La Vida Alcalaína

When I was in the UK recently it was reported on the BBC news that the Queen of Spain wouldn't be going to QEII's big jubilee lunch because of "disputes over Gibraltar".  Most people assumed therefore that Sofia wanted to deliver a snub to her distant relative (they are both descended from Queen Victoria) because of  Spain's claim to sovereignty over the Rock. The ludicrous claims to Gibraltar must not endanger Spain's ties to Britain , spluttered The Telegraph. In slightly calmer terms, Guardian readers were told were told that the Spanish government had ordered the boycott at the last minute because it would be " inappropriate under the present circumstances ", implying that this referred to the forthcoming visit of Prince Edward for the Rock's own jubilee celebrations. This all struck me as a bit odd, because (a) the squabble over sovereignty is hardly new, (b) Prince Edward's visit was announced over a month ago , and (c) Sofia is kn...

So much better without all the blood.

Search for "San Jorge Gazules 2012" on YouTube and you will see a dozen videos of this year's sueltas de vaquillas ( or bull-runs as we foreigners call them, though they are actually heifers), in honour of Alcalá's patron saint.   Up until 1899 they did indeed use bulls , and they used to run all the way to the slaughterhouse in the Calle Salada where they were butchered and the meat shared amongst the population.  But the bulls killed two people that year, and the bull-run was dropped until 1961.  They used bullocks at first, then switched to the less dangerous heifers. Twice a day over the three days of the festival, at 1.00 and 2.30 pm, a canon is fired on the Plaza Alta and a young cow is released from a lorry onto the square.  Eventually she will run down San Juan de Ribera, Ildefonso Romero and Calle Real to the Alameda, cheered on by thousands of people watching the spectacle from their rooftops and balconies, or squashed up against the heavy iron bars which...