Spanish Life; a quick guide
Spanish Cuisine 
The Spanish Cuisine is made of very different kinds of dishes due to the differences in geography, culture and climate. It is heavily influenced by the variety of seafood available from the waters that surround the country. As Spain has had a long and vast history and had many different cultural influences, the richness and variety of its cuisine is overwhelming, but all these ingredients have made up a unique and differentiated Spanish cuisine with thousands of recipes and flavours.
The international influences are nowhere more obvious than in Barcelona. Next door to a shop selling ready made falafels is an Asian food restaurant, which is next to a tradicional tapas bar, and on and on in amazing variety. Daily meals eaten by the Spanish are still very often made traditionally, by hand from fresh ingredients bought daily from the local market. This is more common in the rural areas and is of course much less common in the large urban areas like Madrid, where supermarkets are beginning to displace the open air markets. Even in Madrid food can be bought from the local shops, bread from the paneria, meat from the carniceria, etc.
One very interesting custom when going out is to take tapas with your drink (beer, wine, coke…). In some places like Granada tapas are given for free with your drink and have become very famous for that reason.

Salvador Dali 
Salvador Dalí was born on May 11, 1904, at number 20 Monturiolin street in the town of Figueres, Catalonia, Spain. Salvador Dali was the son of Salvador Dalí i Cusí. He attended Municipal Drawing School, where he first received formal art training. In 1916 Salvador Dalí discovered modern painting on a summer vacation to Cadaques with the family of Ramon Pichot, a local artist who made regular trips to Paris.
The next year Dalí’s father organized an exhibition of his charcoal drawings in their family home. He had his first public exhibition at the Municipal Theater in Figueres in 1919. In 1921 his mother died of cancer, and his father married his aunt, which the younger Salvador somewhat resented. In 1922 Dalí moved to Madrid, where he studied at the Academy of Arts (Academia de San Fernando). Dalí already drew attention as an eccentric, wearing long hair and sideburns, coat, stockings and knee britches in the fashion style of a century earlier. What got him the most attention from his fellow students were his paintings where he experimented with Cubism (even though in these earliest Cubist works he arguably did not completely understand the movement, for his only information on Cubist art came from a few magazine articles and a catalogue given to him by Pichot, since there were no Cubist artists in Madrid at the time).
Dalí also experimented with Dadaism, which arguably influnced his work throughout his life. He became close friends with poet Federico García Lorca and with Luis Buñuel at this time; he would later become Lorca’s lover. Dalí was expelled from the Academy in 1926 shortly before his final exams when he stated that no one on the faculty was competent enough to examine him. That same year he made his first visit to Paris, where he met with Pablo Picasso, whom young Dalí revered; the older artist had already heard favorable things about Dalí from Joan Miró. Dalí did a number of works heavily influenced by Picasso and Miró for the next few years, as he groped towards developing his own style. Some trends in Dalí’s work that would continue throughout his life were already evident in the 1920s, however: Dalí omnivorously devoured influences of all styles of art he could find and then produced works ranging from the most academic classicism to the most cutting edge avante garde, sometimes in separate works, and sometimes combined. Exhibitions of his works in Barcelona attracted much attention, and mixtures of praise and puzzled debate from critics.
1929 was an important year for Dalí. He collaborated with Spanish filmmaker Luis Buñuel on the short film Un Chien Andalou and met his muse and future wife, Gala Eluard, born Helena Deluvina Diakinoff, a Russian immigrant eleven years his senior who was then married to the surrealist poet Paul Eluard. In the same year, Dalí had important professional exhibitions and officially joined the Surrealist group in the Montparnasse quarter of Paris (although his work had already been heavily influenced by Surrealism for 2 years). In 1934 Dalí and Gala, having lived together since 1929, were married in a civil ceremony.
Upon Franco’s coming to power in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War, Dalí came into conflict with his fellow Surrealists over political beliefs. Dalí was a strong supporter the fascist coup by Franco. He applauded the repression of the new regime, congratulating Franco for his actions aimed “at clearing Spain of destructive forces". Dalí sent telegrams to Franco, praising him for signing death warrants for political prisoners. As such Dali was officially expelled from the predominantly Marxist Surrealist group. Dalí response to his expulsion was “Surrealism is me.” Breton coined the anagram “Avida Dollars,” by which he referred to the Dalí after the period of his expulsion; the Surrealists henceforth would speak of Dalí in the past tense, as if he were dead. The surrealist movement and various members (such as Ted Joans) thereof would continue to issue extremely harsh polemics against Dalí until the time of his death and beyond.
As war started in Europe, Dalí and Gala moved to the United States in 1940, where they lived for eight years. In 1942 he published his entertaining autobiography, The Secret Life of Salvador Dalí. He spent his remaining years back in his beloved Catalonia. The fact that he chose to live in Spain while it was ruled by Franco drew criticism from progressives and many other artists. Some think that the common dismissal of Dalí’s later works has more to do with politics than the actual merits of the works themselves.
In 1958, Dalí and Gala were re-married in a Roman Catholic ceremony. Gala died on June 10, 1982. In Dalí’s later years, young artists like Andy Warhol proclaimed Dalí an important influence on pop art. In 1960 Dalí began work on the Teatro-Museo Gala Salvador Dalí in his home town of Figueres; it was his largest single project and the main focus of his energy through 1974. He continued to make additions through the mid 1980s. After Gala’s death in 1982, Dalí lost much of his will to live. He deliberately dehydrated himself–possibly as a suicide attempt, possibly in an attempt to put himself into a state of suspended animation, as he had read that some microscopic animals could do.
He moved from Figueres to the castle in Pubol which he had bought for Gala and was the site of her death. In 1984 a fire broke out in his bedroom under unclear circumstances–possibly a suicide attempt by Dalí, possibly a murder attempt by a greedy caretaker, possibly simple negligence by his staff– but in any case Dalí was rescued and returned to Figueres where a group of his friends, patrons, and fellow artists saw to it that he was comfortable living in his Theater-Museum for his final years. Salvador Dalí died of heart failure on January 23, 1989 at Figueres, Catalonia, Spain. He is buried in the crypt of his Teatro Museo in Figueres.

Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso was born in Malaga, Spain and he is probably the most famous as the founder, along with Georges Braque, of Cubism. However he produced a wide and varied body of work, the best-known being the Blue Period works which feature moving depictions of acrobats, harlequins, prostitutes, beggars and artists.
While Picasso was more a painter, as he believed that an artist must paint in order to be considered a true artist, he also worked with small ceramic and bronze sculptures, collage and even produced some poetry. “Je suis aussi un poete,” as he quipped to his friends.
Picasso hated to be alone when he wasn’t working. In Paris, in addition to having a distinguished coterie of friends in the Montmartre and Montparnasse Quarters, including Andre Breton, Guillaume Apollinaire, writer Gertrude Stein and others, he usually maintained a number of mistresses in addition to his wife or primary partner.
Picasso’s most famous work is probably his depiction of the German bombing of Guernica, Spain. This large canvas embodies for many the inhumanity, brutality and hopelessness of war. The painting of the picture was captured in a series of photographs by Picasso’s most famous lover, Dora Maar, a distinguished artist in her own right. A Nazi officer is supposed to have come to his door brandishing a postcard and demanding, “Did you do this?” “No,” Picasso is supposed to have replied, “you did.” The Guernica hung in New York’s Museum of Modern Art for many years, and is now in Madrid – Picasso stipulated that the painting should not return to Spain until democracy was restored in that country.
As certain works, for example the Cubist pieces, tend to be associated in the public mind with Picasso, it is important to realize how talented Picasso was as a painter and draughtsman. He was capable of working with oils, watercolours, pastels, charcoal, pencil, ink, or indeed any medium with equally high facility. With his most extreme cubist works he came close to deconstructing a complex scene into just a few geometric shapes while at the same time being capable of photo-realistic pen and ink sketches of his friends. Picasso had a massive talent for almost any artistic endeavor he turned his mind to, despite limited formal academic training (he finished only one year of his course of study at the Royal Academy in Madrid), and a ferocious work-ethic.

Bullfighting
Bull fighting or in Spanish tauromaquia, is a spectacle whose variations are popular in Spain, Portugal, some countries in Latin America, and in the south of France. Bullfighting goes back to ancient Rome, when many people-killing-animal events were held as a warm-up for gladiatorial sports. The event’s earliest roots are most probably religious.
The Spanish version of the event, called a corrida de toros, begins with a procession accompanied by band music. Next, the bull enters the ring, to be tested for ferocity by the matador (toreador or torero) and banderilleros with pink and gold capes. After a period of time, picadores on blinkered horses go past the bull and put lances into the bull’s neck, further enraging and weakening the bull, and, crucially, weakening its neck muscles. The audience often objects to excessive use of the lance to tire the bull too much.
Next is a suerte de banderillas, in which three banderilleros goad the bull so they can stab the bull’s shoulders with coloured, sharpened sticks. Finally, in the suerte de matar (death act), the matador reenters the ring alone with a small red cape. Having dedicated the bull to an individual or the whole audience, he uses his cape to attract the bull in a series of passes, demonstrating his control over it. He then attempts to manoeuvre the bull into a position to stab it between the shoulders and through the heart. This often fails, and the toreador must cut the bull’s spinal cord with a second sword, killing it instantly. Very occasionally, a particularly resilient bull will be spared.
A typical bullfight will involve three matadors fighting two bulls each though, occasionally, a mano-a-mano confronts two matadors fighting three bulls each. Trophies and prizes (usually a bull’s ear, or both ears, or both ears and the tail) are awarded to matadors, mostly according to the reaction of the crowd to the fight. The Portuguese version is conducted on horseback and does not involve injuring the bull.
The aesthetic of bullfighting, which is regarded as a deeply ingrained part of the culture and an art in the countries where it is practiced, is based on the interaction of the man and the bull. Rather than a competitive sport, the bullfight is more of a ritual which is judged by its aficionados based on artistic impression and command. Animal rights campaigners object strongly to bullfighting on account to the slow, painful death the bull suffers, and kill bullfights are banned in most countries. “Bloodless” variations, though, are permitted and have attracted a following in California. A number of animal-rights activist groups undertake anti-bullfighting actions in Spain and other countries (see links).
However, these views are not widely understood in the countries where Spanish bullfighting is practiced; the argument is that bulls are bred for the ring, live well before they are killed, and if the bullfight went, the bulls would too. Furthermore, part of the artistic impression of a corrida is based on the “cleanliness” of the kill; prolonged suffering is regarded as part of a very poor performance, and experienced bullfighters are able to avoid it.
Spanish bullfighting is a traditionally male sport. Only recently have a very small number of women ever been toreadores, such as Cristina Sánchez. Many bullfighters have met their deaths on the horns of a bull, including one of the most celebrated of all time, Manolete. Especially prominent bullrings are to be found at Madrid, Sevilla, and Mexico City.

Time in Spanish Culture 
Punctuality is practiced in the north of Spain especially in the industrialized regions. The south of the country, in comparison, is not as regimented by time and they tend to adopt an attitude which may be perceived as “lax". The people in the south of Spain do not perceive time as a crucial element, which may be reflected in delays in meetings or a lack of distinct time schedules. These two regions value time differently and business in the south may not be deemed to be as reliable.
Many business people may not arrive to the office until 11am. They may take the ‘siesta’ but do not leave their desks until 8-9p.m at night. With Spain under pressure to adjust to richer neighbors’ timetables, the ritual three-hour break for lunch and a nap is disappearing. In private business, breaks longer than an hour are becoming rare as Europe’s single currency, the euro, draws Spanish companies, stock traders and multinationals onto similar schedules with clients across the continent
The ‘siesta’ has been hindered due to the fact the traditional housewife role of women has changed and they are now a valuable part of the workforce. There no one at home making the traditional hot meal for mid-day. In Spain, siesta is not a time to sleep but a time to eat, talk and relax. This is in line with the fact that they are a high context culture and value family and relationships. Shops and businesses are usually opened from 9 or 9:30 am to 1:30 pm and from 4:30 or 5 pm to 8 or 8:30 pm, though it has become more and more common for businesses to stay open through the traditional ’siesta’ hours. Business establishments are usually closed for a day-and-a-half per week, most often Saturday afternoon and Sunday, although many shops will close only on Sunday.

Sherry 
Sherry is a fortified wine originally produced in the Jerez de la frontera region of Spain. The name Sherry resulted from a mispronunciation of Jerez in English. Spanish producers have registered the names Jerez / Xerés / Sherry and will prosecute producers of similar wines from other places using the same name. However the name Sherry is used as a semi-generic in the United States where it must be labeled with a region of origin such as American Sherry or California Sherry.
Three types of grapes may be used in Spain for making sherry: Palomino, Pedro Ximenez, and Muscat (Moscatel). Sherry made in other countries often uses other grape varieties. Sherry differs from other wines because of how it is treated after fermentation. It is first fortified with spirits and then if destined to be fino style a yeast called flor is allowed to grow on top. Oloroso style is fortified to a strength where the flor cannot grow.
Sherry is then aged in the solera system where new wine is put into wine barrels at the top of a series of 4 to 9 barrels. Each year half of the wine in a barrel is moved into the next barrel down. At the end of the series only half the barrel is bottled and sold. So the youngest wine going into the bottle is as old as the number of barrels in the series and every bottle also contains some much older wine.

Paella
Paella (meaning frying pan, pronounced “pah-eh-yah") is a typical dish of Valencia, Spain, where it is eaten especially on Sundays. There are of course many variations of it with different ingredients.
Ingredients (for 4 people)
500g chicken
500g rabbit or Calamari
480g rice
350g paella vegetables (big haricot beans “garrofó", small haricot beans “tavella", green beans “bajoqueta (de ferradura)"/"judías verdes", red peppers and green peppers optional)
24 snails (optional)
120g tomatoes
1.5 litres of water
Olive oil, salt, paprika ("pebre roig"/"pimentón dulce"), saffron, rosemary.
Preparation

Clean well the snails, the chicken and the rabbit. Cut the chicken and the rabbit in small pieces. Put olive oil in a paella pan, and when hot, stir-fry the chicken and the rabbit pieces. When that is all sofregit, add the tomato and stir-fry til well sofregit, then the vegetables and stir-fry til they reduce. Add a little bit of paprika and, preventing it from being burnt, then add the water, as described next.

Optionally, in another container, water must have boiled alone for half an hour. You can also pour cold water directly, but the important thing is that the water is calcarean, as it is in Valencia. After that, throw the (boiling) water to the paella (double volume than the rice, use a cup for measuring). Add the saffron and salt to taste, and at last add the snails. Let lively boil for around 10 minutes. Correct the evaporated water during these minutes by adding a little more water. Then add the rice and stir. The rice must hard cook to slow fire 10 minutes and 10 minutes to slower fire. Set the fire off, put some small branches of rosemary over the rising rice, and let the rice soak the remaining liquid in. Remove from fire and cover with some newspaper sheets for about 10 minutes. Once the rice gets dry the paella is ready to be served.
Some lemon juice may be poured over the paella. The magic words “bon profit” must be said. Paella dish is usually eaten on the very paella with a spoon. As a local rule says, no bread must be eaten if the paella is to be finished.


Flamenco 
Flamenco is about two hundred years old and it is known worldwide as a Spanish folklore music. The four basic types of flamenco are: the “tonas” which are the oldest, the “soleá", the dramatic “seguiriya", and the “tangos". Flamenco since its origins has been deeply rooted in the talent and experiences of the gypsies from all over Andalucia mainly, and to a lesser extent from other areas of the Iberian peninsula. The lyrics of flamenco treat any imaginable theme, from up to date stories, to politics, to love, to history, to humor, and so on.
Flamenco music comes from the soul, there are many varieties of flamenco, from the cante jondo (the Deep Song) to bulerias (thirty different varieties in all). Some of those can tear your soul to shreds; others can bring you ecstatic ebullience. The ideal in flamenco is called “duende” (demon or elf), this refers to a state of emotional involvement, of group communication at a deeper level and a feeling of sympathy, between musicians, dancers and listeners.
The most common dance and cante of the eight Andalusian provinces is the sevillanas. They can be easily heard and watched during the Feria de Abril de Sevilla and the Romería of the Virgin of the Rocío. In their origin the sevillanas counted with only one part, until the Reyes brothers, a group of sevillanas from Castilleja de la Cuesta, “invented” the sevillana as we know it today with four parts quite differentiated with its distinct steps dance in couples. From that moment on, the sevillanas took on a character of their own which is renewed each year around April, when the new trends of compositions appear setting the pace for that year.
There are different types of sevillanas: the classical, “rocieras", “corraleras", and more; each depending of the geographical zone and the peculiar style of the interpreter. An important feature of this from of art can be appreciated in the Carlos Saura’s film “Sevillanas". In the film, sevillanas are studied for their different types of cante, dance, and “touch".

Her Majesty the Queen
Dona SOFIA DE GRECIA Y HANNOVER was born in Athens on November 2nd, 1938. She was first born daugther of the King and Queen of Greece, Paul I and Federika. Her majesty’ family belongs to one of the oldest Royal Houses in Europe and is related to the Czars of Russia, the German Emperors and Queen Victoria of Great Britain.
Her Majesty spent part of her childhood in Egypt and South Africa, as her family was obliged to go into exile during the Second World War. She returned to her country in 1946, completed her education at the prestigious German boarding school of Schloss Salem, and, having returned to Athens, specialized in paediatrics, music and archaelogy. She took part as a reserve for the Greek sailing team in the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome.
On May 14th 1962 she married Prince Juan Carlos de Borbon y Borbon, and in subsequent years her three children were born: Infanta Elena on December 20th, 1963, Infanta Cristina on June 13th, 1965, and Prince Felipe on January 30th, 1968.
In addition to taking part in institutional events, the Queen devotes a great deal of attention to social and charity activities. She is the executive president of the Queen Sofia Foundation, and honorary president of the Royal Board on Education and Care of Handicapped Persons, and the Foundation for Aid for Drug Addicts.

Costa Blanca - Javea
Javea on the Costablanca is a small, historic town , it is free of high rise buildings.
Javea with its variety of landscape, ranging from sandy coastlines to rugged mountain areas, the mild year-round climate, and its careful property planning policies, is a jewel on the Costa Blanca, combining beauty and modern facilities with the charm of an ancient fishing village.
Javea is situated between the San Antonio and La Nao capes, enjoying the impressive and magnificent protection of the Mount Montgó. Dominating the fishing port is the modern silhouette of the church of Nestra Senora de Loreto. Outside the town, following the road to the San Antonio cape, the architectural sites include the monastery of Nuestra Senora de los Angeles, a series of small hermitages clutching the slopes of the mountain and some ancient windmills.
Javea old town is steeped in history, with tosca stone porticoes, gothic bay windows, wrought iron window bars and balcony railings. The church of San Bartolemé in the town centre is an example of late gothic with a defensive character. The “Soler Blasco” Archaeological Museum is close by in the narrow streets and offers a wealth of information about the Iberian history. Nearby you can find the covered indoor market selling all sorts of household goods and fresh fish brought up from the Port daily.

Valencia - Fiesta and Folklore 
The city of Valencia is best known for its rollicking festivals and especially for its spectacular fireworks, which have developed here to an art of its own. In Valencia people spend a whole year building a pyrotechnical work of art which then will burn down in one single night. This shows the character of the population, who really enjoy the moment and celebrate each festival as if it were the last one.
The most important of the festivals in Valencia is certainly the Fallas de San José, a celebration of the beginning of springtime. In all the town one will see impressive cardboard constructions which will be burned on the last day of the festival (19th March).
For Feria de Julio (in July) all Valencia is decorated with a sea of flowers. Again there are dancing parties, fireworks and some of the most important bullfights of Spain. At October, 9th, the Day of Comunidad Valenciana, there are commemorations of the reconquest of the town from the Moors.
Another typical festival is the “Fiesta de la Mocaorá", an event in particular beloved by gourmets: specially for it are prepared those traditional specialities of marzipan, Piuletes and Tronadors.

Calpe - Costa Blanca
Calpe is a place where famous writers such as Hemingway spent their summers in the thirties. Now, after more than seventy years, Calpe’s attractions makes the village an attractive spain real estate destination for home owners from all walks of life. You can experience the best views of the Costa Blanca from an enormous rock in Calpe known as the Peñón de Ifach rock. The summit of this limestone, recorded as the highest rock in the entire Mediterranean at 332 metres high, can be visited in organised groups.
The area surrounding the Peñón has many archaeological and historical qualities. Prehistoric, Iberian, Phoenician and Roman remains are reported to have been discovered here and on the piece of land which links it to the coast. At the foot of the Peñón is the site of a Roman ‘factory’ for the drying and salting of fish and is known as the ‘Baños de la Reina’, which translates ‘The Queen’s Baths’.
There are 11 kilometres of sandy beaches, such as the Levante and Arenal beaches, and coves like the one at La Manzanera where there are three buildings designed by Ricardo Bofill, and the Les Urques cove where scuba diving and fishing are possible.

Culture in Alicante Costa Blanca 
Alicante, the main centre on the Costa Blanca, is a university city, with various faculties and a series of technical colleges. During the summer time a variety of Spanish courses for foreigners are held.

The City of Alicante offers an interesting range of cultural activities. Those activities taking place in various centres around town; for example at the Casa de la Cultura (cultural centre), which has also a well-stocked library and a historical archive. These facilites keep locals and visitors abreast of cultural movements by staging expositions, conferences and films.

A number of financial entities also have their own Cultural Centres, offering a diverse programme throughout the year. The Teatro Principal, a neo-classical building of the middle 19th century, offers an extensive programme a the exhibition centre Lonja del Pescado. In the month of September the National Theatre Meeting “Alicante a Escena” is held, along with the International Contemporary Music Festival. In December there is an International Puppet Festival.



much more to follow ---