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’.

NOTE: This will be a different sort of post . . . I bought a Mac Air in 2012 and had no problems for 8 years. Since 2020 I have had 5 laptops – including another Mac – and all of these have malfunctioned or completely broken down. The latest – from Lenovo – was bought only 7 months ago and today has 2 keys that don’t work. Either I’ve been extraordinarily unlucky in 6 years or today’s laptops aren’t what they were. I’ve tried to find out how to get it repaired under the guarantee but have given up in exasperation. One of said keys is the Enter key, so the text below will be unusually formatted. But at least I don’t have to check if all the links are OK.
Cosas de España/Galiza

Another article questioning how much real economic improvement has been seen by the not-so-rich in Spain in the last in the last 30 years. https://thecorner.eu/news-spain/spain-economy/eurostat-in-spain-real-wages-rise-by-6-in-30-years/125808/ As I’ve said more than once, what surprises me is that young people are still complaining about earning only 1,000 euros a month – los mileuristas – just as they were 25 years ago.

A new development last night . . . From a car that ignored me on a zebra crossing – not just the exculpatory wave of the hand but also a smile. And since the driver was attractive, I forgave her. Almost

I have (re)discovered the big disadvantage of drinking and eating only with Spaniards. Not so much the noise as the smoking. Caminoers tend not to do this.

The notary didn’t call.

The Middle East War

Trump’s deal falls apart. The US again attacks Iran https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j93FJe5pdvUCon

The latest update from Naked Capitalism. https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2026/05/iran-war-us-and-iran-exchange-fire-as-trump-reveals-extent-of-israel-capture-with-barmy-abrams-accord-proposal-continued-denial-of-approaching-energy-crunch-after-reserves-depleted.html

The United States of Trump America

A reprise . . . Trump’s continuing decline. Including Dr Gartner’s fears of what Trump will do if he loses all powers save that of controlling the military. Podcast https://www.podbean.com/media/share/dir-9jvuk-2e13a03f or Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L05h1fxY5aA

The language of the American presidency doesn’t apply to Trump https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/may/25/american-presidency-trump

Michael Jochum gets the man about right here . . . https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10242366418114929&id=1176851850&rdid=dgSMIfnC8mhm1JGF#

Another good summary, from somene whose name I’ve lost . . . Trump is so desperate for a “great deal” with Iran that he’s openly threatening to restart a bigger, bloodier war if they don’t sign on his dotted line. In a nearly 600‑word Truth Social rant, Trump bragged that talks with Iran are “proceeding nicely” — then immediately warned that if he doesn’t get everything he wants, it’s “no Deal at all — Back to the Battlefront and shooting, but bigger and stronger than ever before.”  He is literally dangling fresh airstrikes over millions of people’s heads like a reality‑TV plot twist rather than the difference between life and death. At the same time, he’s trying to strong‑arm half the Middle East into his fantasy version of the Abraham Accords. Trump is demanding that Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan and others simultaneously sign onto normalization with Israel as a condition of any Iran agreement, saying refusal would show “bad intention.” This isn’t diplomacy, it’s extortion: join my photo‑op coalition or get shut out of the peace talks and blamed for whatever comes next. The picture that emerges from his posts is pure chaos — part used‑car salesman, part armchair general. He brags about “peace” while promising a return to “battlefront and shooting” that would be “bigger and stronger than ever before.” He writes as if the last round of war with Iran didn’t already kill civilians, destabilize the region, and drain billions in U.S. taxpayer money. The people who would pay the price for his tantrum aren’t the ones posting on Truth Social; they’re the kids in Tehran, Tel Aviv, Beirut, and on U.S. bases who would be under fire again. Iranian officials have made clear they’re not cowed by this kind of bluster. The risk is not that they’ll immediately fold — it’s that this reckless brinkmanship pushes both sides closer to miscalculation. Every time Trump treats war like a leverage play in a real estate deal, the odds go up that one stray missile, one bad reading of a threat, turns into another full‑scale conflict we can’t easily shut off. This is the man with the nuclear codes, casually threatening to restart a bigger war on social media because his ego demands “the best deal ever.” The rest of the world is stuck hoping his need for a headline doesn’t become our next forever war.

Spanish

• Hacer saltar las alarmas: To set off alarms
• Suceso: Event, incident, happening. [Not ‘success’.]
• Atropellar: To knock down, to hit-and-run
• Atropello: Knock-down, accident

English

English is one of the strangest linguistic creatures in the world. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sR-ypi4ghZA

Some British readers might be surprised to learn that many Americanisms they hate were originally British. Though not if they’ve read Shakespeare. https://archive.ph/iJKtO

You Have to Laugh

I often marvel/snigger at the propensity of older men to wear baseball caps back-to-front. No more so than when I saw this foto of a chap – a Spanish TV star – getting married in Thailand.

I mean, why? But at least it’s white. [Note: It turns out he wears this constantly, not just for the wedding. Possibly when sleeping. Or in the shower].

Finally . . .

A reader has said that the Spanish for someone walking the Camino is caminante. It’s true that this can be pilgrim but it also means just walker, wayfarer or the like. Which is why I invented the English word Caminoer.

I’m off to the computer repair shop now . . . . 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. And on Substack here. 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.