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Chiringuitos Endangered Species?

Owners of “chiringuito” beach bars and restaurants along the coasts of Andalucia are worried that a new set of coastal regulations could spell the beginning of the end for many.

In reality, they should have little to fear because the regional government has taken a stand on the issue and pledges to back an industry that directly employs 40,000 people in our region.

As environmental awareness increases we can hardly blame coastal authorities for reviewing and upgrading their regulations, but at the same time both locals and millions of visitors could hardly imagine the beaches of southern Spain without the smell of spit roasted fish and other delicacies wafting out from the nearest “chiringuito”.

Ranging from simple seasonal structures to all season facilities, these bars are the lifeblood of the Spanish beach culture, providing not only local cuisine, but often music, entertainment and… toilets!

While I’m a firm supporter of environmentally friendly and sustainable living, I can understand the frustration of “chringuito” owners (there are about 4,000 of them in Andalucia) who have made substantial investments to meet current regulations (the estimated cost of setting up one of these bars is around 400,000 euros in order to meet all the regs) and yet, it never seems to be enough.

In the end, let’s hope the regional Junta de Andalucia is able to successfully mediate in order to keep the coastal authorities happy while still letting us enjoy fried fish on the beach.the sun don t lie download mp3

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Spain’s Summer Schedule

Get ready for “Horario de Verano”. That’s one Spanish phrase you should know. It literally translates as “Schedule of Summer” and means the opening hours for many businesses will change to accommodate the heat.

When I first learned about “Horario de Verano” so many years ago, I thought it couldn’t be true. How could we change opening hours just because it was summer? Impossible.

But in fact, it was true, not only true, but necessary! Just imagine trying to work through the heat of a southern Spanish summer. Survival requires a shift in living habits in order to stay up and enjoy the cool of the night. Strangely you can wake up early and feel ready to go in the early cool of the morning as well, but by mid-day – forget your plans! It’s time to hide from the heat.

This summer schedule often has workers in to the office as early as possible and then stretches their patience until 3:00 rather than the usual 2:00 break for lunch. Therefore, many put in a solid seven hours in one shot just to earn the right to go home, eat a good lunch, enjoy a much needed siesta and stay up half the night.

If you find that the summer schedule gets in your way, try to put yourself in the shoes of those trying to carry on working at this time of year. This new perspective will certainly change the way you feel about that “Cerrado” (Closed) sign hanging in the shop window after all the trouble you took to get there in the midst of stifling heat!

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Join the World March for Peace in Andalucia

Now this is exciting news:

The World March for Peace and Non-Violence, organised by the NGO World without War, is coming through Spain starting on the November 13, 2009 in Barcelona. Participants will march south to Madrid then on south to Andalucia. The march will continue across our region before heading into Morocco on November 17, 2009.

This event may seem to be a long way off but numerous high profile personalities from around the world are already working hard to promote this march. Thus there will be no excuses regarding late notice!

If you’d like to find out more about the World March for Peace route across Andalucia, visit the Spanish Information and Map page oasis supersonic

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Spanish Family Holiday

So many people come to Spain to spend their holidays at the beach, but have you every wondered how Spaniards spend their time off?

Of course they head for the beach like everyone else, that’s why it’s so crowded in the summer. The difference, perhaps is how they go to the beach – usually in large groups of family members – and how they generally spend this big, jolly family holidays.

My first summer with the Spanish family was pure culture shock – mainly because I kept waiting for something exciting to happen. You see, where I come from holidays are short and every last detail and activity is planned in advance. So imagine my surprise when I found that a family holiday in Spain was all about relaxing – and nothing (and I mean nothing) more. We relaxed. Then we relaxed some more and then… we kept on relaxing.

That first year, I found the situation quite distressing. After all, I wasn’t programmed to relax. I was prepared to get out and troop around in the blazing mid-day sun like the rest of the foreigners on holiday here – getting all the sunshine I could and enjoying the stifling heat to the max, risking heat stroke and turning myself into a lobster.

Instead, the primary goal seemed to be keeping cool and laying low. We enjoyed the beach in the morning and the pool in late afternoon (after a long lunch and a lengthy nap). Walking was reserved for the cool of the evening.

And every day the routine was exactly the same as the day before. The days blurred into one another and soon I barely knew who I was much less where I was.

Now, all these years later, I’m learning to love - even crave – the slow, quiet routine of these hot summers. And the art of relaxing? Well, it’s not so bad, you know.

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No More Skipping School in Andalucia?

lotion lotrisone uses The Andalucian Ombudsman, Jose Chamizo, is always looking out for new problems to solve. And this one might not be so new, but it definitely needs solving.

After all, who among us can claim to never have skipped school?

Yes, those were the good old days. But here we are in the year 2009 in Andalucia with a school failure rate that tops the European charts. And this only contributes to widening the gap between the educated and uneducated in this country.

The Ombudsman has called on the Andalucian government, therefore, to create an alternative school system for kids who just don’t fit into the highly academic structure of the Spanish curriculum. Whereas a few years ago these kids could get out at the age of 14 and start working, now they must stay in school until their 16 years old.

Until this latest call by the Ombudsman the main headlines in Spanish press were dedicated to the woes of teachers and “good students” who had to put up with trouble makers who just wanted to get out.

Personally, I welcome Chamizo’s ideas. Finally someone is looking at the problem through the eyes of kids who know they still need an education but aren’t able to keep up with the conventional system. Leaving them out spells trouble for everyone. Finding a way to incorporate them will translate into better returns for society at large.

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Do as the Andalusians…

The most appropriate thing to do in the face of the summer heat is to live like the Andalusians.

One of my favourite changes that summer brings is dining “al fresco” (yes, I know this is not “do as the Romans” - but the phrase does fit). While some love to breakfast in the sunshine, I prefer to lunch on a shady terrace - especially if we have a light breeze.

The cool of the evening is also a perfect time to have late meals outside. And this is where the help of an expert gardener can make all the difference as there is such a wide variety of aromatic plants that generously scent the warm air at night. Jasmine is probably the most popular, but I also love what Spaniards call “dama de noche”. These aromas add the perfect touch to the evening outdoor dining experience and probably account for how late so many of us end up staying on the terrace after the meal is finished.

Yes, eating outside from June to about mid October (if we’re lucky) is delightful, enchanting and perhaps - for some - even romantic. But there is a very practical side to this practice: it keeps the mess of meals outdoors. As a busy, working mother, I for one, can appreciate that.

And if you’re really looking to integrate fully into local customs, then consider adding an outdoor kitchen to your dining area. This is a boon to the cook, who will no longer have to slave away in a hot kitchen. Again, the mess stays outside, and serving and clearing up is so much easier to manage.

One other trick to summer dining in Andalucia is to prepare food in the morning and then either eat it cold or at room temperature (possibly heating it lightly in the good old microwave). It’s also advisable to stick with salads, cold veggy soups (like gazpacho), fruit and yogurt as much as possible. While those of us from northern climes are used to hot meals, the body does indeed prefer cold dishes this time of year.

Particularly if you plan to spend more than just a few days in the south of Spain during the heat of summer, it is highly advisable you take my advice and - do as the Andalusians!

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The Andalucian Pine Nut

Andalucia is known for sun, sand and sea. This region is also known for its bullfighting and flamenco. And some know that the south of Spain is an important producer of olives and olive oil.

But how many people know about these other traditional, highly appraised crops: chestnuts, grapes, avocades and… pine nuts?

Yes, this past pine nut season - December to April - nearly 145,000 kilos were harvested in the mountains of Córdoba, Cádiz and Huelva. Like cork and wood, the harvesting of this mountain product is highly regulated in order to ensure that the harvest is environmentally sustainable and, in fact, benefits the environment.

According to the online news source Andalucia Noticias, the pine nut provided workers in Córdoba, Cádiz and Huelva with nearly 1,000 full days of work. A welcome contribution in the face of high local unemployment rates…

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Time in excess

Life is speeding up, people say. There’s not enough time, is the big excuse. And it’s a fact, in some cultures, people suffer from a time deficit while in other cultures people seem to enjoy a time surplus.

I wouldn’t say Spain actually enjoys a tremendous surplus, but there is a lot more time here than - say - northern Europe or the United States. Those poor regions of the world seem to be constantly running out of time. Their citizens have to borrow, manufacture and create time - and they spend a lot of time learning to manage their time.

The other day I was talking to a Spanish executive who had taken a time management course. Great course, she said, but the problem was it took too much time to manage time. Hmmmm… Now that’s something for a time starved, time management aficcionado like myself to contemplate.

Spain is known for long work hours in comparison with northern European countries. If you get to work at 9:00 a.m. and take a long break for “breakfast” at 10:30, that cuts into your ability to be efficient. But not as much as taking a long lunch from 2:00 to 4:00 or 5:00 p.m.

By 5:00 many people have worked just four hours - and still have four to go!

So, how could I assert there is a time surplus here? Many Spaniards would tell you they don’t have time for anything outside work!

In fact, the kind of surplus I’m talking about comes from living in the moment. You can read about it in a new bestseller called “The Power of Now”. Perhaps Spaniards don’t live that book to the letter, but this culture is much more present focused than the future focussed cultures many English speakers come from.

Spaniards will tell you they feel pressed for time, but in fact, this culture encourages everyone to sink into the moment - to live now. That is what taking a long breakfast break shortly after arriving at work is all about. It’s about answering the call of this moment right now, having a bite to eat, a coffee and especially a good chat with the “family” of co-workers you plan to spend the rest of your working life with.

A time management expert would have a hey day with a Spaniard’s schedule. Most of the things these people enjoy or consider essential would be lost on the chopping block. Coffee breaks - and maybe even lunch - would be taken at their desks, socialising cut down to the bare essentials - i.e. meetings ruled by tight agendas - and extended family would be seen at pre-programmed intervals that didn’t interfere with the almighty personal and professional goals we must all have for our lives these days.

What did people do before goal setting came along? Lived, just like people are doing right here in Spain.

It’s true that time management strategies can make you much more efficient, but what for?

If you don’t have that very clear, then you might as well just sit back and enjoy the ride. I’ve been watching people in Spain do that for about 15 years now, and I’m starting to think about joining them!

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All new: The Chestnut Museum!

This is something we will all have to go see.

The tiny village of Pujerra in the Ronda mountains (Serranía de Ronda) is working hard to produce a museum that features nothing but chestnuts.

You might be amazed, but there really does appear to be enough information about chestnuts to fill a three story traditional village building in the centre of the pueblo.

By November or December of this year (2009) the mayor of Pujerra hopes the new centre will be open to the public - that’s us! And we’ll be able to learn all about the chestnut itself and different methods of harvest - including traditional methods and tools used in the past - and processing. The museum will also share local legends related to this most cherished fruit.

Seven years ago, “Chestnut Day” (Día del Castaño) was inaugurated in Pujerra. That is a festival that is celebrated quite fervently throughout many inland villages (and sometimes on nearer the coast in villages like Ojen, in Málaga province) where locals offer roasted chestnuts and traditional drinks like anis in a toast to the year’s chestnut crop.

Chestnut Day is celebrated in late October and early November, depending on each village’s schedule, so you have plenty of time to prepare. You might begin by reading more about chestnuts in Andalucia! clomid and multiple follicles

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New car anyone?

As we all know, the automobile industry has been particularly hard hit by the current economic situation.

Enter: Plan 2000E - the answer to everyone’s problems. Well, an answer, at least, to car industry’s problems.

Plan 2000E gives you 2,000 euros off a new or semi-new (read “used”) vehicle provided you meet all the conditions in the not-so-fine print. For example, your purchase can’t cost over 30,000 euros and you must turn in a second hand car (at least 10 years old if you’re buying a new car and at least 12 if you’re buying semi-new).

How does it work? Spain’s central goverment will pay 500, the regional Junta de Andalucia will pay 500 and the auto industry has to put in the other 1,000 Euros.

Is this the answer? I’ve always wondered about these car subsidies. Does it really make sense to junk our old vehicles and encourage mass production of new cars (that break down a lot sooner than they did in the “old days”)?

Personally, I thought we were worried enough about the current economic situation to be calling for an entirely “new model” - whatever that may be. But it seems like are main focus is to save the old one. Just keep consuming.

That’s the key! …?

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