Neil Lewis
@neil-lewis.bsky.social
Spanish Olive Oil Guy - international trade, foreign policy, economics, clean energy, food, transport. European liberal social democrat. Oh, and trees.
Spain, Europe.
(Don't do DMs. Don't need hookups nor $$$ ops!)
Spain, Europe.
(Don't do DMs. Don't need hookups nor $$$ ops!)
Down > 10% YTD if you use a 'stable' currency
November 17, 2025 at 5:34 PM
Down > 10% YTD if you use a 'stable' currency
I may have cooked too much. 🫨
November 12, 2025 at 9:27 PM
I may have cooked too much. 🫨
<<Gratuitously shares image of locally sourced - paella de verduras>>
Everything KM0 and the lemons and herbs from the garden.
C'mon Britain, join the EU and you could eat like this every day too! ;)
Everything KM0 and the lemons and herbs from the garden.
C'mon Britain, join the EU and you could eat like this every day too! ;)
November 10, 2025 at 3:03 PM
<<Gratuitously shares image of locally sourced - paella de verduras>>
Everything KM0 and the lemons and herbs from the garden.
C'mon Britain, join the EU and you could eat like this every day too! ;)
Everything KM0 and the lemons and herbs from the garden.
C'mon Britain, join the EU and you could eat like this every day too! ;)
And the polls were wrong. Trump / Maga / Republicans are more unpopular that pollsters thought
November 5, 2025 at 6:03 AM
And the polls were wrong. Trump / Maga / Republicans are more unpopular that pollsters thought
When you are given rubbish, make basketball!
That's how the phrase goes, right?
That's how the phrase goes, right?
October 9, 2025 at 9:51 AM
When you are given rubbish, make basketball!
That's how the phrase goes, right?
That's how the phrase goes, right?
So when olive trees hear the phrase - 'in the long run, we're all dead' - they just think, nah, not me.
And if they feel good, they'll give some fruit, and if they don't, well, waiting never did an olive tree any harm.
And that's what makes them so immensely calm.
5/5
And if they feel good, they'll give some fruit, and if they don't, well, waiting never did an olive tree any harm.
And that's what makes them so immensely calm.
5/5
October 8, 2025 at 10:46 AM
So when olive trees hear the phrase - 'in the long run, we're all dead' - they just think, nah, not me.
And if they feel good, they'll give some fruit, and if they don't, well, waiting never did an olive tree any harm.
And that's what makes them so immensely calm.
5/5
And if they feel good, they'll give some fruit, and if they don't, well, waiting never did an olive tree any harm.
And that's what makes them so immensely calm.
5/5
...olive trees live hundreds, if not thousands of years (unlike almond trees which rush to produce fruit when stressed/threatened).
Like this one - planted when, maybe, Jamie I (1300s) was marauding through the mountains reclaiming lands for Christians (and his mates).
4/5
Like this one - planted when, maybe, Jamie I (1300s) was marauding through the mountains reclaiming lands for Christians (and his mates).
4/5
October 8, 2025 at 10:46 AM
...olive trees live hundreds, if not thousands of years (unlike almond trees which rush to produce fruit when stressed/threatened).
Like this one - planted when, maybe, Jamie I (1300s) was marauding through the mountains reclaiming lands for Christians (and his mates).
4/5
Like this one - planted when, maybe, Jamie I (1300s) was marauding through the mountains reclaiming lands for Christians (and his mates).
4/5
...what I love (admire?) about these trees is that they have a 'I'm here, and I'm staying here' attitude.
They carry immense calm because they live so long - this one, perhaps 300 years so far.
They are the archetypal 'put your mask on first' tree.. and hence...
3/5
They carry immense calm because they live so long - this one, perhaps 300 years so far.
They are the archetypal 'put your mask on first' tree.. and hence...
3/5
October 8, 2025 at 10:46 AM
...what I love (admire?) about these trees is that they have a 'I'm here, and I'm staying here' attitude.
They carry immense calm because they live so long - this one, perhaps 300 years so far.
They are the archetypal 'put your mask on first' tree.. and hence...
3/5
They carry immense calm because they live so long - this one, perhaps 300 years so far.
They are the archetypal 'put your mask on first' tree.. and hence...
3/5
And, the olive trees are about to be harvested - just as the olives are between green (young) and black (mature).
Some olive trees have a good crop, some don't and some only provide a crop every two years - especially with the local Serrana variety.
But regardless, these are magnificent trees. 2/5
Some olive trees have a good crop, some don't and some only provide a crop every two years - especially with the local Serrana variety.
But regardless, these are magnificent trees. 2/5
October 8, 2025 at 10:46 AM
And, the olive trees are about to be harvested - just as the olives are between green (young) and black (mature).
Some olive trees have a good crop, some don't and some only provide a crop every two years - especially with the local Serrana variety.
But regardless, these are magnificent trees. 2/5
Some olive trees have a good crop, some don't and some only provide a crop every two years - especially with the local Serrana variety.
But regardless, these are magnificent trees. 2/5
The hot summer is gone and in between DANAs, now is the chance to get into nature and do some walking here in La Sierra Espadan. 1/5
October 8, 2025 at 10:46 AM
The hot summer is gone and in between DANAs, now is the chance to get into nature and do some walking here in La Sierra Espadan. 1/5
Articles like this really p*ss me off.
A fossil fuel company complains that the UK is the worst place to do business but there is no mention that 🇪🇸 energy giant Iberdrola or 🇪🇸 solar and storage companies (Grenergy) are making the UK their top European investment destination?
on.ft.com/4nlEcxe
1/3
A fossil fuel company complains that the UK is the worst place to do business but there is no mention that 🇪🇸 energy giant Iberdrola or 🇪🇸 solar and storage companies (Grenergy) are making the UK their top European investment destination?
on.ft.com/4nlEcxe
1/3
September 29, 2025 at 5:36 PM
Articles like this really p*ss me off.
A fossil fuel company complains that the UK is the worst place to do business but there is no mention that 🇪🇸 energy giant Iberdrola or 🇪🇸 solar and storage companies (Grenergy) are making the UK their top European investment destination?
on.ft.com/4nlEcxe
1/3
A fossil fuel company complains that the UK is the worst place to do business but there is no mention that 🇪🇸 energy giant Iberdrola or 🇪🇸 solar and storage companies (Grenergy) are making the UK their top European investment destination?
on.ft.com/4nlEcxe
1/3
How is this possible?
First Brands can't tell if its debts are $10bn or $50bn ($30bn +/-$20bn)
Oh, and, its assets (which would no doubt have been presented to bankers in excessive detail for each funding round) are $1bn or maybe 1000% higher.
on.ft.com/4gQKbrw
First Brands can't tell if its debts are $10bn or $50bn ($30bn +/-$20bn)
Oh, and, its assets (which would no doubt have been presented to bankers in excessive detail for each funding round) are $1bn or maybe 1000% higher.
on.ft.com/4gQKbrw
September 29, 2025 at 2:50 PM
How is this possible?
First Brands can't tell if its debts are $10bn or $50bn ($30bn +/-$20bn)
Oh, and, its assets (which would no doubt have been presented to bankers in excessive detail for each funding round) are $1bn or maybe 1000% higher.
on.ft.com/4gQKbrw
First Brands can't tell if its debts are $10bn or $50bn ($30bn +/-$20bn)
Oh, and, its assets (which would no doubt have been presented to bankers in excessive detail for each funding round) are $1bn or maybe 1000% higher.
on.ft.com/4gQKbrw
Same in France, it's all falling apart.
September 29, 2025 at 2:23 PM
Same in France, it's all falling apart.
It's time for cork - because the wine bottles need them!
This Spanish Cork Oak (Alcornoque) has recently been shaved of its lower 'cork' bark and painted a brown/red substance to protect the bare trunk.
In time, the cork bark grows back and will be harvested again.
#Sustainable
This Spanish Cork Oak (Alcornoque) has recently been shaved of its lower 'cork' bark and painted a brown/red substance to protect the bare trunk.
In time, the cork bark grows back and will be harvested again.
#Sustainable
September 21, 2025 at 9:39 AM
It's time for cork - because the wine bottles need them!
This Spanish Cork Oak (Alcornoque) has recently been shaved of its lower 'cork' bark and painted a brown/red substance to protect the bare trunk.
In time, the cork bark grows back and will be harvested again.
#Sustainable
This Spanish Cork Oak (Alcornoque) has recently been shaved of its lower 'cork' bark and painted a brown/red substance to protect the bare trunk.
In time, the cork bark grows back and will be harvested again.
#Sustainable
Not wanting to ruin your Saturday morning, but there is this 👇
There is a "35% chance of a total unravelling in the global financial order" in the next five years...
on.ft.com/3IsEaEw
There is a "35% chance of a total unravelling in the global financial order" in the next five years...
on.ft.com/3IsEaEw
September 20, 2025 at 8:08 AM
Not wanting to ruin your Saturday morning, but there is this 👇
There is a "35% chance of a total unravelling in the global financial order" in the next five years...
on.ft.com/3IsEaEw
There is a "35% chance of a total unravelling in the global financial order" in the next five years...
on.ft.com/3IsEaEw
Excellent chart from the @ft - if someone says the US stock market is doing fine, ask them how a European investor would feel...
September 17, 2025 at 8:07 AM
Excellent chart from the @ft - if someone says the US stock market is doing fine, ask them how a European investor would feel...
Why do I end up with so many pans when cooking? Is it, maybe, something to do with these two?
September 15, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Why do I end up with so many pans when cooking? Is it, maybe, something to do with these two?
And, here's one I dissected earlier.
September 13, 2025 at 9:38 PM
And, here's one I dissected earlier.
If you're looking for a great historical book, I strongly recommend @duncanweldon.bsky.social - Blood & Treasure.
Every chapter will unpick something you knew for sure about the last 1,000 years of (mainly) European history, that ain't necessarily so.
Well, it did for me anyway.
Every chapter will unpick something you knew for sure about the last 1,000 years of (mainly) European history, that ain't necessarily so.
Well, it did for me anyway.
September 13, 2025 at 4:17 PM
If you're looking for a great historical book, I strongly recommend @duncanweldon.bsky.social - Blood & Treasure.
Every chapter will unpick something you knew for sure about the last 1,000 years of (mainly) European history, that ain't necessarily so.
Well, it did for me anyway.
Every chapter will unpick something you knew for sure about the last 1,000 years of (mainly) European history, that ain't necessarily so.
Well, it did for me anyway.
But, more so, neighbours end up with a common set of differences even as they attempt to distinguish themselves - they become mirror images.
One needs (or feeds on) the other
One needs (or feeds on) the other
September 13, 2025 at 1:54 PM
But, more so, neighbours end up with a common set of differences even as they attempt to distinguish themselves - they become mirror images.
One needs (or feeds on) the other
One needs (or feeds on) the other
But Mauss went further, 'it is precisely in comparing themselves with their *neighbours* that people come to think of themselves as distinct groups' - even if it meant foregoing better foods / technology etc...
September 13, 2025 at 1:54 PM
But Mauss went further, 'it is precisely in comparing themselves with their *neighbours* that people come to think of themselves as distinct groups' - even if it meant foregoing better foods / technology etc...
It focuses on the work of the anthropologist, Mauss, in which his view is considered to be that 'cultures [are] structures of refusal'
So, we don't eat that muck, we don't speak like that, we don't worship like that...
So, we don't eat that muck, we don't speak like that, we don't worship like that...
September 13, 2025 at 1:54 PM
It focuses on the work of the anthropologist, Mauss, in which his view is considered to be that 'cultures [are] structures of refusal'
So, we don't eat that muck, we don't speak like that, we don't worship like that...
So, we don't eat that muck, we don't speak like that, we don't worship like that...
For a while, I'd been thinking about digging out this discussion on what makes culture and why cultures don't all merge into one but keep sharp edges or worse, are used to denigrate 'others'.
So, it comes from the (brilliant - buy it, read it) book: The Dawn of Everything (Graeber & Wengrow)
So, it comes from the (brilliant - buy it, read it) book: The Dawn of Everything (Graeber & Wengrow)
September 13, 2025 at 1:54 PM
For a while, I'd been thinking about digging out this discussion on what makes culture and why cultures don't all merge into one but keep sharp edges or worse, are used to denigrate 'others'.
So, it comes from the (brilliant - buy it, read it) book: The Dawn of Everything (Graeber & Wengrow)
So, it comes from the (brilliant - buy it, read it) book: The Dawn of Everything (Graeber & Wengrow)
One for Brexit 'they won't survive without us' Brits - the new map of 'top' Spanish home buyers by region.
🇬🇧 loses Valencia to 🇳🇱
🇬🇧 loses Asturias to 🇺🇸
and 🇬🇧 drops 33% in Andalucía.
Even the Spanish heart of 🇬🇧 Murcia nearly halves.
www.expansion.com/inmobiliario...
🇬🇧 loses Valencia to 🇳🇱
🇬🇧 loses Asturias to 🇺🇸
and 🇬🇧 drops 33% in Andalucía.
Even the Spanish heart of 🇬🇧 Murcia nearly halves.
www.expansion.com/inmobiliario...
September 12, 2025 at 7:21 AM
One for Brexit 'they won't survive without us' Brits - the new map of 'top' Spanish home buyers by region.
🇬🇧 loses Valencia to 🇳🇱
🇬🇧 loses Asturias to 🇺🇸
and 🇬🇧 drops 33% in Andalucía.
Even the Spanish heart of 🇬🇧 Murcia nearly halves.
www.expansion.com/inmobiliario...
🇬🇧 loses Valencia to 🇳🇱
🇬🇧 loses Asturias to 🇺🇸
and 🇬🇧 drops 33% in Andalucía.
Even the Spanish heart of 🇬🇧 Murcia nearly halves.
www.expansion.com/inmobiliario...
September 11, 2025 at 5:43 PM