Posts

Showing posts from 2016

Shhh, don't mention the abstention!

Image
After 316 days  Spain has a government again .  The general elections in December 2015 and June 2016 saw the conservative Partido Popular (PP) win the most seats, but not enough for an overall majority, and the various parties failed repeatedly to organise pacts with each other.   Mariano Rajoy, leader of the PP, needed the support of the other parties in last Saturday's investiture vote to allow him to form a government.   The anti-corruption party Ciudadanos agreed some time ago to vote Yes, the anti-austerity party Podemos would always vote No. Until recently, Pedro Sánchez, leader of the centre-left Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE) insisted that it would vote against it too: "No means no". But a coup within the party last month , led by Andalusian leader Susana Díaz, saw him forced to resign.  Ostensibly to avoid a third round of elections, the PSOE general committee agreed to abstain, which was enough for Rajoy to win.  Sánchez resigned his seat in order t

"Los Ranger's Black" - The Rhythm of the Sixties

Image
Manuel Caro Rios, one of the founders of "Los Ranger's Black"  has just written up the history of Alcalá's much-loved '60s rock band, which I have translated below.   The original can be found here . Their repertoire reflected the appeal of all things English in a country just emerging from the most repressive years of the dictatorship.  British pop songs were starting to be played on Spanish radio.  Miniskirts, psychedelic shirts, pachouli oil, gin & tonic, American tobacco were wildly trendy,   Alcalá artist and sculptor Jesús Cuesta Arana, a big fan who designed their stage sets, wrote about them : In this [culture of modernity] the Rangers burst forth in Alcalá de los Gazules, which was used to a different kind of rancher.  Four kids jumped on the sonic bandwagon of the times. It was like a kind of alcalaíno Beatles. They did more than cheer people up with their music and self-assurance;  they brought freshness, new winds and sensations to an era

Pedro Valle Barrera: A Story of the Repression

Image
Pedro Valle Barrera was a child victim of the vicious repression carried out by Franco's forces during and after the Spanish Civil War, known as the White Terror . His uncle was executed, his father was imprisoned and his mother had her head shaved, for being on the Republican side. By some miracle he escaped the organised massacres of refugees at La Sauceda and on the 'Road of Death' from Málaga to Alméria.  In 2009 Pedro recounted his childhood memories to J. Carlos Perales Pizarro, who transcribed and published them. This is an abridged translation of Pedro's story. The full version in Spanish can be found on the Historical Memory website Todos los Nombres . Pedro was born in 1928 to Francisca Barrera and Juan Manuel Valle Recio, in C/ Sánchez Flores, Alcalá de los Gazules. His grandfather Pedro Valle Marchante worked with cattle; he was well-educated and gave lessons to the agricultural workers who lived around the Finca del Torero. Valle Marchante was rela

Juan Perales León, the Anarchist of Alcalá

Image
This is the testimony of Juan Perales León (1914-2003), recorded in “ Todos los Nombres ”, an aural history project about people who suffered under the Franco dictatorship. It was set up by the CGT (a trade union) and the Andalusia Association for Historical Memory and Justice. Juan's life story was recorded and transcribed by his nephew, Carlos Perales, who has kindly given me permission to publish this translation. The original Spanish transcription is here: http://www.todoslosnombres.org/content/biografias/juan-perales-leon-0 I have translated verbatim the first and last sections, which relate to Juan's life in Alcalá, and summarised the parts relating to his military career and imprisonment in Jaén. Alcalá early in the 20th Century When I was five years old, my father died. There were three children – your father, a sister called Francisca, and me. Francisca died here in Calle Real, in the door of your father's shop. She died bleeding, I don't know wh

Sweet treats - tocino de cielo and sultanas de coco

Image
Last month at a party we were invited to try two of Andalucía's traditional sweets. They are often made together, because one uses the whites of egg while the other uses the yolks. Tocino de cielo literally means "fatty bacon from heaven" yet it contains no bacon, no fat and is definitely an earthly pleasure.  It is made with sugar and egg yolk, and the first written record of it is dated 1324 in Jerez de la Frontera.  The reference to tocino comes from its appearance, creamy-yellow with a brown "skin". Jerez has always been a wine-growing region, and egg whites were used to clarify the wine in the barrel.  The leftover yolks were taken to a local convent where the nuns turned them into this heavenly custard. Although tocino de cielo can be found all over Spain, Jerez council have applied for it to be given its own protected designation of origin . Another way of using up the spare egg yolks was the  candié,  derived from the English "candy eg

Castillo de Alcalá - restoration complete!

Image
Like most Andalusian hill-towns, Alcalá used to have a castle.  It was built by the Moors in the 12th century, at the highest point of the town with commanding views in all directions.  When the Christian king Alfonso X "El Sabio" reconquered the town in 1264, the castle was extended and remained in use for the defence of the town for many centuries. Unfortunately most of it was destroyed by French soldiers during the Guerra de Independencia (Napoleonic Wars).  Both the French and the Spanish troops wanted it because of its strategic position as a lookout post. The Spanish tried to repair it for this purpose but didn't have the materials.  The French managed to occupy it in September 1811, but when they were forced to retreat they blew up the walls to stop the Spanish using it.  All that remained was the keep (known as la torre de homenaje in Spanish). The keep was declared a site of historical interest in 1984, but remained basically a pile of rubble until resto