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

The dreadful fires near Ávila are now the largest in Spain’s history.

Says Mark Stücklin: For decades the British were the dominant force in Spain’s foreign property market But that era might finally be coming to an end. In the first quarter of this year,British purchases were down almost 20% compared to the same period last year. The contrast with the foreign market as a whole could hardly be greater.While British demand has fallen by 40% in the last 10 years, the wider foreign market has almost doubled over the same period.As a result, the British have gone from accounting for almost 22% of all foreign purchases in Spain in 2016 to less than 7% today.

In the 20 years since the points-based driving license system was introduced more than 32,000 Galicians lost all 12 points and were unable to drive until they’d completed the awareness course that restored some of their points. Another 40,000 had their licenses suspended, even with some points left on them, after being convicted of a traffic offence.

A sign of the times . . . Another of Pv city’s ’emblematic’ buildings is to be converted into tourist flats – 17 in all. Will occupiers be able, I wonder, to enjoy the hamburger smells from Boorger Keeng on the ground floor? The article gives other stats which endorse the view that Pv city is now very much a tourist city, for better or worse.

The UK

In terms of the percentage of the population, the English Civil War of 1642-1651 cost more lives than in the 2 World Wars combined

The Middle East War

The latest update from Naked Capitalism. Trump still dithering.

The United States of Trump America

Quote: Trump is the greatest self parodist of all time.

The name of the 4 US soldiers recently killed have been removed from the Pentagon’s Defense Casualty Analysis System page – ‘Because Congress has not voted more money for the military and so we are not technically at war’.

Fighting the oligarchy then and now.

Kurt Anderson illuminates – in an imminent novel – a chilling path, towards the death of Trump.

Quote of the Day

He was that most uncomfortable of things: a posh Englishman forced to express emotion.

The Way of the World

The FIFA President has shamelessly praised Argentina’s ‘professionalism’ in a tone-deaf letter to the nation’s FA – despite launching an investigation into their behaviour after losing the World Cup final.

I’ve seen it argued that your phone doesn’t listen to you and that what you say doesn’t affect the ads you get. Well, midday today, I spoke to my doctor about renewing a prescription and, this afternoon, I got 2 spam emails re on-line prescriptions. Which might be pure coincidence, of course.

Spanish

• Atronador: Thunderous, deafening.
• Bordar: To embroider, stitch, sew.
• Achicharrar: To scorch, burn, roast

English

Many Americans – and all Australians? – pronounce ‘can’t’ with an A sound different from both the British short A sound (/æ/) – as in cat – or the British long A sound (/a:/) as in ‘car’. The (distinctive) American sound is neither of these. And nor is it the schwa sound. What happens is that the normal American short A sound (/æ/) – taken over by 17 century Brits – converts in front of certain letters into a ‘raised, tenser vowel because of pre-nasal consonant triggering’. Examples are: cat, land, ham, man and bank. I wonder if this reflects the influence of French.

Did you know?

Readers have visited the Commonplace Fun Facts site from 191 countries. Meet the 4 nations still holding out—and discover what may have offended them.

You Have to Laugh

Finally . . .

I’ve discovered that the greenfinches and sparrows that fight on my bird feeder, aren’t partial to (surplus) fennel seeds. So, on to sesame seeds. My guess is that these too, will be eschewed.

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 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. And this, on the annual costs of owning property here.