La Vida Alcalaína

As we approach week 6 of confinement in an effort to stop the spread of a deadly virus, it seems timely to take a look at another virus that devastated the population of Alcalá over two hundred years ago, killing over a fifth of the population. Information on that epidemic comes from an article in Spanish by Ismael Almagro Montes de Oca on his blog Historia de Alcalá de los Gazules . Yellow fever is spread when a mosquito feeds on blood from an infected person and transfers the virus to its next meal.  However at the time of the 1800 epidemic in Spain contagious diseases were believed to originate in "miasmas", toxic vapours emanating from decaying matter, then passed directly from one human to another.  Viruses were not identified until the late 19th century, the first vaccines arrived soon after, and the discovery of the role of the mosquito in propagating yellow fever was made in 1900. Symptoms of yellow fever start to appear within about five days.  These include ...

I'm delighted to announce that the book I've been working on for the past year,  Winds of Change: Alcalá de los Gazules in the 20th Century,  is now available worldwide on Amazon in both Kindle and paperback format, price £5 and £8.50 respectively (if you are in the UK, or the equivalent in other currencies elsewhere).  Any profits will go to the Cruz Roja (Red Cross) in Spain to help run food banks for people who don't have enough to eat.  As with all the historical material on this blog, I have not done original research myself but instead translated the works of real historians who have slogged through dusty archives to bring the past to life.  Until now none of their work has been available in English; my aim in publishing this book is to make the fascinating history of the pueblo during that turbulent century available to a wider audience.   Click here  to read the full description,  download a sample, or buy a copy.  Thanks!...

When I first came to Alcalá I learned two rather scary things about the activities of the French here during the Napoleonic occupation; firstly that they cut the throats of all its inhabitants in retaliation for a guerrilla attack, and secondly that they blew up the castle. During this period of enforced confinement I've taken the opportunity to find out a bit more about these events.  What follows is extracted from detailed research on Alcalá's role in the Guerra de Independencia by local historian Ismael Almagro Monte s de Oca (available in Spanish on his excellent blog  Historia de Alcalá de los Gazules ) . Napoleon Bonaparte did not originally enter Spain as a hostile invader, but was invited in after a deal with King Carlos IV in 1807 so their combined forces could invade Portugal and divide up the spoils (including Brazil). This plan failed, thanks mainly to the Portuguese royal family being whisked away to safety by British ships. So Napoleon decided to conc...

In the brutal suppression of civilians that followed the Nationalist uprising in July 1936, women were not spared.  It was enough simply to be related to a Republican sympathiser.  This is the story of an incredibly courageous Alcalá woman who saw her family members gunned down by firing squad and who only survived by the skin of her teeth.  It was written by her granddaughter, Juana María Malia Vera, and published in Apuntes Históricos de Alcalá de los Gazules 2006 .  The original is also available on the blog  Historia de Alcalá de los Gazules . My grandmother Francisca was born in Alcalá in August 1910 to Francisca Torres Amador and Antonio Pizarro Álvarez.  She had three brothers, José, Antonio and Francisco, and one sister, Maria.  Her mother died when Francisca was only nine years old, leaving her in charge of the household and her four siblings.  The youngest, Maria, was only two.  At that point she started to wear blac...

In the early 20th century in Alcalá de los Gazules, Antonio and María had five sons and a daughter.  Then in July 1936 the country was torn apart by a nationalist uprising and a civil war, which inflicted tragedy on this family as on countless others.  One son died at the Front in a bomb blast.  One escaped to France and never returned.  One was executed by firing squad.  One had to hide out in the hills for years. One, Miguel, spent most of his adult life in prison - this is his story.  Of the daughter, nothing is known except her name, Catalina. L-R: Miguel, Cristóbal, Francisco "Miguelillo", born in 1915, was the youngest and most daring of the brothers.  He used to say he had so many narrow escapes on and off the battlefield he must have had his own guardian angel. The nickname Cartucho (rifle cartridge) was inherited from his grandfather, who as a boy had liked to hide and explode cartridges to frighten the girls.  Miguel adopt...

The Alcornocales Natural Park is one of the last places in Europe where mules still work for a living.  During the cork harvest, which takes place in the summer months, they are used to carry the strips of cork down steep narrow tracks through dense woodland to a clearing where it can be loaded onto lorries.  The rest of the year they graze peacefully on patches of open space in and around the town.  They are cared for year-round by a dedicated team of arrieros (the dictionary translation of that word is muleteer, but as you will see, the are more than just drovers).  Last weekend during the feria, the arrieros of Alcalá were honoured at a special event in the caseta la Gloria .  Here are some extracts from the tribute speech, written and presented by local anthropologist Agustin Coca. "Today ... we acknowledge the professionalism and wisdom of a handful of people who weave their lives in with those of their animals, through good times and bad,...