Thoughts from Galicia, Spain: 2.7.18

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

- Christopher Howse:A Pilgrim in Spain. 

If you've arrived here because of an interest in Galicia or Pontevedra, see my web page here.

Spain

• There are 6 candidates, I think, for the leadership of the defenestrated PP party. But very few of the party's membership are interested in taking part in the election. And the question arises – What if their preference is different from that of the party 'regional barons' in a rigidly hierarchical, not-terribly-democratic, party? Interesting times? Well, no. Not exactly.
• Tim Parfitt touches on this and other current matters here.
• Will the new PSOE government really arrange for Franco's remains to be removed from the basilica in the Valley of the Fallen of on the very anniversary of the start of the Civil War in mid July? Let's hope so.

The EU

• Germany: My local source tells me there's total confusion there this morning about the future of Mutti Merkel and her coalition. And all because of her daft decision a couple of years ago to invite more than a million immigrants to come and compensate for the country's ageing and declining population
• As of right now . . . Commentators warned that the CSU was plunging the German government into chaos and turning it into a laughing stock in Europe. Might well be right. Breath is bated.

The USA

• From the retiring UD ambassador to Estonia: For the President to say the EU was “set up to take advantage of the United States, to attack our piggy bank,” or that “NATO is as bad as NAFTA” is not only factually wrong, but proves to me that it’s time to go. . . . I leave willingly and with deep gratitude for being able to serve my nation with integrity for many years, and with great confidence that America, which is and has always been, great, will some day return to being right. He's not alone, of course.
• A forecast:-

The UK

• This year is the 70th anniversary of Britain's wonderful innovation, the National Health Service (the NHS). Treatment, we're told, is at a record level. As it has been, of course, for every one of those 70 years. Sadly, no UK politician is brave enough to talk of the NHS's inadequacies – as opposed to its 'chronic underfunding'. So, it's not surprising that more than half of Brits are still deluded enough to believe the NHS is better than anything else offered in Europe.
• A propos. . . Far too good to be true?? - As of September every NHS patient will be able to book GP appointments and check their symptoms on a smartphone app. It will become the standard way to access the NHS by the end of the year and will put a stop to the need for desperate early-morning telephone calls for GP appointments, the government has pledged. From December every patient will be able to book GP appointments, order repeat prescriptions and find out whether they are seriously ill using an automated symptom checker based on the 111 helpline. Patients will also be able to see their medical records, register as an organ donor and tell the NHS how they want to be treated when they are dying. In future it is hoped that the app will allow patients to book hospital appointments and have video consultations.

English/Spanish:

• English: A killer pass
• Spanish: Un paso de muerte. A death pass. 

Galicia/Pontevedra

• After a rainy spring, all we needed was for the first 5 days of July to be wet as well. Hey ho, the sun will return on Thursday.
• Anyone know what the new local pastime of restrenxo is? This comes form restrenxer – restringir in Spanish - which means to 'restrict'. Something like orienteering??

The World Cup

• VAR 1: Another set of good pictures followed by a questionable decision, denying Spain a penalty towards the very end of their game against Russia. Here's one article on this. And here's another.
• VAR 2: Analysis shows just how effective it has been in ensuring the reversal of honest but wrong referee mistakes. So far, there's been 13 of these. And only 3 or 4 confirmations.
• Can anyone explain why the Danish defender who fouled the Croatia player was only given a yellow card and not sent off? Ah, it's because there's a newish rule. An attempt was made to get the ball and this counts for a lot. Hmm.
• Not for the first time, I found myself wondering about the accuracy of the stats appearing in the corner of the TV pictures from Spanish TV. At one point, after 110 minutes of play, Spain were alleged to have had 20 shots, none of them on target.
• Did Spain deserve to lose? No. Did they deserve to win. No too.
• I'd have bet on Spain beating Russia in normal time, and then during extra time, and finally on winning the penalty shoot-out. Likewise, I'd have bet on Croatia to beat Denmark after 90 minutes. So, I'd have been well down by the time I clawed a bit back by betting on Croatia to score more penalties than Denmark. Just about.
• Here's a nice report from The Guardian on Spain's performance. Some (accurate) tasters: A quietly extraordinary performance, exiting the World Cup with surely the most statistically dominant losing game ever mustered up. . . Dinner jazz football. Nifty, neat, but also apparently without end. . . .  Intriguing to see a sporting virtue become a vice. . . Possession of the ball can feel like a burden in itself, something stifling and onerous, denying your own attack space.

Finally . . .

• One reason why I don't stay in 'pilgrim' albergues on the camino – This week, Pontevedra's public facility was closed for fumigation.

© David Colin Davies, Pontevedra: 2.7.18