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'
Note: I’ve been posting my blog in 3 places in the last year, including here. I’ve now reduced this to 2 and, as of next week, will be confining posts to one site on Wordpress. This is the link, if you want to start using it now. Maybe sign up for email receipt, as this helps me understand my readership.
Cosas de España/Galiza
The word 'Annual' might not mean much to most readers. But it does to at least some Spaniards, being a battle in North Africa in which the Spanish army suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the - very heavily outnumbered - Moroccan Berbers. This was back in 1921, a hundred years ago. An anniversary which the Spanish government is - understandably - said to have pasado por alto. i.e. overlooked/ignored.
Yesterday I noted that Spain is said to have the highest percentage of double-jabbed in the world. But its ranking is much lower when it comes to the percentage of the population with one jab. I can't pretend to know which - if you have the choice - is the better option.
Yet another case this week of a Galician 'kamikaze', a driver heading the wrong way on the A6, at 6pm. This time not a confused geriatric but a drunken 33 year old. We seem to have quite a few of these kamikazes every year. Don’t know about other regions.
The Galician police were as officious as ever over the weekend, fining folk for all sorts of Covid infringements, including an excess number of no-conviventes together out in the street.
María's Not So Fast: Days 22-23 A [Health] Service We Pay For
The UK
OTOH: Daily Covid infection numbers are on the decline. With hospital admissions hovering around a quarter of what they once were during infection peaks, evidence is building that the vaccines are working: preventing not just serious illness, but reducing transmission as well.
OTOH: We can’t get too comfortable: Covid is constantly surprising us and numbers may well rise again
OTOH: The economy appears to be racing ahead. EY’s latest estimate shows it growing at its fastest rate in 80 years, forecasting 7.6% growth in 2021.Its analysis fits a trend: other economic heavyweights are also predicting a faster bounce back than initially anticipated.
OTOH: Don’t be fooled: the situation remains fragile and a rapid recovery is still not guaranteed.
The UK and the EU post Brexit
Query. Did the British not read the fine print when they signed their Brexit deals? Not only do they regret agreeing to a lay a customs border down the Irish Sea to avoid the need for passport checks and inspections of goods on the Ireland-Northern Ireland border; they also have second thoughts about their agreement with Spain for Gibraltar.
'Perfidious Albion' yet again?
The Way of the World
The Scottish Government - which likes (like Spain) to be 'different' - is backing proposals to encourage 8,000 civil servants to pledge they’ll specify their preferred pronouns at the end of each email. Effie Deans mocks this development here.
I'd like all to know that, henceforth, my personal pronoun - for I, me and you - will be Zak.
English
Zak've often wondered and, yes, there used to be an adjective 'miscontented', back in the 16th century. Now displaced by 'discounted', of course.
Zak've finally looked it up . . . 'To cosplay': To dress up as a character from a film, book, or video game.
Spanish/Spanglish
To cosplay: Hacer cosplay.
Finally . . .
A conner conned. Nice one. But gullibility and immoral profiteering continue, of course.
Note: If you’ve landed here looking for info on Galicia or Pontevedra, try here.