La Vida Alcalaína

Today, 28 February, is Andalucía Day and a public holiday in Spain's second-largest region. Schools are closed today, but last Friday many schoolchildren will have eaten the traditional Andalucian breakfast (toast spread with olive oil and a glass of orange juice) before putting on plays and singing the Himno de Andalucía . The festival commemorates the date of a referendum of 1980 in which the electorate voted for the Statute of Autonomy , as set out in the 1978 Constitution, making Andalucía an Autonomous Community of Spain.  This means it can raise its own taxes and set its own policies on health and social care, education and cultural development. It is run by a body called the Junta de Andalucía, whose headquarters are in Seville. Its parliament is elected by Andalusian voters every four years on a system of proportional representation. The next election is on 25 March, and the present PSOE (Socialist) majority is expected to be overturned by the right-wing Pa...

In Alcalá de los Gazules and other pueblos blancos of Andalucia, where houses tend to be built one on top of another, it is unusual to have a garden attached to your house. Many of the locals grow fruit and vegetables in nearby plots of land called huertos , and adorn their whitewashed walls and windowsills with pots of geraniums. But the traditional English-style garden, with flowerbeds and lawns, is rarely seen. Undaunted, when we moved here in 2008 I decided to create a garden on our large flat roof. I had a vision of a leafy haven for insects, birds and butterflies, with jasmine and potted citruses to scent the warm evenings, bougainvillea and geraniums for a riot of colour, and of course home-grown, sun-ripened tomatoes, peppers and herbs. The cats would have somewhere fun to frolic and snooze. Everything would be grown in pots, so we would be able to sit out and read all day, confident in the knowledge that we would would never again have to trim a privet hedge or mow a ...

It´s carnival time again, or carnaval as it is spelt in Spanish.   While this ancient tradition is celebrated all over Spain and indeed all over the world, the Carnaval de Cádiz is unique because of its musical  agrupaciones  with their combination of bawdy and satirical lyrics, irreverent parody and flamboyant, sometimes outrageous, costumes. Gran Teatro Falla in Old Cádiz The competition for the best singing groups is entering its final week at the Gran Teatro Falla.  It is known as COAC - Concurso Oficial de Agrupaciones Carnavalescas .   The heats are broadcast live on Canal Sur TV for those not lucky enough to get a seat in this magnificent theatre; people queue all night to by tickets when the box office opens just after Christmas. The groups also perform outside in the street and in other public venues, and on the weekend after the grand final there are giant parades and free performances all round the city. The dates for Car...

An open letter to Ms Emma Boon, Campaign Director of the   Taxpayers' Alliance , who want to abolish payment of the Winter Fuel Allowance to British pensioners living in the EU.   Nearly 73,000 people living on mainland Europe claimed £15.6 million-worth of payments last winter ....  a 52% increase since 2006-7 ...  33,495 recipients live in Spain.   "This is a shocking increase and is yet more evidence that we need to reform the welfare system, so that money goes to those who really need it, not to well off ex pats living on the Costa Del Sol", says Ms Boon.  "The Government should scrap schemes like this because it doesn't make sense to take people's money in tax, then give it back in be nefits that they might not want or need.  It was always intended to help the elderly through the winter but many of those claiming it are living abroad where it's warmer anyway."   read the full article   Dear Ms Boon, Emma Boon As a...

Being able to watch their favourite British television programmes is a high priority for many expats living in Spain.  To watch them on a TV set this means having giant satellite dishes on the roof, various other bits of kit, and a certain amount of fiddling with Sky subscription cards if you want the whole range of channels.   Even then, reception often cracks up in poor weather conditions or during the hours of darkness. Watching programmes on a computer isn't that straightforward either.  The BBC iPlayer and ITV equivalents won't work outside the UK, for copyright reasons, so you have to install special software to shield your IP address and use a proxy server. There are some companies that offer access to a range of channels via a paid subscription, but they tend to come and go (along with your subscription fee) as they are not strictly legal.    You can download torrents, but getting the programmes you want is a bit hit-and-miss and that's not strict...

2012 marks the bicentenary of the first Spanish Constitution, which Spain treasures in much the same way as England does its Magna Carta.  It was drawn up, signed and published in the city of Cádiz, which is marking the occasion with a year of festivities and cultural events , a new road bridge from the mainland, and hopefully lots and lots of tourists, as it is also the 2012 Capital Iberoamericana de Cultura .   So what is la Constitución , or " La Pepa " as commonly referred to, all about? It is known as "La Pepa" because it was published on St Joseph's Day, 19 March 1812. Pepa is the feminine form ( la constitución  is a feminine noun) of Pepe, a nickname for José. Early in the 19th century the Emperor of France, Napoleon Bonaparte, was keen to spread his Napoleonic Code across the rest of Europe. The code, based on the Enlightenment principles of the French Revolution, replaced old feudal laws with a clearly written legal system,...

Apologies for the long silence.  The blogging muse (Cryptico?) appears to have gone on vacation.  Navidad , Nochevieja and Los Reyes Magos have been and gone - I didn't participate in the local festivities this year due to a bad cold and a bad back, and anyway I've described them all before.  I did hobble up to the Plaza Alta to enjoy a marvellous concert by the Orquestra Joven del Bicentenario , who played Beethoven's Fifth and the Nutcracker Suite with great aplomb.  We had our customary walk along the beach on Christmas Day and watched The Godfather on TV.. Nothing much.else. Nothing much from our illustrious Ayuntamiento either.  The new Mayor is scarcely seen nor heard in the town and we have had no announcement about budget plans for the coming year, as we used to under the previous administration.  There was a bit of a kerfuffle when one of his councillors organised a coach trip to a shopping centre in Jerez just before Christmas; the Alcalá shopk...