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.
Travel News
Well, I was going to write that – apart from lots of roadworks, lane closures, deviations and endless rain – it was a smooth 6-hour drive back home today. But – 7km out of Pv city – my car refused to start after I’d paid the toll. I then spent at least 45 minutes talking to my car insurance company – or, rather to a bot – and trying to get tow truck assistance via the company’s app. All to no avail. But I was lucky enough to get assistance from 2 mechanics employed by the autopista, who had a vested interest in removing my car from the booth it was blocking. So, I was finally able to finish the trip. I guess a new battery is in order. Which I will pursue tomorrow, after today’s general strike is over.
After complaining last night that 2 4-star restaurants weren’t able to offer me the local dish I wanted and that all the town’s restaurants were also closed, I did manage to get some very nice lamb chops in the cafetería of last night’s hotel. And the restaurant was open this morning for a decent breakfast. Just as well, as there appeared to be no cafés open at 8 in the town. So, I set off for home in good humour and just before the engine froze, I’d been saying nice things to my car on surviving another round trip of c. 2,500km. Tempting fate, obviously.
Cosas de España/Galiza
Today’s storm Bruna will be followed tomorrow by Charles, And maybe then – in alphabetical order and in female-male sequence – by Diana?
I see that The Corner claims that the general strike failed. All I know is that, stuck at the toll booth, no one was answering the phone in the car shop I use. I assumed they’d laid down tools for the day.
The United States of Trump America
House Oversight Republicans yesterday released the final report of their 15-month probe into Jeffrey Epstein and the federal investigation into him. Among their findings: President Donald Trump was not implicated in Epstein’s sex trafficking operation. A somewhat ambiguous phrase, of course.
It’s a long-held judicial adage that “a grand jury would indict a ham sandwich” — but not in Trump’s Washington. In just the past 3 weeks, prosecutors have failed to secure indictments in at least 3 cases, part of an emerging pattern of prosecutors seeking indictments of Trump’s political enemies despite questionable evidence.
If it’s true – as I believe it is – that we all eventually become caricatures of ourselves, how horrifying it is to ponder what Stephen Miller will be like in a few decades’ time. If he survives. Meanwhile, I’m very happy I’m not his wife. Or a colleague or employee.
Relevant Books
- Betrayal: Trump, Putin and the New Age of Conquest
- Wtf America?!: The Way Out of This Hell and Back to Democracy. 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.
Spanish
- Capturado de pincho: Line-caught (fish)
English/Did you know?
The meaning of the word jargogle.
Finally . . . You Have to Laugh
Among many other insults, Trump called Biden ‘A demented tyrant’. One of his best projections.
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.
Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable – Christopher Howse: ‘A Pilgrim in Spain’
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.
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 . . .
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.
