My local, the Hotel Don Benito, on the Seville Road just outside Ronda is a place where Monday is official “Guiri night”. The Hotel has been renamed twice in the last few years; first of all La Posada de Ronda, and subsequently Hotel Ronda Valley. Did the Portuguese owners realise that this was such a clever naming, especially for Welsh people, or indeed any British folk? (If you don’t understand what I’m talking about, all will be revealed at the end of this article.)
Anyway, all we locals, Spanish and foreigner alike, still call it the Don Benito.
“Guiri night”
The numbers “attending” fluctuate. I have known as many as 20 to be there. A couple of weeks ago there were 12 of us: four English, two Scots, one Welshman, one Irishman, one Hungarian, one German and two Anglo/Spaniards. Last Monday, however, I was the only guiri in evidence.
Of the usual crew, several were away. One family of five plus selected friends went to Lisbon, Portugal, to celebrate a 60th birthday; a married couple were away on the Costa del Sol for a few days, getting their holiday rental ready for the coming season.
No problem. I know the local andaluces – farmers, agricultural workers, vineyard workers, builders, a car mechanic, a restaurant owner – so there’s no shortage of conversation. But, it’s nice to catch up with other guiris occasionally, if only to get a bit of English practice. At home, we speak German, and the rest of the time, out and about, I speak Spanish.
I wonder who’ll be there tonight …..?*
Note:
The name of the hotel featured in the article, Ronda Valley, is reminiscent of the Rhondda Valley in South Wales. This half-Welsh author finds it funny, in any case. So much so that he wrote these two articles in 2022 and 2023:
Another - new – Ronda Valley (eyeonspain.com)
The other "Ronda valley" (eyeonspain.com)
*PS:
I wrote this on Monday 13 May 2024. So “tonight”, ie Monday has now happened. How many guiris were there?
Nine! : 5 English, 1 Scottish, 1 Welsh, 1 Irish, 1 Hungarian
© Pablo de Ronda
Tags:
andaluces, Anglo/Spaniard, British, Don Benito, English, German, guiri, “Guiri night”, Hungarian, Irish, Irishman, Lisbon, Pablo de Ronda, Portugal, Posada de Ronda, Rhondda Valley, Ronda Valley, Scot, Scottish, Spanish, Welsh, Welshman
© Pablo de Ronda
Photos by Paul Whitelock
Tags:
agricultural workers, andaluces, Anglo/Spaniard, British, builders, car mechanic, Don Benito, English, farmers, German, guiri, “Guiri night”, Hungarian, Irishman, Lisbon, Pablo de Ronda, Portugal, Posada de Ronda, restaurant owner, Rhondda Valley, Ronda Valley, Scot, Spanish, vineyard workers, Welsh, Welshman