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

Ceuta.

• The Olive Press investigates local attitudes and queries the official number of asylum seekers still there. And updates the terrible death toll number.
• Morocco has demanded the return of all the unaccompanied minors. Whom it might well have let through in the first place, of course. Impressive chutzpah. Like the boy who pee’d through the letterbox and rang the bell to ask how far up the hall it went.
• I guess it was inevitable – given the sums of money in play – that a Guardia Civil officer was among the haul of 20+ folk recently arrested in Galicia for drug-smuggling.

It’s feared that people flocking to Spain to view the solar eclipse could spark more ‘devastating’ wildfires. The authorities have warned of an increased risk of fires when hundreds of thousands of people head to the hills and beaches to get a better view of the eclipse. Beyond my understanding but that’s just me, I guess.

Spain’s 5 quietest cities

• 1. Cartagena
• 2. Zaragoza
• 3. Vigo
• 4. Valencia
• 5. Oviedo

Rationale here.

Barcelona is the noisiest.

More here on those banned (for the moment) narcotours in one of our rías.

If she’d only asked me. Or read this blog . . .

Portugal

Average spending falling here also, as you’d expect.

The Middle East War

The latest update from Naked Capitalism.

The United States of Trump America

• To universal astonishment/concern, Trump is going around the White House exclaiming that ‘Hillary [aged78] is freezing her eggs!’. It’s really Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, of course.
• Trump in not a man of policies or ideologies. He’s a man of fixations that he’s incapable of ridding himself of. Witness the ballroom and, more seriously, tariffs and birthright citizenship.
• As he loses power, Trump is on a money-grift vengeance tour.
• It was Trump himself who leaked the information re his escape in a catering truck. Reflecting his decades-long obsession with being the centre of attention. In whatever way he can..

What Trump Is Screaming After the Ballroom Humiliation

The dark truth about Trump’s plane switch.

In case you missed it . . . Kurt Andersen’s fascinating run through the USA’s history – Fantasyland: How America went haywire. A 500 year history.

Spanish

• Temple: Temple. Mettle. Courage. Spirit.
• Paños calientes: Warm cloths. Half measures.
• Alardes: Boasting, showboating

Did you know?

Weird migraine facts.

Finally . . .

Somehow I got myself subscribed for Substack posts from a someone called Virgin Monk Boy. No idea how. I eventually found out how to unsubscribe this morning. Not exactly my cup of 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 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.