La Vida Alcalaína

The clocks go back this weekend, in that strange process called "daylight saving" where they take an hour of light from one end of the day and stick it on the other (I've never been able to work out where the "saving" bit comes in).  It was originally intended to save fuel, by moving the working day into daylight hours. Germany introduced it in 1916, to save on coal during WW1, and other countries swiftly followed suit.   In 1996 the European Union harmonised the date so all member countries now change the clocks on the same day, namely the last Sunday in October.  Iceland doesn't bother. Blue = GMT, Red = GMT+1 Additional benefits of daylight-saving were to allow outdoor leisure activities to take place after work - Churchill argued that "it enlarges the opportunities for the pursuit of health and happiness among the millions of people who live in this country" - and reduce the amount of daylight hours that people "wasted" by sleep

This week Alcalá hosted the first Feria de Muestras de Productos y Artesania del P.N. de Los Alcornocales, organised by the Junta de Andalucia Department of the Environment . The aims of the event, which will take place in a different location each year, are: to raise awareness of the enormous environmental value of the Alcornocales Natural Park, to inform the public about the traditional activities which take place there; to acknowledge the role of the people who live and work in the Park; to encourage sustainable development and tourism, which will benefit the 17 municipalities located within the Park, especially at a time when other forms of economic activity are failing. Twenty stalls were set up in the Paseo de la Playa and the adjacent Parque Municipal.  Some were selling their locally produced goods including cheese, honey, chorizos, bread and cakes, wine, salt, pottery and glassware, wooden bowls and baskets.  Others provided demonstrations and talks by visiting ex