La Vida Alcalaína

Old guy: "I  have to work [selling snails] because at 67 I have to retire" - a reference to the recent raising of the retirement age. If you don't have a job to start with you have to wait two more years to get a regular income.  The chap in the chair is the new IU deputy mayor, Juan-Carlos Luna (whose campaign ticket was that the former mayor only helped his friends): his sign says "These days I am supporting my friend - the Mayor".  On the left is the new PP Mayor, Julio Toscano, with his bastón de mando (baton of command);  whoever has this, runs the town.  "I am your new mayor and I am going to help you".  On the right is the local parish priest, who has just got a new job in Rome.  "A Dios" - to God.    Toscano again:  "I don´t understand why you you are all against this new pact." "Indigna-dos - why two when I only voted for one?"  A pun on indignados, the indignant ones, the name given t...

The feast-day of St John the Baptist coincides with the Summer Solstice (23-24 June) and like many other festivals in Catholic countries, St John's Eve ( la Noche de San Juan ), the shortest night of the year, combines elements of both the Christian and pagan traditions - all involving fire. Burning the mayor  St John's Eve is celebrated all round the world, not only in Catholic countries like Brazil and Ireland, but also in Scandinavia and the Shetland Islands.  All over Spain bonfires are built on the beaches or in town squares, and are attended by huge numbers of people all set to party the night away.  According to tradition, if you jump over a bonfire three times on San Juan's night, you will be cleansed and purified, and your problems burned away.  On the beaches, this is followed by running into the sea to wash away evil spirits.  While doing this, you make three wishes for prosperity during the next twelve months.  Jumping the bonfire...

At a packed meeting in the town hall yesterday, the leader of the right-wing Partido Popular , Julio Toscano (left), was elected Alcalde (Mayor) for four years .  His deputy will be Juan Carlos Fernández Luna, leader of the Izquierda Unida (United Left). The PSOE, roughly equivalent to the Labour Party in the UK, had been in power in Alcalá for 32 years.  For the last eight, the role of Alcalde was held by Arsenio Cordero, who now has to hand over the reins and return to his teaching job.   This outcome, sufficiently surprising in the "cradle of Andalucian socialism" to have made the national newspapers , was enabled by a controversial pact between the PP and the IU, who picked up  four and three councillors respectively in the recent elections.  The incumbent PSOE only picked up six seats on the council, losing their overall majority - by just eleven votes - on 22 May. "I wish you the best of luck sorting out the Lario mate ... I really do ....

Arcos de la Frontera  Years ago before I had any thoughts of moving to Spain I saw a TV programme about the White Villages of Andalucia.   Sparkling white cubes with terracotta roofs clinging to hills topped by castles, narrow cobbled streets opening into picturesque little squares, populated by little old ladies dressed in black and little old men riding little old donkeys ...  it looked like a film set. In those days my ideal holiday was slobbing on the beach getting a tan and catching up on my reading, but the programme really captured my imagination and I wanted to go and see for myself.  I certainly never imagined I would end up living in one. Vejer de la Frontera Many of these towns have the suffix "de la Frontera", indicating that they were on the old frontier between the Moorish and Christian-controlled territories - hence the large number of watch-towers, castles and other fortifications found in the area. Alcalá is not an official pueblo...