A GUIDEPOST REPRINT: “PACO: THE DOG WHO ADOPTED MADRID,” 17 May 1968 »
Paco was not a pedigreed, aristocratic dog such as those that used to swagger down the Prado with their haughty masters. But Paco was an exceptional dog. He had a sharp eye for benefactors such as the Marqués de Bogaraya. As the marquis ate regularly in Fornos, so Paco too would drop in at dinner time and be assured of at least a modest meal and not a few pats on the head. Paco might have continued his libertine life to ripe old dogdom had he not been the unfortunate victim of an amateur novillero who was making a mess of his bull. The spectators were indignant and Paco jumped into the arena, ran up to the clumsy amateur and barked at him from closer range. The matador, furious at the bull, the public and specially at the nagging dog, directed his sword at Paco and ran him through with one thrust. Paco died. His death constituted a veritable day of mourning in Madrid.
A GUIDEPOST REPRINT: “THE ORIGINAL TOURIST IN SPAIN”, 5 May 1967, Last Installment »
Although some passages in his book are dated, they make us realize what hardships The Original Tourist endured in roughing it on horseback across torrid plains and hostile mountains. Much has changed since Ford's day, but among the trifles of which he wrote so well remains unaltered today. "Gatherings from Spain" is more than an extraordinary eye-witness report on Spain in the early 19th century; it is more than a travelogue teeming with adventure and erudition; it is an honest record of a remarkable Englishman's reactions to a country he described as "the most romantic, racy, and peculiar of Europe, which hovers between Europe and Africa, between civilization and barbarity".
A GUIDEPOST REPRINT: “THE ORIGINAL TOURIST IN SPAIN”, 5 May 1967, First Installment »
George Borrow: "How the rage for scribbling tempts people to write about lands and nations of which they know nothing! Vaya! It is not from having seen a bullfight at Seville or Madrid, or having spent a handful of ounces at a posada that you are competent to write about such a people as the Spaniards, and to tell the world how they think, how they speak, and how they act." But there was one, an erudite traveler, Englishman Richard Ford, who did justice to the endeavor. Living in southern Spain for three years and traveling across the peninsula on horseback, he wrote "Handbook on Spain" in 1845 and the even more riveting and timeless "Gatherings from Spain" published the following year and proved immensely popular.
SEVILLE’S FABULOUS APRIL FAIR IS BACK — BUT IN MAY! »
The April Fair is one of the most internationally popular festivals in Spain. It started out as a livestock fair but over the years it became more of a festive event which gained extraordinary fame worldwide due to its unique color, splendor, pageantry, equestrian displays, horse-drawn carriages and flamenco dancing at all hours. Hundreds of casetas (colorfully decorated tents) are set up in the fairgrounds. There is music, dancing, delicious food and drink practically round the clock. And then of course there are the bullfight festejos of top matadors at the La Maestranza.
INSTANTES DE ARENA/INSTANTS DE SABLE Book launching. You’re invited! »
INSTANTES is about "gestos y palabras de una tarde de toros (gestures and words in an afternoon at the bullring)". Venue: Ruedo de la Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas, Madrid. 18 September 2021, 12:00 Noon. Accomplished photographer, foremost authority on tauromaquia and GUIDEPOST's longtime writer MURIEL FEINER illustrates the book with Anthony Moore
A GUIDEPOST REPRINT: “Tragedy in the Bullring,” 24 June 1983 »
There has always been a lot of talk about the injustices and indignities the “poor bull” has to suffer. But what about the Man? Matador Curro Vazquez suffered a tremendous goring during the San Isidro Fair, resulting in the severing of the femoral artery. Had this occurred in a smaller ring, a provincial town, Curro would not be around to talk about it. Manuel Granero was killed instantly in the plaza of Madrid on May 7th 1922. . .
GUIDEPOST REPRINT: “SUMMING UP THE SPANIARDS, AN ACCOUNT OF HOW SOME FAMOUS TRAVELLERS HAVE SEEN SPAIN,” 3 OCTOBER 1969 — (4) Barbers, Bandits, Bulllfighters & Beautiful Women »
Brenan sees Spain's waiters one of the most striking and representative of the country. They move with the ballet dancer's precision and operatic air. So are the barbers in their own way. A most favorite subject is the bullfight, said by some to be a barbarous and pagan left-over from the days of the Romans. But not Hemingway who finds it complex and compelling. And there are the women. Dumas: "There so many beautiful women along the Prado that only a plain woman is remarkable." As numerous in the travellers' mind are the bandits, thinking Spain is full of them.
OLD NEWS! A MINISTER OF CULTURE AND SPORT WHO’S DOWN ON BULLFIGHT AND WOULDN’T BE CAUGHT DEAD DOING SPORT »
IRRELEVANT QUOTE: "I am not an athlete. I’m saying this say for everything that has come out [on Twitter]. I do not like to practice sport but I do like sports, and I will support and love sport and support all athletes because they are heroes and heroines."
A Second Opinion: Beyond “Topicos Tipicos” in New Age Spain! »
I am anything but Spanish and perhaps that's why I can be somewhat objective about the way Spaniards tend to be depicted, saddled as they are with "topicos tipicos" that tend to arise in a discussion about Spain: flamenco, bullfight, tapas, paradores nacionales. . .
