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

• Morocco – cheekily? – has demanded that its minors be sent back home. Which is surely what the Spanish PM would like to do immediately. But there are legal process barriers to surmount.
• The EU has gifted Ceuta quite a lot of money to help it strengthen the frontier defences. It’s an ill wind that blows no good, they say. Which is quite possibly true for a few individuals suffering from ‘desert disease’ – sticky palms. We await the (inevitable?) arrests and the (lengthy) trials. https://apnews.com/article/migration-ceuta-spain-morocco-declassified-documents-9a8b97f717b972f861f46374d6a5a2b4

Spain has a new (government) portal advising on affordable housing around the country. Nowt in Andalucia, it says. And for the entire country – where there’s a shortfall of 750,000 homes – it lists just 816 properties. Overall, the initiative doesn’t really look like the answer to anyone’s prayer. By the by, there are said to be 3.8m vacant homes across Spain. On this, I sometimes note that many flats in Pv city don’t seem to have any lights on at night and wonder if they are empty and, if so, why this is.

Muxía*, located in the heart of the Costa da Morte**, has been recognized by National Geographic as the most beautiful town of the month of September. I’d guess the residents of Muxia are happy this news didn’t break before the holiday season.

*Pronounced moo-shee-a,with the stress on shee. **Coast of death, in Galician.

Portugal

A region in Portugal is said to be the best place in Europe in which to retire. But only 2nd worldwide . . .

The Middle East War

The latest update from Naked Capitalism.

The United States of Trump America

Looking up, Trump declared that the arena, with a capacity of 20,000, was packed to “the highest rafter”, blissfully unaware of the hundreds of empty seats facing him. Many of his supporters could see he was wrong, but they clapped along anyway.

I find it hard to believe that government officials would say this sort of thing about the Opposition in any other democracy. Opposition in Spain traitor. 19303 language:-

• The Communist Party. Excuse me, the Democrats have no leader and they have no message. The only thing they can agree on is their disgusting hatred of America and our great president. These people are sick.
• Don’t give the country over to a bunch of crazy people: The Vice President, J D Vance

These were, of course, addressed to the hard core of MAGA folk attending the Republican mini convention – arguably – and ironically – the sickest folk in the USA. Led by the nose by the most corrupt and evil administration in US history.

Whatever happens in November or it 2028, is it really impossible to imagine supporters of the defeated party resorting to violence, in such a divided society?

Inside Trump’s Head . . . https://ms.podbean.com/media/share/dir-zmscg-30ff9a56

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

Depending on who you read, still winning or losing the war against Ukraine. Might be preparing to give (a desperate) Trump a token to allow him to claim he’s stopped the war.

Spanish

• Aguinaldo: Bonus
• Sobre a marcha: On the go, as you go, on the fly
• A medias: Halfway, by halves

English

I don’t think I’d heard the word ‘guardrail’ until quite recently. Checking with Ngram, I found that usage steadily increased in the 20th century, peaking in the 1960s. After this, usage declined until a a similar peak in 2000, followed again by reduction and then a smaller peak around 2016. My guess is the latter was associated with fears around Trump as the president. Since that time, usage has declined again, which surprises me as, US political commentators seem to be very fond of the word.

Did you know?

How did Cyrus the Great go from hidden prince to playground king and conquero

You Have to Laugh

A song from 30+ years ago which might put you in mind of someone.

Finally . . .

The person employed in the Pv city to make apparently senseless changes to traffic routes has modified my daily drive towards the city by barring a right turn and imposing chevrons the like of which I’ve never seen. And which were being ignored by frustrated drivers yesterday.

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.