The conumdrum for anyone thinking of taking a summer holiday in Spain is: do I book now – or wait until later and then pick up an ultra-cheap deal? Obviously, getting a ‘good’ deal on your summer holiday in Spain is important but this year it is more difficult than ever to predict what will happen about the number of [...]
An agreement has been formally ratified between the Spanish unions and the Spanish government regarding the planned Easter airport strikes in Spain. The strikes in Spain are not, as I always suspected, going to happen. Of course, this is very good news! The last thing that Spain needed was disruption to its precious (for the economy) tourist industry and any [...]
At last – an article that clearly explains the boom and bust of the Spanish economy! Best of all the article comes from a Spanish writer and has been published in a Spanish newspaper (albeit that it has been translated into English). It is well worth reading, if you are interested in the Spanish economy. Needless to say, you should [...]
Well, bureaucracy in Spain can be frustrating like anywhere else in the world. That is certainly the view of many Spaniards – who often despair of bureaucracy in Spain and this is wonderfully illustrated in this hysterically funny video: Actually, although the video portrays bureaucracy in Spain I think that anyone in the world would be able to recognise the characters and [...]
La Cremà is the climax to Las Fallas and always takes place, every year, on the night of the 19th March (irrespective of the day of the week) within Valencia Province. It is a terrific occasion with the most thrilling and greatest burnings of the effigies (ninots) taking place in the middle of Valencia city. That is not say that [...]
Unemployment in Spain is very high. Indeed, the Spanish government’s figures declare unemployment in Spain to be over 20% – with the reality being probably much higher. Of course, Spain’s black economy is very sizeable and that may help to cushion the affects of the current unemployment rate in Spain but, either way, a very significant part of the Spanish [...]
Sometimes it really is good to be alive! Today I have been down in my beloved Gandia, touring around the Las Fallas ninots and bathing in the celebrations of Las Fallas. This is the eighth time that I have seen Las Fallas and I am still overwhelmed by the sense of joy that surrounds a major fiesta in Spain. As [...]
Well this is good news – the proposed airport strikes in Spain are not going to go ahead as planned! As I wrote recently, I did not think that this would happen. The stakes were just too high all round. The Spanish economy would have been badly damged when least it needed another problem and I suspect that the majority [...]
Of course, now is the time of year when processionary caterpillars tend to be around – and every English language newspaper in Spain seems to be full of dire warnings about them. So much so that it can seem a wonder that anything survives at all within the Spanish countryside… Certainly, processionary caterpillars can be dangerous. They have poisonous hairs [...]
So, Las Fallas is almost upon us! Indeed, it starts in earnest tomorrow (15th March) and then continues until Saturday (19th March) – with the same dates annually, irrespective of how those dates land in the week. However, I should stress that this is not a fiesta that celebrates the culture of Spain – this is about Valencian culture and [...]
One of the curiosities of Spain, for any North European or American, is the state sector in Spain and the way that it ‘works’. It is quite unlike that found in the States or many North European countries and is a part of the very culture of Spain that is truly foreign to many ex-patriots. Indeed, the way the state [...]
So, airport strikes in Spain are planned for 22 days starting from the 20th April (Easter!!) and then ending on August the 31st – right through the main holiday periods. For the planned dates: see this Post. What a disastrous prospect for Spain – a country reeling within an economic crisis that has led to unemployment in Spain being over [...]
I am afraid that it looks as though there are going to be Easter airport strikes in Spain – which may continue on into the summer. This, of course, is the worst possible news for anyone planning to fly over to Spain during the Easter holidays. Needless to say, it is also very bad news for the Spanish economy, for [...]
I saw an interesting article in the Euro Weekly News today, the contents of which deserve comment. The article revolves around the Spanish property crash and the number of properties for sale in Spain. According to the Spanish economist Ricardo Verges, there are some 2,320,000 new houses for sale in Spain – a number that is nothing less than breathtaking. [...]
I simply could not resist drawing your attention to this article about a local Spanish politician in Valencia who is being accused of blackmailing a brothel in Spain. In itself, this may not be unusual, however I have a suspicion that I have been to the brothel concerned (in a journalistic capacity – I hasten to add!). Certainly, everything thing [...]