Category: Spanish Culture and News

From http://www.savetheduero.com:

“Save the Duero is a group of concerned citizens and wineries who have gathered together in the fight against a potentially disastrous decision recently made by the Spanish government. Internationally renowned wineries in the Appellation of Ribera del Duero in the region of Castilla y Leon, Spain, are facing a critical situation that threatens to destroy the unique territory that lays claim to some of the world’s greatest wines.”

Basically they want to build a 6 lane motorway through some of the finest wine land in the Duero region. More info and a petition to sign over at www.savetheduero.com

Have you seen the post in the forum about great all time Spaniards from the past?

My favourite so far is this suggestion from forum member teapotmonk:

“I’m drawn towards Padre Jose Maria Llanos, who for those not familiar with the man, spearheaded, in the 1950’s, a group of catholic adolescents to ‘molestar’ smooching couples in parks and to remove amorous postcards from kiosks – as part of his reactionary crusade against immorality. He even played a role as Franco’s spiritual guide for a while. So why does he get my vote?

Well, in late 1956, after digesting a breakfast of churros and a copy of ABC, he underwent a sudden and immediate crisis of direction both politically and spiritually. Something that occurs to me too if I overdo the churros. Overnight he became a militant communist (an illegal organisation at the time), erased his falange and francoist past and left the reactionary crusade business to work as a missionary in one of the numerous shanty towns on the outskirts of Madrid.”

Who would you add to the list?

Just about every dealing I have had with Telefonica has ended in extreme annoyance, large bills, or infuriating delays. I know I claimed in the expat manifesto that it is no good complaining about life in your adoptive country, but Telefonica has pushed more than the occasional expat and just about every telecommunicating Spaniard to the limit of their patience at one time or another.

And today it became crystal clear that this may never change. Why bother with the angry little consumer who should have had his ADSL line installed last week when you are busy buying your way into China? Why worry about honouring that 2 week domestic line installation promise when you are the largest corporation in Spain and the fourth largest telecommunications company in the world (source: wikipedia)? It’s all about infrastructure. If you own the wires – and they do in most of Spain and much of South America – then you call the shots. As Borat would say, ‘Nice!’

There was lots of furore last week over the autobiography of the Presidenta de Madrid, Esperanza Aguirre (you know, my mate Espe, who wants to let everyone start smoking in Madrid again). Despite being from a very rich family, marrying a very rich husband, and earning 100 grand a year, the poor thing has trouble making ends meet. She writes:

“The worst thing is the electricity bill. I’ve got very high ceilings and the heating is electric, what a nightmare! … It’s not as if I’m counting my pennies at the end of every month; sometimes I’ve completely run out of money by then.”

Apparently she has even been forced to buy her clothes at Zara, like, well, her normal middle-class subjects. Anyway, all is well, as the internet is once again to the rescue. 1 Euro para Espe is (nearly) ready to take your donations.

Marina and I were at a book launch last night, in a night club here in Madrid. The launch coincided with the inauguration of a new publisher, Drakul, run by one of Marina’s work mates, Javi, who promised us a memorable evening. The whole event went well, with a series of speeches about the book, followed by a comedy sketch involving four men dressed up as bullfighters. Javi then declared the launch party events complete, and the club was opened up to the general public.

As the place started to fill up, a young Spanish belly dancer took to the stage and started a wild dance routine to some Eastern-style disco music. Soon she was running into the crowd, grabbing young men and involving them in her routine, which meant sitting them on a chair and finding interesting ways to wrap her legs around them. With each new man grabbed from the audience, off came something else, until, finally, with a swish of her veil, she stood center-stage and completely naked (un desnudo integral).

‘And now,’ came a voice over the PA, ‘it’s the ladies’ turn!’ And on came a very large black guy, who basically repeated the routine, picking young ladies from the audience. On one of his victim-seeking forays he even grabbed Marina, but she clung so hard to my arm that he had to give up and choose someone else. Lucky for her, as the next part of the routine involved the lucky young lady sucking an ice-cube out of his mouth. I’m not sure whether Javi planned this last part of the show or not (I think it was for the benefit of the singles club that came in when they opened the doors to the public), but he was right about one thing, it was certainly a memorable evening! I wonder if all Madrid book launches end like that…

The above esquela (commorative announcement of someone’s death) appeared on page 7 of today’s El Mundo newspaper. It respectfully announces the anniversary of the death of General Franco, the long dead but seemingly never forgotten dictator of Spain. November 20th marks the anniversay of his death and, as usual, there will be a mass held at the Valle de los Caidos where he is buried (remember last year, when Marina refused to make a podcast of the event?)

The esquela was placed by the Fundación Nacional Franciso Franco that is not only alive and well, but also apparently receiving funding from the government (at least up until 2003) for its digital archiving activities. 20Minutos reports that this is the latest in a ‘Guerra de Esquelas‘, whereby rival factions from the past have begun to frequently post notices commemorating the death of prominent figures from both sides of the Spanish Civil War.

Found via South of Watford

So, let’s see if I get this right. The socialist PSOE is the ruling party in Spain, but the Comunidad de Madrid (the Autonomous region on Madrid) is governed by the right-wing Partido Popular, headed up by Esperanza Aguirre. Earlier this year the PSOE introduced welcome, forward-thinking measures to stop smoking in many public and work places. Starting today, and only in Madrid, a law passed in Madrid by local PP boss Esperanza Aguirre allows people to smoke in work cafeterias again, if the cafeteria is under 100 m squared (if it is over, they can still smoke but only in a certain area). Why would she do this? Why put unhelathy measures back into place just when we were making some progress? Why make all those non-smokers who had happily regained their work canteen suffer again? To screw over the PSOE apparently. To make a (possibly illegal) point that in Madrid they are in charge. A point made at the expense of people’s health? This kind of thing really makes me dispair.

350 pistols and revolvers were stolen from a company in France last night in a raid that seems to have been carried out by ETA. At least 5 were involved in the robbery in Vauvert, near Nimes, tying up hostages with handcuffs that were reportedly stolen from Gendarmes by members of ETA on March 5th, earlier this year.

The Partido Popular, doubtless delighted to see Zapatero made to look stupid at this very provocative action (the first since the announcement of the ceasefire in late March, when ETA promised not to rearm) have called this a Political Statement. Whatever it is, this action certainly won’t help engender a sense of trust in ETA amongst the ordinary men and women on the streets of Spain.

Sources
El Mundo news link. Plus, the comments below the 20Minutos article certainly hint at the attitude of the people on the street – “zp ha dejado que ETA se rearme de nuevo”, Zapatero is gifting ETA the chance to rearm again. Update: More in the Guardian.