15. The entrance to its car park is off the original Roman road northwards, which now serves as the Camino to Santiago. It’s a narrow one-way street, recently ‘reformed’ to improve the safety of Caminoers. In less than 5 minutes, I very slowly weaved through 46 of these, all of whom preferred the road to the pavement/sidewalk specially constructed for them. Anyway, as I’ve said, this is 10 times more than the total one might have seen in an entire day 15 years ago. To think that the Portuguese Camino was once seen as as escape from the very overcrowded French Camino! Nowadays, if you want the solitude that gives time for reflection, you have to choose one of the 40+ Camino alternatives. See here for many, but not all, of the Spanish options. If you want to know of a couple of less crowded ones in Spain or Portugal, send me a request in the Comments box below.

The UK

There are many who view the local elections success of Reform as alarming, as they expect a Reform government of inexperienced folk led by a Trump-light poseur to be a disaster for the UK. Here’s one view of what Reform rule might mean at a local level, in a “multicultural” place where, the writer says, integration is non-existent.

The view from the Right. Possibly even from the Centre . . . The New Green Party is an urban force. How far can it take them? The new Green Party [successfully] courted young liberals, Muslims and the older metropolitan working class to break Labour’s control from London to Manchester. My guess is that the Greens will disappoint them all.

If you’re in London – One of the greatest ever shows. On the Spanish painter Zurbarán. You might need this. See also this.

The Middle East War

The latest update from Naked Capitalism. Momentary quiet on the Middle Eastern front.

The United States of Trump America

A satirical post has claimed that Trump had boasted that the International Court in the Hague had invited him to receive an award. Not true. But, of course, plausible enough to cause folk to believe it. Or at least check it out.

Ever the crook . . .

• None of the Trump phones for which $100 deposits were made have been developed. And it’s now feared they never will be and all the deposits will be lost – all $60m of them. His own supporters scammed. Again.
• Trump has used a government exemption to give a $6.9m no-bid contract to his “pool guy” to repaint the Lincoln Memoria Reflecting Pool to a blue colour. The exemption is typically reserved for urgent situations to prevent “serious injury, financial or other, to the government”.

Trump’s drive to rewire the world economy is crumbling fast. Tariffs are the bedrock of his economic agenda. Now, the cash flow is being stemmed and the loss of tariff revenues will undoubtedly make the USA’s public finances worse, increasing an already high deficit and raising government borrowing costs. Meaning that Trump’s promise to “make America wealthy again” would go up in flames.

Like an out-of-control wrecking ball, swinging wildly back and forth, Trump smashes up the international order without much thought for the consequences. Lacking coherent strategies, workable plans or consistent aims, he power-trips erratically from one fragile region, tense warzone and complex geopolitical situation to another, leaving misery, confusion and rubble in his wake. Typically, he claims a bogus victory, demands that others repair the damage and pick up the tab, then looks around for something new to break. He will bulldoze into another international minefield this week – the fraught standoff between China and Taiwan – when he travels to Beijing for a two-day summit with President Xi Jinping. Trump will arrive knowing that Xi holds all the cards. He will be counting on China to influence Iran and help him out of his latest mess. But the price may be high – including for Taiwan .

Melania gets shredded and mocked for an op-ed in the Washington post. Podcast or Video

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

Russia v Ukraine

Putin’s day of humiliation: The Russian leader’s pared back Victory Day parade reveals the depth of country’s vulnerability in the war against Ukraine.

Spanish

• Hormiga: Ant
• Sensación de hormigueo: Tingling sensation.
• Sensación de cosquilleo: Ditto

English

Cockney rhyming slang:´

• Taking the Mickey [Bliss] – Taking the piss. Traditionally just ‘teasing’ but the young today seem to use it to mean ‘being annoying’.
• On your Tod [Sloan] – On your own. A reference a famous US jockey, who did in fact die on his Tod.

Did you know?

Rear Perry has kindly informed me that: Carnosic acid from rosemary possibly does improve mitochondria. But the evidence is mostly from lab and animal studies, not strong human clinical trials. It appears to do this by reducing oxidative stress and might support mitochondrial renewal through pathways like Nrf2, mitophagy, and mitochondrial biogenesis. Check the downsides, if you’re going to use it.

You Have to Laugh

From my 2009 notes . . . Definitions:-

• Optimist: Someone who sees the glass as half full
• Pessimist: Someone who sees the glass as half empty
• Rationalist: Someone who sees the glass as twice as big as it needs to be

Finally . . .

Another of my mother’s sayings . . . When she was asked how old she was, she’d reply: ‘I’m as old as my tongue and a little bit older than my teeth’.

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 or Video
• Inside Trump’s Head Podcast or Video
• The Daily Blast with Greg Sargent Podcast
• The Rest is Politics US Podcast or 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.