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

Lenox Napier of Business Over Tapas writes here on the dreadful wildfires.

It had to happen . . . The Galician government has declared a temporary hunting emergency owing to the damage caused by wild boar. This allows the culling or capture of an unlimited number of wild boar of both sexes. This was also allowed in previous but it has never before covered all of Galicia, nor covered a full year. [I’ve not seen any near my house since a huge male crossed my path several years ago. I wasn’t at all worried. But this was because I mistook it for my neighbour’s mastiff. Before I noted its sharp tusks and recalled that the dog had died a year or two back. .]

As I’ve said (I think), the profiles of Camino ‘pilgrims’ ain’t what they used to be. As the DdeP reported today, the richer ones don’t skimp on life’s luxuries. When spending a night or three in Pv city, they opt not for albergue dormitories but for the 4-star options of the Parador and the Hotel Galicia Palace. And they will surely move upmarket when we finally have a 5-star place. It must be quite an experience for some of them to have to mix with the hoi polloi on the Camino paths. Who don’t, of course, normally eat in one of the increasing number of Michelin restaurants in Pv city.

It must be summer . . . Sanxenxo is preparing to once again be the scene of a gastronomic record with a strong charitable focus. The family business El Huevo de la Abuela has already put portions of the giant tortilla on sale, which they will cook on September 5th in the Nauta public parking lot, coinciding with the Feira da Cebola and the Santa Rosalía festivities.

One thing that has deteriorated in the last 20 years is the postal service. Today I got my monthly package of magazines and letters which I’m pretty sure didn’t all arrive at the local sorting office at the same time. But I could be wrong, of course. Maybe the cause lies in the UK.

The Middle East War

The latest update from Naked Capitalism. Iran offers bait and Trump takes it.

The United States of Trump America

Steve Schmidt is searching for Mitch McConnell. Or at least his body. Pending discovery, SS lays into the truly late Lindsey Graham. And also into the Democratic doyens, for failing to get their act together ahead of the November elections. Which he, too, fears they will lose.

Who now has Trump’s ear? Netanyahu Vs Zelensky? And Why.

Spanish

• Subvencionar: To subsidise, fund.
• Suplente: Substitute
• Subrogar:To substitute

Did you know?

My elder daughter’s name is Faye (with an E, as in Davies). Given the difficulty she has with getting this across to Spanish speakers, I assumed that Fe (Faith) wasn’t one of the many Catholically-sourced Spanish female names. But I checked and found I was wrong. Here’s a list of such names by type and Fe is to be found in the penultimate category, though I’ve never met a Spanish female called Fe:-

• Biblical or biblical-rooted: María, Ana, Isabel, Sara, Rebeca, Ruth, Magdalena, Marta, Susana.
• Saints’ names: Teresa, Cecilia, Inés, Catalina, Martina, Filomena, Victoria, Lucía. Teresa, Eulalia, Engracia, Escolástica, Casilda, Ángela, Mónica, Martina, Barbara.
• Marian names or titles: Carmen, Dolores, Rosario, Pilar, Concepción, Nieves
• Virtue-based Christian names: Esperanza*, Fe, Caridad, Gracia, Paz, Asunción. Milagro, Piedad, Paciencia, Purificación.
• Others: Rocío, Almudena, Montserrat, Covadonga, and Guadalupe.

* The title of my daughter’s novel.

You Have to Laugh

Finally . . .

Well, the birds have finally returned to the feeder. And I was wrong about the greenfinches, they’re back battling with the sparrows.

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.