I really enjoyed this book for quite a few reasons. It’s a great story for a start, and Jason Webster has invented a wonderful character in Max Camara, the detective charged with solving the murder of Jose Blanco, one of Spain’s top bullfighters. The novel is set in Valencia and tells you a lot more [...]
Archive for the ‘Spanish culture’ Category
The Lovers of Teruel
Posted: February 11, 2011 in Aragon, Spanish cultureTags: Aragon, lovers of Teruel legend, Teruel, Valentine's Day
Teruel is somewhere people visit on the way to somewhere else. Unfair, as it’s a really interesting place, but there you go. Around Valentine’s Day, however, this sleepy provincial town in the deeply unfashionable region of Aragon in eastern Spain comes into its own, putting on a programme of events to celebrate the legend of [...]
A secret allotment in Madrid
Posted: April 25, 2010 in Madrid, Spanish cultureTags: Descalzas Reales, Golden Age, Madrid
There aren’t a lot of allotments in downtown Madrid. In fact, I’ve only ever seen one, and that’s a bit of a secret. As I took a shortcut through the Corte Inglés department store in the heart of the city, I was pretty sure I was the only one of the thousands in there who [...]
Ferran Adria interviewed in EL PAIS
Posted: February 14, 2010 in Spanish culture, Spanish food and wineTags: El Bulli, El Bulli closing, El Bulli foundation, El Pais, elBulli, Ferran Adria
In the supplement of today’s EL PAIS (14/02/10), Agusti Fancelli has interviewed Ferran Adria about his plans for the future of elBulli. I’ve translated and summarised what he said here (a bit roughly and quickly): “What’s been happening over the last few days is neither cooking nor gastronomy. Spanish cuisine has taken on an economic [...]
The Mystery of Madrid’s ‘Golden Triangle’
Posted: January 2, 2010 in Madrid, Spanish cultureTags: Golden Triangle, Madrid, Paseo del Arte, Paseo del Prado, Puerta de Toledo, Spain, travel
I just read a piece in The Times – Madrid – a lesson in the dark arts – with a subhead about ‘Madrid’s golden triangle of art museums’. This is a very common expression, crops up all over the shop. Thing is, it doesn’t make sense. If you’ve been to Madrid, just think about it. [...]
Lorca investigation ends in more doubt
Posted: December 19, 2009 in Spanish cultureTags: Alfacar, Granada, Lorca
After six weeks of digging at the site in Alfacar, outside Granada, where experts believed the poet Federico Garcia Lorca had been shot and buried in 1936, nothing has been found. No bones, no scraps of clothing, no spent cartridges. A bullet mark was discovered on a rock, but that was it. But there was [...]
Madrid’s Desperate Romantics
Posted: December 9, 2009 in Madrid, Spanish cultureTags: Larra, Madrid, Marques de la Vega-Inclan, Museo del Romanticismo
Nine years ago, Madrid’s Museo Romantico closed for restoration. I don’t think many people noticed, to be honest. Like in most cities, the big three or four museums are always crowded, mostly with people who wouldn’t dream of going to an exhibition of anything in their home towns, while the smaller institutions get about three [...]
