La Vida Alcalaína

 This stunning aerial view of Alcalá was captured by Pedro A. Jiménez Gómez a couple of years ago.  It has just won first prize in a photography contest organised by the Mancomunidad de la Janda, and has gone viral across Spain.  The national newspaper La Razón  claims it as evidence that Alcalá is one of the most beautiful towns in the country.  Can't argue with that!

 In an attempt to do something about the lamentable state of my 71-year-old body I recently acquired one of those "smart watches" that nags you to do regular exercise. I now go for a brisk walk most mornings, with a target of 6,000 steps (I know they say you should aim for 10,000 but you have to start somewhere).   Fortunately Alcalá has plenty of hills and dales to get the circulation going. My favourite route is across the valley opposite my house, saying good morning to the horses and mules that graze there, past the ancient wells on Los Pozos, and along the (almost traffic-free) road which leads into the Parque Natural los Alcornocales.  View of Alcalá from the Patriste road. While many people who indulge in this activity plug their ears in order to listen to music or a podcast, I remain unplugged so I can enjoy the song of the numerous birds that line this route.  Although I am useless at identifying most of them by sight as they flit in and out of the trees and bushes,

I wrote this post in 2010, two years after we moved to Alcalá.   I'm reposting it now because most of it is still true, and recent arrivals to the pueblo might find it entertaining, if not informative ... ************ A few years ago, while still a wage-slave in the UK, I made a list of all the reasons why I didn’t want to live there any more. Near the top of the list was Big Bad Supermarkets: their crimes included driving small shops and farmers out of business, seducing us into buying microwave ready-meals packed with additives, selling tasteless meat alongside jars of goo that supposedly turn it into something a celebrity chef would be proud to serve, wrapping fruit and veg in umpteen layers of plastic and then charging us for carrier bags “to help protect the environment” ... you know what I’m on about. And as for 24-hour opening, I’m not even going to go there, it’s the road to madness. To cut a long story short, I now live in Alcalá de los Gazules in the province of Cádi

Most of the streets and squares in Alcalá have had several different names over the years. Indeed some are still referred to locally by their old names, causing confusion for visitors, postmen and delivery drivers.  The renaming often followed drastic changes in the country’s government, notably: The declaration of the 2nd Republic in 1931, when Spain was governed by elected representatives following the abdication of the King and the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera; The military-civilian coup of July 1936, when the Falange party took over the government of Alcalá at the beginning of the Civil War; The transition to democracy following the death of Franco - the first local elections were held in 1979. The following list, in alphabetical order, was compiled from the series  Las calles de Alcalá y sus nombres: Evolución Histórica I-VII on the blog Historia de Alcalá de los Gazules , and Por las calles viejas de Alcalá I-IV on Mi Alcalá . Alameda de la Cruz: The open space at the easte

This wonderful photo by Olivia Hughes was taken in those bleak days of the Covid pandemic.  I love it because it shows how the two-metre rule didn't prevent the old men of Alcalá from having their morning chinwag on the Alameda.

The town has recently seen an explosion of colour as hundreds of potted geraniums now adorn its white walls.  Quite how long they will last I'm not sure, but in the meantime they are here for the enjoyment of all.  They complement a number of ceramic plaques celebrating local trades, which were installed earlier this year.

 I've just published a follow-up (prequel?) to my book Winds of Change  about Alcalá de los Gazules in the 20th century.  It covers events over the previous hundred years, including the Napoleonic Wars, and is available worldwide on Amazon in both paperback and Kindle format.   Alcalá de los Gazules in the 19th Century