Man in Álora Makes Una Visita Relámpago (A Fleeting Visit)
What's going on here? (answer at the 'foot' of the page)
Last week Mrs. Sánchez and I made a pre-Brexit dash to Álora to sort out some pressing matters while the going was still good. Although Monty has a British AND a Spanish Pet Passport at the moment, we left him for a few days with his best pal Elvis who lives with our number one son.
By the time this edition of Man in Álora hits the streets, Great Britain, as I like to call it, may well be 'A Third Country' at best or even An Unlisted Country for the purposes of travel in European Union Countries.
In fact, the pet passport was the primary pressing problem and purpose of our flying visit - that, and a bit of gardening which has to be done during a 'waning moon', according to local custom.
You need neither a pet passport nor an ordinary passport to go to the moon, yet.)
Five dark, wet weeks in Brum, combined with the gloomy faces of everyone you meet had left us longing for the sight of blue skies and the sun. Even Christmas had not been able to work its unique magic and raise our spirits
It was raining when our plane bumped along the runway at the Aeropuerto de Málaga Costa del Sol. We passed through the 'arrivals from EU countries' gate for the last time ever, and headed for the airport train station, which is just a line of ticket machines that nobody expects to work unless they are foreigners who are using them for the first time and can't follow the 'instructions' anyway.
Mrs. S and I have the shiny new 'tarjeta dorada' (gold card) which gives us a discount for being over a certain age but cruelly refuses to work in the machines. I got through the barrier without incident but not so Mrs.S., who was left on the wrong side, clutching her useless piece of plastic and swearing in at least two languages. I had to decide quickly whether to abandon her and catch the train or stay and shout instructions to her as she joined the back of a queue to start the whole process again. Tricky!
Eventually I called, ´Don't bother with the card, just try and get a normal ticket!'. I then stood at the barrier, shouting encouragement, whilst watching a RENFE employee with a big set of keys, like Marley's ghost, open the machines and try to get them to work. It passed the time as my dear wife moved slowly up the queue.
It was still raining when we reached Álora. We rushed out of the station to catch the high-speed shuttle bus that takes you up into town. (I was clutching the right money (€4.10). The driver hates having to give you change.)
No bus! I phoned for a taxi which arrived just after the bus, only cost €5.00 for two of us, and the driver was cheerful. Result.
Our kind neighbour, Julieta, had lit the wood burner and put a chicken in the fridge, too. Thanks.
Still raining but cosy. A quick siesta and then up into town for Calamares al plancha con patatas fritas at La Lonja and a late tapa at El Taller.
Great to be back!
The next day was sunny and we got most of the gardening done - I pruned the vine and did a bit of weeding while Mrs. S. sorted out the compost bins. Then I spotted this on the Wisteria.
It's Karma the Chameleon. We haven't seen him for a couple of years. I was just about to prune his branch when I spotted him. I thought they were supposed to change colour, but he just gave me the swivel eye and started to reverse down the branch in slow motion.
There is a false opinion that the chameleon changes its color to mimic its environment as a defense against predators. An individual able to shift its behavior in accordance with different persons is compared to a chameleon, but this does not happen with the real animal.
Well, who'd have thought? You don't know who to believe these days, do you? Apparently they do change colour but not for defence - just for a lark.
Álora is a bit quiet at this time of the year. The Christmas celebrations come to an end on January 6th. which is the day of Los Reyes Magos (Epiphany or Twelfth Night) and the day that presents are exchanged.
Every year on January 5th., the Three Wise Kings parade through town at night ,on motorised vehicles, in elaborate costumes with their retinues, chucking festive boiled sweets at the crowds lining the streets. So far no-one has had an eye put out. I'm just saying.
In Álora one of the kings is always 'a person of colour' as we say these days, which involves a bit of festive 'blacking up', as we also say these days.
We missed the fun again this year and the next festival is not until Carnival (Shrove Tuesday) in February. We'll miss that too.
Everyone was going around muffled up with puffer jackets on and scarves over their faces. Even Antonio who keeps our 'corner shop' Lo Más Natural in La Plaza Baja was wearing a woolly hat as he handed out free bocadillos (sandwiches, paid for by the church) to the local kids on their way to school. '¡Qué Frío!' (How cold it is!) everyone was saying. 'Un frío que te cagas', even.
I went into El Paso, the frutería in La Plaza de la Fuente Arriba to buy a coliflor. Some fruit and vegetables can be grown all the year round in southern Spain but the fruterías tend to stock seasonal fruit and vegetables.
There was a sign written in felt tip on the counter that said,
'EL QUE COME MELÓN EN ENERO NO LE FALTA DINERO'
which means;
'Anyone who can eat melon in January isn't short of money.'
They didn't have any melons, even for cash.
The best way to find out what's going on in Álora is to look at the posters that are put up on the walls and shop windows round town. You need to understand bit of Spanish but it´s well worth it. I thought the poster above was about a flamenco concert which we had missed by a day but it's about the opening of an exhibition at 'La Cáncula', the Sala de Exposiciones ( The Exhibition Hall down the slope on Calle Cervantes, on the left just past 'Coviran' supermarket.)
The Exhibition is called, Huellas, Dolor, Memoría, (Footprints, Pain, Memory) (1936-1950).
The dates refer to the Spanish Civil War and the following 11 years of General Franco's 'repression'. This is a very difficult subject for Spanish people, especially in towns like Álora where murders and disappearances were carried out as part of Franco's 'crusade' to eradicate anyone who opposed him.
It has been called ´The Spanish Holocaust'.
The fact that this exhibition is taking place 45 years after Franco died is partly because people were afraid to talk about what happened them and their families, partly because Spanish people agreed to an unwritten 'pact of forgetfulness' which was supposed to help Spain move into democracy and partly because it has been too painful for people to remember and think about what happened.
Most people living outside Spain during the period of Franco's repression (which continued well after 1950) knew little or nothing about what was going on there or didn't care. The murders, tortures,summary executions, concentration camps, imprisonments and disappearances took place in the shadow of World War Two and the rebuilding of Europe.
People in Britain tend to say 'Well, there were terrible things done by both sides'. After the civil war ended there was only one 'side' that was in a position to carry out such a massive programme of atrocities.
It is only the ´Law of Historical Memory' (Ley de Memoria Histórica) passed in 2007 than has given families the right to find out what happened to their relatives. This has meant identifying thousands of mass graves, excavating them and carrying out DNA tests on the remains of the victims.
So far over 700 of these graves have been found but there are still many thousands of bodies still to be unearthed.
This exhibition is very disturbing. A friend told me the day I'd been to the exhibition that two of her family are on 'asesinado' list.
Here's some good news....The Ayuntamiento has decided to change the horario (opening hours) of the some of it's sites. The Castillo Arabe, the mirador de Cervantes in the Plaza Baja and the Museum/ Tourist Office will be open every day of the week, if there's a 'p' in the month.
I hope all the staff will be getting a pay rise.
.
As part of the town's continuing policy of providing work, it's been announced that Calle Veracruz will be re re re resurfaced again because for some, as yet unfathomable reason, the block paving has collapsed again.
Álora's favourite author, Antonio F. Ortiz, who wrote the forgettable 'La Chica que Sonreía con los Ojos.' (The Girl Who Smiled with Her Eyes), set in Álora and 'El Hombre Escondido Bajo el Arbol' (The Man Hidden Under the Tree), set in Álora, has launched his new book 'Las Cicatrices de una Manzana Amarga' (The Scars of a Bitter Apple), set in Álora. All his books have been popular in Álora.
I believe his next book will be set in Álora, with the title 'El Tomate que se Cayó el el Rio' ('The Tomato that fell in the River') .
Bar News
I was very disturbed to note that Bar Zentral did not open once during our visita relámpago. I hope that Jesús is having a short holiday and will open again soon. Does anyone know?
Bar La Baranda is still open
Bar El Tapeo, which was called El Rincon, I think, the last time it opened its doors, may rise again. This is just a rumour from a usually unreliable scource.
The old Post Office , lately Bar Padre y Hijo which has made more comebacks than Rolf Harris's boomerang (remember him?) is undergoing refurbishment. Can anyone make this bar pay?
Pie News
The picture at the top shows The Annual National Pie Awards in Melton Mowbray.
More about this in the next eagerly-awaited issue.....
As we left Álora it was raining heavily, after a night and a day of heavy rain. Good for the Olives!
Juanito Sánchez January 26th. 2020.
