The Visigoth

the visigoth

Gibraltar: Banter or Belligerence?

Gibraltar: Banter or Belligerence?

When last week the Spanish government hinted it might veto a Brexit Gibraltar, the pro-Brexit UK press was quick to respond. ‘Up yours Señors’ bugled Britain’s best selling newspaper, The Sun, from its front page, next to a picture of ‘The Rock’ wrapped in a Union Jack and below an advert for cheap flights to- you’ve guessed it- Spain. They couldn’t be serious, could they? Yes, they could. -No Se Toca Nuestra Roca, the paper followed up, red-faced, providing one of those gail

A Real Market for Barcelona's Manteros

A Real Market for Barcelona's Manteros

After years of friction with the local authorities, Barcelona’s street salesmen – manteros - might finally be able to sell goods in peace. That’s the idea of a new enterprise which would see the creation of a special bazar with 60 stalls run by the members of an association of manteros. Instead of imitation Nike shirts or Dolce Gabbana shades, however, the stall-owners would offer ’mercancía legal’; ie. arts and crafts, jewellery, African textiles, recycled goods, outlet fash

Who is: Susana Diaz

Who is: Susana Diaz

In one sentence, make it snappy: Buxom blonde, born in ’74, mother of one, Real Betis fan and a former cosmetics saleswoman, Susana Diaz is the current President of the Junta de Andalucia. Yes, but isn’t she also… Yes, just this last week Mrs. Diaz has announced she will be campaigning to become the first ever female leader of the Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE). Who are otherwise known as: the ailing giant of Spanish Politics. Because: Like their Labour Party counte

Douchebag's Guide to Carbon Footprint Reduction

Every day I wake up and blithely contribute to climate change. Out of mental lethargy and a misguided sense of being too busy, I subsidize greenhouse gasses, dump waste incorrectly, and use energy like it'll last forever. In the supermarket I never look at labels; I buy toxic crap from irresponsible companies and support overfishing or inhuman farming practises without a thought. And all because I don't feel like I've got time to do otherwise. I'm too caught up. Too caught up

Metropolitan Green Card: Promoting Public Transport in Barcelona

Trade in your old car and get three years free public transport; the latest idea to reduce traffic and contamination in Barcelona. The so-called tarjeta verde metropolitana would provide unlimited access to the bus, tram and metro network in Zone 1, while there's even the possibility of a BICING card included for good measure. Before you go running for your old banger, there are strict rules for those who qualify for a tarjeta verde. In principle, three kinds of vehicle are i

Spain's Frontier Towns

When a Paella isn't a Paella

When a Paella isn't a Paella

El patrimonio de la paella. The concept of paella goes back to the medieval Moorish tradition of cooking rice and cod casseroles during Lent (when meat was off the menu). But the modern version of paella - derived from the Catalan for 'cooking pan' - was born in the Valencian region of Albufera in the mid-19th century. Today, with the indiscriminate cross-pollination of food cultures taking place across the world's kitchens, traditionalists are digging trenches around their m

Death to Saloufest

Death to Saloufest

Critic Peter S. Beagle, writing about Hieronymus Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights, commented on the 'erotic derangement that turns us all into voyeurs, a place filled with the intoxicating air of perfect liberty.' For decades Spain has been sold as such a place, a place of 'perfect liberty', by budget tour companies. In particular, for the last sixteen years British students have converged in the handsome Costa Dorada locality of Salou, intent on turning it into a scene fro

Columbus: Ramblas statue to be retired?

Columbus: Ramblas statue to be retired?

Since the Universal Exposition of 1888, a bronze statue of Chistopher Columbus has towered over the bottom end of Las Ramblas, pointing towards the eastern seaboard, to the continent he wished to reach and never did reach. The base of the 60 metre-tall column is decorated with tributes to his patrons, los Reyes Catolicos, Queen Isabella and King Fernando of Spain, for whom he opened a trail to a new territory and the riches of a 'New World'. It was to Barcelona and a glitzy r

El Toro de La Vega: A Festival of Life and Death

El Toro de La Vega: A Festival of Life and Death

His name is Pelado - ''baldie.'He's a strapping, handsome bull weighing 675 kilos, and he was born and raised on a farm near Jerez de la Frontera. He has had the honour - and misfortune - to be chosen as el Toro de La Vega, the 'Bull of the Meadow'. Every year on September 13, the town of Tordesillas - 28 km southwest of Valladolid, population 9000 - holds its annual event, one of the most controversial, and divisive in Spain. This event is described by its local Ayuntamiento

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