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Water is essential for life and for living. Without water our land turns to desert, crops don't grow and we have nothing to wash with or to drink. Hygiene goes out of the window. What's more, water does a lot of damage - to infrastructure, buildings, crops, and it can kill! So, what's been happening lately in Spain?

Of the four patron saints' days in the British isles, I think St Patrick's Day in the Republic of Ireland is the most celebrated. St Andrew's Day in Scotland, November 30, comes second and St David's Day in Wales, March 1, comes in in third place. The English don't seem too bothered about St George's Day, which is "celebrated" (not) on April 23.

​The heavy rain and thunderstorms of the last couple of weeks, combined with a lousy infrastructure has left whole areas of the Serrania de Ronda flooded, with roads blocked by rockfalls and houses soaked, gardens waterlogged and frequent power cuts. ​Worse still, a major rockfall has blocked the main route from the Costa del Sol and the towns of San Pedro, Marbella and Estepona to the capital and main town of the Serrania, namely Ronda.

According to the highly regarded British newspaper, The Guardian, Spain is “a progressive beacon in dark times”. In an editorial published on Wednesday 26 February 2025, the paper claimed that Pedro Sánchez’s Socialist-led government has welcomed immigration and boosted public spending, with stellar results. Read on to find out more.

International Women's Day is celebrated annually on 8 March as a focal point in the women’s rights movement. IWD gives focus to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against women. ​This important day is celebrated throughout the world, on Saturday 8 March. Read more:

I first visited Spain in 1970, when Spain was a dictatorship under the tight control of General Franco and the Roman Catholic Church. I was 20. Viewed back then as a fascist country and a strictly religious society, pretty much everything was banned, including all forms of contraception. What's that got to do with suppositories? Read on to find out!

The Olive Press has recently published an article about five less well-known places away from the popular big cities, like Barcelona, Granada, Madrid, Málaga, Sevilla, and Valencia. The choices are good ‘uns. I’ve been to all five. Here’s what I think:

Local council mayors can earn good money these days. Previously, being mayor was a voluntary role and an honour. Whether they were effective is another matter. Surely, it’s right that the “chief executive” of a council with a budget to manage is regarded as a professional who should be paid.

Since my recent review and cull of this website, www.help-me-ronda, more issues have come to light. I shut down the WhatsApp link some time ago, because it became unmanageable. In the light of further feedback and discussion about the Facebook link, I have decided to axe that also.

It’s some 15 months since I started my website www.help-me-ronda.com. It has grown and grown and is a pretty comprehensive one-stop-shop” for information about all aspects of life in the Serranía de Ronda. It’s time for a review of the website, it’s aims and objectives and its fitness-for-purpose.

The Spanish Fly and his German wife often go to Germany for Christmas and New Year. They visit her family, which is distributed throughout the country In 2023 they visited Dresden, the city that rose from the ashes of the allied bombings at the end of World War II.

Just as I am preparing to apply for Spanish citizenship – deadline end of January – the country is doing its best to put me off going ahead! First of all, two of Spain’s police forces have p**sed me off big-style and on top of that two places have convinced me never to visit again. What’s the story?