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

Spain’s PM has dismissed allegations of ‘widespread corruption’ levied against his PSOE Socialist party after a former minister and close ally was convicted this week. He’s also ruled out bringing forward the general election which has to be held no later than August 2027.

Meanwhile, the regularisation of 500,000 or more illegal immigrants is not going well . . .The VdG today: The regularisation of foreigners is heading for another collapse: Tomorrow ends the period of the extraordinary regulation process for foreigners. After this first phase, comes the phase of issuing a residence document – a foreigner’s ID card (the TIE). If there are no changes, police stations will take care of this. And many fear that this will become a bottleneck: “To the usual number of people who come to renew authorisations and so on, regularisation will be added to the same channel”, say the immigration aid organisations.

Just as I dust down and oil my bike, I read that the DGT, not satisfied with just car-drivers, is going to war against cyclists. Shame the DGT doesn’t patrol the Caminos, where cyclists are an annoyingly disrespectful group, in my experience. BTW: I had to laugh when I read: Pedestrian crossings must be traversed on foot. Cyclists must dismount. Never seen that.

Any different from elsewhere? . . . Allegedly, although the working week in Spain is 40 hours, the average Spaniard is only productive for 25.5 hours. They dedicate the remaining hours to surfing the web, daydreaming, chatting with friends and family, online shopping and doom-scrolling. 

The estimable Mac reveals the code of Spain’s wonderful institution of the menu del dia. Franco wasn’t all bad . . .

Talking of cyclists . . . Many, if not most, take a relaxed view of existing laws. This morning, for example, I drove down my steep hill behind a young woman doing 39kph while not wearing a helmet. Nor protective elbow and knee pads. I assume her parents are OK with this. Probably smokers . . .

This morning in Pilates, the woman who never draws breath said she couldn’t understand why anyone would kill another person. I refrained from saying I could.

Teslas burnt out. Self-combustion or something more dastard?

Allegedly, a fire which started in a wheel hub.

The World Cup

The Portuguese are as unhappy with their team’s performance as the English are with theirs. Perhaps more so, as they only qualified 2nd in their group, making progress more difficult for them. At least England topped their group. thanks to defeating Croatia and, eventually, Panama.

The German World Cup song 1986, sung by someone I’ve never heard of and the German team. Don’t you just love those haircuts.

The Middle East War

The latest update from Naked Capitalism. 

The United States of Trump America

Quotes

• Vance. (As ever, performing for an audience of one): I like Richard Nixon. He was hard done by. If Watergate happened today, it would just be a 12 hour internet sensation. He’d never be impeached. The same deep state which went for Nixon is now going for Donald Trump.
• The Republican governor of Ohio on the Supreme Courts judgement on Haitians: It is a mistake. Removing Haitians who have been working legally in Ohio is not in the best interest of Ohio or the USA. The ruling could leave more than 10,000 Haitians in Ohio subject to deportation, which would hurt the state’s economy because people who were contributing to local communities would no longer be able to work. As if Stephen Miller cares.

‘Stupid’ Trump is mocked by conservatives for revealing his ignorance on US passport basics. Trump’s unveiling of a redesigned U.S. passport drew ridicule this week, with critics arguing the greeting makes no sense on a document meant for (US)Americans. Trump had posted an image of what he called the new commemorative passport, marking the country’s 250th anniversary, writing: “The USA.’s New Passport, which says, ‘Welcome, but be good!’ President DJT.” The design featured a photo of the president alongside patriotic imagery. Clearly, no one had the courage to tell him that (US)Americans aren’t foreigners coming into the USA.

Is anyone really surprised at Trump doing this?   Podcast      Video

Spanish

• Colapso: Collapse, breakdown, meltdown, crash, crackup, demise, cave-in, nervous breakdown, ‘etc’. Colapso de tráfico: Traffic jam
• Zarza: Bush, bramble, bier
• Pulgada: Inch.

Did you know?

The first phonograph demonstration: When Science Tried to Strangle Recorded Sound

Finally . . .

Thanks to his depredations along this coast. Francis Drake is a very unpopular figure in these parts. Given that Nelson destroyed the entire Spanish navy off Cape Trafalgar, you’d think his name would be even muddier with all Spaniards. But apparently not. For, the ginger tea I bought today is sold under the brand of Lord Nelson. To give it a British connotation, I guess. Being tea.

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.