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Football in Seville, with a British touch

Sevilla FC's home ground, Estadio Sanchez Pizjuan. Love that Art Deco-ish lettering.

Fab sunset over the stadium just before the match kicked off (terraces got much fuller).

Last Saturday, I went to my first football match in Spain – and I’ve been living here for nearly ten years.

You might gather by my non-attendance that I’m not much of a footie fan, and you’d be right. But when someone offers you a free pass, for a match with a British connection, it’s hard to say no. Even if kick-off isn’t till 10pm.

On Saturday night, Sevilla FC was playing at home to Real Sociedad, the San Sebastian team. Don’t ask me if they’re any good, as I don’t have a clue. But I can tell you that Sevilla have a very beautiful piece of artwork on the front of their stadium, Sanchez Pizjuan, which is in the Nervion area of Seville, to the east of the centre. The stadium is very close to Nervion Metro station, always an advantage for sporting events when parking locally is horrendous and to be avoided at all costs.

What about that Giralda-BigBen-Colosseum-Eiffel Tower layer-cake montage? The signed shirt on the right was up for grabs.

Brits Richard (left) and James took advantage of the 5 euro ticket offer to see the game. "I've always been keen to come to a match, and this is the perfect opportunity," James told me.

So what was the British connection, I hear you ask? Well, for every home match this season, Sevilla FC is inviting one nation as special guests, as part of their “Somos de Todos, Somos del Mundo” promotion. The idea is “to integrate different nationalities that live in our nation, with football being the motor of integration”. You get tickets for 5 euros (with proof of nationality), a free scarf, and entry into a competition to win a signed shirt. So far nationals of Uruguay, the US, and Ireland have enjoyed this promotion.

Last Saturday was the turn of Great Britain, and I was asked to help spread the word using my favourite method (short of haranguing people in the pub): Social Media. I didn’t have much advance warning to gather the troops – and hangovers from a music festival the night before featuring Fatboy Slim, plus the lure of a night in watching the Eurovision, both played havoc – but I know that a few of the 300+ Brits in attendance came due to my efforts. I know, because I talked to two of them and asked them how they’d heard about it – thanks to an email I’d sent out the previous day to a language school where I used to work. British TEFL teachers are always up for some well-priced footie of a Saturday night.

Not the most attractive picture of me ever, but proof I was there!

A Sevilla FC player makes a run with the ball; didn't do any good; they lost.

You don't have to see his face to know his thunderous expression: Sevilla FC manager, Unai Emery.

With my press pass, I was able to move freely around the stands, watching much of the match right next to the pitch, wherever a free seat was available. I did feel a bit guilty, as I didn’t appreciate the experience as much as a true football aficionado, but I certainly valued being able to see the action up close and absorb the excitement, hear the chants and watch as the manager, standing a few metres away, went apoplectic about his team’s poor performance.

Joe Cooper (right of picture), Honorary Consul in Seville, enjoys the bagpiper's performance.

Before kick-off, the Honorary Consul here in Seville, Joe Cooper, was interviewed on Sevilla FC TV (yes, they have their own channel), and he welcomed everyone in English. Joe has lived in Seville for decades, and is well-respected in the Seville business world – he watched the match sitting in the President’s Box, and snuck me in at half-time to scoff some of the M&S iced gingerbread men – best of British for the lucky Sevilla FC bigwigs.

John Adam Mascharenas, bagpiper from Gibraltar.

For half-time, Joe had arranged for a bagpiper to play some Scottish tunes on the pitch. John Adam Mascharenas isn’t quite Scottish, though; he is a Gibralteño of mixed Spanish, Portguese, English and Gibraltan descent, who came all the way from The Rock to play at the match (probably some Scottish blood in there somewhere). A retired policeman, John performs with the Sea Scouts Pipe Band, and has been playing the bagpipes for nearly 40 years. He was decked out in kilt with sporran, and hat, and looked most dashing. You can watch him playing here.

Sevilla FC lost 1-2 in the end, so the crowds weren’t exactly jubilant afterwards. But for my part, I was happy that the Metro whisked me away – eschewing the opportunity for some post-match interviews with Brits, I heeded my bed’s siren call, and was home half an hour after the final whistle. Would I repeat the experience? Most definitely – let’s hope Sevilla FC repeats this generous offer for other nationalities to enjoy a football match for such a bargain price next season!

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Posted in Sevilla, Sport | No Comments »

‘Bang & Olufsen by the Sea’ Event

Tiny patisserie treats for high tea

Last night Andalucia.com had the pleasure of attending Bang & Olufsen by the Sea, a “champagne afternoon and high tea party” held at La Cabane Beach Club in Marbella. The event was to celebrate the product world premiere of their latest sound system, BeoLab 14, along with the launch of the Creation 5 music-radio-video app that our graphics guru, Cheryl Gatward, has been working on.

Leon Naftaniel, owner of Bang & Olufsen Marbella with our graphics guru, Cheryl Gatward.

Having heard that it was going to be the party of the year, we weren’t disappointed when we arrived. La Cabane has a fantastic beachfront location, with plush carpets and floor-to-ceiling glass windows through which we could watch the stormy sea. Unfortunately it wasn’t exactly beach weather, however the DJ kept the summer vibe going inside with a good playlist of summer beats playing through the surround sound.

The perfect British afternoon tea.

There was a great turnout for the launch, and as soon as we stepped through the door we were offered glasses of champagne and high tea-style seafood appetizers. The food was exquisite and very pleasing on the eye: I’ve never seen such tiny, perfect tarts and sandwiches, beautifully arranged on cake stands on every table. I was very impressed with how a Spanish caterer had managed to perfect the very British concept of afternoon tea!

Morwenna sampling some of the culinary delights at the event.

We settled ourselves onto some extremely low sofas for a while to enjoy the food, while we listened to a special rendition by a pianist on the Bösendorfer grand piano and then watched while the same piano played Elton John to us. The keys were moving as if an invisible Elton John was there!

The theme of the evening was Les Miserables, and several staff dressed in costumes with this theme were dotted around the room, brandishing pretend guns. The connection with Bang & Olufsen was that the sound experts had collaborated with Universal Music to remaster the film’s soundtrack, creating a special edition for those with the new BeoLab 14 soundsytem. During the evening we were treated to a demonstration of these innovative speakers and it certainly sounded like the singers were in the room with us!

The Les Mis theme got taken a bit too far...

Around the room, Marbella-based jewelers Gomez y Molina had displayed their sparkling jewels, and Bang & Olufsen had set up plenty of their products to try, including the Creation 5 App: the world’s first application that allows music, radio and video to be used together in the same place, which has been created for easy use with the Bang & Olufsen sound systems. It has been described as “iTunes on steroids”, so it’s definitely one to try!

It was a very enjoyable evening, with enough to please even the less technology-minded.

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Posted in Beaches, Events, Technology | No Comments »

Tio Pepe en Rama – the untamed sherry

Tio Pepe lady with one of the limited-run of Tio Pepe en Rama, launched in April.

In case you hadn’t already guessed, April and May in Andalucia are all about ferias. And one of the essential ingredients of any feria – even more so if you’re in El Puerto de Santa Maria, Sanlucar de Barrameda or Jerez de la Frontera – is sherry.

Just before the Seville Feria de Abril, I wangled myself an invitation, for research purposes only, to the launch of this year’s Tio Pepe en Rama. I didn’t really know what it was – OK, if I’m honest, I had no clue whatsoever – but it was being touted on Twitter, and was taking place in a swanky riverfront restaurant I’d never been to.

I am no sherry expert – I like a jug of rebujito at a feria as much as the next over-excited foreigner-in-a-flamenca-frock – but I’ll always try something new. The launch was held by Bodegas Gonzalez Byass, the Jerez company behind Tio Pepe, and in common with many events here in Spain, there was no information given out – I do like a press release to scribble my indecipherable notes on. Held at Abades Restaurant in Triana, on a sunny morning, the launch was full of smart men wearing suits, or blazers with chinos – the sherry world arrived from Jerez.

The legendary Antonio Flores, Master Blender and Head Winemaker at Gonzalez Byass, waxes lyrical about Tio Pepe en Rama. This man lives and breathes sherry.

Standing out among the dry suits was Gonzalez Byass’ Head Winemaker, a welcome ball of warmth, energy and charisma. Antonio Flores (Twitter handle: @Hacedordevinos) was born on the premises in Jerez; his father also worked at the bodega. When introducing Tio Pepe en Rama, Antonio used the word salvaje (untamed, wild), explaining that this sherry is unfiltered and unclarified, taken straight from the barrel. Antonio is a sherry evangelist, telling us that the wine can lift your soul.

Apparently this year’s bottling has a stronger flor (yeast) flavour than previous years’, which I can’t vouch for – due to the unusually wet weather, as this encourages the growth of flor. Indeed, while a normal fino sherry like Tio Pepe is, indeed, smooth and clear, Tio Pepe en Rama has an edge that you could not call rough, but it has character – a fuller, more complicated flavour than its conventional cousin.

Unlike most wines, which improve with age, this one comes with instructions to drink within three months of bottling. Oh, if you insist.

Even the label is chosen with great care, this one, resplendent with its red and gold, inspired by a 1920s piece from the GB archive. On the back is the bottling date – 8 April 2013 – which is important, as it needs to be drunk within three months, due to its natural state.

Venenciador - professional sherry pourer - doing his thing, in his red-and-black Tio Pepe garb. In the background, across the river, you can see the Torre del Oro.

In the bright Seville spring sunshine, on the terace at Abades restaurant, we watched as the venenciador expertly poured a narrow stream of sherry from on high, into the waiting glass. All part of the showmanship and colour of the Tio Pepe experience.

Enjoying some of the precious Tio Pepe en Rama, while it lasts, at the Feria de Jerez. I have acquired quite a taste for the stuff.

I was lucky enough to sample it again last week at the Feria de Jerez, in the company of Antonio Flores himself. If you like the sound of Tio Pepe en Rama, get yourself some now, before it all goes. Quick!

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Posted in Cadiz, Food and drink, Sevilla | No Comments »

Feria de Jerez – flamenco and flounces

A technicolour group of ladies at the Feria de Jerez.

The way to enter the Feria in style - by horse and carriage.

One of Andalucia’s best-known Ferias, after the Seville Feria de Abril, is the Feria del Caballo in Jerez.

This feria is famed for its magnificent jerezano horses, and its sherry, Jerez being the centre of production of this fortified wine, which is currently enjoyed a resurgence in popularity – in a word, it’s trendy: fino, manzanilla, Pedro Ximenez, palo cortado, oloroso… Rebujito, the feria concoction of manzanilla and lemonade, is now a popular drink in the UK.

It is quite different from the Seville Feria, which is my “home” one, with its private casetas, cramped fairground, narrow pavements, and danger of being trampled by horses. Here, anyone can go into any caseta, and there’s plenty of space for strolling around.

These green roundabouts, with the piles of sherry barrels, break up the long avenues.

Flamenco performers at the Tio Pepe caseta, which is a permanent pavilion with huge billowing curtains.

But the women are the same as anywhere – brightly coloured dresses, matching flowers in their hair, mantones (shawls), and much singing and dancing in the street. Perhaps less pretence here, more spontaneity. Many more girls weren’t wearing flamenca dresses than at Seville, where the great majority love to flounce in their frills.

The lattice metalwork of the street decorations at the Feria del Caballo in Jerez is astonishing.

The Feria del Caballo in Jerez de la Frontera lasts till 12 May (this Sunday).

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The May Crosses of Ecija

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The May Crosses are often draped with white cloths, which symbolise Christ's shroud, and are always surrounded by flowers in vibrant colours; this one has an embroidered manton (shawl) over it, and an offering of bread

In Ecija, this red flag with a white cloth draped over it indicates a patio with a cross that you can visit.

These are more traditional crosses in Ecija, like those seen in Cordoba and Granada - covered with flowers.

The tradition of the Cruces de Mayo (May Crosses) is famous in Cordoba - this festival is the first of many festivites in the city during this month of May – and Granada, especially on Dia de la Cruz, 5 May. But many other cities and towns around Andalucia also take part in this festivity, of dressing up crosses, and surrounding them with beautiful flowers and food offerings, in patios of private houses, palaces, hotels and churches, as well as plazas and other outdoor areas.

Pretty painted cross draped with white lace, perched on a marble fountain at the Palacio de los Granados, a family casa-palacio converted into a small, characterful hotel.

In the famously monumental town of Ecija, you can stroll the streets, marvelling at the imposing stone doorways, painted facades and tiled towers dating from the town’s heyday in the 18th century, while also stopping to enjoy the crosses in the patios of houses, palaces and hotels. There are 24 to see in total, in all sizes; as many of the crosses are in private patios it feels more intimate than Cordoba’s Cruces de Mayo festival – and much less crowded, too.

Even in May, the sun is already fierce, and Ecija is known as the sartenilla (frying-pan) of Spain. So shady, leafy patios are just the ticket.

This little flower-adorned cross, in the Palacio de los Palma in Ecija, is almost swamped by greenery.

The smaller, simpler crosses are often draped with panuelos (white cloths), symbolising the shroud which Joseph of Arimatea used to cover Christ’s body when he took him down from the cross.

The Cruces de Mayo en Patios Ecijanos (May Crosses in Ecija’s Patios) can be seen until 12 May, from 10am-8pm every day. (This is the theory at least; most close from 2pm-5pm for lunch, although if there’s someone about, they may let you in to their patio to see the cross.) You can pick up a map showing where the 24 patios are from the Tourist Office on Calle Elvira.

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Posted in art, Cordoba, Granada, Religion, Sevilla | No Comments »

El Galeon Andalucia arrives for Viva Florida 500

El Galeon is visiting Florida to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the US state's discovery.

Florida – yes, that’s Florida in the US – is all abuzz thanks to the arrival of a magnificent Andalucian galleon.

The voyage of El Galeon, a replica l6th-century Spanish trading ship, celebrates 500 years since the Castillian explorer Juan Ponce de Leon first discovered Florida – on 2 April 1513. The 55-metre tall ship, which is now docked in Cape Canaveral, is manned by a crew of 22, and is equipped with three masts and seven sails, plus 10 cannons. Fundacion Nao Victoria, the Seville-based organisation behind El Galeon, worked on the design for five years to ensure the vessel was as accurate a replica as possible.

Launched in 2010, El Galeon has sailed all around the world, spreading the word about Andalucia’s rich history, covering more than 35,000km and receiving over 600,000 visitors in 50 ports. Its previous part of call on the Viva Florida 500 tour was Miami, Florida, when it stayed for three weeks (the ship left Tenerife, and sailed via Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic). After Cape Canaveral, El Galeon will sail to Fort Lauderdale (14-19 May) and finally St Augustine (23 May-2 June).

The ship will be in port in Cape Canaveral until 12 May, and is open to visitors during the day.

To see a short video about El Galeon, click here. This is a longer video about Florida’s fifth centennial celebrations. For more about Fundacion Nao Victoria, go here.

Under another identity, as La Pepa, the same ship was involved in the events commemmorating the 200th anniversary of the first Spanish Constitution last year.

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Doñana saved from fracking – for now

Pine trees and grassland inside Doñana National Park, which has been temporarily saved from the dangers of fracking.

Good news for environmentalists and nature-lovers: the plan to drill for natural gas in Doñana National Park, which is a UNESCO-recognised biosphere, has been halted.

In a victory for those who value this protected natural space, home to Iberian lynx, mongoose, imperial eagles and countless other endangered species, the Junta de Andalucia has stopped the tests which were going to be carried out into the possility of fracking (extracting) and storing underground gas inside the park, and bulding 20km of pipeline to transport the gas across the park.

The 200-million-euro project carried with it the potential risk of leaks and explosions which would cause irreparable damage to this last remaining wild corner of Spain, with its seasonal wetlands home to thousands of migrating birds.

Environmental groups such as WWF and Greenpeace, which had been campaigning against the project, were delighted with the Junta’s decision, and demanded the complete cancellation. Many were astonished that such a dangerous and invasive plan was even considered inside a protected natural area.

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Posted in Environment, Huelva, Nature, Our Environment | No Comments »

Cordoba Patios Festival – new (free) weekend ticket system

The spectacular Cordoba Patios Festival is in May: this year, you need a ticket to see the patios at the weekend.

The next major cultural event here in Andalucia is the Cordoba Patios Festival, which takes place on 8-19 May.

This is one of the region’s most charming festivals, where flowers take centre stage. Music and dance, usually the protagonists of any Andalucian celebration, are featured, but the patios are all about appreciating nature at its most colourful – bright pink, red, yellow and blue flowers in pots, especially geraniums, arranged across in perfect patterns across dazzling white walls, plants winding around staircases and trailing down from wooden balconies, creating little oases of green inside the city. The patios belong to Cordoban residents, who open them up to the public for this festival. The Fiesta de Patios de Cordoba was inscribed on the list of UNESCO Intangible Heritage of Humanity in December 2012, joining other recent Spanish additions Flamenco and the Mediterranean Diet.

The festival experiences its peak times at weekends, when people arrive from all over Spain to enjoy the beautiful courtyards. For this reason, this year a new ticketing system has been introduced for Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays (10-12 May and 17-19 May) – on each of these days, you will need a ticket to get into the patios.

This is a ticket for entry to the Cordoba Patios - two sessions, mediodia (afternoon) and tarde (evening), on Saturday 18 May (the QR and ID codes have been blurred). It also includes a full list of patios, by area.

To get your ticket, you just fill in a form online, stating which patios you want to see, and when. On each day, there are three sessions – morning 11am-2pm; evening 6-9pm; and night 9pm-12 midnight Friday and Saturday (6-10pm Sunday) – you can choose one, two or all three. At the same time as the late sessions you’ll also find live music and other performances, in the patios themselves and outside in plazas, where bars are set up and people dance. (On other days, Monday to Thursday, the opening hours are 11am-2pm and 6pm-10pm.)

For each session, you choose one of six areas: Regina-Magdalena, Santa Marina-San Andres, San Lorenzo-San Agustin, San Pedro-Santiago, Juderia and Alcazar Viejo, each of which has around ten patios to visit.

This new system means that you can see three areas in a day, from 11am-2pm and 6pm-12 midnight: for example, Friday morning Juderia, Friday evening Alcazar and Friday night Regina-Magdalena. You can book up to ten tickets for each day, although they must all be for the same sessions and areas.

This ticket is free, so there’s no cost involved either in booking, or in seeing the courtyards. Once you’ve made your choices, you submit the form, and your tickets are emailed to you. Each ticket, which you print off yourself, shows the date, session(s) and area for each session, as well as a QR code and the list of patios for each area. When you’re walking around the patios, you need to keep your ticket to hand, so that the volunteer in each patio can scan it.

To book your tickets go to this page. This is the programme of musical events, and here’s the website for the official Patios Association.

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Seville Feria: a picture post

Three flamencas enjoying a sunny afternoon at the Feria de Abril in Seville, which finished yesterday. The striped tents behind them are casetas, for eating, drinking and dancing.

The Portada for this year's Feria was inspired by Plaza de España, one of the city's most famous monuments.

The 1,000-odd casetas are being desmontado (taken down), the carriages are being loaded into trailers to be towed back to their owners’ houses; the recinto is busy – not with ladies in their frilly flamenca dresses, magnificent carriages and proud Spanish stallions, but with all the activity which follows a week-long party for thousands upon thousands of Sevillanos, Andalucians, Spaniards and those from further afield. Packing up and going home.

This year’s Feria de Abril was marked by its fantastically good weather: the sun shone every day, all day, with not a drop of rain – the first time I can remember that happening. No mud on your dress or shoes, no huddling under the portada to escape showers, no shivering under a shawl as the evening turns chilly.

A pretty pink parasol provides much-needed shade from the fierce Seville sun - the Feria enjoyed superb weather this year.

If you’ve never been to Seville’s Spring Fair, just imagine a village of private parties, which you can get into if you’ve been invited, and if the person who invited you isn’t out visiting a friend in another caseta. There are ferias in other towns all over Andalucia, but Seville’s is the only one with private casetas – most have doormen, who range from friendly to neanderthal. As a host who wants to keep out the riff-raff, that’s perfect; as a visitor, it can seem exclusive. It’s our party, and you can’t come – unless you know the right people.

At night, the Feria becomes party central, with feriantes packing the streets.

Next up are Jerez’s Feria de Caballo (Horse Fair), 6-12 May; Cordoba’s Feria, 25 May-1 June, both of whose casetas are almost all open to the public; and also the Cordoba’s Patios Festival - 8-19 May.

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Posted in Fiestas, Sevilla | No Comments »

A bailar Sevillanos!

An integral part of the Feria de Abril, now reaching its halfway point here in Seville, is dancing. Sevillanas are a type of flamenco dance (or not, depending on who you talk to), performed in pairs – man-woman or woman-woman. Sevillanas are divided into four parts.

While it is not obligatory to wear the flamenca dress, with its swooshing frills and swirling hem, the movement of the fabric adds to the whole effect – and hides any dodgy footwork under a mass of spotty flouncing!

These two videos are both from last year – you can only see the dancers’ top halves, which confirms my own theory that so long as you curl your hands elegantly above your head, and move and turn at the right moment, you can more or less get away with it.

Note the woman in the above video using castañuelas (castanets) – there’s a real art to them – not nearly as easy as they look. Not all casetas have live bands, like the one in the second video – many have recorded sevillana songs. Themes of lyrics revolve around love, Seville and Triana.

Ladies may be interested in the different hairstyles – the classic is smooth, pulled-back hair in a chignon; the blonde lady has a looser, more relaxed style.

This is a joyous dance at a joyous occasion, where all temporal worries are banished to make way for music and song and swirling around the dance floor. I hope its energy and alegria will bring a smile to your face.

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Posted in Fiestas, Sevilla | No Comments »