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'
Please note. This blog appears on both Google's Blogger and on Wordpress. I'm not happy with the former and some readers say the latter is easier to read. So, I'll be leaving Blogger in the near future. If you want to switch to Wordpress, this is the link. You can sign up there for receipt by email. Which helps me know my readership.
Covid
Europe:
1. As expected, Mrs Merkel has abandoned her efforts to co-ordinate a Europe-wide hard-line stance on British arrivals in the EU, compelling quarantine.
2. Despite central pronouncements, 10 states have said they won’t penalise Brits who've received a jab from an AZ batch made in India. Spain is one of these.
3. Mystifyingly, despite evidence to the contrary, the UK ministry of Health say that no one in the has been done from Indian-made batches . . .
The UK: Talks are in progress about co-ordinating the NHS app with the EU Certificate system to ensure that it is seamlessly integrated, by the end of July.
Spain:
The overall incidence rate has jumped again, to 153 per 100,000 for the past 14 days, taking the country back over the ‘high risk’ level. And the rate has also increased to 405-450 in the 12-29 age cohort. Nil chance of Amber becoming Green, then.
Cosas de España/Galiza
The Diario de Pontevedra reports our car-hating mayor as saying the city is winning the battle against the trárfico. I wonder if that's the vehicle trárfico or the narco trárfico . . . Almost certainly not the latter.
Lenox on Spanish maids. Las chicas.
More bloody subsidies for 'numerous families' here in Galicia; they’re to be given discounts on the toll roads, meaning higher prices for the rest of us.
María's Final Stretch. Days 27-28. A nice find.
The EU
Something on getting longterm residency in every state.
The USA
Academics say Trump wasn't the worst ever president. Well, that's academics for you . . . On the details . . Out of 10 characteristics of good leadership, Trump got his best marks for public persuasion (32nd out of 44) and economic management (34th). He came last, however, for moral authority and administrative skills.
Quote of the Day
Eighteen months on . . . I now hate every moment in a mask. Like many I began cheerily, bought colourful and amusing designs, tried to match them with outfits. I was fascinated by how easily we adapted. But now I have cheap blue paper ones shoved in every pocket. I hate my glasses steaming up; that waterboarding, can’t-breathe sensation when the paper gets damp; the faffing about before you enter a shop. Above all I detest the limits they put on communication, preventing the small talk or joke with a stranger that can lift your day. Perhaps others can read precise feelings just from someone’s eyes, but I can’t. I’d happily trade my mask for a badge saying “I’m fully vaxxed”. There is nothing more creepily dystopian than a tide of silent faceless figures wandering a shopping mall. We will never feel our happy, connected, normal selves until we let the mask slip.
As I've admitted, the worst thing for me is that they make every Spanish woman beautiful because of those big brown eyes . . . And I know this ain't really true.
Spanish
Desmadre: Mess, Blast, Riot: What the kids are having in the Balearics and everywhere else now.
Spanglish
Dale hard al ingles con just 15 minutitos de Gymglish every day.
Finally . . .
In the UK, folk hang black plastic bags on dog poo in trees. I asked the internet why they do this bizarre thing and got this reply: The general consensus is that it's down to laziness - similar to the reason why it's suspected so many people litter. Some believe people think they are being "helpful" by hanging bags of dog poo up on trees or fences. Here in Pontevedra, along the river, they don't bother to hang them up but chuck them under the nearest bush. So, I guess this other response is relevant here: They bag it in case anyone is watching because that is what dog owners are expected to do. They leave it on the trail or toss it into the bush still in the bag when no one is looking because they are inconsiderate, lazy, stupid, and have no respect for the environment.
Note: If you’ve arrived here looking for info on Galicia or Pontevedra, try this.