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'*
Covid 19
Spain 1: Interesting claims in the face of rising cases.
And some good news.
But this is this is what the world is up against - its youth. As I walked into town last night, I passed 5 young men aged around 17. One of them was wearing a mask, 2 of them had their masks around their necks and 2 didn't have any mask on. A few minutes later - in the busy Plaza Verdura - I noted 7 young English/American women - very probably all assistant teachers - in close proximity at a table. Who all hugged and kissed - Spanish style - when they parted. No elbowing. So, will their pupils be infecting them, or will it be vice versa? As I left the square, it struck me that there were dozens of people consorting there without masks and with no pretence of distancing more than a few inches. And that, when they left, they'd all don masks to walk through the streets with more space between them when eating and drinking. Seems odd but IGIMSTS.
Spain 2: A negative assessment from a Spaniard.
The writer of that article makes the point: If we take the number of deaths per million inhabitants, only Belgium and Peru surpass us, and it is very possible that the Belgian case is due to different accounting criteria. This led me to today's table, where I see that - having passed most other European states - the USA has reached Sweden's total and will certainly pass it today. And Italy's next week. Next milestone, the UK’s:-
Peru 885
Belgium 852
Spain 625
UK 611
Chile 597
Italy 587
Brazil 586
Sweden 577
USA 577
Living La Vida Loca in Spain and Galicia
Now that the courts have ordered the Franco family to give back to the state the mansion that was 'gifted' to their (in)famous antecedent, the next step will get them to relinquish the priceless statues that found their way into it back then.
So, we're to have the amazing 5G countrywide very soon. Which will certainly be a major change from the paltry wifi capability that Telefónica gave me for 15 years. Until they laid a cable in our barrio and we entered the 21st century.
Another example of an aggressive driver in a yellow car last evening, when a young man raced past a car that had stopped to let me onto a zebra crossing, less than a metre from me. Is yellow a colour to be afeared of in any other country?
If you've an itch to do the Camino Portugués, Correos has a new page (in Spanish) for you here, detailing its services. In English.
The traditional summer fires in our mountains have one positive consequence - they reveal petroglyphs that were either forgotten or never known about.
Spanish
Mampara - Screen; partition. Not to be confused with . . .
Mampostería - Stonework; masonry. A traditional wall of stones held together pone way or another.
English/Spanish
Three more obscure(?) refranes:-
- A good payer won’t object to leaving a deposit: Al buen pagador, no le duelen prendas.
- A man may learn wit every day: Todas los días se aprende algo/No te acosterás sin saber una cosa más.
- A moneyless man goes fast through the market: Quien poco tiene, pronto lo gasta.
Finally . . .
Something great that I found after seeng the obit of one of the members of The International Sweethearts of Rhythm. Who deserved to be more famous than they are/were.
Here (I hope) is a podcast on the possible major consequences of Covid on the way things will be done in the future.
* A terrible book, by the way. Don't be tempted to buy it, unless you're a very religious Protestant.