The state system in Spain, an hilarious insight!
Well, you cannot keep a great gag down and my Spanish lawyer has just sent me a fabulous (short and hilarious!!) video about the state system in Spain. In fact, I featured this video in an article on Culture Spain earlier in the year entitled Bureaucracy in Spain – but I think I am more than justified in highlighting the [...]
The most perfect Art Déco house in Spain
Just occasionally, perhaps only once every four or five years, I come across a house in Spain that is truly extraordinary – somewhere that really does have the ‘Wow!’ factor. Frankly, this is rare in Spain as many Spanish properties lack personality and this applies even to expensive villas on exclusive estates. The latter can appear wonderful but often boast [...]
Gandia, Valencia Province, Spain
Gandia is a town located on the mid eastern side board of Spain. It is within Valencia Province (one of the three Provinces of the Autonomous Region of Valencia Comunitat de Valencia) and is situated some 70 kms south of Valencia City. The immediate area around Gandia is known as La Safor which comprises a number of small towns and [...]
Summer holidays in Spain – 10 things not to forget!
Are you going to be spending your summer holidays in Spain? If so – then make sure that you are well prepared beforehand and pack everything that you need. After all, there is nothing worse than setting out for your holidays and arriving at the airport to find that you have left behind something critical! So, what should go on [...]
Spain, rabbits and the Iberian Lynx
Did you know that there is a really interesting connection between the name España and rabbits – and that the devastating decline of the Iberian Lynx is intimately bound up in both? Well, there are good reasons to believe that the name of Spain (España) derives from the Phoenician word ‘ispanihad’ which evidently means ‘land of rabbits’. This word was [...]
Valencia City of Arts and Sciences
I defy anyone who comes to Valencia city not to be entranced by the City of Arts and Sciences. It is, justifiably, one of the greatest tourist attractions in Spain and a tribute to modern Spanish vision and design. Indeed, the City of Arts and Sciences is such a triumph that, alone, it makes any visit to Spain worthwhile. However, [...]
Culture Spain, Running of the bulls Pamplona – the rules!
The first thing is never consider running with the bulls in Pamplona if you have not seen the encierro before. Even if this is only the Spanish TV1 broadcast (excellent coverage every day of the feria de San Fermín from 7.30 to 8.30 am) which first transmits the run live, then has commentaries, then a re-run with a commentary, and [...]
Las Fallas Valencia, the most incredible fiesta in Spain!
Las Fallas must rank as one of the most extraordinary fiestas in Spain. Indeed, over the past few years it has gained international recognition as one of those remarkable events that you should see – at least once in your lifetime. Certainly, the sheer scale of La Fallas is astonishing with the main festivities taking place over five days (15th [...]
The Alhambra and the Moors in Spain
Some years ago, I was commissioned to write an article which ended up entitled ‘What did the Moors do for us?’. This was, needless to say, a ‘take’ on the famous scene in ‘The Life of Brian’ where the same question was asked about the Romans. Before I started my research my answer to ‘What did the Moors do for [...]
Culture Spain: La Tomatina (the greatest tomato fight in the World!)
Few people would argue that Spain has some pretty incredible fiestas. However, one of the most bizarre has got to be La Tomatina – which is a massive tomato fight. Amazingly, some 30,000 people a year crowd into the village of Buñol to hurl rotten tomotoes at each other. The mess is simply beyond imagination but taking part has become [...]
Culture Spain : MARBELLA VILLA OR BARRIO?
Marbella villa or barrio? The doorbell rang. It was Perla carrying a bucket full of fish. They were small dorada and they were still wriggling. When I had met him in the street yesterday he had asked me if we wanted any fresh fish and I had said yes. This is what he normally does, as he has no phone, [...]
CULTURE SPAIN: THE SAGRADA FAMÍLIA, GAUDI AND BARCELONA
I have to say that whenever I find it difficult to get things done in Spain I think of the Sagrada Família in Barcelona. This fabulous building was started in 1882 and is still not finished – with the projected completion estimated to be sometime in 2026. This means that if this date is actually met(!) the Sagrada Família will [...]
CULTURE SPAIN – BULLFIGHTING IN SPAIN
I am sure that most Spaniards would think (probably correctly) that few people outside Spain have the faintest clue about bullfighting. Most non-Spaniards instinctively dislike it – and are shocked by the bloodletting and apparent savagery. And yet, bullfighting in Spain remains popular and is considered by many Spaniards to be a fundamental part of the very culture of Spain. [...]
LIFE IN SPAIN – TEN REASONS FOR MOVING TO SPAIN
I think, like everyone else, I often tend to get too wrapped up in Spanish property and the state of the Spanish property market. It is important, undeniably, but, within it all, I think the whole reason for moving to Spain (or buying a property in Spain) – can be lost. Indeed (and this I have stated countless times), living [...]
SPANISH POLICE – THE POLICE IN SPAIN
Few matters are more confusing initially to someone coming to Spain than the array of police forces encountered around the country. It can be difficult to know who to go to when you are in trouble and why one police force will attend a crime in one place and another elsewhere. In fact, essentially, Spain has three police forces: the [...]
Wrapped in a carpet, the horribly bloated and badly decomposing body of Pope Alexander VI was pummelled and pushed unceremoniously into a hastily made and too small coffin. No priests attended his burial nor were there wax tapers, lights, solemn masses or chanting monks. It was August 1503 at the Vatican and the Spanish Borgia’s iron grip on power was [...]
On the second day of January 1492, Boabdil, the last Moorish ruler in Spain, reluctantly handed over the keys of Granada and the beautiful Alhambra palace to the Christian monarchs King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. This was the catalyst for an extraordinary time. By the end of the year, Christopher Columbus had discovered the Americas for Spain and, within thirty [...]
Imagine living in one of the most backward countries in Western Europe – a country ruled by the longest serving fascist dictator of the twentieth century, who had murdered and oppressed countless people after one of the most brutal civil wars in modern Europe. Think what it must be like to be in a country where you are not allowed [...]
One of the curiosities of Spain is the seeming denial by the Spanish of the past existence of the Moors in their country. Certainly, much is made of the ‘heroic’ Christian Reconquista, but rarely is the Moorish invasion of Spain looked upon as having provided any intrinsic benefit. In fact, apart from a few scintillating buildings, such as the Alhambra [...]
The Spanish Civil War 1936-39 was a conflict notable for its brutality and for the way it savagely divided Spain. It resulted, of course, in General Franco’s long dictatorship (which only ended in 1975) and was a defining moment for Spain – the results of which can be felt even now. However, the Civil War in Spain was also notorious [...]
As an Anglo-Spaniard with a long history of living and working in Spain on and off over the last 40 years, I was keen to read this recently re-published book of Pritchett’s views and opinions about Spain and its people based on the 4 years he spent in Spain in the 1920s and subsequent visits in the 1940s and 50s. [...]
One of the more curious and lesser known chapters in the history of conflicts between Spain and England was the strangely named ‘War of Jenkins’ Ear’ that took place between 1739 and 1748. The title of the war relates to an incident in 1731 when the British merchant vessel Rebecca was boarded by the Spanish coastguard – during which Captain Robert [...]
On Thursday the 20th October 2011 ETA declared that they would no longer use violence in Spain to obtain their objective of gaining Basque country independence from Spain. This has been heralded as a breakthrough, with the Spanish Prime Minister (Zapatero) calling it: “a victory for democracy, law and reason”. Certainly, the ‘war’ conducted by ETA in Spain, to most [...]
Like most countries, Spain relies upon a ten yearly national census to provide an update on the country and the evolution of the population in Spain. The last census in Spain was in 2001 so, of course, a further national census is due to occur this year. Indeed, if you live in Spain you may receive a census form to [...]
I was trawling through the archives of Culture Spain yesterday and found some articles and information about Spain that you may find interesting. These are articles that I was commissioned to write for a magazine some years ago and, I think, they are well worth revisiting. Certainly, some of the topics that I was asked to write about were nothing [...]
Yesterday was the 30th anniversary of the attempted right wing coup d’etat in Spain led by Lt. Col Antonio Tejero Molina of the Guardia Civil who, on the 23rd February 1981, forcefully invaded the Spanish parliament. Supported by some 200 armed men, Tejero tried to reverse the course of Spanish democracy which, during a perilous day, nearly returned the country [...]
El Cid is one of the great heroes of Spain and, unlike Britain’s beloved King Arthur, he is someone who really existed. Born sometime in 1040, close to Burgos in the kingdom of Castille, El Cid was a true adventurer who had an extraordinary life, during which (somehow) he managed to survive despite fighting, at various times, for both the [...]