Thoughts from Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain

Night’s candles are burnt out, and jocund day

Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops.

Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.   

- Christopher Howse: 'A Pilgrim in Spain’*- after exists - 

Life in Spain: What has changed? 

• Corruption: At the higher echelons of Spanish society - especially among politicians - this is all about money. Down below, it’s far more about nepotism, croneyism(amiguismo) and the avoidances of taxes in the large ‘black’ section of the economy. I’ve written about it - in both general and particular terms - many times over the years. 
• The Verdict: My impression is that - thanks to exposés - corruption might well have reduced in the politico-commercial nexus but that nothing much has changed below this. Spain is still not a meritocracy, for example. As María noted the other day, personal relationships still count for too much. You can see Vincent Werner’s comments on this subject at the end of this 2018 post, plus many more of his acerbic (and controversial) views on Spain. 

Current Life in Spain  

• The saga of a switch from Movistar to O2 . . .  Well, I never got to the Movistar shop. As I was arriving in town, a técnico called me to say he could only check my connection during the morning. So, I returned home and let him in. He solved the problem in only 5 minutes or so, saying it was due to a loose wire at the back of the modem. Not a ‘connection’, I rush to say, as I’d checked all these.
• There was a fight in the changing rooms of Pontevedra’s Zara store the other day, which ended with 3 women going off to hospital. I confess to expecting that the main protagonist - who was ignoring the rules about how may items she could take in - will be said to be a resident of my barrio. Which is code in our local media for ‘gypsy’.
• The UK’s ability to control people during its lockdown has been unfavourably compared with Spain’s acknowledged success on this. I’ve mentioned that, in part at least, the latter has been due to officious police forces and potentially huge fines. So I wasn’t too surprised that the former will be using drones above Spain’s beaches to keep locals and tourists at the right distance from each other. I’m not suggesting this is wrong, just that it’s hard to imagine British police going to these lengths. Though I might well be wrong on this.
• Here’s María’s Day 16 of said Adjusted Normal.  A trip to the clinic

English/Spanish

• English: ‘Child gate’. 2 words,  2 syllables. Spanish (according to Amazon, at least): Barrera de seguridad de niños, 5 words, 11 syllables . . . . No wonder they talk fast. 

The USA

• My elder daughter asked me yesterday why stupid folk in the USA appear to be even thicker than those in other countries. I suggested a mixture of low intelligence and high religiosity. Bang on cue comes ex Minnesota congresswoman Michele Bachmann, who says God is upset with Fart’s peace plan for the Middle East. COVID-19, she claims, is divine punishment of the USA for putting too much pressure on Israel. So, why did her ‘just and merciful’ god inflict it on the rest of us?
• Another overheard phone chat . . .

 Social Media

• For all the talk of “cancel culture”, no [extremist] today can really be silenced at all. However many times you’re no-platformed, there’s always another platform. There’s always a new cesspit into which to sink.

The Way of the World

• An interesting post from Effie Deans. ‘Old lives don’t matter’.

Finally . . .  

• According to Nicholas Jubber - a young English chap writing of his experiences in Iran in his book: ‘Drinking Arak off an Ayatollah’s beard’ - It’s no coincidence that the names of Ireland (Eire) and Iran come from the same root. Long before Hitler made Aryanism unpalatable, it suggested a shared ancestry spanning the Indo European world. Some support for this contention comes from the Wiki page for Eire, where the word is said to have reached us - from a proto-Indo-European word - via Proto-Celtic, Proto-Goidelic, and Old Irish. 
• Can’t resist posting this simple schedule, which rather tickled me:-

• And this amusing but very serious video:-

* A terrible book, by the way. Don't be tempted to buy it, unless you're a very religious Protestant.