Blog

As I write this at 19.30 on the day itself in my local bar, there is nobody about! I’ve spoken to a few of my Spanish neighbours, and today is not important for them. They’re just glad to have a day off!

Today celebrates the immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus Christ, Son of God. Christians the world over consider today to be one of the most important days in the religious calendar. In many Roman Catholic countries, it is an official “feast day” or bank holiday.

I am basically a law-abiding citizen, a democrat, who fully understands that society needs rules in order for life to function. And that therefore a police force is required. However, it’s odd that Spain needs three. Although when it comes to which force is responsible for what, the lines are somewhat blurred.

In a similar manner, “Mazón lunched while Valencia flooded”. Regional president Carlos Mazón enjoyed a three-hour lunch with a female journalist while floods were laying waste to the Valencia region. In a piece in the HuffPost journalist Rodrigo Carretero highlights the main points of an article in the Financial Times.

After the devastating storms and floods in eastern Spain last week, which washed away cars, people, livestock and buildings, the authorities have estimated that some 100,000 vehicles have been turned into scrap. And they are in the way of clearing-up operations.

The Spanish Post Office is quite unlike the UK equivalent. There are no sub-post offices as such. Big cities in Spain have a main Correos and maybe a few others dotted around. Ronda (pop: 34,000) now has two.

With the cold and wet weather we have been experiencing in southern Spain since the clocks went back, people are turning their thoughts to heating their houses. The DIY Guy has lived in a number of properties in the Ronda area, so he knows a thing or two about keeping warm.

Changing our clocks and watches twice a year is to become a thing of the past. The farce of putting the clocks back in the Autumn and forward in the Spring is to come to an end in several European countries - including Spain as early as 2026.

How many museums are there in Málaga City? Amazingly there are 13! They range from art galleries to various municipal museums; from a Glass Museum to a Museum of Vintage Cars; Even a Museum of Video Games.

Southern Spain has experienced drought conditions for the last three years. The water levels in our reservoirs are very low. Restrictions on water use have been extremely strict, although, with an eye on earnings from tourism, they were relaxed for the summer season.

Sounds grim, huh? But no, since Banksie in the UK and Arikaio, Okuda and Víctor Fernández in Spain, graffiti has become respectable. And Ronda has just been chosen as one of the half-a-dozen or so towns in Spain to be designated by La Liga Nacional de Graffiti.

My social life revolves around the bar. Wherever I have lived, the local hostelry has always been the place to meet people and to find out what’s going on; what’s for sale; where are the best places to visit; anything at all, in fact.