Puntos de vista - a personal Spain blog

Did you remember to adjust your clocks and watches this morning?

The clocks change at the end of March and the end of October every year in 70 countries, including most of Europe. Officially known as "Daylight Saving", we move our clocks and watches forward one hour. But when and why did this come about?

And, did you know that Spain is in the wrong time zone, and has been for 84 years?

Check out this interesting article by The History Man. Just click on the link.

The History Man (eyeonspain.com)

International Women’s Day (IWD) is celebrated on 8 March around the world. It is a focal point in the movement for women’s rights.

Origins

After women gained suffrage in Soviet Russia in 1917, 8 March became a national holiday there. The day was then predominantly celebrated by the socialist movement and communist countries until it was adopted by the feminist movement in about 1967. The United Nations began celebrating the day in 1977.

Commemoration of International Women’s Day today ranges from being a public holiday in some countries to being largely ignored elsewhere. In some places, it is a day of protest; in others, it is a day that celebrates womanhood.

History

The earliest Women’s Day observance, called “National Woman’s Day“, was held on 28 February, 1909, in New York City, organized by the Socialist Party of America at the suggestion of activist Theresa Malkiel.

In August 1910, an International Socialist Women’s Conference was organised to precede the general meeting of the Socialist Second International in Copenhagen, Denmark. Inspired in part by the American socialists, German delegates Clara Zetkin, Käte Duncker, Paula Thiede and others proposed the establishment of an annual “Women’s Day”, although no date was specified at that conference. Delegates (100 women from 17 countries) agreed with the idea as a strategy to promote equal rights including suffrage for women.

The following year on 19 March, 1911, International Women’s Day (IWD) was marked for the first time, by over a million people in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. In the Austro-Hungarian Empire alone, there were 300 demonstrations. In Vienna, women paraded on the Ringstrasse and carried banners honouring the martyrs of the Paris Commune. Women demanded that they be given the right to vote and to hold public office. They also protested against employment sex discrimination.

In 1913 Russian women observed their first International Women’s Day on the last Saturday in February (by the Julian calendar then used in Russia).

In 1914, International Women’s Day was held on 8 March in Germany, possibly because that day was a Sunday, and now it is always held on 8 March in all countries. The 1914 observance of the Day in Germany was dedicated to women’s right to vote, which German women did not win until 1918.

In London, there was a march from Bow to Trafalgar Square in support of women’s suffrage on 8 March, 1914. Activist Sylvia Pankhurst was arrested in front of Charing Cross station on her way to speak in Trafalgar Square.

28 February is a día festivo in Andalucía. It celebrates the date in 1980 when, in a referendum, andaluces voted overwhelmingly to accept the new post-Franco democratic constitution and the establishment of 17 comunidades autónomas, of which Andalucía is one.

The local population take this daybvery seriously and they set out to enjoy themselves.

The History Man recently wrote an article for EyeOnSpain about the Día de Andalucía. You can read it here.

As for me, I had a great day, much of it unexpected yet good, therefore Serendipity.

After early coffee in the Ronda Valley Hotel, my local in Ronda, I headed off to Montejaque to do some work on my reforma in the village.

Guess who was there? My new neighbours who bought the house next door 12 months ago. Robert and Edyta are Poles from Warsaw. I didn't know they were coming. That was quite unexpected and it was a pleasure to see them again.

It was now midday, so I popped to the square to watch El Juego del Cántaro, a tradition in the village on Andalucia Day.

First up were the young kids from the village, followed by the macho twentysomethings - all of them male. Then it was the turn of the older women and at the end they wanted the guiris to form a group. I was roped in, together with Jane and Samantha, all of us English. The Germans and the Americans present all declined! Three local women made up the numbers.

All three of us were debutants, despite living in the village for many years. We gave a good account of ourselves and managed to keep the pitcher in play for a good quarter of an hour. Then a mortified montejaqueña dropped it. Game over! Our guiri honour was intact!

Next I set off for the next village down the Guadiaro valley, Jimera de Líbar, for a live music gig at Allioli Bar Y Más, the bar by the station, where I had arranged to meet some friends, locals, as well as a Scotswoman, a Danish lady, a Scouser and several other British folk.

The group was EQUIS, so called because X (equis in Spanish) is the letter used for foreigners (extranjeros) on NIEs and TIEs and the group members are all foreigners: Marcus, English, on lead guitar and vocals; Lindsay, also English, on keyboards; Klaus, German, on bass guitar and vocals; and Franci, from Gibraltar, on drums.

Incredibly, although I have known Marcus Myers for many years, I had only ever seen him perform solo.

EQUIS were a revelation. They played superb covers of The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, The Who, The Doors, Joe Cocker, Santana and The Police. Listen to an excerpt here.

I then went home to Ronda. I was on cooking duties, as my missus Rita was on the coast with her German friend Helen. However, it had been such lovely weather down there that they stayed out longer than planned. So, in the end we decided to go out for dinner to one of our favourite restaurants in the area, La Cascada at Hotel Molino del Puente.

As always we were treated to delicious food from Ian Love and excellent service by his wife Elaine.

Then it was back home for a nightcap. No sooner did we sit down on the sofa than I fell into a deep sleep …..

Further reading:

Early Morning Coffee

What is a guiri?