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 feve

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 conce