Guy of Warwick is the original of the soldier-saint Guillem de Varoic in Tirant lo blanc, as Wikipedia surely soon will say. I almost drowned near where he fought the giant Colbrand as a consequence of too much water without and cider within. I hope Xavi will be wary of him.
From the baldie: Some unusual Neolithic rock paintings. Apparently the locals used to take tourists to visit them and, to improve their colour and line, throw buckets of water over them. Once almost everything had been washed away, the authorities acted with characteristic firmness, building a 4m wall-with-spikes around the complex. The locals now explain…
P tells of an interesting upcoming case in N in southern Albacete. The Forestry Commission planted trees on substantial areas of private land in the vicinity without asking permission and now wants to sue landowners for the value of the lumber. The latter submit that in 12 years none of the trees has grown above…
Some classic PP fuckwittery (PSOE guys keep this kind of stuff private) here from Luis Suárez Fernández, who wants to defend the thesis that Spanish nationalism is not nationalism. Duh. Beats me anyway why commentators think they can come up with something smarter on the subject than PJ O’Rourke‘s notorious contribution (via John Chappell).
A young Latino with a moderately loud blaster gets on at Sant Andreu. I’m trying to talk to people, so I’m grateful when a Latino security guard comes through the carriage just after Torre de Baró. He walks over to the young guy, taps him on the shoulder, motions him to turn UP the sound,…
When I think of here I always think of the Connecticut General Life Insurance Company and unexploited sponsorship angles, but that’s not Clive Davis‘ fault.
MM has kindly mailed the story of an illegal from Mali found climbing one of the Sierra Nevada’s major peaks in flipflops. Jorge Rodríguez’z story in El País, plagiarised by Elizabeth Nash for The Independent, has Anthony Braxton Tony Brascons making the same journey in reverse undertaken in sandals by Judar Pasha, who they describe…
Charles Butler is doing some really interesting work down in Jaén. Check out the interview he did with an enterprising manufacturer called José Vico in Orcera. Orcera is a macho, conservative town that I once found to be distinctly scary, but Mr Vico is marketing a range of personal care products including a “lip balm,…
To get away from British Spanish music would be a plausible explanation. Here two famous examples, a cover of George Formby’s Lancashire toreador and of Mike Read’s The Spaniard wot blighted my life: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwUy735pnhU I actually love them, but don’t tell.