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

This is a good article on the the Spanish PM and his achievements over the last few years.

That article mentions the ‘disastrous’ recent trip to Mexico of the (uninvited) presidenta of the Madrid region, Isabel Ayuso. She fancies herself as a future (P) president of Spain but doesn’t rate highly with the columnist. A nice comment from Lenox Napier: Ayuso going to Mexico to eulogise an appalling conquistador is like Farage going to India to laud Clive. BTW: She claimed that Mexico wouldn’t exist but for the Conquistadors . . .

Not all of Spain’s many immigrants of the last decade have stayed here, it’s reported on here – along with reasons for their departure.

Reader David in La Coruña has a far more negative overview than I do of Spanish drivers and his Comment on yesterday’s post lists their sins. The reason for our difference is very simple – he drives a lot in a city and I hardly ever do, even on a long road trip. But, of course, since I navigate roundabouts 16 times a day, I know all about the problem of nil signalling on these. Even worse, incorrect signalling. Including by driving instructors. I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned this before . . .

Which reminds me . . . Today I had another driver swerve past me on the crossing at the city end of O Burgo bridge. But I didn’t get the traditional exculpatory gesture of the hand from the (female) driver. So, I gave her one of mine, confident that she was unlikely to stop and beat me up.

Here’s some recommended Caminos. I endorse all of the comments except those relating to the Portuguese one. It’s nowhere near as easy as suggested and you certainly can’t evitar los multitudes on it. On the other hand, the Primitivo is not as hard as described – honest – and is very pretty. Altogether, a very much better option . . . The English Camino even more so.

Some very good news . . . It seems that the national government has vetoed modifications to the nearby port of Marín that would allow cruise ships to dock there, spilling their contents into Pv city.

The UK

One of Britain’s structural problems is said by some to be ‘welfarism’. I have certainly seen an attitude of entitlement in rich folk who didn’t remotely need the benefit available to them because of no means test. But anyway, a relevant article. One thing’s for sure, the PM had no chance of reducing benefits against the opposition of his Labour MPs, many of whom have never worked outside the public sector. Quote: With the welfare bill set to exceed tax income by the end of the decade, benefit dependency is the single greatest challenge facing the country. Yet Keir Starmer looks set to leave office without even attempting to grapple with it.

The Middle East War

The latest update from Naked Capitalism.

The United States of Trump America

Trump is mocked in China. BTW: Trump claimed he took 30 of the US’s best businessmen with him. The real total was 14. But 13 if one excludes his dumb younger son. It seems they got little for their effort, apart from a vastly superior form of Chinese cuisine.

Trump is exposing his own psychotic mental state. Podcast or video.

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

The Way of the World

After fashion’s embrace of body diversity, skinniness is back. This is why.

Spanish

• Desgaste: Waste. Wear and tear.
• Poner fino: To tear to shreds
• A saber: Who knows
• Peonada: Overtime shift. Working day. Daily workforce.

English

• Swathe: This is pronounced differently in the UK and the USA. In British English it rhymes with “bathe,” while in American English it is “swath.” [or “swoth” in my experience]. Maybe it was “swoth” in England in the 16th century.
• Almond mom: A (US)slang term for a parent – most often a mother – who pushes very strict, “healthy” eating habits and appearance‑focused weight expectations onto their children, especially daughters

Did you know?

Curro Jiménez is widely regarded as the Spanish Robin Hood, especially in popular culture, even if the real man behind him was far less idealized. He is the protagonist of a classic Spanish TV series (1976–1979) set in 19th‑century Andalucía, where he appears as a handsome, charismatic bandolero (bandit) who fights injustice and helps the poor. He leads a small gang (El Estudiante, El Algarrobo, El Fraile, and later El Gitano) and is shown robbing the rich and powerful to support ordinary people, on exactly the Robin‑Hood pattern. The character was inspired loosely by a real 19th‑century Seville bandolero, Andrés López, “el barquero de Cantillana”, but the historical figure was a much rougher outlaw and not a self‑styled hero of the poor. The TV version turned that darker story into a romantic, heroic Robin Hood‑style legend, tailored to the political and social mood of Spain’s 1970s Transition.

From the above article on modern fashions . . . The business of skinny really took off in the 1920s, when companies offering tapeworm pills and vibrating belts encouraged women to reach the narrow ‘flapper’ look. 

You Have to Laugh

I look forward to seeing the women of Pv city – both young and not-so- young – parading the streets in this latest fashion:-

Finally . . .

A dying rule of English syntax: ‘May’ denotes permission, while ‘might’  suggests possibility. I try hard to obey this but hardly anyone else ever does, using may where it denotes possibility, as in as in ‘I may go there on Sunday’. Another of those lost causes in English, where popular usage – however wrong – determines ‘correct’ grammar. It’s hard being a pedant sometimes. Especially if one has daughters.

Finally . . . Finally

I have returned to Substack, where the link is this.

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.