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 Misery Index is a simple economic indicator designed to measure the economic discomfort or stress felt by the average citizen in a country. It was created in the 1970s and is calculated by adding two key variables:

• Misery Index = Unemployment Rate (%) + Inflation Rate (%)

Spain’s Misery Index of 13.7 is significantly worse than that of Greece (11.4), Portugal (8.64), the European Union (8.9), and the Eurozone (9.2). Details here. But its Fun Index is very probably higher than all of these.

The Spanish are just under the EU average when it comes to the per capita use of water. But, in a southern and increasingly hot country, there’s surely a need to reduce usage. Or to get better at desalinating salt water. And/or creating water from air – a Spanish invention, in fact. By an engineer called Enrique Veiga, who’s credited with a system that produces drinking water from air using electricity. He’s said to have succeeded with the critical step of scaling up from lab to industrial application, at an facility called Aquaer in Sevilla.

Pontevedra recycles 40% more household waste than in 2019. But – because folk don’t always use the right containers – 85% of waste ends up in the general waste container. Ignorance or lack of civic responsibility?

I said yesterday’s high in Pv city was 35 degrees but it was, in fact, 37. Ten more than we like. Today’s might well have been as high.

To escape the sound of English around me, I go to a bar on a terrace out of the old quarter and behind a church. Their parasols are black – as against white for adjacent bars – and, when I sat down there midday today, I figured it was as hot as it was because of this. And then I realised heat was coming off the nearby church wall. Not a great combination of factors. So, I moved and lost a few degrees. BTW. . . The waiter at this place was not Spanish but (East?)European, the first time I’ve experienced this. Possibly a reflection of how difficult it is now to recruit Spanish, South American or even Moroccan staff. There are also continuing examples – elsewhere – of service standards not being what they were. Which tourism tends to lead to, eventually. Everywhere

The Middle East War

The latest update from Naked Capitalism. Now Trump threatens to bomb Oman.

The United States of Trump America

Ever more madness from Trump . . .

• He now says he’s thinking of bombing Oman, a US ally.
• He accuses the families of sailors on US carriers of lying about appalling conditions on them. They’ll surely be ‘traitors’ next.

Quotes:

• Trump has done more to create an Iranian atomic bomb than the Iranians could ever could have done without him.
• Trump is now talking positively about North Korea’s leader because he fears that neither China nor Russia will give him sanctuary, if the need arises.

I asked Perplexity if any historical figure had displayed the same personality and psychological profile as Trump and got this:

• The strongest focused comparison is Andrew Jackson, but only for a cluster of traits, not as a total match. The overlap is mainly in public style: forceful dominance, volatile temper, anti-elite populism, and a strong appeal to loyal followers.
• Where they really differ: Jackson was a product of a very different era and operated within a more openly violent frontier and slaveholding political order; many historians stress that Trump is not simply “Jackson in modern form.” One major critique is that Jackson had broader public legitimacy in his time, whereas Trump’s support is more polarizing and his populism more theatrical than institution-building.
• A precise way to phrase the comparison is that Trump resembles Jackson in psychological posture and political performance more than in historical context or policy substance. That means the useful parallels are ego, aggression, outsider branding, and populist grievance, not a one-to-one equivalence.

The answer included a trait-by-trait matrix and I will include this tomorrow.

The very estimable David Rothkopf on Trump here. Why Trump’s In The Deepest Hole of His Life

The final pages of Kurt Andersen’s fascinating run through the USA’s history – Fantasyland: How America went haywire. A 500 year history.

The Way of the World

The next energy crisis could be a water crisis.

Spanish

• En marcha: Under way
• Celo: Caution
• De ahí: Hence

Did you know?

Trial by combat was legal in England until the 19th century.

You Have to Laugh

Finally . . .

A friend has said that the one good thing about this summer’s high temperatures and the lack of rain is that clothes dry very quickly. Indeed they do. And this is important when you’re on the 13th wash-load in 5 days. . . .

There might be another benefit – keeping weed growth at bay. Plus reducing the need to mow lawns . . .

Finally . . . Finally . . .

A reader has kindly confirmed that the 1976 match I recalled was the UEFA Championship Final between and Germany. And that it featured the original Panenka penalty kick. Highlights here.

My thanks to those readers who take the trouble to Like my posts.My thanks to those readers who take the trouble to Like my posts.

The Usual Links .

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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.