Spain and Portugal for Visitors

Most Spaniards continue to resist the invasion of Father Christmas or Santa Claus, preferring to have their Christmas gifts brought by the Reyes Magos, the Three Wise Men: Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar. Their processions are held on the eve (January 5th) of Epiphany (January 6th) in towns and cities throughout the country (oddly, they are a rare opportunity for political rivals to cooperate - the Magi are generally "played" by local politicians, one from each of the leading parties). The parades are led by floats representing more earthly concerns like telephony operators or department stores, then come the Reyes Magos (complete with camels), flinging sweets to the crowds of small children which line the route. The gifts the Magi bring later that night will be opened the next day, the last (twelfth) day of Christmas, this being Father Christmas's only real strong point in Spain - the children have little time to enjoy their presents before school resumes the following day, so in many households these are divided into two lots, one brought by Santa Claus, the other by the Three Wise Men.

Posted by : John Ross on Monday, January 05, 2009 - 11:05 AM 101 reads

My wife has just told me that the first snow of the year in Madrid is falling outside, which reminds me that Christmas is approaching, with all its implications - the Christmas market in the Plaza Mayor; the street lights; the trees in the Puerta del Sol; rowdy groups of office workers after their overly boozy celebration meals; one immense dinner after another, with the concommitant, near constant indigestion; the twelve grapes choked on with the twelve strokes of midnight on New Year's Eve; the procession of the Three Wise Men on the eve of Epiphany; and, of course, Spain's monument to the consumer society: the enormous automated puppet show that is Cortylandia. Christmas runs into New Year and Epiphany to make a lengthy festival in Spain, lasting from December 24th to January 6th, though only three and two-halves of those days are actually holidays (the two halves are Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, when most businesses open in the morning only). Now, to get into the Christmas spirit, what better than a carol? Spanish carols - villancicos - are so called after villanos, country folk (yes, it's the same etymology as the English villain), and are of some interest to musicologists, many having ancient origins (the carols, not the musicologists). And the one villancico that every Spaniard and, I suspect, practically every Spanish-speaking person in the world knows is Los Peces en el Río, so here it is. The version below is not the most musical, but it does nicely capture the Spanish Christmas spirit: irreverent, noisy, gregarious, and great fun. See the next page for the lyrics of this villancico and some more versions which are more conventional, or at least more musical, than this one, but no more enjoyable (or tasteful, come to that).

Posted by : John Ross on Monday, December 01, 2008 - 08:14 AM 473 reads

The awful La Bega development in the Valencia seaside town of Cullera is threatened (all together now: "Hooray!"). The grim economic picture in Spain has pushed investors back on their heels. "Many original investors ‘are no longer as determined' to take part in the projects as before,' according to the local opposition PSPV party spokesman Joan Grau," reports Costa Blanca News. The development, so high-rise that it is popularly referred to as "the Manhattan of Cullera," was intended to include the building of 5,000 flats, a 40-storey hotel and a leisure port in the mouth of the River Júcar. In addition, the planning permissions required have not been as forthcoming as expected. If the project ever does go ahead (and I very much hope not), it will not begin until 2010. More of this story.

Posted by : John Ross on Tuesday, November 11, 2008 - 09:22 AM 577 reads

UK "charity" Crimestoppers has announced Operation Captura 2, "ten new appeals for information concerning dangerous British criminals believed to be on the run... in Spain." While the original Operation Captura, begun in 2006, was centred on the Costa del Sol, Captura 2 is aimed at Alicante and the Costa Blanca. In this context, Crimestoppers is associated with SOCA, the Serious Organized Crime Agency, and to be honest, the two of them scare the s*** out of me a whole lot more than any of the supposedly dangerous criminals on their wanted list, as they seem to be laws unto themselves, if you will pardon the expression. And while there are decidedly unsavoury types on their list, most of them are wanted for fraud or drugs-related offences. Whatever, while the campaign mainly targets ex-pats who suspect they might be living next door to a mobster, maybe it could be the start of yet another kind of special interest tourism - what shall we call it? Grass tourism? Neighbourhood snitch?

Posted by : John Ross on Thursday, November 06, 2008 - 12:51 PM 644 reads

Icelandic low-cost carrier Sterling Airlines announced today, October 29, 2008, that it is filing for bankruptcy, and all its flights are grounded with immediate effect. Easyjet, Norwegian Air Shuttle and other airlines have said that they will offer seats to stranded passengers. Sterling's Spanish destinations were Alicante, Barcelona, Málaga, Las Palmas, Palma de Mallorca, Tenerife and Valencia, while in Portugal it flew to Faro and Funchal. Sterling blames the financial crisis that has wrecked the Icelandic economy for its situation and says that it has "no option but to file for bankruptcy." Read more.

Posted by : John Ross on Wednesday, October 29, 2008 - 09:17 AM 674 reads