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’

NB: If there’s a RV in brackets after a (paywalled) link, you might be able to read it via a Reader View extension to your browser, avoiding the paywall. If there is no RV, it will mean that the article is free to view or listen to. If there’s RV2, it means a second click on RV might let you see the article though the first RV click didn’t work.

Cosas de España/Galiza

What a PP/Vox coalition government would mean for foreigners resident in Spain. (RV).

Politics: Under what’s called the Ley de Nietos (Grandchildren Law), a potential 400,000 folk who live overseas will be added to the electorate. One assumes that the left-of-centre PSOE government believes – or at least hopes – that they will vote for them, rather than PP or Vox.

The property crisis . . . It’s estimated that an inability to connect to the electricity network is preventing the construction of 300,000 homes. Investment has been inadequate, it’s said.

Local industry news . . . The “Brazilian Pablo Escobar” – Sergio de Carvalho – is about to hear the verdict in a trial in Belgium, where he’s accused of smuggling tons of cocaine via shipping containers. He’s arguably the most powerful drug trafficker to set foot in Galicia in recent years and our chief prosecutor is preparing to bring him to a separate trial here, where he’ll face 13½ years in prison

Sports news . . . This morning, I watched the 25th annual 7-a-side match between my friends Os Porcos Bravos and the visiting Sheffield Stags. As ever, the locals won, if only because they’d again taken advantage of British drinking habits to ensure their opponents were all hungover – or still asleep – when the match was due to start. The Stags had somehow arranged for a very light drizzle to fall – after suffering in 30 degrees last year – but were nonetheless 6-0 down by half-time and, despite scoring early in the 2nd half, ran out 2-10 losers. But at least this wasn’t quite as bad as last year’s 1-11. Actually, given the shots ratio, the Porcos should have done better. A post-match lunch for 38 had been set up outside a restaurant in Pv city but a light drizzle forced everyone inside. Whereupon – this being Galicia – the sun came out.

France

Why French students riot more than British students.

The Middle East War

The latest update from Naked Capitalism. More Saudi airports and oil facilities hit.

The United States of Trump America

The delusional lunatic at work:-

• At a Tennessee rally: You love me. I could say the stupidest things and you’d still clap and cheer. [You do. And they apparently do.]
• The Iranians don’t know how nice I’ve been to them. We could end it in a minute.
• His name is Abdul. I call him Mohammed. I’m the president. I can call him whatever the hell I want.
• On TV, there’s a freaky guy – a nothing, a loser – who says my poll numbers are low.
• I’m very popular. I really am.
• His answer to the question: ‘What is the number one issue to the American people?’: I don’t know – We’ve taken in billions in tariffs.
• The Democrats don’t do tariffs. Therefore, the country will go bankrupt.
• Since I started doing my rallies, there’s a whole new awareness of how great the Republicans are doing.
• I say to the Iranians: ‘Guys, you guys are crazy’. [They probably love him for it . . . .]

This is typical of right-wing US comments that come up in my Spain feed: The Marxist government of Spain opened the flood gates to Muslim invaders in Ceuta. I wonder if they’re as ignorant about their own country. Or as concerned about its own deficiencies and problems . . .

Pete Hegseth is said to be planning to run for president. In what universe would this be a realistic proposition, I wonder. Even more delusional than his master, I guess. Another lunatic who thinks he can to run the asylum. And that the inmates love him.

Relevant Books

• Betrayal: Trump, Putin and the New Age of Conquest
• 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. This is not simply a book about Trump. He is the vessel, not the disease – the product of a system decades in the making, fueled by powerful interests, weakened democratic institutions, and a media ecosystem that too often chose access and complicity over accountability. The book confronts the defining questions of our time: How did we get here? Why did so many institutions fail when they were needed most? And what must we do now to defend democracy before it is too late?
• The final pages of Kurt Andersen’s fascinating run through the USA’s history – Fantasyland: How America went haywire. A 500 year history.
• Profiles in Cowardice, by Jacob Weisberg. Cited in this podcast.

Russia

Moscow has welcomed Trump’s call to oust Zelensky, with a Kremlin spokesman saying the US president had joined “many who believe that Ukraine needs leadership actually focused on peace, not Zelensky’s warmongering”. Just like Putin.

Spanish

• Pedir turno: To seek an appointment
• Alocado: Wild.
• A tenor de: According to. In light of. On the basis of.

English

These are alleged rules of English grammar which I’ve ignored for as long as I can recall, though I do remember being taught them in school:-

Did you know?

The magician who greatest trick came after his death.

Finally . . .

Gardening news . . . I deracinated 80+ more seed stalks of the smut grass today. But I’m beginning to suspect I’m losing this war.

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

The Usual Links

This – from veteran blogger Lenox Napier – is an excellent weekly newsletter (Business Over Tapas) on all matters Spanish. Indispensable for those who needs insights on how and why things happen here.

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.