"Mañana" - The Andalucia Guide & Diary

Feliz Cumpleanos "Goog"

Rafa made the spontaneous decision to buy flights to Bilbao.We very nearly didn't make it what with work commitments, but we wanted to take in the 10th Anniversary celebrations for the Guggenheim Museum. It's been almost a year since we committed to buy our house together, but the completion date has kept being pushed back and we were tired of not making regular plans to have weekends away.
It doesn’t seem that long ago I read about how The Solomon R Guggenheim Foundation had built a museum in this industrial city. Back then, in 1997, it had more than its fair share of post-industrial problems.
Now, ten years on seems a great time to see the “Goog” & the transformed Bilbao. One has the chance to see how this titanium flower has truly made the surrounding area bloom. The once industrial site, with cranes and a large container depot, is now a sculpture park featuring local artists such as Chillida; and designer bridges, including the Campo Volantin by Santiago Calatrava. It is a vibrant focal point and centre for a cleaned-up city – a magnet for visitors, foreign investment and all things “design”.
Any one with an interest in contemporary art and architecture will know that Bilbao is a text book case study on how investment in iconic, public building and art can transform the built environment, increasing investment, tourism and the confidence and self-esteem of a city. Many places across Europe have tried to emulate Bilbao's success, but at the end of the day it is the shear ambitious nature of the town council at inviting such world class architects for such significant projects that has led to its unique success.
Calatrava’s bijou yet stunning Bilbao airport is the designer gateway for most foreign visitors to the city (Brits have no excuse not pop over to this Basque Country cultural and business hub, since it is cheaper to fly there from London that it is for most Spaniards to fly there internally!). The short drive from the new airport through the lush green valley of pine forests towards the tunnel that takes you to the neighbouring valley of Bilbao makes it hard to imagine just how industrial this place is. However, running north towards the coast are factories and industrial complexes that emulate the landscape of the industrialized north east of England.
The city at first appears compact, with the designer hotels (like the colourful Hisperia Hotel, where we decided to stay), nestling around the Guggenheim. To the east is the Casco Viejo, or old town, with its charming Old Square, a great place to try the amazing variety of pintxos together with local wines, beers or ciders. Pintxos are a local interpretation of tapas that can be found in the Basque Country. Ingredients are stacked up on a small slice of toast or bread and held in place by a cocktail stick or pintxo. You take what you want and the barman calculates you bill by the number of size of the cocktail sticks on your plate. However, I noticed that many bars had actually done away with the toothpicks altogether and relied on the honesty of the customer when working out the bill. Food quality in Bilbao is excellent and puts some local Andalucian dishes to shame.
Despite this, you do have to persevere at first to find some good places to eat and drink in old town, as when you first wonder into the ancient district at night, the dark, gothic style streets can seem a bit drab and the local youth with their “goth” style clothes, died hair and body piecing add a certain small-town grungy feeling. Yet there are plenty of lively bars offering all manner of snacks, from wild mushroom with fois gras, or tiny portions of fillet steak with onions or even sea food creations…just experiment and enjoy!
In our experience, the local people are extremely friendly. I almost felt the welcome from locals was a way to compensate for region's mixed reputation due to the ETA terrorists that remain active (and uncompromisingly out-of-sync with public opinion and modern European methods of reconciliation and conflict resolution as demonstrated by the progress in Northern Ireland).
The atmosphere is very different from the Mediterranean. Clearly the cold climate, like in the UK, makes for a culture that is more about being huddled together in smoky bars than out on the streets. People seem quieter and more reserved, yet once engaged, they are genuine and enthusiastic. We had many examples of throughout our weekend, from an elderly man offering us a tram ticket so we could catch the next service, to a lady in the street offering detailed and enthusiastic ideas of what to do, to a local in a bar inviting us to a plate of tapas.
It was so satisfying to be in a new city, as I miss a little bit of urban buz, living here on the coast  – although I have to say these northerners were not blessed with good looks. Living in the south, one is surrounded by Mediterranean good looks, and it is not uncommon to see anyone from a waitress to a builder in Malaga province that you think could probably pull off a career in modeling. Yet up in Bilbao, they have mostly fell from the ugly tree, hitting quite a few branches on the way down! Another total generalisation I’d like to make is that the city appeared to be very gay-friendly. The region´s history of anti-conservatism I guess has had an impact on the modern society. The city does have a reputation for being the gay capital of the Basque Country and it was nice that Rafa & I got a few cheeky glances from boys when walking around the city – we don’t get that at home any more, now that we’re on the way to 40!
For the culture vultures, there is plenty in the city to keep you busy for a weekend. There are at least 8 or 9 major institutions offering collections of local, national and international art as well as history. For example, the Museo de Bellas Artes has a collection of art from 12th to 20th century in a conventional museum set up. A good place to stop off for a coffee if you’re walking the sculptures gardens and parks of this part of the city.
But of course the star is the Frank O. Gehry Guggenheim. I’ve never been a great fan of art galleries – always one to have a quick “overview” than go straight to the bar or café followed by some retail therapy in the gift shop to get some pretentious coffee table book and maybe some postcards. Yet the Guggenheim cannot fail but to demand your time and attention. It’s worth the 10 euros or so to get in just to enjoy the amazing building. Forget some of the complete esoteric, academic “crap” (sorry, art) that’s on show and just explore the gallery spaces – the building is filled with interesting and irregular spaces that you can enjoy in different ways from the floor level, balconies or elevated walkways. The ticket price does include a free audio guide that helps decipher some of the more weird pieces. But for me, art shouldn’t need an audio guide. Take for example, the mammoth steel sculpture/installation “The Matter of Time” by Richard Serra – they are really powerful.  It is part of the permanent collection. You can’t help but be engaged by it.
What’s more the cafeteria does an excellent fixed menu lunch for 15 euros! Food is my favourite art form! The menu is from the Martin Berasategui kitchen and excellent (but it was a shame they served the main course on a cold plate, but I was enjoying some good wine so didn't really care!)
Saturday night saw Rafa & I patiently standing in the cold outside the museum for the fire work display; only 15 minutes but it was a suitably impressive way to celebrate the Guggenheim’s birthday.
Statistically the Spaniards have not really embraced the place, with most visitors coming from the UK, Germany, Italy & France. Even some of the fiercely independent (almost xenophobic) locals are opposed to the place. Yet its positive effect on the city is indisputable.
If one takes the shiny new metro (with its Norman Foster designer entrances) north from the city centre, within 15 minutes you can be at the northern coast and the port of Bilbao, with its incredible suspended bridge (“Puente Colgante”). The area is run down and struggles with some militant members of the community. The town hall displays an “ETA NO” banner. I don’t want to get too drawn into politics, but I do find it hard to understand why, in the 21st Century, in the modern, progressive environment of modern Spain with its strong constitution of autonomous regions, and the proactive policies that attract foreign investment to areas such as the Basque Country, why in deed is their any need for a violent struggle? Where exactly is the oppression, if not only in the minds and memories of some of the people?
I walked into a small bar to order a glass of wine and some tapas – in Spanish. I was very abruptly reminded that the small, tasty snacks across the bar were not tapas but “pintxos”; “tapas are in Madrid” the owner told me, “you’re in the Basque Country now”. In these independently minded places, even harmless names for snacks have a resonance and meaning far beyond the immediately obvious.
Well, I have to say that all-in-all Bilbao has really seduced me and made we want to go back north and explore more of the Basque Country, including the posh, gastronomic town of San Sebastian.
But before I book any more trips, I want to have moved into my new house!

Click here to read my review of Bilbao, published in Cache+ Magazine Download cache-bilbao.pdf

(I've created a photo album on the right for Bilbao - click to enter and then click on the tyhumbnails to see larger photos).

Media battle lines merge

The Madeleine McCann story is an extraordinary media phenomenon.  The tragedy of a vanished child, presumed dead is horrific, whoever or whatever was involved. Yet if one can put that aside (sorry to be so cold-hearted) and just look at how the story has evolved and the way it has been reported in the various media in the UK, Spain & Portugal, you see an interesting reflection of Mediterranean and British cultures. What´s more you see the alarming growth of gossip-style reporting entering into mainstream news journalism.
Crudely speaking the national media initially supported their national interests when reporting the story. The press doled out the facts with a localised spin. Then, as things got more complex, so the reporting got dirtier and now this has extended into a full blown backlash against the McCanns in the UK & abroad.  It would seem this general "perceived wisdom" that the McCanns must be involved has all been spawned from a few leaks and unethically reported innuendo that started in the Iberian press.
In the UK, when the missing child story broke, it quickly evolved into a national issue.
For the UK it was the story of a model British family abroad – a young camera friendly couple, medical professionals, with cute kids that were caught-up in a nightmare. Their child was snatched in a foreign land and they were left without much local support.
Here in Spain the story was ignored at first. In Portugal it was reported at a local level. Yet once it was aparent that little initial progress had been made by the local Police, then the criticism started in the UK, and the media coverage extended abroad.
Here, the UK media’s criticism of the local Police and their style of communication has been seen as a dig against the style and values of Mediterranean policing in general. Spanish press saw Britain in  and the McCann as part of some out of control media frenzy. The attitude here was along the lines that "just because the Portuguese don’t have a press conference every day doesn’t mean they don’t know what they are doing". The UK media was in turn criticised for its typical approach that Brits aboard are treated unfairly by backward, foriegn police.The battle lines was drawn and it soon to develop into media war between two cultures.
The backlash started to really take shape in the Iberian Peninsula. What started as some local unease in Portugal became much bigger. The press began their attack on the McCanns long before it started in the UK media. In Portugal, the Police, at first seen as inexperienced at using the media, were soon seen to be more than adapt at their own style of media manipulation  - with constant leaks of information and tidbits of speculation.
The speculation about the McCanns, their lifestyle and attitude towards the kids etc was widely explored in the Portuguese and Spanish press long before it started to appear in the UK. Body language experts were wheeled out on Spanish TV, that analysed TV appearances - all suggested that the parents were involved and that their relationship was abnormal.
I recall how earlier this summer with UK friends the story came up in conversation and I started to mention how the doubts were gaining momentum (obviously my comments had been fueled by the media coverage I had seen here) and my friends just looked at me in amazement – nothing like this had appeared in the UK at that time.
The UK is famous for its tabloid press. These tabloids have to pick their victims carefully if they are to protect and grow their readerships. The News of The World tabloid in the UK was the first to see that positive support of the McCanns was great for business. It really was not a good idea to start to point the finger at the parents when supporting the parents was growing their readership everyday. Even The Times, (part of News International, owners of the both newspapers) towed the same line and never mentioned the growing issues of doubt and speculation discussed in the foreign media.
In Spain and the Portugal the contrary was true. The tabloid press here, (and I include the “monton” of day-time and evening discussion shows and gossip shows) were the first to pick up on the issue that the McCanns left their kids in the crèche most days whilst on holiday and also tucked them up in bed in preperation for a night out. When one really thinks about this, it is not so uncommon amongst UK families on holiday (or when working) for that matter.Admittedly, babysitters are common, but the notion of leaving kids is not rare.
However in the Iberian Peninsula, leaving your kids or not involving them in daily life is far less common. It’s usual here to see young kids in restaurants dozing, their heads in their mother laps, or babies sleeping in prams, whilst parents enjoy supper on the terrace of a restaurant or bar.  The thought of leaving kids unattended was one of first triggers for the McCann Iberian media backlash.
The well-oiled media machine set up by the McCanns and friends to help find their daughter was applauded in the UK. Here it was seen as a spectacle. How could parents who had just lost their daughter, leave their twins behind with family and go traveling around Europe? Family loss, especially here in the South of Spain and Portugal is dealt with in a much more vocal way – a public display of distress is the norm. The composed nature of a British couple that still maintained perfect grooming, exercise porogrammes and well coordinated accessories and jewelry was lambasted in the local press. In the UK it was seen as composure and good old British grit. Interesting cultural differences.
Only now, over the past few weeks have the UK tabloids and even the broadsheets felt that the UK readership is ready for a bit of McCann kicking. The backlash is now in full swing in the UK, with lazy tabloid journalism regurgitating the same speculation in the Iberian media without much qualifying. Those very media battle lines have now merged. How long it will last, I am not sure. But it is certainly now a good way to grow more sales of papers.
BBC news online is one of my daily sources of news and they have decided to take the moral high ground. They purport not to mention speculation and intend to stick to just the facts – an interesting approach in modern sound bite journalism that is more and more embracing speculation, innuendo, and hearsay as news and information.
However, in realty the BBC is just the same, a perpetrator of gossip though its trashy daytime programming that masquerades the apalling "are they innocent or guilty / do you support or doubt them" debates as objective factually based journalism.
It’s interesting to remember the 1980 “A dingo’s has my baby" story at this time. Remember that one? The experience of the McCanns is starting to echo that of Linda Chamberlian. The public and media concern, the dodgy "expert" interpretations and scientific evidence, the Police stalling, the backlash, and then the trial and conviction of the mother…….followed years later by the exoneration and apology.
Let’s hope that the media in UK & Iberia don’t push the police and judiciary into making a similar mistake.

I stand corrected

Back in August of last year, when I was in Almeria, I wrote about the apathetic way in which Andalucians watch their wonderful part of the world being destroyed. Well, it seems that times-are-a-changing. My sweeping generalisation was not true! For example, The Rio Grande Vivo Siempre campaign is a great example of how local action can have national impact. The Rio Grande flows near Guaro.  It has been proposed that the river be dammed and the water diverted to Malaga, a growing, thirsty city..  This kind of environmental nightmare has been going on for years. Many rivers on the Costa del Sol have been destroyed, leaving nothing but arid, dusty veins running across the region, so that we can enjoy the benefits of modern living in luxury apartments and hotels aor play golf on perfectly green courses. Yet this recent plan for the Rio Grande is meeting with a strong resistance from motivated and organised local people.  Towards the end of last year I started to see graffiti on the roundabouts, roads and bridges in the local area as well as posters and banners across the villages and towns - "Rio Grande Siempre Vivo". The campaign has shown signs of being surprisingly organised.  When I asked some villagers about it, they all knew the issues. They were adamant that the river would not be destroyed.  This might have been seen as a classic "country vs city" fight, but the campaigners were clever not to lose support from Malaga capital.  They clearly communicated that this was an environmental issue. I recently read in La Chispa Magazine (the alternative magazine for Andalucia) that 200 people went to donate blood in the city to show their solidarity.  The campaigncontinues to go from strength to strength and is not just saying no to the dam, but also highlighting areas where the water could be saved in the city, such as recycling the huge amounts of grey water that get dumped into the sea by Malaga each year.
Reassuringly, the project to dam the river has now been "put on hold". Rio Grande Vivo Siempre!

(Photo of the banner was taken from the Rio Grande Vivo Siempre Blog - the site is in English too.)

Barcelona!

We made it away for a few days last weekend, to Barcelona, the powerhouse of design and business in Spain.  Catalunya is increasingly hostile to being simply an autonomous region within Spain and is actively seeking constitutional recognition as a nation. The complex regional politics date back to before the first world war, but last year, with the "New Statute of Autonomy" things began to really heat up.
It´s odd that whilst we continue to expand the European Union, at the same time smaller parts of the Union are also fighting to be more independent. The struggle for a sense of identity is part of the human spirit I guess and at least the Catalans are managing to fight their corner without resorting to terrorism. By the way, what´s the difference between a dialect and a language?  Catalan is positioned as a language, a strong element that reinforces Catalunya as a nation.  I´m no linguist, but it does seem an awful lot like Spanish with a few words mixed with French - okay, so that´s my controversial statement for the week....
On a more mundane note, I enjoyed being in a familiar city again, with great bars and sense of dynamism and energy that  you only really feel in genuine urban areas. Needless to say I managed to try plenty of tapas with a modern, urban, "sophisticated" twist - maybe they´ll make it down south one day -. the real home of tapas!

P.S. Forgot to add that we flew with Vueling, the new low cost airline out of Barcelona - they fly to the UK amongst other destinations.  I was totally impressed.  New Airbus, pre-bookable leather seats, clean cabin interior without gaudy colours, (Easy jet and Ryan Air may be taking over the world, but the boarding process combined with the aesthetic nightmare that is the cabin and cabin crew uniform  really makes the whole process unnecessarily stressful) professional cabin crew in fitted, classic uniforms (all cute gay blokes, from Brazil and Spain) and all this for the same price as a few drinks in a bar.  Check out the web site.

Corrupcion de dia, fiesta de noche!

This was the Antena 3  TV journalist's sign off from a news report about Thursday night's bash at Nikki Beach. The Spanish national media never miss an opportunity to have a dig at Marbella - the sinful city in sleepy Andalucia! With the recent arrest of Marbella's Mayoress and most of her team and the discovery of huge land planning irregularities and misappropriation of billions of euros, I guess it hardly surprising that they see Marbella as having a "Corruption by day, party by night" culture!

Well, I certainly enjoyed Thursday night's annual White Party, despite not having the need to let off steam after a hard day's work at illegal business activities!

The party was the kick off for the summer season - and especially important for Nikki Beach, in its attempt to keep its crown as the best beach club in Marbella despite competition from the enhanced Ocean Club in Puerto Banus and the soon-to-be-opened Puro Beach in Laguna Village.

Marbella - from the gloriously kitch and dramatic cinematic shorts, "Andalucia es de cine" - now available on DVD in English and Spanish.

How to be or not to be … a Citizen?

Finally, a year after my application, I am now officially a Spanish resident. Why bother? Well, in a nutshell since this is now home, emotionally and financially, it makes a lot of sense for me to be an official resident. I feel more connected and hey, I get a better interest rate from the bank! Although Spain is a fully-fledged member of the European Union, to get access to all benefits of citizenship, one needs to apply at a local police station for residency.
The process took some time, as no sooner had I applied for residency in April 2005, than Spain adopted an amnesty for all illegal immigrants.Since Andalucia has a huge number of illegal immigrants, due to its proximity to Africa, the system really slowed down due to the sheer weight of applications. However, I think it's good to see a country taking a progressive attitude to immigration, rather than ignoring it or distorting it.  The countries with the fastest growing economies are often the ones with the greatest economic contribution from migrant workers.
My fairly easy, yet lengthy process to get residency here makes me think about the big debates going at the moment about citizenship, national identity etc. in the across Europe & the USA.
Although I don’t think of myself as Spanish ( I'm proud to live here and feel it is home), neither do I really have strong feelings about my UK identity.
For me “European” has more resonance. With the creation of the EU and the later free movement of trade and people, there has been a huge shift in people across borders and to a large extent this has eroded the traditional national pride and identity of many.
Many, like me move to a new country in serach of a better quality of life, or to learn a new language.  Others, for sheer economic necessity.  Yet the additional of perceived outsiders in a competitive economy can create friction..Look at the recent hostility against immigration seen in the US (wasn’t that country built on immigration??), and the shift to the far right in UK local politics shows that for an increasing number of people though, the concept of “foreign” creates strong reactions. Here in Southern Spain there are hundreds of thousands of foriegn nationals. In many ways, this is a good thing. It’s a cosmopolitan environment of Europeans and other nationalities living and working together – with a sense of identity that goes beyond language or politics or home country. 
Yet many foreign people here on the coast are disengaged – living here, experiencing the benefits, but not engaging in a profound way. Many of my fellow expats (the euphemism for immigrant) are totally disengaged from the day-to-day politics and issues of Spain. This, I believe is partly due to language challenges, partly due to lack of interest and partly due to alienation from corrupt and unaccountable public institutions. Many have not decided to register with the local authority or adopt residency. Here, where the sun shines and the golf courses are close by, it doesn’t seem important. Yet some of these people are the ones that often state over drinks or dinner how England has “gone to the dogs” with all the immigrants, who don’t integrate, don’t learn much on the the language!

Spain - learning to use the never-never...

Sunday evening on the beach is the perfect antedote to the Sunday night blues.  This is one of the few times I immerse myself in the UK media - I enjoy to work my way through the one or two English Sunday papers, seeing what's going on whilst relaxing in the cooler evening air.  With the horrors of the UK news, today I turned to the glossy El Pais Sunday supplement.  El Pais is a little like the Guardian or Observer in its political positioning and the articles on Spanish society often reflect its fascination and concern with Spain's increasing love affair with consumerism.

The economic miracle of post-Franco Spain is quite extraordinary.  The speed at which the country has gone from a tightly controlled, agricultural nation to a free, post-industrial power-house is remarkable.  But the speed of change has its detractors.  Back in the UK, pushing the trolley around the supermarket on a Sunday afternoon is common place, but hear Sunday's are still very much family days - when the shops are shut and Andalucains head for the beach.

Yet this is changing.  Consumerism here is relatively new here and many people look to relocate here due to Spain's more down-to-earth culture and lifestyle.  But look at Spain through rose-coloured spectatcles.  Consumerism is taking hold here, and I don't just mean within international zones like Marbella.  Foreign and domestic Banks drive spending through more relaxed lending practices, making the plasma TV we can't live without even  easier to own.
"Gastamos mas de lo que ganamos" reads the headline in the El Pais Magazine; "we spend more than we earn".

Welcome to the club Spain...

Sunday in the Country

The horrible events that unfolded in London on Thursday 7 July make the day-to-day events of life seem trivial. At first I wanted a break from recording entries in the my diary, as glimpsing the news made me feel uncomfortable talking about mundane life.  But everyone in London is clearly determined to carry on. Thoughts are obviously with those families directly affected.

This Sunday Rafa and I went to his family's country house, deep in rural Andalucia, west of Ronda.  I managed to get a Sunday Times, printed here in Spain and the El Pais newspaper to get an update on what was happening in London.
It is powerful to see the empathy shown by the Spanish here towards Britain and Londoners.  The Madrid 11-M bombings were horrific and have had an immense impact on Spanish society.  I recall my diary entry on March 12, earlier this year (see archives) and I found a web site compiled by one of the newspapers here that listed every Madrid victim of 11-M and told something of their life. I think this is really important. The 7-7 London victims that were killed or injured in London must be personally recognised - not simply be a statistic. The impact of these bombers must be seen on a truly human scale.

Things could not have been more different in day-to-day rural Spain. My sunday away from it all was a luxury that I am sure many in London would have wished for. It was a typical Spanish family day, with plenty of home cooked food, with tasty salads, BBQ'ed meats and plenty of fresh fruit from the family's land.  Plums, cherries and peaches.

The photo below I took from the Ronda road, driving back in the evening.  Despite everything, the world is still a beautiful place.

7-J

What a difference 24 hours can make.

Thoughts and prayers for the victims and their families in London.

To denounce or not to denounce?

This morning I successfully completed yet another Rite of Passage on my journey to learn to live and work in Spain; I made my first “denuncia”.  I denounced my elderly neighbour, living in flat 1F!!

I recall when the country house near Guaro was first being built we were told that getting all the correct paperwork would be important as it was not uncommon in Spain for aggrieved neighbours to issue a denuncia with the local Police. To an unfamiliar Brit, the concept of being denounced publicly made me think of being slapped into the Stocks in the village green whilst passers-by threw rotten vegetables at me! It had such a medieval ring about it.

Well, in Spain a denuncia is the name given to the process of lodging a complaint with the local Police that one considers is worthy of consideration and investigation by the law.

So, what drove me to issue my very first denuncia? Well last night I parked my 4 x 4 rather badly in the underground car park of my apartment building, straddling two bays and sticking out. A little irresponsible; yes. A little selfish; yes. Yet not really a major issue in a car park that is almost empty and where my neighbouring bay is for my use too.

However, despite my best intentions to wake early and move my car, I didn’t. Instead I came down mid morning to discover my aged neighbour, letting the air out of all my tyres!!! The sound of escaping air meant that my neighbour didn’t hear me approach, so I could see clearly what he was doing. My Spanish, although still poor, was still enough to confront him. He was clearly shocked, but managed to bamboozle me with rapid, swift-fire Spanish about bad parking, the inconvenience of my bicycle locked against the wall etc.etc. Not able to resolve the situation and now very angry I decided to get even. In this heated moment I felt it was a matter for the Police! But how could I go about complaining to the Police? My first call in moments of panic like this is to the Cache Club. After hearing a calm voice explaining it’s not the world against me, I decided to call the Police myself.

Well, my view of the Spanish Law Enforcement Agency is now swiftly revised. Not only did the agent speak to me politely in English, but they quickly put me through to a multi-lingual contact centre in Madrid. The contact centre took down my complaint in English, translated it and emailed it to my local Police station in Marbella.

By the time I drove there and parked, the documents were already printed and waiting to be signed! I was also informed that one can even compile a complaint online. Umm, this could become a whole new activity for me – denouncing people!  All-in-all I was impressed by the very high-tech, efficient service provided by the Police. However, I may have started something I might not wish to finish.  I am not so sure that my close-knit apartment building will welcome an official investigation into illegal tyre deflation!