The Toros de Guisando

There seems to be a very strange ambiguous attitude towards bulls here in Spain. People purport to have great respect for the animals and then promptly turn round to organise nonsensically cruel "traditions" such as bullfighting, or chasing the bulls through narrow streets, or making them jump off harbour walls, or running after them with spears on horseback, or tying flaming torches to their horns, or…

Well, you get the picture. For a supposedly civilised country still to allow such cruelty is just crazy. And the excuse that it is all done in the name of tradition is too pathetic to be taken seriously.

Anyway, there are bulls in Spain other than those poor creatures who have to undergo such senseless treatment. Sadly, few people, either in or out of Spain, seem to know about them, so here's a piece to whet your appetite.

Elise and I recently travelled to Belgium by car. Elise had decided that it would be a good idea to visit Toledo on the way, so we decided to make a trip of it and to also visit Avila and Segovia. Well, on the road between Toledo and Avila I noticed a small sign pointing to the Toros de Guisando. That rang a bell; somehow I knew something about these bulls, but I had no idea from where. Anyway, it was a quick left hand down a bit in order to turn onto the direction indicated. Within a couple of kilometres we arrived at the location of the bulls. In fact, we almost drove past the place, as it is so poorly indicated.

There is just a small parking area at the side of the road with a couple of very small signs, hidden by the branches of some large trees, to point out to the weary traveller that this is the place.

Behind a fairly substantial wall, hidden from view of passing traffic and with just a single small entrance gate, is an open area of ground in which stand four magnificent stone bulls.

The bulls are over two thousand years old and were once spread over the surrounding fields. Nobody knows their purpose: magical, religious, fertility symbols…? Perhaps there were more such bulls in the area, certainly the types of rocks that lie in the fields offer plenty of suitable raw material. In any case, these four were brought to their current location probably in Roman times, in about the third century.

Each sculpture is about two metres long and perhaps one metre-thirty high. The carving is naive, but very beautiful and the bulls present a very strong impression. They each seem to have its own character. They are, of course, well weathered, but remains of exceptional detail can still be seen, most notably in the skin folds on the neck of one of them.

Carving details still visible

Another bull carries a Latin inscription that dates from the time that the Romans moved them.

Latin inscription on side of bull

Although the site of the bulls seems to be little known nowadays, it must have been held in some esteem in times gone by, for it was here that Enrique IV proclaimed his sister, Isabella the Catholic, as his rightful heir to the Kingdom of Castilla in 1468.

A small information panel provides some history

David Neale

Recipe: Ensalada Murciana

Serving suggestiion

One of the really pleasant aspects of living in another country, is being able to learn new foodstuffs or different ways to use those we are already used to. The area of the Mediterranean is known for its richer and more intense flavours than those we are used to in the north of Europe. The meat is excellent, the fish is abundant and fresh, and the fruits and vegetables are exceptional.

I enjoy cooking and I enjoy food. I like trying new ways of preparing meals. It’s all very well to eat something different in a restaurant, but here I hope to be able to persuade you to prepare something with a Mediterranean and Spanish flavour yourself. Even my husband likes this recipe, so it can’t be that bad.

Ensalada Murciana is a simple local salad. Note that, instead of fresh tomatoes, tinned tomatoes can be used (the Spanish sort, not the Italian) and that this is, indeed, more authentic.

Ingredients for two people:

• 1 hard boiled egg
• 3 red peppers (eg Freshona Gourmet Pepper, 650 g. from Lidl)
• 3 normal-sized tomatoes (or one tin, drained)
• 1 medium onion
• 220 g. tin of tuna in oil
• 12 or more black olives
• olive oil, white wine vinegar, salt and pepper

Method: cut peppers into strips; slice tomatoes; dice onion; drain tuna; chop egg. Place everything on a serving-dish: start with the tomatoes, on top of them the peppers and onions; crumble the tuna over the whole and then sprinkle the egg on top. Season with salt and pepper, vinegar and olive oil. Scatter the olives evenly over the surface. Cover and leave to rest for about an hour, after which time the enslada murciana is ready to be served, perhaps with bread and allioli.

This dish comes in as many varieties as places that serve it: cod is sometimes used instead of tuna, for example. It is normally served as a primer plato, or as a tapa.

Elise De Leeuw

Moors and Christians 2013

Prior to the actual Fiestas de Moros y Cristianos, which takes place from 19 to 28 July this year, there will be a Medieval Market from 15 to 17 July, held in the Calle Castillo, behind the church. The market will be officially opened at 11:30 on Monday 15 July.

As for the Fiestas de Moros y Cristianos themselves, what follows is only a brief outline of the events planned. For a full calendar of events in English, visit this page or pick one of the free printed calendars that can be found all around Guardamar.

The run-up to the last two days can be confusing to people from outside Guardamar, especially with the street battles and peculiar mixture of religion. However, there are a couple of concerts you might enjoy and there is no doubt at all that you will more than impressed by the parades of the last two days. To give you an idea of the costumes, you might like to have a look at my photos from 2011 (and from there you can follow a link to see other years, too).

Friday, 19 July

Starting at 21.30, pomp and circumstance as the Queen of the Fiestas together with others walk from the Plaza Labradores along the Calle Mayor to end up in the Plaza de la Constitución.

22.00 Opening speech by Inmaculada Cases Gómez, of the Hospital Vega Baja.

22.30 Presentation of standards (flags)

23.00 Coronation of the Queen of the Fiestas, including a light, water and fire spectacular.


Saturday, 20 July

22.00 Fancy Dress Parade and competition, starting at the corner of the Calle Mayor and the Calle Norte and passing along the Avenida País Valenciano, to finish in the Plaza Jaume II.


Sunday, 21 July

20.30 Music Concert in the Parque Reina Sofia.


Monday, 22 July

20.30 Choral Concert, including the Aromas de Guardamar choir (presumably in the Parque Reina Sofía, though you should check on this first).


Wednesday, 24 July

20.00 First street battle. Lots of noise. Followed at 21.00 by the entry into the castle (on the Plaza de la Constitución, presumably) by the Christians and its subsequent loss to the Moors.


Thursday, 25 July

11.30 Parade with the Music Society of Guardamar accompanying the Queen of the Fiestas and others through numerous streets, starting in Calle Colón and passing through Calles Gratitud, San José, Inginiero Mira, Ausias March, Las Viñas, Luis Rivera, Mediodía, Vicente Ramos, and Ingeniero Mira again to end in the Plaza de la Constisución.

21.00 Another procession, but more sobre,, passing along C/ Ingeniero Mira, Plaza de Abastos, C/ San Emigdio, C/ Valencia, C/ Mayor, Avda. País Valenciano, C/ Medio día, C/ Vicente Ramos yand ending at the church.

01.00 Firework display on the Playa Roqueta.


Friday, 26 July

20.00 Second street battle. Lots of noise again. This time the Moors enter the castle and the Christians come along to take it from them.


Saturday, 27 July

(This is really what it's all about)

20.30 Moors and Christians Parade. First the Moors, then the Christians, interspersed with marching bands. They leave from the corner of Calle Lepanto and Avenida País Valenciano, marching line-abreast along Avenida País Valenciano, Calle Mayor, and ending at the the crossing of Calle Mayor with Calle Norte.


Sunday, 28 July

19.00 Marching bands parade, starting at the crossing of Calle Mayor with Calle Norte and following the reverse route of the Moors and Christians Parade.

20.00 Moors and Christians Parade. This time the Christians lead the parade, followed by the Moors. Don't think this is a mere duplicate of the previous day's parade: most comparsas wear different costumes on each day.

01.00 Fireworks Display at the castle (the real castle this time!).

David Neale

Time to Learn Some Spanish

If you stay in Spain for any length of time, either permanently or as a frequent visitor, it is only polite to be able to speak to the locals in their own language.

It is very easy to make excuses about being too old to learn (rubbish), or that the Spanish speak too fast (it's a foreign language and they always sounds fast in the beginning), or some other reason to try to opt out of what you would probably consider to be an obligation for visitors to your own country: to learn the language of your country.

All nonsense, for you are perfectly capable of learning at least some basic Spanish and once you have that, you can continue to more adventurous conversations.

The thing is, you are not going to learn Spanish by reading a teach-yourself book or by going to evening classes. That's not how you learned your own language, so why do you think it would be a good way to learn Spanish? Okay, if you don't live here permanently, you might use these approaches to get some sort of start under your belt, though don't expect much more than that, for such methods will also require that you have a knowledge of grammar (you do know what the subjunctive voice is, don't you?).

No, the best way to learn any foreign language is to learn it in the same way you learned your own language: use it! Take every opportunity you have to stumble out a few words and to listen carefully to the native speakers. Don't worry about making mistakes: you make plenty of them in your own language (everyone does), so why worry about them when you are learning another language?

And don't just take my word for it. Here are some thought from an Irish polyglot. And a lot of sense he makes, too!

If you're still not utterly convinced that you can go out into the big wide world and actually speak Spanish with Spaniards, there's a great free course available that will give you an excellent start. No, it doesn't worry you with any grammar or tests or any other scholastic nonsense. Instead, it encourages you to make active use of the language right from the beginning, so that you get used to hearing others speaking Spanish, both native speakers and English speakers. You also yourself speaking Spanish and this is important, because in the beginning it's strange to hear yourself speaking something other than your own language. Thus you pick up the language in a natural way. The course is called Say Something In Spanish and if you give it a go I'm sure you will be surprised at how much Spanish you pick up in just the first lesson.

(And if you're really in for a challenge, there's a similar course called Say Something In Welsh).

David Neale

A Couple of Shakes

We live in a reasonably active area, at least as far as seismic activity is concerned. And earthquakes have no respect for a good night's rest, so at about twenty past five local time this morning, we were shaken awake by quite a good rumble. The epicentre of this nocturnal motion (if you'll pardon the expression) was literally just up the road form us, as can be seen in the map to the left (click on it for a larger image), provided by the Instituto Geográfico Nacional. The maximum magnitude was 2.8 and here in El Raso it was probably about 2.7. Not bad for a night's work.

As if that wasn't enough excitement for the day, this afternoon, at about twenty-five past three, there was a nasty little blip, which felt as if it was just below us. This time the epicentre was first reported by the Instituto to have been just off the coast, next to the lake at the bottom of El Raso, but that information was later corrected, to place the epicentre to the north-west of Guardamar, as can be seen in the following map:

This rumble had a magnitude of 3.2.

Who knows? There might be more to come, so batten down the hatches; make everything ship-shape and Bristol-fashion.

David Neale

A special visitor

Megascolia maculata flavifrons (female)

Elise and I are privileged to have a rather unusual visitor to our garden, namely a mammoth wasp, or a Megascolia maculata flavifrons (also known as Scolia flavifrons). I believe that this is the largest wasp in Europe.

And it really does live up to its "mammoth" name, for it is at least 5cm long. In fact, I have spotted two individuals, the larger one at 5cm or more and a smaller one that is perhaps 4.5cm long. Both of them are impressive creatures.

Both of them are also females. The body of the female mammoth wasp is black with large yellow markings. She has strong wings, tinged with amber, resembling the skin of an onion, showing crimson in the variegated light. Her legs are coarse, with a knotted appearance and are very hairy. She has a huge body and a powerful head, which is well protected by a hard skull. Her flight is quite low and is surprisingly quiet for such a large insect. The male mommoth wasp, which I have not yet seen, is less colourful and of finer frame.

The mammoth wasp does not attack humans (no European wasps do, except out of self-defence, so stop waving your arms about). Instead, it hunts out the larvae of the rhinoceros beetle (Oryctes nasicornis), which it paralyses with its sting in order to lay a single egg in the beetle's body. When it emerges, the larva of Megascolia then devours that of the Oryctes.

Size comparison with ordinary wasp (Vespula vulgaris)

And here's a little video (the quality is far better than the preview image).

You can see more unusual visitors to our garden here.

David Neale

Jai-Pe Services

A new service has just been inaugurated in the Euroterra Commercial Centre of El Raso. The business is called Jai-Pe Services and has been the subject of numerous rumours.

No, it is not a new venture started by the owners of the Indian restaurant next door to the premises.

No, it is not a Gamma supermarket outlet.

No, it is not a hairdresser.

No…

Well, you get the idea.

What it is, is rather difficult to describe in just a few words. First, a bit of history. Some time ago, before the urbanisation El Raso was built, a young couple in Guardamar decided to branch out on their own, offering cleaning services to local businesses and communities of owners. Pedro and Maribel decided to call their new company Jai-Pe, a strange-sounding name, perhaps, but all becomes clear when you learn that they had a single apple of their eye; the name of the little lad (for little he was at the time) was Jairo.

Got it? Jai (from Jairo) and Pe (from Pedro), forming the exotic-sounding Jai-Pe.

Well, the cleaning business in Guardamar flourished and Jai-Pe extended its services to include individual properties and all aspects of cleaning: windows, tiles, terraces, garages… they'll come along and do an excellent job, as several users of their services on El Raso and within our own community will testify.

Maribel, knowing a good thing when she sees it (well, she married Pedro, didn't she?) recently decided that there might be a gap in the market and thought El Raso would be a good place to test her theory. Pedro saw something in it, too, so the couple leased one of the units in the commercial centre and have now set it up as a sort of information and contact centre.

Not only can you go to the establishment to buy cleaning products of all sorts, but Jai-Pe Services also offers a collaboration service, so that, should you need to find, say, a bricklayer, or a plumber, or a gardener, or a locksmith, or a carpenter, or a metalworker, or anything else to do with the maintenance of your property, you need only visit Jai-Pe Services and their staff will help you find just who you need. They'll even find you translators and interpreters if you wish.

Of course, you can also arrange to have your property cleaned, either on a regular basis, or just when you wish, and Jai-Pe Services will also act as key-holder for you when you are not here, but still need your property to be accessible.

Jairo (the apple of his parents' eye, remember?) is now a young man, recently graduated from higher education, and he has taken on the responsibility of running the new Jai-Pe Services office in El Raso. He has a small staff to help him.

You can find out more about Jai-Pe Services at their website, which will soon also be available in English.

David Neale