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

• Maybe there was Moroccan involvement after all . . . Heat has been generated by the leaking of a police report which reached this conclusion.
• There are calls for an official investigation into what the government knew of this when disclaiming any such involvement. And then denying any such report existed.
• Said Private Eye before this came to light: Given that Morocco has one of the largest and most efficient intelligence networks, it’s hard to believe they were caught cold by the scale of the border crossing.
• Demonstrations in favour of Ceuta and its Spanishness were held in several cities yesterday, including Pv city. The one in Madrid is said have involved 50,000 or 150,000, depending on whom you believe. In all of them, I suspect, there was a significant percentage of people who wrap themselves in the Spanish flag. Literally.
• The Spanish PM has accused networks linked to Russia and Israel of spreading disinformation around the crisis, claiming they were exploiting the issue in retaliation for Madrid’s position on the war in Ukraine and on Israel’s actions in the Palestinian Territories.
• Spain is to put a containment fence around Ceuta. {What was there before? A Keep Out notice?]

Spanish house prices have fallen month-on-month for the first time in nearly 4 years. But are still well up on last year. It’s reported that the average gap between the asking and selling prices is now 29%. Which says a lot, when maybe 10% would be normal.

Let’s hear it for us ‘residential tourists’ says Lenox Napier here.

The police are searching for whoever peppered with buckshot the fin of the matriarch (‘Toni’) of the orca pod which has been attacking yachts along our coast. The perpetrator is believed to have been on a Spanish yacht and, if caught, faces a fine of up to €2m. Not much of which will go to Toni.

The UK

Britain’s history is a 900,000-year saga of arrival, change and admixture. So immigration is hardly a new thing.

The United States of Trump America

Quotes

• The moral collapse of the Republican party is even worse than the immense corruption of Trump.
• Attributed to Neil Degrasse Tyson: How sad it must be – believing that scientists, scholars, historians, economists, and journalists have devoted their entire lives to deceiving you, while a reality‑TV star with decades of fraud and exhaustively documented lying is your only beacon of truth and honesty.
• Mr Kornetzke certainly has a way with words . . .

Melania’s grift.

A topically amusing sing-along . . .

Relevant Books

• To be published in October. Can be pre-ordered now: Wtf America?!: The Way Out of This Hell and Back to Democracy. On Amazon or here.
• 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

Trump seems to think words alone will be enough to keep China and Russia in check – but this week has shown the true cost of his profligate war of waste.

Spanish

• Perdigonazo: Buckshot
• Tirachinas: Catapult slingshot.
• China: Pebble

English

• Streamer: ‘Someone whose job is to sit at a computer all day, watching videos and playing games, and airing opinions’.
• Hench: ‘Strong, fit, and having well-developed muscles. Typically used of a man’.

Did you know?

London’s bizarre railway line.

Finally . . . You Have to Laugh

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.