Spain: The Blog

SPAIN'S NEW NORMAL BEGINS: Life After the COVID-19 Lockdown

noreply@blogger.com (Carloz) — Sat, 20 Jun 2020 18:05:00 +0000

Mijas-Málaga, by Jose A.

On Sunday June 21, Spain will enter what the government is calling the “new normal.” After three months, the State of Alarm will come to an end, but it will not be a situation completely free of restrictions. Hygiene and safe-distancing measures will remain, e.g., the obligatory use of masks when a safe inter-personal distance of 1.5 meters cannot be maintained, with fines of up to €100 for violators.

Regarding many other matters, the Autonomous Regions will take control of much of the management of the crisis from now on, with each regional government establishing its own measures. For the most part, these will involve regulating capacity in establishments and events of all kinds, whether indoors or outdoors. Madrid, for example, has already announced that nightclubs will remain closed until July 5th. Local fiestas may also be suspended.

Nationwide, the biggest change is an end to mobility restrictions within Spanish territory and the freedom to once again travel to other regions without need for justification. Travel restrictions with most European Union and Schengen area countries also come to an end on Sunday. The exceptions are: Portugal, whose border will not reopen until July 1st, and the United Kingdom, for which no date has been set for normalizing travel. The Spanish government is considering implementing a quarantine requirement with the UK, given that people traveling there must self-isolate for two weeks. Meanwhile, the British government is considering revising this measure, but not before June 29.

Borders with the rest of the world will begin to open on July 1st, on a gradual basis, but there will be some requirements before travel is allowed: an epidemiological situation that is similar to or better than that of EU member states; certain health conditions in the country of origin, the journey and the destination; and reciprocal acceptance of travelers from the EU.

Will there be another lockdown in Spain? If there are localized outbreaks of the coronavirus, specific lockdowns will be possible on an individual basis and in very specific areas, such as in a town or city. Of course, a national lockdown under another State of Alarm could occur, if the need arises. As Health Minister Salvador Illa said recently, “If we have to use it again, of course, we will use it again.”

Source: El País

Spain to allow German tourists to travel to the Balearic Islands without quarantine: 47 flights already scheduled

noreply@blogger.com (Carloz) — Fri, 12 Jun 2020 20:54:00 +0000

Bienvenido de nuevo

The Spanish government made it official today: Germans will be the first tourists allowed to try out Spain's famous sun and sand resorts in what is being called the New Normal—or what I call, “Life after the Coronavirus lockdown but not quite after COVID-19.”

The details: When, where, and how

Next week's partial opening of the country's borders is partial in two ways: 1) only for tourists from Germany and 2) only for travel to the Balearic Islands. In addition, these visitors will be exempt from the 14-day quarantine other travelers to Spain must currently undergo.

Specifically, beginning next Monday, June 15, some 10,900 German travelers are expected to begin alighting on the shores of the islands of Mallorca, Ibiza, and Menorca. (Sorry Formentera fans.) There have been 47 flights scheduled thus far—38 to Palma, 8 to Ibiza and 1 to Menorca. The first two flights are planned for Monday, and will arrive in Palma from Frankfurt and Düsseldorf. The third is scheduled on Wednesday, from Düsseldorf to Ibiza. The premiere flight to Menorca is scheduled to run June 27 from Düsseldorf.

Empty beach in Peguera, Mallorca: Marco Verch

Despite all these plans, these flights are actually provisional, since the official government declaration includes this caveat: “Additionally, by resolution of the official responsible for the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, and in accordance with the Monitoring Committee referred to in article 4, the annex may be expanded, modified, revised or updated.” (Emphasis mine.)

On arrival at the airports, passengers will have to complete health questionnaires and undergo screening by healthcare workers. Anyone with symptoms, e.g., a fever or cough, will be given a test. If the test is negative, they will have to agree to "telematic monitoring of their symptoms." A Monitoring Committee, made up of at least one representative from Spain's airports operator AENA, the Ministry of Health, the Secretary of State for Tourism, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the European Union and relevant bodies in the areas of health and tourism in the Balearic Islands, will meet every two days.

Tourists will also have to stay a minimum of five nights and provide details about where they will be staying.

Other Special Routes Being Considered

Ibizas's sidewalk cafe's await

Other autonomous regions in Spain may soon be allowed to do something similar. Yesterday, Minister of Health Salvador Illa said that in the coming days he expected to announce comparable agreements with other regional governments. Indeed, negotiations with the Canary Islands are reportedly in advanced stages, although at least one sticking point remains regarding mandatory requirements, since the government of the Canary Islands wants PCR tests carried out on each tourist arriving on the islands, not only those with symptoms. With the autonomous region of Galicia set to leave the state of alarm this coming Monday, it could be another candidate to open an early travel corridor with an EU country—or countries.

These early travel bubbles are consistent with the government's official declaration, which stated, "It is recommended that pilot programs be launched through the establishment of safe tourist corridors, prior to the end of the state of alarm, in order to verify the operation of the model for lifting temporary controls on internal borders and the recovery of freedom of movement.”

What does Brussels say?

Brussels actually wants to move a bit faster on all this, having recently called for the European Union's internal borders to be reopened next Monday. Some states, like Italy, have opened their borders for all citizens of countries in the Schengen area. Others, like Austria, have only done so for some of their neighbors. And a third group, of which Spain is a part, has not yet lifted barricades for anyone—at least it will not have until this exception of the new Germany-Balearic Isles route comes to pass. The European Commission wants to end this inconsistency and do way with all internal border controls in order to allow free movement from June 15 on, as detailed in a report it presented Thursday.

Source: Contando Estrelas Flickr

It seems that the EU’s call to open internal borders next week has increased pressure on Spain to open up faster. According to El País, “EU Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, insisted on the recommendation that internal borders must 'reopen as soon as possible.' But she added that the main thing is for everyone to open internal borders completely before opening the EU’s external ones to third-country travelers.”

Despite this, the Spanish government insists that its decisions will be made based on health criteria alone and that, regional exceptions aside, the plan remains waiting until July 1 before completely opening borders to the rest of Europe. In fact, Spain continues to prevent full mobility between its own regions. This situation is due to end by June 22, when the Spanish COVID-19 state of alarm expires.

Meanwhile, Brussels seems to have accepted the fact that the opening of borders within the EU will probably not be completed according to its dictates.

“We understand that reopening on Monday for countries that have not yet decided to do so could be complicated, and that some might take an extra week or two,” Johansson also said.

In other words, the New Normal will not arrive throughout the European Union until July—maybe.

Carlos

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Sources: “Los turistas alemanes vuelven a Baleares y sin cuarentena: ya hay 47 vuelos programados a partir del lunes,” Hugo Gutierrez, El País, 12 June 2020 and “EU’s call to open internal borders by June 15 increases pressure on Spain,” Álvaro Sánchez, El País English Edition, 11 June 2020.

Qualified Immunity

noreply@blogger.com (Carloz) — Thu, 04 Jun 2020 15:02:00 +0000

Official White House photo: Shealah Craighead

"Inmunidad cualificada" (Qualified Immunity) is an article written by Lluís Bassets which appeared in the June 2, 2020 edition of El País, Spain's most widely read newspaper. It is an opinion piece on the murder of George Floyd and its connection with police violence in the USA, racism, and the presidency of Donald Trump. Below is my translation of the article.

Qualified Immunity

Donald Trump and police abuse are two sides of the same coin

The police are trigger-happy because they're protected by the justice system.

It's as simple as that.

Donald Trump isn't to blame for George Floyd's death. Nor is he the prime mover behind the disturbances. But it's no coincidence that Trump is in the White House. Neither are his irresponsible provocations, which incite violence rather than intending to calm protesters, coincidental

The country torn by a racial divide that brought Trump to the White House is the same one that over the years has enshrined a system of impunity for its police force. Racism and abuse of power go hand in hand in both cases. You can't understand one without the other.

Wikimedia

Law enforcement officials, from local police officers to federal agents, are heavily militarized in their formation, training, and deployment tactics. This is completely logical in a country where the sale, possession and even public display of assault weapons are considered constitutionally protected rights.

Firearms cause as many victims as traffic accidents. There is a tendency towards disinhibition when using them against defenseless citizens, both by on duty police officers, as well as by the armed civilians who carry out mass killings. This, too, is a situation where one thing can't be understood without understanding the other.

Everything favors the hair trigger, especially when it comes to shooting at dark-skinned citizens. In this case, it wasn't shooting, but immobilizing a handcuffed citizen to death. Statistics on deaths due to police intervention show that the number of African-Americans killed is five times that of Whites. Explanations about police force composition, i.e., minorities tending to be proportionally less represented than Whites, are not enough. It's also important to consider the strong corporate feel of a profession affiliated with powerful unions that has the ability to enforce a special statute called the Law Enforcement Officers' Bill of Rights. Recognized in 16 states, it protects its members when they are accused of a crime, by guaranteeing extraordinary limits on investigation and interrogation.

If it's difficult to prosecute a police officer, it's even more difficult to convict one. Organizations that advocate against police violence have documented systematic deferential behavior of judges and juries toward accused police officers, along with a lower proportion of guilty verdicts handed out to them than to others. Since 2005, 78 police officers have been charged with murder or firearm-related homicide. Only 27 of these have been convicted and sentenced: 14 by public juries and 13 due to pretrial guilty pleas. Only one of those individuals was convicted of murder, and that officer was sentenced to 16 years in prison.


Screenshot from original El País article

In light of George Floyd's death, it might appear that little has changed since the bloody days of lynchings and other racist murders in the Deep South. Not so, if we once again look at the statistics. In the first decade of this century, the average number of police officers prosecuted for such crimes was five per year, but now the figure is close to twenty. While the number of police officers accused of murder is growing, that does not mean police behavior has worsened or improved, but rather that the means of documenting their crimes (by video, for example) have increased. That's what happened in the death of Floyd, who was suffocated by being held under the knee of a police officer—an immobilization maneuver widely used in U.S. law enforcement.

Police impunity has a legal basis called qualified immunity, which has been enshrined by the Supreme Court. A doctrine established through various court decisions, it aims to protect officers from mistakes made while attempting to enforce the law, but which ends up shielding them from their crimes.

Throwing Trump out of office won't be enough to end this particular plague, which is as lethal as covid-19. But one goes with the other.

https://elpais.com/opinion/2020-06-02/inmunidad-cualificada.html

No COVID-19 realted deaths reported in Spain

noreply@blogger.com (Carloz) — Tue, 02 Jun 2020 17:56:00 +0000

Today, the Health Ministry reported no coronavirus deaths in Spain the last 24 hours. That's the second day in a row! Yesterday, June 1st, was the first day no deaths were reported since the health crisis began. Below are links to articles in the English language version of Spain's El País newspaper.

Source: New York Times

June 1, 2020: No new coronavirus deaths in the last 24 hours, Health Ministry reports

June 2, 2020: Health Ministry reports no daily coronavirus deaths for second day running

Justice for George Floyd / Justicia para George Floyd

noreply@blogger.com (Carloz) — Sun, 31 May 2020 17:33:00 +0000

This isn't about Spain, but I think it's important to share everywhere: please consider signing this petition. So many people of color in my home country suffer abuse and murder by the police, who alonst always get away with it. Even if you are not from the USA yourself, your voice can help the family of this viticm see justice done and may help lead to real change on this issue. Thank you, Carlos

No se trata de España, pero creo que es importante compartirlo en todas partes: considere firmar esta petición, por favor. Muchas personas de color en mi país de origen sufren abusos y asesinatos por parte de la policía que casi siempre se sale con la suya. Incluso si usted no es de los Estados Unidos, su voz puede ayudar a la familia de esta víctima a ver que se haga justicia y puede ayudar a lograr un cambio de verdad en este tema. Gracias, Carlos

Justice for George Floyd / Justicia para George Floyd

George Floyd was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer.
George was handcuffed and restrained and being completely cooperative when this all went down. The officer put his knee on George’s neck choking him for minutes on minutes while George screamed that he could not breathe. Bystanders beg for the police officer to take his knee off George’s neck, but the officer didn’t listen and continued to choke him.
Not that it would matter at all, but George was not even wanted for a violent crime. A grocery store that he was signing a bad check.
We are trying to reach the attention of Mayor Jacob Frey and DA Mike Freeman to beg to have the officers involved in this disgusting situation fired and for charges to be filed immediately.
Please help us get justice for Georg and his family!
#JusticeForGeorgeFloyd Click here to sign the petition.

George Floyd fue asesinado por un oficial del policía de Minneapolis, Estados Unidos.
George fue esposado y detenido y estaba siendo completamente cooperativo cuando todo se fue abajo. El oficial puso su rodilla en la nuca de George asfixiándolo por varios minutos mientras él gritaba que no podía respirar. Varios espectadores que estaban en el lugar, le rogaron al policía que quitara su rodilla del cuello del hombre, pero el oficial no escuchó y continuó asfixiándolo.
No es que este dato sea de gran relevancia, pero George ni siquiera estaba siendo requerido por un crimen violento. Una tienda de abarrotes lo reportó porque estaba firmando un cheque sin fondos.
Estamos tratando de llamar la atención del Alcalde de Minneapolis Jacob Frey y del Fiscal Mike Freeman para rogar que despidan a los oficiales involucrados en esta desagradable situación y que se presenten cargos de inmediato.
¡Ayúdenos a hacer justicia para George y su familia!
#JusticiaParaGeorgeFloyd Haga click aqui para firmar la petición.

More Romanians, Fewer Brits

noreply@blogger.com (Carloz) — Fri, 29 May 2020 19:23:00 +0000

Screenshot

That's the title of an article I just read in the Spanish daily, ABC. Basically, it's a review of a Bank of Spain report called, "Foreign Investment in the Spanish Residential Market Between 2007 and 2019." Apparently, foreign buyers of homes and property in Spain rose from 4.2% in 2007 to 10.% in 2019.

The report highlights that during this period there have also been changes in the habits of these investors, one of them being the decrease in buyers from the UK. It notes that Brexit and the devaluation of the pound contributed to the fact that between 2017 and 2019 the British sold more houses than they bought in Spain. During this period the percentage of foreign purchases by Britons fell by 6 points, and last year represented 8% of transactions by residents of Spain's fellow EU countries. The opposite happened with countries such as Romania and Italy, which increased their participation in the market to 12% and 8% respectively. At the same time, the total of such purchases made by foreigners from countries outside the European Union are also significant (27% in 2019). Among non-EU countries, Morocco and China stand out, with respective percentages of 14% and 6% of purchases by foreigners in 2019.

According to the report, there were other significant changes in property sales to foreigners. Between 2007 and 2010, they barely represented 3.3% of the market, but then grew strongly until reaching the historical maximum of 10.5% in 2014. That year the recovery of the sector began, which caused non-Spaniards to gradually reduce their involvement in the market. In 2019 they represented an average of 7.8% of operations.

The analysis also reportedly shows that the housing stock held by resident foreigners increased steadily from 2007 on, and then accelerated after 2014. Thus, in 2019, net purchases by foreigners accounted for almost 0.2% of the housing stock, almost three times more than in 2013.

The report also highlights the interest that these buyers have in Spain's coastal regions, especially the Balearic and Canary Islands. Nineteen percent of housing purchases in Santa Cruz de Tenerife were made by foreigners last year, followed by the Balearic Islands (16%), Alicante (15%) and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (14%).

Regarding prices, the report indicates that between 2014 and 2019 the prices foreigners paid was 4% higher than those of domestic buyers, although this percentage rises to 10% when considering purchases in cities such as Tenerife and Palma de Mallorca.

ABC quoted the report as saying, “These differences are probably a reflection of the different investment profile in different provinces. In those on the Mediterranean coast and on the islands, foreign investors with high incomes, who demand higher quality homes located in better areas, surely have a higher significance."

Screenshot

In recent years, there has been speculation that the presence of foreigners in certain areas of Spain has caused housing prices in those regions to be more expensive. This theory the Bank of Spain now corroborates, at least in part.

From the report: "The high correlation between population growth and rising property prices suggests that the increase in the foreign resident population in certain provinces (especially island ones) contributed to increasing house prices through their effect on demand for real estate."

Meanwhile, realty website Idealista reports that Standard & Poors recently carried out an analysis of the consequences of the coronavirus COVID-19 crisis on Europe's housing market. Results indicate that house prices are falling by 3-3.5% in Spain, as well as in the UK, Ireland and Italy.

That sounds better than the forecast of Bankinter, which predicts that prices will drop by 6% (which Idealista pointed out is in line with the estimates of the Swiss investment bank and financial services company, UBS) and a collapse in sales of up to 35%, after having already fallen 3.3% in 2019. That would bring the volume of operations in 2020 to around 326,000, which would be the lowest level since 2014—the year Spain finally began its recovery from the recession. (You may recall that the main cause of Spain's 2008-2014 economic crisis was the residential real estate bubble, which saw prices rise 200% from 1996 to 2007.)

It will be interesting to see what changes the pandemic will bring to Spain in so many areas, including in terms of house prices, sales, and the number of foreigners who buy property here.

Saludos,

Carlos

Screenshot

PORTABLE BALCONY / BALCÓN PORTÁTIL:

noreply@blogger.com (Carloz) — Thu, 28 May 2020 20:18:00 +0000

This guy who has been stuck in his apartment during Spain's coronavirus lockdown, has a great idea: modular balconies that can be assembled, installed in an apartment window and later removed and disassembled. I saw an interview with Aitor Fuente, the building engineer who has come up with the idea. I later found this brief concept video on his YouTube page.

Este chico que ha quedado en su piso durante el encierro de coronavirus en España, tiene una idea genial: balcones modulares que se puede montarse, instalarse en la ventana del piso y luego retirarse y desmontarse. Vi una entrevista con Aitor Fuente, el arquitecto técnico quien se le ocurrió la idea y encontró este breve video conceptual en su página de YouTube.

#NOSINMIBALCÓN

A GLIMPSE AT SPAIN AND EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 1493-1795

noreply@blogger.com (Carloz) — Sun, 24 May 2020 20:34:00 +0000

Did you know...?

In 1493, Spanish explorers were the first known Europeans to reach what is now the United States of America when Christopher Columbus visited Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. .
In 1513, Juan Ponce de León was the first to reach the present-day US mainland, when he disembarked on the northeast coast of a place he named La Florida..
From 1528 to 1536, nearly three centuries before Lewis and Clark, Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca and three other Spaniards were the first known humans to cross what would one day be the United States. After surviving a shipwreck in Florida, they set out on foot for New Spain, and eventually reached California and the Pacific Ocean. They then continued down to Mexico City. Cabeza de Vaca and one of the other men eventually returned to Spain, but the other two remained. One of those, a Black man named Estevanico (Esteban), is believed to have later died in what is now New Mexico. He has been referred to as the first African-American.
In 1529, cartographer Esteban Gómez drew the first map of the Eastern coast of North America, and did so almost perfectly. He named the river that empties into New York City the San Antonio River, a name it retained for about 80 years. It was not until Englishman Henry Hudson explored the river in 1609 that it was renamed the Hudson River.

In 1533, the name California was first applied to what is now the west coast of North America, during a Spanish expedition led by Diego de Becerra and Fortun Ximenez. The name California comes from a 16th-century novel, Las Sergas de Esplandián (The Exploits of Esplandian) by Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo. Set on an island populated by Black female warriors who use gold for tools and weapons, and ruled by Queen Calafia, the book describes it as being east of the Asian mainland and “near the side of Terrestrial Paradise.”

In 1540, Hernando de Soto undertook an extensive exploration of what today are Georgia, The Carolinas, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana.

In 1540, Francisco Vásquez de Coronado led 2,000 Spaniards and Native Americans across today's Arizona-Mexico border. Coronado traveled as far as central Kansas, close to the exact geographic center of the continental United States. In September of that year, a group dispatched by Coronado, led by García López de Cárdenas and guided by Hopi Indians became the first Europeans to reach the Grand Canyon. The first Europeans to navigate the Colorado River were also on missions of the Coronado expedition, one led by Hernando de Alarcón, the other by Melchior Díaz. Colorado means 'red colored' in Spanish.

In 1541, Hernando de Soto became the first European to reach the shores of the Mississippi River. This was near the current city of Memphis, Tennessee, an event that is depicted in a painting on display in the US Capitol building in Washington D.C.
In 1542, Cabeza de Vaca published the first book about what would one day be the United States, specifically the US Southeast and Southwest. The book, originally titled La relación de Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca (The Account of Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca), details his travels from Florida to California and Mexico.

In 1542, the first Europeans explored the California coast as far north as what today is Mendocino County. This sailing expedition was led by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo.

In 1543, Spaniards were the first Europeans to visit what is today the state of Oregon. The earliest evidence of the etymology of the name Oregon points to Spanish origins. The term "orejón" appears in the 1598 historical chronicle La Relación de la Alta y Baja California (The Account of Upper and Lower California), written by Rodrigo Montezuma, who used the word in reference to the area around the Columbia River.

In 1565, Pedro de Aviles founded St. Augustine, Florida, the oldest continuously

inhabited European-founded city in the 50 United States. The city celebrated its 450^th anniversary in 2016, with the King and Queen of Spain, Felipe and Leticia, as honored guests. (The oldest continuously inhabited European-founded city anywhere in the US is San Juan, Puerto Rico, while the oldest town of any origin anywhere in the US is Acoma Pueblo in New Mexico, which has been inhabited by Native-Americans since 1144. Hilo, Hawaii is also believed to date back to the 1100s, but there is no firm date for its establishment.)

In 1565, the first documented Christian marriage performed in what is now the US took place in San Augustine. The ceremony joined Miguel Rodríguez, a White man born in Segovia, and Luisa de Abrego, a Black woman originally from Seville.

Canarian-Americans, also known as Isleños, are Americans with ancestors from the Canary Islands, Spain. Their forbears were among the first settlers of North America. The first of these arrived in Florida in 1569. Over the next 250 years they were followed by thousands of Canarian immigrants, with the biggest wave occurring in the 18^th century. Most settled in what today is Louisiana, but Florida and Texas also had significant Canary Island immigration.

In 1587, the first known Asians to set foot in North America were Filipino sailors who arrived in Spanish ships at Morro Bay, in what today is San Luis Obispo County, California.

The modern rodeo (which means 'round up' in Spanish) grew out of the practices of Spanish ranch hands, called vaqueros ('cowboys'). Originally a mixture of cattle wrangling and bullfighting, it dates back to the 16^th century. These events gained popularity throughout the Viceroyalty of New Spain and became even more prevalent after these lands emerged as Mexico and the Western United States.

In 1602, Sebastián Vizcaíno was sent to map the California coast. Arriving on his flagship San Diego, he surveyed the harbor at what are now Mission Bay and Point Loma. He named the area for Saint Didacus, a Spaniard more commonly known as

San Diego de Alcalá.

In 1607, New Mexico's second Spanish governor, Don Pedro de Peralta, founded Santa Fe, originally called La Villa Real de la Santa Fe de San Francisco de Asís ('The Royal Town of the Holy Faith of Saint Francis of Assisi). In 1610, he designated it as the capital of the province, which it has almost constantly remained, making it the oldest state capital in the United States.

In 1610, the oldest church in the continental US was built in Santa Fe. The original adobe walls and altar of San Miguel Chapel were built by members of the Tlaxcalan tribe. Much of the structure was rebuilt in 1710.

In 1613, Juan Rodriguez, a native of what today is the Dominican Republic, became the first known immigrant to reach the shores of Manhattan. He was born in the Spanish colony of Santo Domingo to an African mother and a Portuguese father. Rodriguez took it upon himself to gain the friendship of the natives, set up a trading post, and live comfortably on Manhattan Island. He is, therefore, also considered the first person of African heritage, the first person of European heritage, the first Spaniard, the first Latino, the first Dominican, and the first merchant to settle in Manhattan. He arrived there 12 years before the Dutch established the colony of New Amsterdam and 52 years before the British renamed the settlement New York.

In 1654, the first group of Spanish and Portuguese Jews arrived in New Amsterdam. After being initially rebuffed by the leader of the colony, these 23 individuals were finally given official permission to settle there in 1655 and that year they founded the Congregation Shearith Israel. Although they were not allowed to worship in a public synagogue throughout the time of Dutch rule, nor during the first years of the British period, the Congregation did establish a cemetery in 1656. In 1730, they were finally able to build a synagogue of their own, which resulted in the first synagogue in Manhattan. Shearith Israel is now the oldest Jewish congregation in the United States, although its present building dates from 1897.

In 1706, Albuquerque was founded as La Villa de Albuquerque in the provincial kingdom of Santa Fe de Nuevo Mexico. It was originally a farming and shepherding community, and a strategically located trading and military outpost along the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro. The Camino Real was a historic 2,560-kilometer-long (1,590 mile) trade route between Mexico City and Ohkay Owingeh, New Mexico from 1598 to 1882. Long before Europeans arrived, the various indigenous tribes and kingdoms had established the route as a major thoroughfare for hunting and trading.

In 1716, Luis Moises Gomez, a Jewish community leader from New York City, purchased 1,200 acres with river access in what is now Marlborough, NY. Gomez, a Sephardic Jew, had come to America to escape his family's persecution in Spain, France and then England. He and his sons built a home on the Hudson Highlands, where several Indian trails converged, and it served as a frontier trading post. Other pioneers, fleeing tyranny and cruelties in Europe for the promise of a new life, followed his lead to settle in the Hudson Valley. His house was continuously inhabited for 280 years before it was bought by the Gomez Foundation, an organization established by his descendants. It is the earliest known surviving Jewish residence in the country, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and is now a museum.

In 1718, Father Antonio de San Buenaventura founded the mission of San Antonio de Valero in what was then the Spanish Province of Texas. Today this mission is better known as The Alamo.

In 1731, sixteen Spanish families (56 people) from the Canary Islands arrived at the Presidio de San Antonio de Bexar fort. Joining a military and religious community that had been in existence since 1718, they established the first regularly organized civil government in Texas, and founded the city of San Antonio.

In 1738, Francisco Menendez, a slave from a plantation farm in South Carolina, escaped to the Spanish territory of Florida to regain his freedom. He established Fort Mose near St. Augustine, the first settlement for freed African Americans in North America. Today the site is the location of the Fort Mose Historic State Park.

In 1750, a Spanish galleon sank off the coast of Virginia and Maryland. Some of the horses onboard managed to swim from the shipwreck to the shores of Assateague Island. Their descendants still roam freely there and are known as the Assateague Wild Horses.

In 1752, the rancher who would become known as the first "Cattle Queen" of Texas was born. After Rosa María Hinojosa de Ballí married, her husband and father applied jointly for a large land grant near what is now La Feria, Texas. Both men had died by the time the grant was approved in 1790, and her husband's will specified that she was to inherit his share of the twelve leagues (55,000 acres). When she took over the estate it was heavily encumbered with debts, but she she skillfully managed her property, made extensive improvements to it, and acquired large herds of cattle, sheep, goats and horses. Taking full advantage of opportunities that widows enjoyed in Spanish society, she continued to apply for additional land grants and to purchase property in order to increase her ranch's size. When she died, she owned more than one million acres of land in what is now the Rio Grande Valley and her holdings extended into the territories of present-day Hidalgo, Cameron, Willacy, Starr, and Kenedy counties.

In 1759, building commenced on what today is the oldest synagogue in the US: Touro Synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island. The congregation was founded in 1658 by the descendants of Jewish families who had fled persecution in Spain and Portugal, and who themselves later left the Caribbean seeking the greater religious tolerance of Rhode Island. Services in the current building began in 1763.

In 1762, in order to pay a war debt, France transferred possession of Louisiana to Spain through the Treaty of Fontainebleau. After this, significant Spanish immigration into the territory began. Among many traditions Spain brought to Louisiana, one had to do with commemorating the arrival of the Three Kings in Jerusalem. To this day, Louisianians and Spaniards alike enjoy a festive-looking pastry on the Epiphany: a circular cake with a small gift inside. What Americans call a King Cake is known as a Roscón de Reyes in Spain. (Roscón means 'ring shaped cake' and Reyes means 'kings.')

Although early European residents of New Orleans were mostly from France, the architecture of the French Quarter is actually Spanish. During Spain's rule of Louisiana (1762-1801), fires and hurricanes destroyed most of the city's original structures and, therefore, much of the trademark charm of the area can be credited to the Spanish rebuilding effort. The flat-tiled roofs, tropical colors, and ornate ironwork of the French Quarter are all Hispanic. To prevent fires, the new government mandated that stucco replace wood as the major construction material. It also required buildings to be placed closer together and nearer the street. Under French rule there were yards and open spaces around buildings, but the Spanish made the Quarter more intimate, with continuous facades, arched passageways, and patios hidden from passersby.

In 1763, Filipino Americans established their first recorded North American settlement in St. Malo, Louisiana after jumping ship to escape the forced labor and enslavement of the Spanish galleon trade. Other settlements appeared throughout the Louisiana bayous, with St Malo on Lake Borgne and Manila Village on Barataria Bay being the largest. In 1870, the Spanish-speaking residents of St. Malo founded the first Filipino social club, called Sociedad de Beneficencia de los Hispano Filipinos. Saint Malo was destroyed by the 1915 New Orleans hurricane, while Manila Village was leveled by Hurricane Betsy in 1965. The Town Hall of Jean Lafitte, Louisiana is located on Manila Plaza, which has historical markers acknowledging the area's Filipino-American history. Part of this community's legacy is the production of dried shrimp. In Louisiana today, dried shrimp are often added to gumbo, to add an intense salty flavor. They can also be eaten as a snack by themselves, and are commonly found in snack-size portions in South Louisiana's stores.

In 1768, Eulalia Perez de Guillen was born a Spanish citizen in Loreto, Baja California. A Californio (Hispanics native to California), the Los Angles Times has described her as “an extraordinary woman with stubborn faith who survived a major earthquake and carved out a niche as the mother of California’s soft drink industry.” When her soldier-husband was transferred north in the early 1790s, they moved to Mission San Juan Capistrano where they survived a massive earthquake on Dec. 8, 1812 that killed 40 people. They eventually moved north again, and she ended up working at Mission San Gabriel, initially as a cook and eventually as the manager of the mission, supervising the nursing, soap & candle making, kitchen, winery, and olive oil presses. While there, Eulalia concocted a tasty beverage from the lemons growing in the area. Demand was so great that she began bottling it for the friars to sell. Soon they were shipping it to Spain. It became one of Los Angeles’ first exports, and an enterprise that helped fill the mission’s coffers. The padres deeded her 15,400 acres of what is now Pasadena, California, but the widow's second husband petitioned the governor for the land and was granted it. Objecting to that, Eulalia left him and moved into a small adobe house. She died in 1878 at the age of 110. She is one of only two non-clergy buried with the priests in the San Gabriel Mission courtyard cemetery. In Catholic tradition, burials closest to the most sacred areas of the church are reserved for individuals of stature, usually clergy. A woman being honored in this way was a highly unusual thing at that time. A marble bench inscribed with her name marks the spot. Her numerous descendants married into many other founding families of California.

In 1772, Manuel de Lisa was born a Spanish citizen in New Orleans. He later became a US citizen, land owner, merchant, fur trader, Indian Agent, and explorer, who was among the founders of the Missouri Fur Company, an early fur trading company. Lisa gained respect through his trading among Native American tribes of the upper Missouri River region. He established Fort Lisa, in what is now Omaha, becoming the first known United States settler of Nebraska. The outpost became one of the most important in the region, and the basis for the development of the major city of Nebraska. Although already married to a European-American in St. Louis, where he kept a residence, he later married Mitane, a daughter of Big Elk, the chief of the Omaha people. (Bigamy was not outlawed in the US until 1862.) They had two children together, whom Lisa provided for equally in his will with his children by his other marriage.

In 1775, an expedition led by Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra, a Spanish navigator and naval officer born in Peru, reached Alaska. Going as far as 59° latitude north, near what today is the town of Sitka, he made sure to go ashore to claim the coast for Spain. This journey resulted in the first reasonably accurate map of the North American West Coast.

In 1775, the Continental Congress elected to denominate the money of the United States in Spanish dollars, rather than English pounds. The Spanish dollar, also known as the Piece of Eight (in Spanish Pieza de Ocho or Peso), was a silver coin first minted in the 15^th century. Widely used by many countries as the first international currency, it was prevalent throughout the Thirteen Colonies at the time of the decision. The symbol for the US dollar is thought to have come from an emblem consisting of two columns draped with an s-shaped banner which appeared on the coin. A similar symbol is used on the modern flag of Spain.

In 1775, some of the first settlers of California embarked on a colonization expedition from what is today the Mexican state of Sonora. One of the colonists was Maria Feliciana Arballo. Of “pure” Spanish ancestry, her parents disapproved of her marriage

to a mestizo soldier. The couple decided to join the expedition, but her husband died before it began. Rather than remain behind, Arballo convinced Captain Juan Bautista de Anza to make an exception to his policy that all women must be accompanied by a male family member. With one of her young daughters riding in front and the other in back, the three traveled on horseback to California. The expedition's priest, Father Pedro Font, was said to have been repeatedly annoyed with her and with Anza, who had ignored his adamant opposition to her participation. After successfully crossing the treacherous Colorado River, Font wrote of her in his diary, “At night, with the joy at the arrival of all the people, they held a fandango here. It was somewhat discordant, and a very bold widow who came with the expedition sang some verses which were not at all nice, applauded and cheered by all the crowd.” She left the group in San Gabriel, California, married another mestizo soldier, and had seven more children. Several of her descendants became important figures in California history, including two governors: Pío Pico, the last governor of California before it became part of the US in 1850, and Romualdo Pacheco, the state of California's 12^th governor.

In 1776, Juan Bautista de Anza founded the Presidio de San Francisco fort. Later that same year, the Mission San Francisco de Asís was founded by Francisco Palóu. The Mission is the oldest surviving structure in the city of San Francisco. Though most of the complex was either altered or demolished outright, the facade of the chapel has remained largely unchanged since its construction in 1782–1791.

In 1776, Spain joined France in funding Roderigue Hortalez and Company, a trading company which provided critical military supplies to the American Revolution's Continental Army. Around this time, Spanish Prime Minister, José Moñino y Redondo wrote, “the fate of the colonies interests us very much, and we shall do for them everything that circumstances permit.”

1776 was also the year that a Spaniard named Jordi 'George' Farragut Mesquida arrived in Charleston, South Carolina, where he joined the American Revolution in service as a sailor. Captured by the British in 1780, Farragut's left arm was permanently injured by a cannonball. Released as part of a prisoner exchange, he joined a US rifle militia and, despite his disability, fought on until the end of the war. Afterwards, he continued to serve the nation he helped create, first as sailing master of a gun boat in New Orleans, and later fighting the British again in the War of 1812. Rejected from further service in the navy after that war, he enlisted as a volunteer companion to Gen. Andrew Jackson’s troops, defending the coast around New Orleans from any possible British incursion. Farragut also started a family in his adopted homeland. He had 5 children, including a son who fought on the side of the Union in the US Civil War: Admiral David Farragut, of 'Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead' fame.

Bernardo de Gálvez was another Spaniard who helped the newly-formed United States of America. As Governor of Louisiana from 1777-1783, he allowed shipments

of weapons, medicine and other vital goods to the Continental Army via the Mississippi. When Spain declared war on England in 1779, Gálvez was given an additional title: Field Marshal of the Spanish colonial army in North America. He put together an army of Creoles, Acadians (Cajuns), Isleños, free Blacks, German immigrants, Native Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Mexicans and at least one Irish immigrant (Oliver Pollock) to march with his Spanish regulars. In March 1780, this interracial force besieged Mobile and seized it after a four-day battle. Following their next big victory, at the Siege of Pensacola in 1781, the English left Florida, never to return. This not only removed a threat to the US from the south, it deprived Britain of troops that could have been deployed to the war’s final battle at Yorktown later that same year. Instead, Spain was able to permit France to use its waters in the Atlantic to send naval forces to battle the British at Chesapeake and Yorktown. Gálvez, who had been wounded during his service, had his governorship expanded to include Spanish Florida, which at the time reached from the Atlantic to the Mississippi River. He was among those who drafted the Peace of Paris of 1783, which formally ended the Revolutionary War and gave Florida to Spain. His contributions to the American victory have been recognized in the United States: Galveston, Texas, and St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana were both named in his honor, and in 2014 President Barack Obama granted Gálvez honorary US Citizenship—only the eighth person in history to have been given the honor.

In 1779, the first long-range Texas cattle drive occurred when Juan María Vicencio de Ripperdá, provincial governor of Texas, had a group of vaqueros herd 2,000 Texas longhorns to Louisiana in order to supply Bernardo de Gálvez’ troops.

Between November 1778 and July 1779, around 1600 Canary Islander colonists sailed into New Orleans. By 1780, four different Isleño communities had been founded in different parts of Southwestern Louisiana. Many of these immigrants participated in the three major military campaigns of Baton Rouge, Mobile, and Pensacola, which expelled the British from the Gulf Coast. In 1783, another 300 Canary Islanders arrived to settle in Louisiana.

In August 1781, the fleet of French Admiral François Joseph Paul de Grasse arrived in Chesapeake Bay carrying 500,000 Spanish dollars (or silver pesos) collected from the citizens of Havana, Cuba, to fund supplies for the Siege of Yorktown and to pay the Continental Army. The culmination of the Yorktown campaign, the siege proved to be the last major battle of the American Revolutionary War.

In September 1781, a group of forty-eight people founded a colony on the coast of California. The settlement was originally named El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles, or 'The Town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels.' Two-thirds of these original settlers of Los Angeles were mixed-race individuals, of African, European and Native ancestry. Today, the site is the El Pueblo de Los Ángeles Historical Monument, a 44-acre park.

On March 17, 1783, Spain formally recognized the United States of America. Diego de Gardoqui was appointed as Spain's first ambassador to the new country in 1784. He became well acquainted with George Washington, and marched in the newly elected President's inaugural parade.

In 1785, King Carlos III of Spain sent a donkey named Royal Gift to President Washington, at his request. The President crossed the donkey with mares to raise mules which became very popular in the new nation.

In 1791, Spanish naval officer Francisco de Eliza named a group of islands in the Pacific Northwest Isla y Archipiélago de San Juan. Today the San Juan Islands are part of the state of Washington. In 1841, British explorer Charles Wilkes renamed San Juan Island as Rodgers Island, but the Anglo name never took.

On October 12, 1792, the 300th anniversary of Christopher Columbus landing in the Americas, Pedro Pablo Casanave laid the cornerstone to the White House. Having emigrated from Spain in 1785, Casanave arrived in the Port of Georgetown, Maryland barely able to speak English and with only 200 pounds to his name. He later managed to open a store, followed by several other successful businesses. (It probably helped that he was the nephew of Juan de Miralles, a Spanish trader, supporter of the American Revolution, Spanish agent to the Continental Congress, and personal friend of George Washington.) Casanave rose to become the fifth mayor of Georgetown, which today is a neighborhood in Washington, D.C.

In 1795, Pinckney's Treaty, also known as the Treaty of San Lorenzo or the Treaty of

Madrid, was signed in San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain. It established intentions of friendship between the United States and Spain. It also defined boundaries between the US and Spain's territories, while guaranteeing the new nation navigation rights on the Mississippi River.

Today, 25 of the 50 states that make up the United States of America were at one time completely or partially Spanish territory, i.e., Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, California, Iowa, Kansas, Florida, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. The same is true of three of the four US Territories, i.e., the US Virgin Islands, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico—which, by the way, also has an official Spanish name: Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, meaning Freely Associated State of Puerto Rico.

And that's only a portion of US Spanish/Hispanic/Latino heritage.

MY SOURCES INCLUDE:

America’s Spanish Savior: Bernardo de Gálvez, History.net, Barbara A. Mitchell

Assateague's Wild Horses, National Park Service

Isabel la Católica a través de los tesoros de la Biblioteca Capitular Colombina, ABC de Sevilla, Andrés González-Barba, Dec. 23, 2013 Fort Mose Historical Society

The Handbook of Texas, Texas State Historical Association

Filipino American Immigration History, Stanford School of Medicine, Ethnogeriatrics

Journal of the American Revolution

KonwGalvez.com

Latinas in the United States: A Historical Encyclopedia, edited by Vicki L. Ruiz, Virginia Sánchez Korrol, 2006

LindaCovella.com

A Long, Rich Life and a Tasty Claim to Fame, Los Angeles Times, Cecilia Rasmussen, Sept. 6, 1998

The Power of a Dream: Maria Feliciana Arballo: Latina Pioneer, Linda Covella, 2019

La relación de Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, 1542

The Mexican Contribution to American Independence, Raoul Lowery Contreras and Frank D. Gomez, Times of San Diego, July 3, 2018

The Migration of Canary Islanders to the Americas: An Unbroken Current Since Columbus by James J. Parsons, 1983

MountVernon.org

Netstate.com

NewOrleans.com

The Red Indian: A Study in the Perpetuation of Error by Douglas Leachman, 1941

Smithsonian Magazine

Touro Synagogue, National Park Service

United Empire Loyalist's Association of Canada

Wikipedia

Women On The Move: Overland Journeys to California, Library of Congress American Women Series, Patricia Molen van Ee, 2001

I'm back!

noreply@blogger.com (Carloz) — Wed, 15 Apr 2020 20:22:00 +0000

Just an FYI that I'm still here. I've been staying inside during Spain's coronavirus COVID-19 lockdown and am doing well. I may even get active on this blog again. Hope anyone reading this is safe and sound. ¡Saludos a tod@s!

Exhumed and Expelled from the Valley of the Fallen

noreply@blogger.com (Carloz) — Thu, 24 Oct 2019 19:45:00 +0000

By XL3aMS1x, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0

Today the remains of former dictator Francisco Franco were evicted from a monumental complex known as the Valley of the Fallen and reentered in the family plot in the unincorporated village of Mingorrubio. Well, like Franco, I, too, was once kicked out of there—albeit living and breathing.

First a little background: the Valley of the Fallen is a national park about 50 kilometers outside Madrid, in the Sierra de Guadarrama mountains. The valley itself is a lovely place of woods and greenery. However, rising out of this natural beauty is the cold, gray Basilica of the Holy Cross of the Valley of the Fallen (Basílica de la Santa Cruz del Valle de los Caídos), which was carved out of a giant granite ridge as an ominous looking monument to the Fascists who won the Spanish Civil War. Construction began in 1941 and ended in 1959. Thousands of prisoners, including political prisoners, were forced to work on the site. At least fourteen of these were killed during construction and many others suffered injuries.

I visited the Valley of the Fallen with friends some years ago, on a sunny, spring-like February afternoon. There were hardly any other visitors that day, so we parked in the near-empty lot just beneath the basilica. One of the first sites to greet us as we got out of the car was an abandoned and tattered looking series of shops -- a souvenir shop, a post office and a cafeteria -- shuttered up with rotted wood, rusted metal and water-stained paper.

Undaunted by this dreary sight, we walked up the stairs to the giant esplanade lying in front of the basilica. As we did this, we received a brief respite from the gloom, as the views of the valley and towns in the distance were fantastic. But then we entered the basilica itself, first going through security checkpoints that just about rivaled anything in international airports.

Once inside the hall of the basilica, I felt a little overwhelmed by the literal and atmospheric darkness of the place. We walked down a lengthy corridor, which in reality is a tunnel, past foreboding sculptures and grandiloquent tapestries. At the end of it all, was an altar, and as we approached it, I separated from the others to walk on my own.

Unlike most churches, in this one visitors are allowed to walk up to and around the altar. As I circled it, towards the back I noticed flowers and candles sitting on top of a marker embedded in the ground. I leaned in closer to read the words written on it, and was surprised to see "Francisco Franco," and to realize that this was in fact the dictator's tomb. Indeed, so shocked was I by the location of respect that the grave had that without thinking I grimaced, let out a "Yuk!" and stomped one of my feet on it, as one would do to chase off a rodent.

Next thing I knew, two furiously gesticulating guards were running up to me, exclaiming, "¡Fuera! ¡Fuera! ¡Si no te gusta Franco, fuera!" ("Get out! Get out! If you don't like Franco, get out!") Two of my friends (including a Spaniard whose grandfather had been forced to work on the monument's construction) started arguing with the guards, but I had had enough and just wanted to get out of that dark hole. I agreed to leave, and my friends gladly joined me. It was with more than a little relief that I headed away from the dinginess surrounding the despot's tomb towards the bright sunshine and fresh air outside.

Although I have never had a desire to go there again, perhaps I will return once it is converted from an ostentatious tribute to one of Mussolini's and Hitler's cohorts into a true memorial to the Spanish Civil War.

Chinchón

noreply@blogger.com (Carloz) — Tue, 31 Jul 2018 13:21:00 +0000

Chinchón is one of my favorite places in the region of Madrid. I've been there three times since 2014, most recently last week. Here are a few photos from different seasons.

In the summer, the circular Plaza Mayor doubles as a bull ring.

The town's main church overlooks the Plaza Mayor.


The bell/clock tower stands apart from the church. In fact, it was once part of another church that was destroyed by Napoleon's troops. / 2nd photo is a view of the church and Calle de la Iglesia winding below it.

Looking down on Plaza Mayor from in front of the church.

One of many bread and pastry shops in Plaza Mayor.

Below: two residential doorways; one door with a curtain to keep the heat out and another in a tiny courtyard filled with plants and flowers.

Below: Plaza Mayor looks quite different in the early morning -- and winter, when there aren't any bullfights.

Below: Ruins of the Castle of the Count of Chinchón.

Above, a bust of Ana de Osorio, Countess of Chinchon, who Carl Linnaeus named a genus of tree species after. The story goes that she promoted the use of the medicinal bark of the tree after she was successfully treated for malaria with it in Peru the 1630s. The scientific name was later modified from Chinchona to Cinchona, which is the accepted spelling today. It's also known as the Quinine Bark tree because that's where quinine comes from.

Below more sreets and then some famous Chinchon pastries

Below, La Dulcera pastry shop and local delciacies such as Brothers' Balls & Novices' Tits

Brothers' Balls

Novices' Titis

The only church in the Western world open 24 hours a day

noreply@blogger.com (Carloz) — Tue, 12 Sep 2017 10:44:00 +0000

Open 24/7; free Wi-Fi, charging of telephone, use of restroom, personal hygiene supplies, a sandwich and drink during meal time, and probably even soccer on TV. Pets are welcome. No membership required. Welcome to what is described the coolest/hipster church, Iglesia de San Anton at Calle de Hortaleza, in the LGBT neighborhood of Chueca, Madrid.

Father Angel says it is the only church open 24 hours a day in the Western world. On some evenings, the church shows soccer games on the television screens that are normally used to broadcast Mass at the Vatican, Papal appearances and other religious shows. Food is served in the back pews. Visitors can consult with medical volunteers. At San Anton, confession can be made via iPad for the poor of hearing.

Fr. Angel Rodriguez, the head of Messengers of Peace, is considered an unconventional priest and known for his work for the poor. He blesses pets, cars, and while he cannot marry people of the same sex, he blesses them. He took over the Iglesia de San Anton two years ago and turned it into a community center where believers and non-believers are welcome. Described as an innovator and a non-profit entrepreneur, he is the man behind Robin Hood.
Robin Hood is a mini-chain of four restaurants that are open to the public for breakfast and lunch, but closed for dinner. Its novel business model is not to steal from the rich, but rather to use revenues made by serving breakfast and lunch to paying customers to fund the cost of free dinner for the destitute. They feed up to 100 people chosen by the Social Services every night.

Read more of this article by Mary Margret Que about this fantastic place.

Click here to visit the church's website. (In Spanish.)

Newsvine Spain-related posts

noreply@blogger.com (Carloz) — Mon, 10 Apr 2017 15:09:00 +0000

Spain and Japan have world's highest life expectancy: A few tips from Spanish centenarians on how to live to 100

With more than 17,000 people aged 100 or over, Spain is the country with the greatest life expectancy after Japan, OECD data and the latest population census shows. Over a year, Reuters photographer Andrea Comas interviewed and photographed Spaniards aged 100 or more across th …

Happy Kings' Day from Madrid / Feliz Día de los Reyes desde Madrid

Last night's Kings' Parade / La Calbalgata de los Reyes de anoche

2016 in Review

noreply@blogger.com (Carloz) — Sat, 31 Dec 2016 11:04:00 +0000

Wow, I had not realized I'd been away from this blog for a whole year! Well, for a year in review, here are my 2016 Spain related posts on Newsvine:

CANCIÓN DE NAVIDAD - Sara G (Video) The definitive Christmas song. Carols are not what they used to be...

From Weird to Wonderful: Christmas Traditions Around the World

Spain: "The bizarre Catalonian tradition of caga tió" (or 'defecating guy' / 'defecating log' in English) "involves creating a character out of a small log which sits on the dining room table during the fortnight leading up to Christmas. It has to be fed every day wit …

Spain's conservatives propose former government official linked to Panama Papers for World Bank head

The Economy Ministry said in an e-mailed statement late on Friday night that the Spanish government had proposed Jose Manuel Soria as executive director at the World Bank. Soria, who has denied any wrongdoing, resigned as minister in April following reports of alleged links to a …

Spain: Nine months and counting without a government

On Jan. 2, 1492, Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon occupied Granada, completing their conquest of Moorish Spain. Ever since, Spain has always had a government — and occasionally two, when Napoleon invaded in 1808, and during the 1936 to 1939 civil war that split …

Why Is Spain's Economy Expanding So Robustly Without a Government?

Spain’s robust economic expansion is defying concerns that a political impasse, now in its ninth month with no end in sight, would tarnish one of Europe’s economic bright spots. But the pillars that have sustained Spain’s recovery from recession are showing s …

Botched Restoration of Fresco in Spain Inspires Opera

Four years after a well-meaning widow in a Spanish town botched the restoration of a century-old fresco of Jesus crowned with thorns, the episode is being celebrated there with a comic opera performed by professional singers and a local choir. The image in the altered fresco, …

Chill out with these cold summer soups from Spain

Gazpacho seems to be the soup that most people associate with Spain. Indeed, it is very popular in the country, not only in the hot summer months, but throughout the year. However, it certainly isn't the only cold soup Spaniards love to dip into. For example, Spaniards love to g …

The Funniest Spanish-English Menu Translations

Untidy Eggs and Ham Drunk Chickens Strawberries with Scum

How Brexit impacted Spain's election

With markets in free fall after Britain's vote to leave the European Union, Spanish voters turned away from anti-establishment parties Sunday and endorsed the perceived safety and security of ruling conservatives. Europe has been watching Spain to see how anger at the stat …

Happy World Book Day! What are you reading? What's happening where you are?

Happy World Book Day! Doesn't that sound much better than 'Happy 400th Anniversary of the Deaths of William Shakespeare and Miguel de Cervantes'? Not to mention being much less of a mouthful. UNESCO chose April 23, the date when we commemorate the deaths of these two greats of w …

In Search of Don Quixote across the Spanish plains of La Mancha (Photos)

Caption: Fernando Ortega, 40, runs past the windmills in Alcazar de San Juan, Spain, April 5, 2016. REUTERS/Susana Vera

Mother, daughter and policewoman pal found guilty of murdering local politician

On the afternoon of May 12, 2014 Isabel Carrasco's life ended when she was shot three times while crossing a footbridge over the Bernesga river in the city of León, Spain. Today the three women accused of plotting and carrying out the killing were

'Why do Spaniards do their 'business' in the sea?' and 10 more news stories published in the El País English edition this year

noreply@blogger.com (Carloz) — Thu, 31 Dec 2015 17:58:00 +0000

Why do Spaniards 'shit' in the sea and can you sleep in the Spanish heat? Top 10 Spain news stories read by English-speakers this year

Spain's most popular newspaper, El País, publishes a small English-language edition. Here are the top ten stories of the English edition in 2015.

Not one of the top ten, but one of the final articles to appear in El País English edition in 2015 is: Spain's 1st Black Member of Parliament, Rita Bosaho: 'Achieving equality should be a question of state.'

As the first black person to be elected to Spain's Congress, Rita Bosaho says she is "overcome" by the media attention she has received over the last week. Born with Spanish nationality in Spain's former African colony of Equatorial Guinea, she came to Spain at the age of four, …

Christmas Day 2015 Photos Madrid Fotos del Día de Navidad 2015

noreply@blogger.com (Carloz) — Sat, 26 Dec 2015 11:32:00 +0000

I took these during a Christmas Day walk in Cuña Verde Park, one of the group of parks that encircle my neighborhood. Happy Holidays, Carlos

Tomé estas fotos el día de Navidad durante un paseo por el parque Cuña Verde, uno de los parques que rodean mi barrio. Felices fiestas, Carlos

Spain's Anger Management - opinion piece in New York Times

noreply@blogger.com (Carloz) — Fri, 25 Dec 2015 18:00:00 +0000

Is this the dawn of a new era in Spanish politics, as some suggest? Judging from the results of last Sunday’s election, we can safely say that the old era has, at least, been dealt a severe blow.

Read the rest of Miguel-Anxo Murado's excellent article here.

A little 16th century Spanish Christmas music

noreply@blogger.com (Carloz) — Thu, 24 Dec 2015 13:29:00 +0000

El Canto de las Vihuelas performs a 16th century traditional Spanish Christmas song called "Dadme albricias, hijos d' Eva" ("Bring Me Gifts, Children of Eve").

Below is a link to the YouTube page of the group, El Canto de las Vihuelas, who specialize in period music. They are Maria Sala (soprano), Paul Baleta (fiddle, viola and vihuela, an early form of the guitar), and Alejandro Baleta (vihuela, harp and Renaissance lute).

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi5nARcHVbR3T6vp8ZOrAJQ

Catalans say no to independence, but... / Spain picks Basque language film for Oscars / Felipe & Letizia vs William & Kate

noreply@blogger.com (Carloz) — Tue, 29 Sep 2015 11:14:00 +0000

My latest Spain related posts at Newsvine:

Spain Chooses Basque-Language Fim 'Loreak' as Oscar Submission

The Spanish Academy of Cinematic Arts and Sciences announced this morning that Jon Garaño & Jose Mari Goenaga's "Loreak" (Flowers) has been selected to represent the country in the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 88th Academy Awards. This is the first-ever …

Majority in Catalonia voted 'no' to independence from Spain

Catalonia, the north-eastern region in Spain, held a regional election on Sunday. Its legal purpose was to elect a regional assembly that should elect a new regional government. But the outgoing president and his political mates decided this would not be the real purpose of the …

He's young, handsome with centuries of kings, queens in the family tree. She's smart, glamorous with no blue blood. William & Kate? No, King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain.

King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain, in Washington this week for their first official visit — without the frenzied media mob that follows the British monarchy. There are no breathless morning television countdowns, no stakeouts for their trips to Mount Vernon or the …

36 Hours in Madrid, Spain

noreply@blogger.com (Carloz) — Tue, 29 Sep 2015 10:36:00 +0000

Spanish man fined for calling police slackers on Facebook; King and Queen to visit St. Augustine, Florida for its 450 birthday

noreply@blogger.com (Carloz) — Sat, 01 Aug 2015 09:11:00 +0000

Excerpts from Newsvine seeds. Click on headline for more:

Spanish man fined for calling police 'slackers' on Facebook

The first known individual to fall foul of Spain’s controversial new “gag law” has spoken out against what he sees as the repression of free speech after he received a fine for describing his local police force as "slackers" on Facebook. Eduardo Diaz, a 27-ye …

King and Queen of Spain to attend 450th celebration of St Augustine, Florida

King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain are scheduled to visit in Sept. 18, 19, and 20 which is when St. Augustine is hosting the annual U.S. – Spain Council. This will be the first ever visit for the royals to the United States as heads of state. "We've been celebrating …

10 Trivias About Spain (Video)

noreply@blogger.com (Carloz) — Sat, 01 Aug 2015 09:00:00 +0000

San Fermin bull-run gore count; Hug, Kiss, Steal; Granada mayor tells teen girls 'nearly naked' looks best; One thing Left & Right agree on; More Spanish speakers in USA than Spain

noreply@blogger.com (Carloz) — Tue, 14 Jul 2015 14:48:00 +0000

Click here or on the individual links below for my latest Spanish stuff on Newsvine.

Spain's San Fermin closes with no gorings on final day's running of the bulls, but 37 gorings and other injuries during 9-day fiesta

No-one was gored this morning in the final 'encierro,' or bull run, of the San Fermin Festival in Pamplona, Spain, but so far today five people have been taken to hospital for other injuries, including craneofacial, cervical, foot and arm traumas. According to local officials, t …

Busted: Gang of thieves who hug and kiss victims

Spain's national police have broken up an organized band of thieves using hugs and kisses to distract victims. Authorities have charged nine people in various cities across the country with using a technique called 'abracitos' ('little hugs') to commit robbery. The me …

Mayor tells group of Honor Students, 'The more naked women are, the more stylish; and men, the more they wear, the more stylish.'

The mayor of Granada, Spain, has told a group of recent high school graduates that the less clothes women wear, the better they look. Mayor José Torres Hurtado had just finished awarding certificates to the city's 10 students who received the highest scores on univer …

In Madrid, the Left and Right agree: Spain is not Greece

According to Spain's ruling right-wingers, the Popular Party:

US now has more Spanish speakers than Spain – only Mexico has more

The United States is now the world’s second largest Spanish-speaking country after Mexico, according to a new study published by the prestigious Instituto Cervantes. The report says there are 41 million native Spanish speakers in the US plus a further 11.6 million who ar …

Spain’s King Felipe in Mexico on first state visit to Latin America (Video)

noreply@blogger.com (Carloz) — Wed, 01 Jul 2015 10:33:00 +0000

Unvaccinated child dies of diphtheria / Citizenship granted to Sephardic Jews. Descendants of expelled Muslims get nothing

noreply@blogger.com (Carloz) — Sun, 28 Jun 2015 11:33:00 +0000

Spain related Newsvine posts:

Unvaccinated child dies of diphtheria in Spain: first case in nearly 30 years

Spanish media is reporting that a six-year-old infected with diphtheria died early this morning. The boy, from the town of Olot in the region of Catlonia, had not been vaccinated against the disease, which had not been seen in Spain in nearly three decades. He had been unde …

500 years after expulsion at pain of death, Spain grants citizenship to Sephardic Jews. Descendants of expelled Muslims get nothing.

A century ago, Marcelo Benveniste’s four Jewish grandparents emigrated from the Greek island of Rhodes to Argentina. Unlike many new arrivals on far-flung shores, they had little difficulty navigating their way through the challenges of a foreign tongue as as they already …