Nuestra Señora del Pilar
There are so many fiestas in Spain that there aren't enough days in the year to fit them all in. That's why this weekend is a puente( bridge/long holiday, Friday till Monday) so that they can celebrate:
La Fiesta National de España (The National Day of Spain)
El Día de la Hispanidad (The Day of the Hispanic Community in the World)
El Día de las Fuerzas Armadas (The Day of the Armed Forces)
El Día de Cristobal Colón (Christopher Columbus Day)
El Día de la Guardia Civil (The Day of the Guardia Civil)
El Día de Nuestra Señora del Pilar (The Day of the Virgin of the Pillar)
They all happen on October 12th., but to be fair, we don't do Columbus Day any more in Spain because it has unpopular colonial connotations, the Guardia Civil are an armed force and the Virgin of the Pillar is the Guardia Civil's patron virgin.
The Guardia all over Spain will have big parties with lots of food and drink on Monday so there's no chance of being pulled in by them on some trumped up charge and fined 200€ (like I was) on Monday.
Pilar is a very popular name for girls in Spain. There was one in 'For Whom the Bell Tolls' by Gary Cooper. I know at least one. I had no idea that she always stands on a pillar until I looked for a picture. We don't have one in Álora (yet) although we do have a Jesus Attached to a Column
Regular readers may have noticed that, along with pies (see previous posts), virgins get more than their fair share of mentions in this organ. And not without reason. Apart from there being a lot of them about I have found that the readership of this humble organ doubles when I put 'Virgin' in the title. I think Google has something to do with it.
Speaking of pies, imagine my excitement when I saw this in today's 'SUR'
'The flavour of pies of the Sierra Gibralmora' it appears to say, but ..NO!. A false friend indeed. 'Los pies' translates as 'the feet'- nothing to do with pies at all, even though it's clearly an article about food. 'Flavour at the feet of the Sierra de Gibralmora'. It's about the Ruta de las Tapas in Pizarra this weekend.
A bit of a disappointment but at least that's Sunday's itinerary sorted.
Our new hospital
The big news in Álora this week is that the hospital which we have been waiting for since 2005 and which has been standing empty for years may open in 2016 because someone has found enough money to build an access road to it and pay the electricity bill. It will serve 150,000 people from 14 towns and villages around the Guadalhorce valley. The other reason for the sudden rush is that if it doesn't open in 2016, the Junta de Andalucía will have to give back the 7 million €uros they were given to build it. It is called El Chare and not many people know why, so you can impress your friends by telling them it stands for El Centro Hopitalario de Alta Resoluciones y Especialidades. I may live to see it open. Meanwhile the other hospitals in Málaga Province have had to shut down 370 beds and reduce services. Has anybody thought about where they they are going to find the staff and who's going to pay them? Watch this space.
(Casa Sánchez is behInd the 'l' in 'la')
Last Saturday was Álora's annual 'Día de Las Sopas Perotas' when thousands of hungry visitors visit our beautiful white walled pueblo to taste our signature dish. Many people are expecting a 'soup' but are delighted to find it is, instead, a substantial stodgy surprise made from stale bread and water. 6,500 free portions of this tasty treat were dished out in La Plaza Baja De La Despedía' (The Bottom Square) supervised by our alcalde José Sanchez (no relation).
To be fair, Sopas Perotas does have other ingredients; pimientos rojos (red peppers), ajo (garlic), cebolla (onion),patatas (potatoes) and tomates (tomatoes), sal (salt) and pimienta (pepper) and aceite de oliva ( olive oil). Mmmmm and everybody loves it and we are very proud of it. It's one of the few vegetarian dishes you will find around here. Mrs. Sánchez is sceptical, though. 'I can't believe that there isn't something a bit meaty lurking in there somewhere', she opined.
Last year we missed it completely because a (completely sober) friend slipped on a piece of Clonakilty black pudding and fell down the stairs and we had to take her to El Clinico (a hospital that is actually open for business in Málaga).
La Plaza Baja de la Despedía (Bottom Square).
mysterious objects
The other day these mysterious objects appeared on all the tables outside the bars in the Fuentearriba (Top Square). Servilleteros are a familiar sight in Spanish bars and are essential for the popular sport of 'tapeando' which often involves close encounters with hot sauces and olive oil. The paper serviettes are usually screwed up after use and dropped on the floor even if papeleras (waste paper bins) are provided. The waiter will sweep up the rubbish later. I once saw a waiter empty a full waste paper bin onto the floor and then sweep it all up again along with cigarette ends (not these days), sunflower seed shells, olive stones and toothpicks.
The problem now is that some bars have tables outside in the square, a recent phenomenon (7 years), and the rubbish gets blown about and the town hall has to pay someone to sweep it all up.
Some bright spark has invented this handy 'mini-papelera' which slots neatly onto the back of the servilletero in the fond hope that customers will put their used serviettes etc. in it.
They lasted less than a week and never even made it to The Bottom Square which was seen as a lost cause from the start..
It's a different matter with these chaps:
All around town you can see bottles of water on doorsteps or outside houses. I've always wondered what they are for so I asked a few of my neighbours. Antonio at the Estanco (tobacconist) said they were to stop dogs peeing in the doorway or up the wall.
'They really work' he said.
'Why?'
'Because the dog is just about to cock its leg up and it sees the water and thinks, "There are people round here and they might attack me." and so it changes its mind.'
'How do you know what the dog is thinking?'
'¡Buena psicología!'
'Why do some have yellow water in them?'
'Some people put saffron in the water......to stop children stealing the bottles'.
Another neighbour, Inés, said it was to deter cats. 'The cat sees its reflection in the plastic bottle and thinks it's another cat and moves on.
Yet another believed that no cat/dog will pee 'near a scource of water'.
Everyone agrees that the bottles work. Fair enough!
........Exclusive offer for Man in Álora Readers...
Regular readers will soon be able to pre pre-order bottles of Sánchez Extra Virgin Olive Oil. (there's the second virgin referred to in the title).
Juanito Sanchez 9th. October 2015
