Colin Davies

4 June 2026

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

Politics: Spain, says Lenox Napier here, is in a mess. And thing are getting worse. The background to this, adds Lenox, is a mixture of judicial bullying, corruption, foreign [US] meddling and improper aspiration. Lenox cites the comment of a third party that: The [right-of-centre] PP has so far failed to bring down the coalition government and Pedro Sánchez, but it has succeeded in destroying the Spanish justice system and its reputation.

The courts: The General Council of the Judiciary (the CGPJ) has asserted “the need to respect the independence of the Judiciary” in the face of “disparagement” originating from “high state institutions.” I don’t know whether this means from the Left or from the Right. Or both. I believe that the former has more grounds for their criticisms.

The economy: The Spanish Exception: The country’s leaders avoided a populist backlash by engineering an economic boom. Now the boom is creating problems of its own.

Galicia’s ‘own Titanic’ . . .

Explanation here.

A strange newcomer to our (warming) waters . . .

Galicia’s albariño wine wins a major prize, confirming its status as Spain’s premier white wine. I actually prefer the more metallic(?) godello grape. [Per Perplexity: Godello is not typically described as more metallic than Albariño. Instead, the key difference is that Albariño has a saline quality (salty, briny) from its coastal Atlantic terroir, while Godello has more flinty/gravelly minerality and greater structural complexity from inland slate soils.]

A particular Galician female name – not that of a saint or a Catholic punishment! – is rapidly gaining popularity both here and elsewhere in Spain. It’s Erea/Irea and is linked to peace. Because: In Greek mythology, Eirene was the daughter of Zeus and Themis and the goddess of peace. But you probably knew that. It’s Irene in both English and Spanish. And in Italian and French. But it’s Irena in Polish and Irina in Romania.

Portugal

I noted today that, whereas the Voz de Galicia uses Galician, not Spanish, spelling for all our cities, it doesn’t accord the same honour to our nearby neighbour, Porto. Which it continues to call Oporto – as the British do. This means ‘the port’ in both Portuguese and Galician). Seems a tad mean-spirited to me.

I didn’t know Nandos is a Portuguese chain. Where, I’m told – great chicken (frango) can be had.

The Middle East War

The latest update from Naked Capitalism. The USA attempts Project Freedom 2.0. A peace deal is probably very near, as Iran is desperate for a deal and I might meet with their leader.

The United States of Trump America

More Quotes

  • Nobody thought of anything like that. And it turned out it was a total fake. Everything about it was fake and corrupt. The good advantage in sitting here is that we can get information that you wouldn’t get by what we have and what we are going to be showing over the coming weeks. You’re not even going to believe it. [Trump on (alleged) corruption somewhere other than in his family and his administration. What impressive chutzpah! As they say: With Trump, an accusation is always a confession].
  • Trump is on the brink of burnout from his descent into rage-madness and is at risk of being rendered irrelevant to the very movement he created. He can’t ever admit he led America into disaster with the Iran war but the debacle has clearly broken him. So we are now saddled with a president who’s given up governing but will maintain his grip on power wherever he can. And his power will be exclusively focused on rage and revenge. [Nobel Prize-winning economist. Paul Krugman. And the most powerful nation in the world can’t seem to stop him. Which says a lot about its system of government, of course].
  • Higher prices are good. People spending more money on gas, groceries, restaurants and so on signifies that they are optimistic about the future. [Trump’s chief economic adviser, Kevin Hassett. Who could become Court Jester quite soon. Taking over from Trump].
  • Roll up for Trumpstock – the worst music festival of all time. [Caitlin Moran.]
  • They’ve never seen anything like it. [Everyone.]
  • People don’t know that in Paris, France, the Eiffel Tower – 1889 it was built. It was supposed to be taken down immediately after the world’s fair, and they said, ‘You know we sort of like it. Let’s leave it up a little bit longer’. And then they said, ‘Let’s leave it up longer and longer and longer’. Well, they never took it down. And, you know, we’re building something in front of the White House that’s quite [US = ‘very’] attractive to a lot of people. It’s going to have the big UFC fight and I’m looking at it and maybe we’ll never ever take it down. [Possibly just jesting.]

Robert Reich talks here on Trump’s blatantly corrupt settlement deal. Or failed attempt at it. Rich displays a degree of optimism about a return to better times which others might not share.

Each of these US political 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:-

    There are also the excellent late-night shows, of course. And SNL.

    Spanish

    • Agapanto: Agapanthus flower
    • Betún: Bitumen
    • Furgón: Van (Large. Dedicado principalmente a carga pesada o mudanzas completas).
    • Furgoneta: Van (Small. Versátil, para uso urbano y transporte mixto).

    English

    Translating a menu for a friend, I got into a discussion on whether macerated or marinated was the right word for a chicken tajine dish. She insisted on macerated but I now think she was wrong. Perplexity tells me:-

    • Macerate. Primarily for fruit but sometimes vegetables, cheese, mushrooms. To soften fruit, not to tenderise it. Typical liquid base: Sugar, wine, liquor/liqueur, fruit juice, balsamic vinegar .
    • Marinate: For meat, fish, poultry (sometimes tofu/vegetables). To flavour and tenderise (acid/enzymes break down proteins). Typical liquid base: Acid (vinegar, lemon juice, wine), oil, herbs, spices. Longer period.

    Did you know?

    The most frequent adjective applied to German by English speakers is probably ‘guttural’. So, I was surprised to hear Flemish being described as this by a German. My Anglo-German friend in Hamburg feels that, while ‘guttural’ might be an accurate description of individual sounds, ‘softer’ is a more apt overall description of Flemish. Than German, I assume.

    You Have to Laugh

    Fish die belly upward, and rise to the surface. It’s their way of falling: André Gide.

    Finally . . .

    Rarely these days does anything you can do on a computer get simpler. A few years ago, I moved from (free) Blogger to (not free) WordPress because I could do more with it as regards my blog posts. But it got more and more complicated and, at times, irritating. So, hats off to WordPress for going backwards and offering a simpler version, which – effectively – is Blogger plus. But is still not free.

    Of course, my blog is free to readers. Which explains why I am annoyed that every time I cite my guide to Pontevedra city in an expats FB group an administrator deletes it. I guess because they assume, without checking, that I have a financial interest in helping newcomers to Pv city. Which I don’t. Altruism is sometimes genuine.

    Finally . . . Finally . . .

    Back to my Balay washing machine and the 70 euro part . . By chance I had a plumber come yesterday to fix a leaking pipe in my garage. He told me where to get the part and, indeed, called the shop to confirm it was in stock. I picked it up last evening and paid just 5 euros for it. So, I won’t be buying a new machine just yet.

    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.

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