Thoughts from Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain: .29.9.19

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

                  Christopher Howse: A Pilgrim in Spain

Spanish Life  

• Dear dog!. . .  According to Feminicidio.net there were a staggering 60 gang rapes in Spain last year compared to 14 in 2017, and 18 in 2016 when the infamous Pamplona San Fermines ‘manada’ – or wolf pack – took place with five Spanish men taking turns to rape an 18-year-old. This year, there have been 42 reported cases taking place between January and August 2. More here.

Galicia Life

• Some camino pilgrims proceed from Santiago to the beach of Finisterra, to burn their clothes and gaze at the sunset. Perhaps even to swim. This is not without risk, as this article shows. 

Pontevedra Life

• They've now put arrows on that crossing, taking pilgrims back to the main route. Unfortunately, cars drove across the wet paint, making it look as if the direction is both ahead and to the right . . . 

The UK

• Dear dog! . . . Richard North: Johnson has made it clear that he wants to "get Brexit done" and then focus on his domestic agenda. But the proposition that we can get Brexit "done" is absurd. As a process rather than an event, Brexit will be with us for the next 20 years as an active issue, and for the next decade – at the very least – it will be a dominant theme in politics, whether we leave or not.
• I'm sure I've mentioned this before but, in the north of England, 31October is Duck Apple Night. As kids, we enjoyed - or were subjected to - both of the apple tests referred to here. Given that these games go back to the Celts and the Romans, it's not very surprising that they also take place here, doing Samhaín/Samaín. Or used to before bloody Trick & Treat took over. See here and and here.

The USA

• An interesting, if cynical, article on impeachment.

Spanish

• Words of the Day: 10 beastly animal sayings.

Finally

• A reference in a local paper to the Batalla de St Cruz in 1657 caught my eye. Especially the headline that this had been a victory for the forces of Philip IV. I rather doubted this and so I checked. The English and Spanish Wiki entries share the following information:-

- Ships destroyed: All 15 of the Spanish ships, 1 English ship.

- Number of people killed: Spanish 300, English 50 (except in the Spanish summary box, where this is 5,000)

- Outcome: English Wiki: Victory for the English: Spanish Wiki: 'Disputed'. Hard to credit but it is true that the English failed to get their hands on the Spanish bullion, which had been the objective of the attack on Santa Cruz.

Pick the meat out of that . . .

Personal note: 

• I'm driving to Santander for the UK ferry tomorrow, having had a painful tooth out on Friday evening. Not a good time to discover that vibrations created in a car are not good for a recovering hole in your gum.  . .