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 primer on the alleged corruption of the PM’s family.
An island to avoid? . . An unprecedented environmental crisis is unfolding. A plague of snakes is causing alarm on one of the most emblematic islands in the Spanish Mediterranean. The Guardian warns of the irreversible consequences of this invasive phenomenon that is also sowing fear among tourists. Its article about the increasing presence of the horseshoe snake (the whip snake in English) in Ibiza. This species is proliferating exponentially throughout the island and is decimating populations of the Ibiza wall lizard, an endemic reptile. More and more fishermen and tourists have reported sightings of these snakes swimming in the waters around the island, a behavior that allows them to colonize new islets in search of territory and food.
For the first time in a thousand years, May saw more Caminoers on the Portuguese Way than the French. More than 31,000 officially. Almost certainly more than that, in fact. Hence my description of both caminos as human conveyor belts. There might be fewer than a thousand ‘pilgrims’ a day during the hot months of July and August but there will surely be massive competition for tables between them and the many, many Spaniards who flee the South during those months.
On this theme . . . I read this comment this morning and had the thought that, if it were true, you would never eat in any restaurant in Pv city’s old quarter between April and November. . . . You can usually tell a lot about a restaurant vibe just by listening to the voices of the people who are already eating there. If you only hear tourists talking and see zero locals, then you are probably walking right into a massive tourist trap.
Pv city’s Restaurant owners have, of course, modified things to meet the demand of early-eating foreigners but there’s a way to go. My prediction is that there’ll eventually be 4 discrete dining periods;-
- 12-14.00 for foreigners and 14-16.00, and
- 18-20.00 for foreigners and 20-22.00 for Spaniards. Maybe even 17-19.00 for the Brits, as has long been the case down South. You heard it first here . . . .
I confess that I sometimes feel I’m back in the 20th century. Never more so than when buying bird seed in the agricultural store on my way into town. Service is always slow there and usually goes like this: I select a packet of seed from the array on display by the door. I take this 5 metres to the counter and wait for one or more customers to chew the fat and buy whatever they want. I give the shopkeeper the packet of seed. He/she enters the barcode – digit by digit – in the computer, shakes his/her head, mutters something, walks the 5 metres to the other end of the shop to check the price, and returns to take from me the exact money I offered him/her when I put the seed on the counter. All assuming I haven’t left because there are 3people in front of me with shipping orders and I don’t have the entire morning to wait.
The Middle East War
The latest update from Naked Capitalism. Rubio raises questions as to why Iran is bothering with talks.
The United States of Trump America
A travesty . . . Abomination even.
Quotes
- Senior financiers who once supported Trump are now saying he lacks the capacity to be president. [‘Now’!? What they really mean, of course, is that he’s threatening their financial interests. Unless they are oil traders.]
- The world is bigger than the US. Hard to believe but it’s true. [Trump displaying new-found knowledge.]
- I really don’t care if the Strait of Hormuz isn’t opened. [Trump, who’s said to be bored of his non-war. And also doesn’t care about the economic plight of US citizens. Or the outcome of the November elections.]
I’m stopping giving specific US links. Each of these US commentators issues at least one podcast a week, usually 2, sometimes 3. All available on Podbean and most on YouTube for free. So, take your pick. You should get the latest episode when you click on the link, though YouTube videos seem to come out a bit earlier:-
The Daily Blast with Greg Sargent Podcast
There are also the excellent late-night shows, of course. And SNL.
Spanish
- Tendido: Stretched out. Wire(s).
- Potera: Flower pot. Trap for squid
- Marcado: Scored, as in chicken before cooking
Did you know?
Trump had a famous precursor. Someone who:-
- Wanted a war. Indeed glorified in it.
- Decided to attack a ‘weak’ country.
- Underestimate the enemy’s ability to command a strait and to mine and defend it
- Ignored several previous strategic analysis which said they could and would do this in response to an attack on them.
- Ignored commanders who told him it would be a disaster
- Avoided using ground troops, at least initially, preferring to exclusively use a weapon he was sure would bring quick success.
- Presided over a costly disaster.
This was Winston Churchill who ordered a naval attack on Istanbul in early 2015, the total failure of which led to the even bigger disaster of the Dardanelles campaign, which cost the allies many thousands of lives. And ended in humiliating defeat by ‘Johnny Turk’.
You Have to Laugh
Finally . . .
Be aware of a Bizum scam in which someone gets in touch to say they’ve mistakenly put money in your account and asks you to return it. If you do, they can access your account for nefarious purposes..
My thanks to those readers who take the trouble to Like my posts.
The Usual Links . . .
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.
Thoughts from Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain 