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

A booming population and record tourism are stretching Spain’s resources to leave its inhabitants navigating overcrowded cities and rising costs.  The sheer weight of the expanding community and record-breaking tourism may soon become too much for its infrastructure to bear.

As elsewhere, Spain’s rich are getting richer. As an aside, the founder of Inditex was responsible, I believe, for the concept of wear-once clothes – think Zara. A thought that occurred to me when I read that landfill sites in Spain comprise something like 75% used clothes.

A driver was arrested in Pv city yesterday for shouting at the Guardia Civil officers who stopped him Shitty Gallegos. I’m going to kill you! A tad ironic as GC officers don’t usually operate in their home town. Though I guess they could have been from another place in the region.

The notary’s office has yet to call me to tell me the PoA escritura has been signed by the notary . . . I signed it a week ago. Hopefully my daughter won’t need it before they finally get round to calling me.

The UK and the EU

A few thoughts from AEP on the UK re-joining the EU.

The Middle East War

The latest update from Naked Capitalism.

The United States of Trump America

The madness of King Don:

• It’s claimed – on Fox – that he’s seriously suggested making Venezuela the 51st state of the USA. In place of a reluctant Canada, I guess.

You want evidence of this insanity? . . . Out of his own mouth, all yesterday. If he really believes all these, he’s clearly mad. If he’s lying but is convinced most US Americans will believe him, he’s beyond mad:-

• I doubled the size of the ballroom because we obviously need it.
• It’s on budget and ahead of time. [At almost 5 times the original cost of $200m, this is more evidence – as if we needed it – of Trump’s proficiency with numbers.]
• I don’t think even a little bit about the financial situation of Americans. Every American understands that the most important thing is that Iran doesn’t have a nuclear weapon.
• I’ll do absolutely anything to ensure we have honest elections in November.
• Obama should be jailed for ‘treason’.
• Oil was 99 dollars yesterday, which is relatively low.
• We are in a golden age now. Like there’s never been seen before.
• The UK is windmilling itself to death.
• When the war is over you’ll see numbers you’ve never seen before. [Probably true but not as he meant it.]
• My policies to bring inflation down are working incredibly well. The stock market is higher than it’s ever been.
• The Supreme Court’s decision on the Voters Rights Act is wonderful. We want honest elections.
• We don’t need China’s help on Iran. We don’t need anyone’s help. We’re going to win, peacefully or otherwise.

The madman persona is getting a lot weirder.

Quote: Thanks to the conspiracy culture strengthened by Trump, only a minority of US adults think all the Trump assassination attempts were genuine.

Which goon Trump will turn on next. Podcast or Video

Trump’s rage boils over at journos as inflation data takes a brutal turn

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

China

Hardly a surprise . . . China Increasingly views Trump’s [US]America as an empire in decline. For decades, many Chinese viewed the United States with a mix of admiration, envy and resentment. President Trump’s volatile second term shattered that image.

Spanish

• Tromba: Waterspout. Whirlwind. Rush (eg of water)
• Salir en tromba: To erupt. To storm out. To go all out.
• Balneario: Hot spring, spa. Resort

English

• Balneal: Pertaining to a warm bath
• YA: Young adult. As in: A YA influencer is a social media influencer who focuses on young adult content, primarily targeting teens and young adults (roughly ages 12–25).

Did you know?

A site called Goodreads publishes reader book ratings. These are the top 5 worst-rated books:-

• 5. Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L James
• 4. Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
• 3. New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
• 2. Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
• 1. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

Ms Myers should care! Sales of her books and the Twilight movie franchise must have earned her millions. I’m reminded of the assertion of H. L. Mencken: “Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public”.

But what can you expect of a woman who doesn’t now how to spell her forename?

Finally . . . You Have to Laugh

Another uncomfortable Finn. Or 2. . .

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.