Notes from Spain by Ben Curtis

A very sad day for Spain. The ETA ceasefire has come to an end as they plant a bomb in Madrid’s Barajas Airport Terminal 4. The bomb was placed in a van in a car park next to the airport, and was detonated in a controlled explosion by police, bringing down five stories of the building. Five people, including two police officers, were injured, though not seriously. Two phone warnings alerted police to the bomb, the second caller speaking in the name of ETA.

It seems incredible that this should have happened again, that another ceasefire should fall apart after less than a year. But perhaps I have always been too much of an optimist. What solution is there for the Basque problem now?

Links:
BBC News
El Mundo
Escolar.net

The Spanish Islamic Council has written to the Pope to request permission to pray in Cordoba’s maginificent Mosque, which is causing quite a stir in the Spanish press. Matthew at the Big Chorizo has outlined everything exceptionally well and I suggest you read his summary of events, but this is obviously a very tricky debate.

The place was built by Muslims to serve as a mosque. The Christians kicked them out and built a hideous carbuncle of a cathedral right in the middle of the mosque. There is plenty of room for everyone and dedicating an area for Muslim prayer would not be difficult. There are certain paranoid parties that are bound to see this as a step towards the reconquest of Al Andalus by Islam.

Personally I think there is room for everyone and it would be a noble gesture to let the faith that originally built the Mezquita share this astounding space. What do you think?

Several years ago I wrote an article about San Sebastian (posted in the forum), contrasting the beauty of this outstandingly beautiful coastal city with the urban violence known as Kale Borroka, where young ETA sympathisers with extremist beliefs (or impressionable personalities), smash and burn in the name of a free Basque Country.

People have been saying for some time that the ETA peace process is falling apart, and today’s events in San Sebastian – molotov coctails hurled at a Naval headquaters, a bank, and inside a bus – won’t do much to convince people otherwise.

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?