La Vida Alcalaína

This video of the parade is a million times better than mine - thank you Wenceslao Perales!

Some of the highlights from this year's Carnaval in Alcalá de los Gazules, three days of fun and frolics on the streets, in the bars and in the grand marquee. Sunday's Pasacalles de humor (fancy dress parade): Cuarteto; "No to er mundo puede vivir en la Calle Real" Chirigota C.A.I. "Los que viven en el cuarto" Thanks to photographer Chemary Gomez Reyes for the following. You can subscribe to his YouTube channel CHEMARYALCALA for lots more videos of this year's Carnaval and other events in Alcalá de los Gazules.

Spain, and especially Andalucía, adores its musical divas.  One of the favourites, Marifé de Triana, died yesterday  on the Costa del Sol aged 76, and already a chapel of remembrance has been set up at Torremolinos town hall for her many fans to pay their respects. Marifé (born María Felisa Martínez López) was one of the queens of copla , a uniquely andalusian genre that draws on flamenco, folk songs and zarzuela , sung with a melodramatic passion and usually accompanied by an equally melodramatic orchestral arrangement.  Here she is singing La Loba (the she-wolf). Copla andaluza became popular in the 1940s, and is as popular today as it ever was. On Saturday evenings during the winter months, Canal Sur TV broadcasts the Andalusian equivalent to The X Factor, Se llama copla , which is watched by millions.  The contestants are mainly women, and the costumes are as dramatic as the songs. Contestants in Se Llama Copla Rocío Jurado Another great copla diva was Rocío

It can't have escaped your notice that Spain's ruling classes are currently involved in some of the muckiest corruption scandals ever seen in modern Europe.  Politicians, bankers, businessmen, even members of the royal family are being exposed on an almost daily basis, as they continue to feather their comfortable nests while six million people don't have a job and millions more are having their wages cut. To help you get your head round all this, here are some articles in English from the world's media.  If you haven't got the time or the inclination to trawl through all these, just read this recent summary from IberoSphere :  Time for Spain to defy expectations as it battles corruption THE ECONOMIST - 9 February 2013 Spain’s government - Another blow. The ruling conservative party is shaken by a damaging corruption scandal. A CHORIZO is a spicy Spanish sausage, best accompanied by a glass of Rioja, though often sliced and served in a doughy bocadillo, or