HOTTEST SUMMER ON RECORD, AND MORE TO COME! »
Without human-induced climate change, heatwaves would have been extremely rare. In China it would have been a 1-in-250-year event while maximum heat like in July 2023 would have been virtually impossible to occur in the US-Mexico region and Southern Europe, including Algeria, Greece, Italy and Spain, if humans had not warmed the planet by burning fossil fuels.
A GUIDEPOST REPRINT: The Spanish Scene, Spain’s Massiel Wins Eurovision Song Contest, 12 April 1968 »
The Spanish song entry "La, La, La" took top honors in the 13th edition of the continent-wide Eurovision Song Contest held in London last week. Twenty-year-old pop singer Massiel belted it out with enough energy to squeak through with a one-point victory over the English song "Congratulations" sung by Cliff Richards. It was Spain's first Eurovision triumph. When the results were announced, Massiel lit up like a Christmas tree in her sparkling mini-skirt outfit and launched into a real knock-out version of the tune.
SWEET AND SAINTLY: (1) The Candied Almonds of the Poor Clares of Alcalá »
The documented existence of the caramelized almonds in Alcalá de Henares, 35 km northeast of the nation's capital, dates back to the 18th century although it is probably Arab in origin and as such these garrapiñadas (the Spanish name for candied almonds) would date much further back. You can buy the garrapiñadas at the stores but there’s nothing like buying them from the Convent of the Poor Clares of San Diego in Alcalá, probably the nearest thing to the candied almonds’ birthplace. The garrapiñadas are exquisite. And so is the experience of buying them at the Convent.
A GUIDEPOST REPRINT: “The Renaissance Quartet — Middle Ages Music Re-Created”, 11 December 1970 »
Could you believe it? "The organ grinder and light operas called zarzuelas are considered quaint among Madrid’s young sophisticates." And that's supposed to be a sign that "Madrid is rapidly becoming as culturally cosmopolitan as other great European cities" and that the nation's capital is "certainly musically coming of age." That, at least, is what Guidepost had observed on 11 December 1970.
SPAIN TAKES A CLOSE LOOK AT THE EU’s “MARSHALL PLAN” AND FINDS IT BRILLIANT! »
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez: The Agreement in Brussels of the Coronavirus Recovery Plan marks “one of the most brilliant pages ever written in EU history.” It is “a historic agreement for the economic recovery of our country [i.e., Spain], not only in offering a response to the COVID-19 crisis, but also to the transformations needed.” The Agreement is 95% satisfactory for Spain and 100% for the whole of the EU.
EUROPE SOON TO HAVE A CORONAVIRUS VACCINE VIA ASTRAZENECA »
Earlier this month France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands joined forces to form the Inclusive Vaccine Alliance, in order to have a stronger negotiating position in the race for a coronavirus vaccine. All EU member states will have the opportunity to sign up to the deal, under the same conditions as the
alliance members. But something might go wrong at the last minute and production might just end up where all pipe dreams go — down the drain!
EUROPE’S “HEARTFELT APOLOGY” TO ITALY »
Too many were not there on time when Italy needed a helping hand. For that, it is right that Europe as a whole offers a heartfelt apology. But now the real Europe is standing up, the one that is there for each other when it is needed the most. Now Europe is where paramedics from Poland and doctors from Romania save lives in Italy. Where ventilators from Germany provide a lifeline in Spain. Where hospitals in Czechia treat the sick from France. And where patients from Bergamo are flown to clinics in Bonn. . .
COVID-19, A VIEW FROM THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION. HUMANE? »
We must look out for each other. None of us can do it alone. And yet when Europe needed to prove that it is not just a ‘fair weather Union’, too many initially refused to share their umbrella.
TASTE YOUR EMOTION WITH FEDERICO CAPOVILLA »
Salumificio Verza dates back to the early 1900s when legendary grandfather Antonio, known as “Verza”, used to butcher cattle and pigs bred in the valley. This ancestor would preserve the meat in caves filled with snow and ice that he himself would collect in his cart from the Fiorentini Highlands. The family traditions in the butchery trade, which has begun in Velo d’ Astico, Italy in 1968, contines today with the same passion, tradition, and quality of cured meat products.
