In an article on the Madrid bombings Michael Carlin (via HispaLibertas) proclaims the doom of a Spain trapped in fear and ignorance. No reason to get excited, I would have thought, since the British have known that this boat ain’t going nowhere for at least 416 years. Nevertheless, I did enjoy Mr Carlin getting all…
This excerpt from a court statement made on 1928/1/11 is taken from Paco Villar’s Historia y Leyenda del Barrio Chino (1997): On the night of the 13th to the 14th of April, 1927, by virtue of information held by the police implicating the individuals Rafael “Little Madrid” García Serra and Mario “Dove” Guallart García in…
Someone pointed out last night that it has hardly stopped raining since Spain elected a leader with no experience in government. This would not come as a such a surprise if people here spent slightly more time sitting in filthy attics reading smelly old newspapers (specifically, La Vanguardia dated April 16th 1929) and slightly less…
The big news in La Vanguardia today is crucifixion, sacrifice, and the indomitable Spanish spirit, with the merest nod to Indochina. However, there are a couple of short reports on foreign visitors that may conceivably be of interest. Interesting coincidence: Mallorca was the home base of Franco’s Mr Fixit, Juan March, who may have been…
This is another gem rescued recently from the recyclers. It’s the rulebook (sorry, no time for a translation) for rehearsals running up to the presentation in 1966 of a Passion drama, Redención, by the employees of the Metro Transversal at the theatre on Badal, Sants. For my choir this is additional evidence that I am…
From Juan Antonio de Zunzunegui, El Chiplichandle. Acción picaresca (Madrid, 1940): DO YOU WANT TO GROW EIGHT CENTIMETRES? You can achieve this right away, whatever your age, with the grandiose RATIONAL GROWER. Unique procedure that guarantees an increase in size and development. Request information, which I will send you free, and you will be convinced…
“Clos!” mutters a wealthy neighbour every time it rains, confident that doom is imminent for Barcelona’s dentally salient mayor. In fact the AA rating assigned by Standard and Poor’s to the latest offering of municipal debt is just another sign that Barcelona is in pretty good shape, [insert preposition here] 20 years of Catalan socialist…
If this story on the German network, ARD, is true, then Aznar, Acebes and/or some of their civil servants could be looking at prison terms. The Bundeskriminalamt, more or less the German FBI, says that Madrid misinformed it twice re the the explosives used in the bombings and was electorally unforthcoming with information, apparently with…
I’ve done my reading this morning and I’ve changed my mind. I don’t think it was ETA. Here, however, is the NY Times quote of the day: “It doesn’t matter who’s to blame. They are all a bunch of terrorists. One does it for God, the other because they think they have a purer blood…