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
Inflation here is ‘stable’ at 4.9%. Which is m º1ºººore than twice as high as the EU target, I believe.
Well, the starting pistol has been fired on the election campaigns. Cue endless articles in the media and cities festooned with posters.
- Here’s info on the manifesto of the right of centre PP party.
- News on the neo-Nazi NN group mentioned yesterday . . . It has been prescribed after police found rifles, ammunition and an oath to Hitler at its spokeswoman’s home. Police moved in after spyware planted on her phone indicated that she is ‘prepared to sacrifice her life in defence of her ideology and has gone so far as to hint at the creation of an armed movement. Appearances are deceptive . . .
- Talking of far-right organisations . . . Vox’s manifesto(RV)
Good to see that Spanish wines have done very well in a global assessments by a famous critic. One Albariño wine even achieved a punctuation of 99/100. Which is clearly hard to beat.
The United States of Trump America
Quite sickening to hear Trump empathising with the Nvidia (ex)CEO Huang on how bad he feels about what he’s done to his wife and kids. As if Trump has ever felt shame in his own life. Though I guess he might get close to if his divorce settlement turns out to be even bigger than the one Huang is said to be facing.
Yet another Russia-related scandal. One which the writer rightly says would have brought down any previous president. Whereas this utterly charmless current incumbent leads a charmed life.
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.
China
Not the first person to wonder this, I’m sure – Has Putin passed onto Xi what he has on Trump?
Spanish
- Gases lacrimógeno: Tear gas
- A la altura de: At the level of
- Apuntasrse: To sign up for, to register
- Galardón: Award
Did you know about?
Finally . . .
It might well be winter but my midday tiffin in Plaza Verdura was disturbed today by not just one but 2 groups of 40-plus folk being guided around the old quarter.. One wore green sashes and the other red. To stop them getting on the wrong coach, I guess. They were lucky enough to get some sun, after 5 days of rain, which have done wonders for the reservoirs.
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.
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.
