Puntos de vista - a personal Spain blog

Andalucía Day marks the anniversary of a referendum held on 28 February, 1980 when a large majority of voters supported the referendum for Andalucía to become one of the 17 autonomous communities in Spain, following Spain’s democratisation after nearly forty years of the Franco dictatorship. General Franco died in November 1975 and was succeeded as Head of State by King Juan Carlos I, since disgraced and living in exile.  Pablo de Ronda has done some research ..…

Día de Andalucía is a significant day in the life of most andaluces. It is a public holiday so that schools, businesses, and government offices are closed.

In 2020 it was not celebrated officially because of the Covid pandemic. In 2021, 28-F, as the Spanish call it, was restricted, again because of the Coronavirus.

In 2021 Día de Andalucía fell on a Sunday, so the public holiday was transferred to the following day, 1 March. (Also a significant date for Welsh folk, incidentally, though not a bank holiday. It’s St. David’s Day.)

This year things should be back to normal and next Monday all Andalusian hell will be let loose!

Many people spend the day quietly with family or close friends. However, some people organise or attend private parties with traditional music, dancing, food and drink. Some municipalities hold communal meals with traditional foods, drinks and entertainment. This did not happen in 2020 or 2021, of course, because of the Covid-19 restrictions.

The autonomous community of Andalucía shares international land borders with Portugal and Gibraltar. Within Spain, it borders the autonomous communities of Castilla-La Mancha, Extremadura and Murcia. People in Andalucía voted for the region to become an autonomous community of Spain on February 28, 1980. However, the Spanish Parliament only accepted Andalucía as a historic nationality in 2006.

Andalucía’s flag is widely displayed on Andalucía Day. It consists of three equal horizontal bars. The top and lower bars are dark green and the middle bar is white. Andalucía’s coat of arms is at the centre of the flag. Andalucía’s coat of arms consists of an image of the mythical Greek hero Heracles between two columns. The columns represent the Pillars of Heracles. These are the rocks on either side of the Straits of Gibraltar.

In many cities, towns and villages in Andalucía people decorate their balconies with the regional flag and with green-and-white bunting.

In 2021 this was the extent of the celebrations, as many places were in various stages of lockdown, with perimeters closed and non-essential businesses unable to operate.

This year it looks like we may have gotten to grips with the Covid-19 virus, so everything should be more or less back to normal. Let’s hope so and let’s look forward to Monday.

This writer already has his plans in place: he’s off to Bar Allioli in Jimera de Líbar, Málaga, to see live music performed by the rock band Equis, featuring Markus Myers, formerly of the band Alicia’s Attic.

Beer, burgers and brilliant music!

!Felices fiestas!

We’ve been out for food a lot lately. Last week we were invited for dinner at the house of Rita’s best friend in Montejaque (Málaga). Later that week we dined in a parador, had lunch in a bar near El Torcal, and dinner in Trip Advisor’s no 1 restaurant in Antequera. On Thursday of this week we were invited to dinner with friends who have recently moved to Montejaque. Then on Saturday it was a restaurant from our top three in the Ronda area. On St Valentine’s Day we had breakfast in another from our top three and that same night we celebrated El Día de San Valentín in the third of our trilogy of current favourites.

Potaje de verduras

Our good friend Jill, who has lived in Montejaque for nearly two decades, invited us round for supper. What a treat we had, a delicious fresh salad followed by a tasty and filling vegetable stew.

What a pleasant evening it turned out to be; just the three of us chatting away in Jill’s newly renovated house at the top of one of the prettiest pueblos blancos in Málaga province.

Antequera and El Torcal

We had accumulated enough Amigos de Paradores points from our parador tour to Extremadura in 2021 to pay for a free night in a parador of our choice. We settled on Antequera and booked two nights - one free and one as part of a deal for old people called días dorados.

The first night we dined in the parador restaurant which regularly receives very favourable reviews.

We were not disappointed, although it wasn’t cheap. We had a couple of starters to share and then Rita chose chipirrones a la plancha and I had espárragos de la Vega con foie asado y brotes de vinagreta de frutos rojos . The bill was an eye-watering 98 euros. Blimey!

Breakfast wasn’t included in the “points deal”, so off we went in search of desayuno elsewhere and ended up in a nice little hotel, Hotel El Dolmén, outside the town.

Molletes originated from Antequera, so that’s what we chose, with serrano ham and Manchego cheese, natural fresh orange juice and delicious coffee washed it all down.

After a great ramble around El Torcal parque natural we popped down the hill to Villaluenga del Rosario and stopped at the first bar restaurant we came across.

Bar Oasis didn’t look like much but it was sensational. Rita couldn’t resist trying their version of chipirrones and I had potaje de garbanzos. We learned that this restaurant serves a complimentary salad and bread free of charge. The bill with drinks and coffee came to just 23 euros!

That evening we sought out the number 1 restaurant in Antequera on Trip Advisor, Recuerdos Tapas Bodega. No wonder it’s number one. The tapas were exquisite, inventive and well-priced. We dined really well and escaped with a bill of just 33 euros.

Calle Doctor Vázquez y Gutiérrez, Montejaque

Donkey Street to you and me!

Our friends Chris and Mike Yeatman recently bought a house in the street. Casita de Sueños is currently being renovated, so they are renting a flat lower down the same street until the work is finished.

They invited us for dinner. Well, Mike, a former restaurateur and chef in the South West of England, treated us to a meal to die for. As Rita said: “At last an Englishman who can cook!” (Do you think that was a dig at me?)

Croquetas that weren’t at all fatty and a kind of ragout of pork with a divine sauce were what we dined on.

We quaffed some nice wine too. A champagne (the house champers from their former restaurant in Portishead) to start with, followed by wines from Miguel Domecq (Cádiz), Friedrich Schatz (Ronda) and a plonk from ALDI at the end to see if we could tell the difference!

Frank’s

Otherwise known as El Muelle de Arriate. This restaurant, run by Dutchman Frank Röttgering, has consistently been one of our favourites since he opened 10 years ago.

For our main course we had pre-ordered a stuffed whole calamar, which is plenty for two people. Fa – bu – lous! We knew it would be, since we’ve had it before at Frank’s.

We also had one last October at a chiringuito in Guadalmar on the coast near Málaga airport, but it didn’t compare.

Valentine’s Day Breakfast

We had been filming a documentary about LOVE for Charry TV at the Parador de Ronda that morning and decided to go for breakfast afterwards at another of our favourite restaurants, Las Maravillas on Calle La Bola.

We both chose sandwich italiano which we had never tried before. De-li-cious!

Two cups of coffee each and an orange juice and a bill that makes it the most expensive breakfast in Ronda (apart from the Parador!)

But it was worth it, especially on this romantic day.

Cena de San Valentín at La Cascada

Otherwise known as Ian and Elaine’s, ie the restaurant at Hotel Molino del Puente in Fuente de la Higuera, just 50 steps from our house.

This restaurant has also been in our top three for over a decade.

And guess what? The chef is also an Englishman who can cook! So, there are at least three around here. Mike Yeatman, Ian Love and Paul Whitelock!

Rita chose the house salad and her favourite plato principal, Mussels in a coconut sauce. I had tostas con berenjena, tomate y pesto, followed by fillet of dorada. Coincidentally, they had the same chardonnay from Miguel Domecq that we had tried for the first time at Chris and Mike’s, so that’s what we chose.

Unusually for us we also went for desserts: home made strawberry cheesecake and lemon tart. Rita ate most of both! Which is fine, because I’m a type 2 diabetic, so shouldn’t be eating “sweets” in any case.

***

Epilogue

Now it’s back to eating in. Some unexpected expenses, a broken clutch on my VW Transporter and a new pellet oven for Casa Real (our guests are freezing!), have emptied my bank account.

But since Rita’s a great cook and I’m one of three Englishmen around here who knows his way round a kitchen, eating in will be no hardship.

Last night, for example, I baked two great pizzas – courtesy of ALDI!

This is the story of a friend of mine, Arthur Evans from Neath in South Wales, who some years ago found true love in the mountains of the Serranía de Ronda. 

When Arthur, a frequent visitor to Ronda, first set eyes on Carmen at the Feria de Pedro Romero which takes place every September in Ronda, he was smitten.

Not very experienced in the dating game Arthur, a divorcé with two grown-up children, nevertheless managed to get himself invited for afternoon coffee with Carmen, at her house in a beautiful pueblo blanco near Ronda.

After a pleasant afternoon seated in the sunlight on the roof terrace, things got better when Carmen invited Arthur to stay for a dinner party she was hosting that evening for some English friends.  How could he refuse?  He cancelled his plans for the evening and there followed a delightful meal al fresco under the stars. Unfortunately for the putative lovebirds Arthur had to return to South Wales the following day. Would that be the end of a beautiful friendship before it even started?

Not at all.  Arthur and Carmen began to exchange emails on a regular basis.  But this was not enough for lovestruck Arthur.

After two weeks back in South Wales Arthur decided on the spur of the moment to book a flight back to Spain to see the lovely Carmen.  They had lunch and dinner together the first day and soon discovered they had lots in common.  “Carmen is such a bubbly, positive, funny person.  Fortunately I speak Spanish, so we have no communication problems at all. It couldn´t be better.”

Arthur has now moved to Andalucía permanently.  A former languages teacher and translator Arthur is building a new career in the Ronda area translating, interpreting and teaching both English and Spanish, in order to be able to live with the woman of his dreams.

For her part, twice-divorced Carmen is thrilled to bits with her new man.  “I love living in my little pueblo blanco and I have enjoyed living alone, but now I’ve found Arthur my life has become even better.  He is just the man that I always wanted, but never found – until now!”

What did the couple do on St Valentine’s Day that year?  They went to London to watch Arthur’s son, Tom, a professional actor and musician, perform on stage in London in the musical “Moll Flanders”, followed by a romantic meal in a Covent Garden restaurant. ¡Viva el amor!

Many St Valentine’s Days later, Arthur and Carmen still live in the Serranía de Ronda, where they are making the most of their twilight years in this beautiful part of Spain, enjoying their large garden, travelling, walking their dog Chispa and coming to terms with life after Covid-19.

Note:

To read an article written by The History Man about St Valentine and the origins of the ways in which we now celebrate his day, 14 February, click https://www.eyeonspain.com/blogs/thehistoryman.aspx