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 & Galicia
Another major crisis for the government . . . It stands accused of markedly lowering educational standards, as evidenced by PISA stats released yesterday. This is the headline in today’s El Pais, a left wing paper normally supportive of the (socialist) government.
[US]American tourists are taking over Spain – and locals prefer them to Brits*. Lured by the glamour of Gaudí, a trendy tapas scene and sultry Spanish icons, US visitors are flocking to the country like never before. And maybe some are coming to witness the Islamic takeover by illegal immigrants that Trump has told them about.
*Hardly surprising, as they could well be less troublesome and have a lot more money to spend.
As I’ve said, things have changed in Pv city as regards eating and drinking times. These days, it’s very unlikely that any place other than a pure bar will give you a table at 8.30 for a group of 8 who mostly just want to drink, which I’m trying to arrange for tomorrow night. The fault of Covid and bloody early-eating foreigners. But not of us ‘residential tourists’, as the government labels foreigners who live in Spain. We’re the ones who deserve a drinking table at 7.30! And there was a time – not so long ago – when we could easily get one, vacating it before the diners arrived at 9 or later.
Europe
The Middle East War
The latest update from Naked Capitalism. As threatened, Iran hits US bases.
The United States of Trump America
Something else Trump knows more about than anyone – stone/marble. His ballroom and other (ignorant) construction obsessions here.
I guess it can be said that Trump has done the rest of the world a favour, in revealing the dark side of the USA. Ensuring it will never again be seen as ‘a shining city upon a hill’. Not that it ever was by everyone. But let’s hope we don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater and that we continue to recognise the bright side of the country and its people. While totally rejecting the outdated and specious notion of ‘American exceptionalism’.
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.
Russia
Entertaining Trump, back in the day . . .
Spanish
- Repesa: Dam, reservoir
- Coletilla: Rat tail. Pony tail. Tag line, catchword/phrase, postscript.
- Manoseado: Abused
English
To get into the weeds about something: ‘A US idiomatic expression. Where someone is overwhelmed, bogged down, or preoccupied with details. It can refer to being swamped with work, struggling to keep up with tasks, or getting lost in the minutiae of a project or problem’.
Did you know?
How Sweden switched rapidly from driving on the left to driving on the right.
Finally . . . You Have to Laugh
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.
Höger Dag was the phrase bandied about when I worked for Bofors AB, Karlskoga, in 1965/66. As usual, it was a member of the fairer sex who had induced me to visit Sweden. A close friend, Denis & I had driven to Sweden in August 1964 to stay with the families of two girls whom we had met whilst they stayed for 2 months in Broadstairs to improve their English skills. We had a fabulous time & the following year, 2 friends Roger & Rick from Broadstairs & I decided we should return (by train) to meet up with the family again. After about a week, Roger purchased a day old copy of the Telegraph & there was a 2 page centrefold job advertisment seeking to recruit British workers to join Bofors at their steelworks. We telephoned the company from Stockholm & they invited us for interviews. We arrive unannounced at 4 pm on a Friday, but we were welcomed & given rooms in the company hotel for the weekend. On Monday, we passed the medicals & interviews & were assigned free board & lodging in a company apartment. The next day, we started training to refurbish the massive steel roller mills used to form railway rails etc. Money was very tight until the first payday, but after a couple of months we purchased a righthand drive VW Beetle for about £30. It would have cost more it it had been lefthand drive, because Swedes preferred driving on the left, but nor seeing if it was safe to overtake.
There were many discussions about joining their continental cousins in driving on the right. It seemed the men liked the ability to chat to women from the lefthand driving position. We simply pointed out that as Englishmen, the women flocked to us, once we spoke to them, whichever side of a car we were seated. Natural charm of villains, I suppose. After the switch, I learned that head-on car collisions became fewer.
Nostalgically,
Perry
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Em España siempre hemos tenido problemas con el nivel de educación. Se hicieron diferentes leyes y todas han fracasado.
El informe Pisa recoge una Década. M cabe duda de que en comprensión lectora, matemáticas y ciencias parece que se ha ido a peor.
yi, personalmente creo que falla mucho porque es un país donde no se fomenta la lectura a los niños después adolescente y después adultos y ya con los ordenadores, teléfonos, están muchísimo tiempo sobre todo jugando, chateando con sus amistades y no les preocupa la cultura. Y por supuesto hay que elevar el nivel de exigencia, explicarles bien lo que les conviene y deben hacer, explicarles bien lo que no entienden para que puedan avanzar. Y aquí entran también los profesores y los padres.
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No sabía que los españoles preferían a los americanos que a la s británicos.
Es verdad que están viniendo muchos a visitar España y a comprar viviendas y vivir, aquí.
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I wish we could go back to a time were America behaved more or less rationally, and the wider West (which in my view should include Latin America and Russia) lived in harmony with itself and with the rest of the world. “The end of History” from the much misquoted and unfairly maligned Francis Fukuyama……..was a nice thought. Unfortunately, history tells us that it is also possible to go backwards. The feeling is that is what is happening right now.
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