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: Yesterday’s post was published midday today after something went wrong last evening . . . It cites a very interesting podcast, so it might be worth scrolling back to it. Or click here.

Cosas de España/Galiza

Thanks to the new EES, border chaos is said to have hit British holidaymakers. Up to 4 hours in line. [There’s a certain irony here, in that – at least when applied to themselves – Spaniards often favour rule-waiving.]

After days of sun, yesterday dawned grey and cool here in the Rías Baixas of Galicia. Things were still thus at 2pm, ahead of both Vigo’s Armed Forces Day and celebration of Celta Vigo’s success this season. So, all activities and concerts in and around Celta’s stadium were cancelled. Worse, a lower-than-planned parachute jump and a broken mast caused a massive Spanish flag to fall on soldiers amassed below, leading to cancellation of the ‘airborne exhibition’ part of the Armed Forces Day – an aerial flypast of 30 fighters, 16 transport planes and 25 choppers. But the military parade in front of the monarchs and ‘100,000’ commoners did take place. And, as the temperature really heated up in the afternoon, at least one spectator was treated for its effects. And the Celta vs. Sevilla match was played at 9pm. As someone sort of said: In Galicia, men might plan but the weather commands.

An impressive example of sang-froid by a soldier on whom a very large flag has landed . . .

Today dawned sunny and hot. Proving once again that God is a cosmic joker.

Under the blue sky, the flea market was in full swing in Pv city. As in the past, the gypsies have taken over this plaza with piles and piles of 2nd hand clothes, many of which end up in the bins in the square, to be rooted through later by the lowest rank of stallholder.

I always enjoy looking at the books on display on 3 or 4 stalls, At least those which are laid out flat. If they’re in rows, I give up after a few minute as Spanish books aren’t all publish with the title on the spine the same way round. Meaning a lot of neck exercises.

Portugal

British holidaymakers to Portugal have not been hit as hard by the EU’s EES as those travelling to Spain. Portugal has actively relaxed enforcement to avoid summer disruption, while Spain continues stricter implementation. Some travellers have reported no checks at all on arrival in Porto, meaning no scans/fingerprint checks.

Europe

I feel sorry for Italy. The reason? In this headline. Italy has failed to qualify for 3 straight World Cups. 

The Middle East War

The latest update from Naked Capitalism.

The United States of Trump America

It very much looks like Vance is on his way out. This has long been predicted, as he was imposed on Trump by the billionaire donor Peter Thiel, who had supporting Vance since before he entered politics. He is reputed to be worth almost 8 billion dollars.

I wasn’t really aware that there are going to be 2 huge events in Washington to celebrate the 250th anniversary of US’s – apparently misguided – independence . . .

• Freedom 250 on June 14 (Trump’s 80th birthday) on White House South Lawn — a UFC fighting cage is being erected there for 2 bouts. Financed by taxpayers
• The Freedom concert June 25–July 10. Paid for by Trump. So far, 70% of the (C-ranking) stars have pulled out, so now Trump petulantly says he will scrap it, after launching a blistering attack on what he called ‘boring’ and ‘overpriced’ performers that ‘nobody wants to hear.’ He’s reported to have said that he will be the main attraction at what will effectively be a huge MAGA rally on the National Mall.

Trump, of course, has said that the imminent World Cup in the USA, Mexico and Canada is the greatest and the most successful ever. And that tickets have never sold so quickly. All lies, of course. As I said, there are other opinions, among those impacted most by failure.

The USA is different. Materially so. is This Perplexity’s answer to the question: In any other democracy is viewership dominated by right wing media like Fox? . . . No. Fox News is essentially unique among democracies in being a right-wing news outlet that dominates overall news viewership. Most democracies have public broadcasters that dominate news viewership (BBC in UK, CBC in Canada, NDTV in India) rather than partisan cable news. Right-wing news exists such GB New and Sky News Australia exist but don’t dominate. Media systems differ: Most democracies have stricter rules on partisan cable news, and conservative audiences split across multiple sources rather than consolidating behind one outlet like Republicans do with Fox

The official number of US soldiers killed so far in the war with Iran is around 15. But ‘Independent’ and Iranian sources put this at 400 plus. Or c.750 for killed and injured, in the case of Novara Media/The Intercept–linked analysis of Pentagon sources. I guess the truth will emerge one day, to be labelled ‘fake news’ by Trump.

Why the mad king loves to sue. Podcast or Video

The Way of the World

Denmark is the least corrupt country in the world, followed by Finland, Singapore, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Germany, Iceland, Australia, Estonia, Hong Kong, Ireland, Canada, Uruguay, Japan and the UK. [I detect 3 features in this list but I leave it to you to guess at these]. The USA, France, Portugal and Spain are in the ‘Problematic’ box, though in none of the latter 3 is mammon worshipped as much as it is in the USA, regardless of provenance. [Hence Trump, of course]

Spanish

• Encumbrar: To elevate, raise, exalt
• Hincar: To sink, drive, post, thrust.
• Alucinante: Amazing, awesome mind-blowing, etc.

Do you know?

There’s a certain smell I come across from time to time in Spain. Or at least here in Galicia. It’s always associated with nearby humans and it’s not really bad, just unusual. And not very appealing. But it’s not BO. I used to associate it with folk taking summer clothes – possibly damp – out of their wardrobes at the start of spring or summer but it’s been suggested it stems from the use of a particular conditioner in the washing machine. Anyone know of this smell and its origins?

You Have to Laugh

Here are 12 ‘silly’ Spanish laws . . .

Finally . . .

YouTube must have a strange profile of me for its irritating ads. For I regularly get one from an insane woman who’s says she been living in the world of angels for 40 years and, I think, can help me get in touch with my own guardian angel. I doubt out of the goodness of her angelic heart.

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 no longer post on Facebook. But I can be read on X at Thoughts from Galicia. And on Substack here

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.

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