Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.
Christopher Howse: A Pilgrim in Spain
Spanish Politics
- The latest Catalan developments, for those anxious to keep up.
- How odd to read that Vox is being financed by unhappy Persians. Why?
- Good news re the unemployment numbers. Though hardly stellar, given the margins of error.
- But investors are not as unhappy as they were.
- I wonder how many foreigners dealing with them here realise that the - hard-to-avoid - notaries are Spanish government employees. Meaning that here - as in other countries which 'inherited' the French Civil Code - the state is far more involved in your life than in Anglo countries,
- An apt comment . . .The problem is not just the volume of paperwork but also the procedural chaos that accompanies it. In this case, trying to get parcels sent from outside the EU. As I once spent months doing in respect of some books from my aunt in Canada.
- High speed train news . . . Here and here.
- And here's an appealing weather forecast for February, which might well be accurate.
- The Spanish towns with a high percentage of foreign residents:-
- Partaloa (Almería) 69%
- Rojales (Alicante) 69%
- Arboleas (Almería) 67%
- Here's a very nice video on Pontevedra city.
- And here's an about-to-disappear bit of it - a house I snapped 15 years ago, as one of the old buildings that were surely destined to be demolished at some time in the future. Then and now:-
Of course, that time has now come and - having yesterday read the article from which the 2nd foto is taken - I don't expect to see the house still standing when I walk down the street at midday.
Portugal
- Some of neighbour's cities have also realised how valuable it can be to have a Jewish heritage. Last year, when wandering around the lovely old quarter of Elvas, I stumbled on a restored synagogue which I'd not seen mentioned in any literature or on the internet. It's just possible I was its only visitor last year.
The USA
- Ffart releases a plan to radically expand Israel's territory and calls it a Peace Plan? Does even he believe this has a chance in Hell of succeeding? And does he care? No need to answer that.
- Chani Nicholasis the Californian high priestess of astrology. She has more than 320,000 followers on the social media platform. On her website about a million people a month eagerly await the regular astrological advice she posts. She is the resident astrologer on The Oprah Magazine, she has partnered with Spotify on a cosmic playlist. . . . Unlikely as it sounds, astrology is big business — the “mystical services” market is estimated to be worth $2.1 billion. So-called astro-tech is a boom area, with apps that offer astrological readings or allow you to download and compare birth charts attracting millions in venture capital investment.
- I'm reminded of the famous G K Chesterton quote: When men choose not to believe in God, they do not thereafter believe in nothing; they then become capable of believing in anything."
- You are either relaxed about this sort of thing or you're not.
- Word of the Day:- Climagración: Moving inland to avoid the encroaching sea. HT to Lenox.
- In a multinational discussion a couple of days ago, a Spanish contributor said he found the (Dutch) use of the word 'fear' to be too strong and that he preferred 'I worry that . . .". So, is the word 'fear' really that strong in Spanish discourse?
- A hoard of gold-encrusted wine bottles from the 17th century - worth up to £20,000 each - has been unearthed by a digger on a building site in the UK. The auctioneer has opined: Finding anything from before around 1680 in this country is as rare as rocking-horse shit. And there's not a lot of that around.
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