RIBADAVIA’S MEDIEVAL FESTIVAL: HOW TO RECREATE A GLORIOUS PERIOD OF PEACE AND PROSPERITY WORTHY OF WORLDWIDE RECOGNITION »
Get into the immersive, colorful, absolutely exciting, medieval Galician Festa de Istoria: kinghts in shining armor, lovely damsels, medieval actors, handcrafts and cuisines with ccenturies of tradition behind them. . . It's a reenactment but it's redolent of history and tradition, and the whole town's labor of love. Festa de Hisoria is vying for the distinction of “Festival of International Touristic Interest” How can it not get it!
THE 2022 CHESTNUT PARTY IN SPAIN SERVES FEW CHESTNUTS BUT REMAINS PACKED WITH CULT! »
Halloween is a popular “chestnut party” in many parts of Spain. As Castañada, it has Celtic roots that go way back and is closely related to the cult of the dead. The culinary star of the "deadly" feast is, as the name would say in no uncertain terms, the castañas or chestnuts. But due to drought and prolonged warm weather, chances are that there won’t be an abundance of the nuts. Just the same, leave it to the Spaniards to keep up their marvelous traditions, dead or alive.
A GUIDEPOST REPRINT: “SANTIAGO — Apostle, Saint & Moor-Killer,” 25 July 1969 »
After his original role as Apostle who spread the new gospel far and wide, Santiago Apostol, became more aptly called Santiago Matamoros (James Killer of Moors) when he took on the role of a knight errant and defender of the faith, a formidable warrior who rides in the clouds over the heads of the Spanish armies, dressed in resplendent armor, mounted on a fiery white charger and brandishing a double-edged sword, killing Moors right and left and creating panic in the enemy forces.
MADRID FUSION: the Return of the World’s Most Influential Haute-Cuisine Summit »
After a two-year hiatus made mandatory by the pandemic, Madrid Fusion 2022 outdid itself, breaking its previous records on participation, public attendees, and accredited journalists. It was as if Fusión just had to make up for lost time, as well as reassert its acclaimed position as the leading influencer at gastronomy trade fairs of premier rank.
THE COAST IS CLEAR »
The pandemic in Europe is easing off satisfactorily, allowing Spain to finally open up its ports to international cruise ships. Get to know the fabulous ports that await you!
A Second Opinion: August Lulls and Summer Reading »
Sitting under the shade of the trees in the pleasant summer weather, I find watching the squirrels and bluejays getting a drink and a bath in the birdbath sometimes just as fascinating as reading about Meditation, but still I am learning something new and improving my attitude in this locked-down world. If anything we have been given time to spend doing things at home we don’t normally do—Like READ!
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!
THE BATTLE OF THE CHRISTMAS TREE »
Now that it’s Christmastime, there are “better” things to squabble about. Martinez Almeida warned that “the Christmas lights in Madrid will shine so bright you’ll be able to see them in Vigo.” Caballero shot back: “Don’t even dream of competing with me. New York tried and lost.”
A GUIDEPOST REPRINT: “THE MANY FACES OF SPAIN,” 28 March 1986 »
One of my unfailing delights of living in Spain, undiminished after 17 years, is the spectacular and varied range of its landscapes and natural beauty. Crammed into the roughly five hundred thousand square kilometres of its bull-hide shaped geography, one goes from the dazzling white villages of the south with immense vistas of olive plantations, red earth under a diamond-hard blue sky, to the vast wheat plains of Castile
TO HAVE THE CHEAPEST ELECTRICITY IN SPAIN IS A MATTER OF WILL »
Visually, it's idyllic though windy. It's up in the Xistral Mountains of Galicia. And it's got the cheapest electricity in Spain because the municipal mayor thought it was time the people benefited from all the energy that was being generated by the windmills they're having to live with. That's Muras for you!
