Author: Ben

Fame in Spain – Mexican Prison to Interviu

Post author By Ben
Post date January 17, 2007

I can’t work out how interesting this story really is, but there is no doubt it says a lot about the path to fame in Spain. Be attractive, end up in an extraordinary situation, pose topless in Interviu, and there is no limit as to where you might end up.

Ana María Ríos, 26, an unknown hairdresser from Pontevedra, Galicia, went on her honeymoon to Mexico in October last year, but was stopped as she attempted to fly home. Mexican customs officials claimed to have found ‘bullets’ and ‘detonators’ in her luggage, and she was looking at a lengthy spell in a Mexican jail. After 12 days of legal wrangling the case fell apart and she was released from her nightmare and allowed to return to Galicia.

I think everyone knew what was coming next. Quasi-fame Spain style. First she posed topless for trash gossip mag Interviu, next she published her (ghost-written) book recounting the experience, and now she is doing the TV circuit. Youtube clips abound (some not safe for work). How long will it last? That may depend on how astute she and her agent are. Is this a Spanish phenomenon or does fame work like this everywhere these days? And finally, how crucial to her present and continued success were the topless shots?

Spanish Culture and News

BBC in the Basque country

Post author By Ben
Post date January 15, 2007

The BBC’s excellent ‘From our own correspondent’ has produced an interesting podcast on the Basque problem and the recent ETA bomb in Madrid. Audio download link. Text version here.

Spanish Culture and News

Getting your car, or tank, on the road in Spain

Post author By Ben
Post date January 15, 2007

Michael John Creagh, a retired English army Colonel, is having a bit of trouble getting his motor on the road in Almeria. For some reason they won’t let him pass the ITV (UK equivalent = MOT). Apparently he can’t confirm the vehicle’s weight, but then, where do you weigh a Spartan Armoured Personnel Carrier? The full story in Spanish, and photos, can be found at Escolar.net

“Spanish Society doesn’t understand me,” says Michael… Well, we here at Notes from Spain do! Michael, if you are out there, get in touch and tell us your side of the story!

Spain Travel

Winter in Spain – Photos

Post author By Ben
Post date January 14, 2007

There isn’t a lot of snow falling in Spain this year. The Sierra to the North of Madrid is decidedly brown, and the owners of the two remaining ski resorts left up there must be thinking of cutting their losses and selling up fast. I’m not keen to jump on the global warming band wagon, but this year winter certainly hasn’t been up to much.

Anyway, there are some fine pictures of wintery Spain over at 20minutos.com – it just happens that very few of them were taken this year!

Spain Travel

Cheap accommodation in Madrid and Barcelona at least…

Post author By Ben
Post date January 11, 2007

It may be impossible to get a room in Valencia in the middle of March, but a couple of new websites have just made life much easier in the nation’s two capitals. 30Madrid and Barcelona30 will find you a decent, central room in either of the cities for under 30 Euros per night/per person. It really seems to work – worth bookmarking for the NFS Great Madrid Escape!

Spain Travel

Book a room now for the big Spanish fiestas

Post author By Ben
Post date January 10, 2007

Las Fallas

Today I spent 40 minutes on the telephone trying to find a hotel room in Valencia for the night of the 18th of March. This, the Nit de Foc, is the penultimate night, and one of the highlights, of the Las Fallas fiesta, involving an hour-long fireworks display of previously unknown scale and inventiveness, followed by drinking and dancing til dawn in the city’s beautiful squares. Previous Nit de Focs rate amongst my top nights out in Spain, ever. Unfortunately plenty of other people who don’t live in Valencia evidently feel the same way! When I asked one hostel owner if he had rooms for March 18th, he said, “for which year?”

So, if you are thinking of heading to one of the big Fiestas this year, be it Las Fallas, Carnival in Cadiz, Easter in Seville, or San Fermines in Pamplona, book your accommodation now, for this year or next, or end up sleeping on the street. I usually start by checking the big hotel chains on the web, then going through every number in various guide books. My troubles paid off at last today, when I finally found one room going in a business hotel 30 minutes walk from Valencia city center – as close as we’ll get this year!

Photo: Crazy Valencians playing with fire again! For more on fiestas, and to help me find the year’s best, check out this forum thread.

Spanish Culture and News

NPR on the Madrid Bombings

Post author By Ben
Post date January 8, 2007

Check out this radio report from NPR. Personally I think the reporter is complaining just a little too much, and being just a touch rude about the Spanish, considering a major bombing had just taken place (maybe he should read the expat manifesto…)

Spanish Culture and News

January 6th – Happy Reyes!

Post author By Ben
Post date January 6, 2007

Roscon This is a big day in Spain, as families all over the country get together to exchange presents and eat Roscon (a ring-shaped, cream-filled cake with a plastic toy hidden in the middle – whoever gets the slice with the toy pays for next year’s Roscon).

The name, Los Reyes, refers to the three Kings who supposedly brought gifts to Jesus, hence the present giving. Although some families do now give children presents on December 24th as well (to keep them busy over the rest of the Christmas period), this is the big day. Here in Madrid my sister-in-law has just been on the phone saying “Hurry over, the Reyes have left something for you”, so it’s time to get going. Two questions: can I eat Roscon at this time in the morning (10:30), and I wonder what I’ll get!?

Spain Travel

Avoiding other tourists in Spain

Post author By Ben
Post date January 5, 2007

Avoiding other tourists when you are in Spain is a great way to improve your Spanish, and to get away from all the other guiris running all over the other country. Fortunately for those who want to avoid their fellow countrymen when on holiday, most end up in Barcelona, Madrid, Granada and Seville. But what if you really want to get off the beaten track this year, and find yourself alone in a sea of Spanish? Here are a few of our favourite getaways:

Teruel: So off the beaten track that the locals have even started a website declaring ‘Teruel Exists!’ Great for Mudejar architecture and wonderful ham.

Vigo: Downtrodden backstreets and fresh oysters. Workaday Galicia with all the gastronomic trimmings.

Gijon: Stormy weather, a wonderful Chillida sculpture and the best fabada on the planet. Head onwards from here for the beaches around Llanes.

Extremadura: Trujillo and Caceres are small towns with a rich Roman and conquistador past. Most of the province of Extremadura is pretty much off the tourist trail, and there are some wonderful drives through rolling countryside. Take any B-road from Salamanca to Trujillo, via, Guijuelo, and you’ll see what I mean.

Aragon: An empty, majestic province rolling up to the Pyrenees. Try Jaca if you need a town to stay in, but get out into the villages if you can. The best plan is to go without one.

Carmona: A small town just to the north of Seville. Lovely Parador. Try the jamon on toast tapas in the museum bar. A lovely, sleepy Andaluz town.

I could go on and on, but now it’s over to you. Where do you go to escape tourism in Spain? Comments are welcome below or in this forum post.

Spanish Culture and News

ETA Update – more explosives found

Post author By Ben
Post date January 4, 2007

The situation with ETA is vexing. They still have not officially claimed responsibility for the bomb at Barajas airport that exploded at the weekend killing at least one Ecuadorian (and probably another, who is still missing), which leads many to suspect that this latest blast is the work of a new pro-violence and anti-peace-process faction of the terrorist organisation.

Whether that is the case or not, it is clear that they did use the last 9 months to rearm, just as they have done in other “ceasefires” in the past. Clearly it will be difficult to trust them again. Hopes were very high last year amongst much of the Spanish population, and the bomb at Barajas made a mockery of all those who, like me, believed that this time things could be different.

Today another 100 kilos of explosive, ready to be deployed, were discovered in the Basque country. The Prime Minister, Jose Luis Zapatero, still speaks in terms of the “suspension”, rather than the “end”, of the peace process, but it seems likely he will have to give up that line if he is to win the next elections. People are fed up with the concept of dialogue with terrorists and it is clear that ETA, in whatever shape or form, are back in full force.

More comment:
In English: ETA Gives Zapatero Golden Opportunity – The Big Chorizo
In Spanish: Excellent round ups and analysis at http://escolar.net/