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

Prelude . . . The history of Spain’s North African ‘enclaves’ – definitely not colonies. Latest: It’s reported that more then 48,000 of the 50,000+ invaders of Ceuta have already returned to Morocco, after causing chaos. I guess the full story of this bizarre event will come out one day. Did Rabat really permit/encourage this because Spain’s PM visited Algeria?

Lenox Napier’s pueblo of Mojacar has an odd clame to fame. Read about it here.

The parking in my street that really annoys me when it deprives me of a place in front of my house – 3 drivers leaving more than a metre between them and the car parked in front of theirs . . . A total lack of consideration.

Europe

So, Infantino’s outrageous plans already lie in tatters . . . Exploded on take-off.

The United States of Trump America

Fair comment, even if if does rather let voters off the hook:-

Kurt Andersen: Back in the 1980’s, thanks to mass media and the fantasy-industrial complex, satanism hysteria swept the nation and lasted more than a decade.  . . . The Austin couple convicted of raping a child were in prison for 21 years before their convictions were overturned. . . But ask Americans today about our Satanic Panic of just a generation ago, and you’ll encounter a gaping memory hole: younger people know nothing about it, and almost nobody is aware of its scale and duration and damage. The people responsible haven’t paid much of a price or, in many cases, apologized. “Innocent people may have been accused at one point or another,” said the Bakersfield district attorney a few years ago after being re-elected 6 times. And sure, he granted, “if those cases came today we would have handled them differently. But what we had at the time, I think we handled them the best we could.” 

This is Natalie Harp, Trump’s closest companion.

Given that all her educational awards are from home or evangelical institutions, I guess Andersen would see her as a first class nutter even before she assumed her current responsibilities. Whatever they really are. She seems to worship Trump. Which rather proves the case.

In fact, it struck me today that Andersen’s book is effectively a short encyclopedia on Nutters Throughout US History,

Spanish

• Anzuelo: Hook, bait, lure
• Empinado: Steep, sheer, lofty
• Altozano: Hill, hillock

English

Allegedly, these are the competence levels in English in Europe. Where : Education, culture, and media shape language skills. Especially subtitles (Portugal and Germany) v. dubbing (France and Spain):-

• First: The Netherlands
• 6. Portugal
• 26. Spain
• 27. France
• Last: 30. Albania

Full list here . . .

Did you know?

The man who saved the US navy from itself.

Finally . . .

If you want to get an idea of how far a neglected place can return to nature, plant a wisteria in Galicia. It grows even quicker – and in greater profusion – than bougainvillea.

Finally . . . Finally . . .

As it’s the start of the month . . .  Some readers, I hope, will know that the verse I cite at the top of my posts is the opening quatrain of Fitzgerald’s wonderful – but very ‘free’ – translation of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, which you can read about here. Some verses are well known, of course, eg:-

The moving finger writes; and, having writ,
moves on: nor all thy piety nor wit
shall lure it back to cancel half a line,
Nor all thy tears wash out a word of it.

My favourite:-

Myself when young did eagerly frequent
doctor and saint, and heard great argument
about it and about: but evermore
came out by the same door as in I went

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.