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

The economy

• Spanish business owners’ confidence in the trajectory of their finances has reached its lowest level since 2023. All analysts point to a gradual slowdown in economic growth, resulting from cooling consumption, tighter financial conditions, and the end of Next Generation EU fund disbursements. Galicia is an exception to the general pessimism. The ever-growing white powder business??

Tourism

• Nationally, it’s now cristal clear that autumn forms part of the high season in Spain, with its attendant prices. We’re seeing flexible travellers not bound by school holidays – such as silver nomads, digital nomads, younger travellers and golfers -shifting their travel plans to later in the year, when heat waves have subsided and temperatures are more comfortable for sightseeing and sports.
• Led by US visitors, foreigners increased by over 8% this year and now comprise just under half of the tourists who grace Pv city with their presence. And their money. A very far cry from 20 – or even 10 years – ago. From May to November, English voices are everywhere. Compared with nowhere when I set the international trend by coming to live here and published my long-gone web page on Galicia. And started blogging about it. . .

The Voz de Galicia reports that there’ll several new flights from our 3 airports this winter but adds: The problem is the same as ever – many of the the routes are duplicates or triplicates, emphasising the lack of coordination. This, plus the competition from Oporto, will make things difficult for the airlines. I suspect Hell will freeze over before coordination happens. Local politics.

The Middle East/West Asia War

The latest update from Naked Capitalism. What will be the consequence of defeats for Netanyahu and Trump?

The United States of Trump America

JD Vance has blamed high oil prices on “tin-pot dictators” and their wars, giving folk an opportunity to cite Trump.

A major scandal might be brewing. Two senior officials in the Israeli embassy have been accused by critics of being, effectively, traitors. It’s alleged that, heavily influenced by their ‘Christian Zionist’ beliefs, they’ve been working in the interests of Israel and against those of the USA. BTW . . . Inevitably, there are at least 4 categories of Christian Zionism but it’s especially associated with evangelical Protestantism in the USA. See the end of this post for these.

Make no mistake: these final 8 days will define the trajectory of the country. This midterm election is the vital test, the primary remaining check on absolute executive authority.​ If federal interference, war-footing pretexts, and military posturing succeed in tilting outcomes or suppressing turnout, the precedent will be cemented. Once federal control over local elections is normalized, that door does not close.​ This is no longer a debate over policy differences or party platforms. It is a fundamental choice between remaining a constitutional republic or sliding into a state where elections are merely ceremonial performances.

I’ve cited before the comment to of me of a US friend years ago: You have to understand that the US has both the very best and the very worst of everything in the world. Reading commentaries and listening to podcasts over the last few years has left me with the impression that, when it comes to politics at least, it’s still the Wild West there. Witness the appalling attack ads and the ‘epic’ corruption of Trump, his family and his entire administration. Will radical change be forthcoming under the Democrats, who are themselves very divided between progressives and centrist, moderate, and establishment Democrats of the “mainstream/institutional” wing? Hard to be optimistic, notwithstanding the fightback against Trump and MAGA. Prior ‘business as usual’ wasn’t that appealing, after all. Especailly the role of money in elections.

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.

The Way of the World

This week sees the election of the UN Secretary general. In what is either mickey-taking or a total misreading of the global tide, the USA has put forward Victor Orban for the post.

Spanish

• Oda: Ode. Paen. Hymn.
• Tieso: Stiff, tght, rigid
• Orejas tiesas: Open ears (as in ‘listening with . . .’)

English

Seen in Vanity Fair of 1850:

• Dobbin assumed a jovial and rattling manner. I have no idea what ‘rattling’ meant back then.
• He partook of breakfast with a very hearty appetite, though his modest cup of life was only sweetened with brown sugar. Unrefined sugar was presumably cheaper and not yet see as healthier that white sugar .

Did you know?

Shaking hands with only one or even all the fingers – instead of the with the whole hand – was a custom in 18th-century Britain. It was primarily a status gesture; a superior might offer just a finger or fingers to an inferior, signalling distance, condescension, or the asymmetry of rank. But, while this custom – along with bows, hat-touching and curtseys remained important, particularly in formal or hierarchical settings – the full handshake became more common – especially among merchants, Quakers, and people of broadly equal status. And etiquette writers increasigly debated whether a woman should offer the whole hand or a finger or fingers.

You Have to Laugh

Finally . . .

I saw this strange 12-legged(?) bicho on my bathroom floor this morning:

An adult silverfish, I believe. Fast but not fast enough. RIP.

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

CHRISTIAN ZIONISTS

Christian Zionist is a broad label for a Christian who supports Israel/Zionism on biblical or theological grounds. Types:-

• Dispensationalist: A Protestant theological tradition that reads biblical prophecy literally and often sees modern Israel as central to God’s end-times plan.
• Premillennial dispensationalist: A more specific form of dispensationalism that links Jewish return to Israel with expectations about Christ’s return and the “End Times.”
• Covenantal Christian Zionist: Supports Israel because it believes God’s covenant promises to Abraham and the Jewish people remain valid.
• Christian restorationist: An older, broader term for Christians who expected or advocated a Jewish return to the historic Land of Israel.

They are all opposed by the Palestine Liberation Front and the Front for the Liberation of Palestine, etc., etc.

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.