THE SECRET BEHIND THE SUCCESS OF LA GRAMOLA DISCOS

"Music must have something that’s magical. It’s a way of letting out your feelings and your emotions without hurting people–and it comes out like a fountain, like a natural spring.” This magical quality of music provides the mysterious allure that is behind the success of La Gramola Discos.

THE VIRUS THAT GOBBLED UP THE SHOW

Barcelona was all set to host the Mobile World Congress, the world’s largest mobile show. And then - wham! - the killer coronavirus broke out from the confines of Wuhan, China and the major exhibitors pulled out over fears of contagion. After this, there was nothing left for the organizers to do but to ring down the curtain even before the sensational tech show began.

Relationships: What it Takes to Succeed in Them

Whatever we want in life — to be in a relationship or be a chocolatier in Madrid — will always require one thing: we got to work on ourselves.

A Second Opinion: Spain and the Guitar–Essentially Inseparable!

Round about 40 years ago I arrived in Spain as a young thing, enamored of the guitar and Flamenco music. I had been fiddling around with the guitar since my teen years, and never quite got the hang of it, but carrying around a guitar got me into some circles of people who were more expert than I. I love the guitar too much to murder it with my unprofessional playing. Well, after all my experiences with the guitar in Spain, where the heart and soul of this iconic musical instrument will always be, I gave away my original guitar.

A RIDE ON THE AVE (AVLO, ACTUALLY) FOR €5? YOU’D BETTER BELIEVE IT!

It used to be that much as one wanted to travel on the high speed AVE (Spanish High Speed train), with speeds of up to 310 Km/193 mi., one just had to forego the luxury because the prices were – and still are – prohibitive for some pockets. But now, out of the blue, you could go to Madrid from Barcelona, and vice versa, for a stupefying €5! Or €10 if you missed the promo.

SURPRISE SURPRISE! THE EMPLOYERS’ CONFEDERATION IS HAPPY ABOUT PAY HIKE!

Antonio Garamendi, President of the powerful profit-driven Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations, didn’t seem to be even remotely put out by the 5.5% rise in the national minimum wage that the left-leaning Spanish Government has approved on 22 January 2020. But the Government wants another pay hike in 2021 and it looks like beyond a certain red line the business organizations will no longer play along. The era of a progressive government in Spain has started, after years of conservative rule that consigned 13% of the labor force to working poverty. How long will the new era last?

TAAL: THE CUTE LITTLE VOLCANO SHOWS ITS PHREATIC FANGS

Taal Volcano, one of the world's smallest active volcanoes, is also one of the deadliest. On 12 January, a sudden explosion of the volcano quickly escalated into Alert Level 4. Volcanic activities intensified as continuous eruption generated a tall 10 to 15 kilometers (6.2 to 9.3 mi) of steam-laden column, with frequent volcanic lightning that rained wet ashfall on as far north as the Metro Manila, even affecting Clark International Airport farther up north.

FAKE NEWS FROM THE GRAVE: AN UPDATE ON THE SOOTHSAYER’S PREDICTION

Pythoness Elsa Altagracia predicted from Ourense, Spain, that ticket 86098 would win the much-coveted First Prize of the Christmas Lottery. She said the dead told her. But she was way off the mark. Moral of the story. If you want to do soothsaying, go look for other "informants" and leave the dead alone!

WINTER AND THE SPECTACLE IN THE SPANISH SKIES

Winter solstice ♦ Meteor showers ♦ Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn in the skies ♦ Eclipses

SOOTHSAYER PREDICTS THE FIRST PRIZE OF THE SPECIAL CHRISTMAS LOTTERY IN SPAIN IS 86098!

Spain's Special Christmas Lottery draw, the world's biggest draw in terms of total payout, is on Sunday, 22 December 2019. So if you hurry – really hurry – and grab a few decimos (tickets), you can still be a millionaire! That is, if you pick out the number 86098.