Spain
Created | Updated Apr 12, 2002
This will be a foreigners introduction to Spain, and seeing that I inhabit the place, I think you should pay attention! Everyone has a very false view of Spain, they believe most of it to be full of clubs, Sangria (which needs it's own entry) donkeys, and LOLIBS, now LOLIBS are strange creatures....Little Old Ladys In Black, they are quite abundant in most of the regions in Spain, especially in the old parts of Spain. I live in Andalucia, which is probably the tourist capital of Spain, containing the Costa Del Sol, which people are starting to refer to as the New Florida of Europe. The Costa Del Sol has its own endearing qualities, such as, totally drunk tourists, LOLIBS, lts of Sangria, and yes...Kiss Me Quick land, clubs galore, and lots of Africans trying to sell you their family watch collection.
I have to admit there is a lot of this, but I particularly enjoy it because, in about half an hours drive, you can get away from it all, and go to one of the white villages in the mountains on the Costa. The Costa Del Sol is mainly the South Western Coast of Spain, but I would say the main areas are between Gibraltar (A big rock which is home to a few Apes, and a lot of funny creatures who call themselves Gibraltarians, I will write another article about this place later)
A main view of the high points along the Costa are as follows: Sotogrande, Marbella, Malaga, Granada, and a few other little villages. Starting with Sotogrande, this is a place where most people go to escape their fast paced urban lives, and live like a Spaniard, who's life style is "manana" which means tomorow, anything you ask a Spaniard to do it's "manana" pronunced 'manyana' the first n is meant to have a squiggle over it like this ~ but I don't have the key for it on this British keyboard!! So as you can see Spanish people are very laid back, and live a long time. Sotogrande is basically a very large urbanisation, with long avenues bordered by bright yellow mimosa bushes, Sotogrande also has it's fair share of hotels, and a port, where you can hire boats, or have breakfast under the mediterranean sun watching the boats go by, and follow on to play a game of golf at the infamous Sotogrande Golf Club. If there are any golf fans out there, there is a golf course called 'Valderama' where the Volvo Masters Tournament is held every year. Sotogrande is a very peaceful place, but for those of you looking to live it up a bit, Marbella is the place. I think this entry will get too long, so I'll continue about Spain, and break the highspots into separate entries, so that I can go into more detail. Spain is actually a ver ybeutiful country, there is such a diversity of climatic areas over the country, for example where I live, you can go and swim in the Mediterranean sea in the morning then you can drive for three hours, and be in a Ski Resort called 'Sierra Nevada' which means snowy mountain ( a very original name I thought ) The culture of Spain is also incredibly interesting, this is where all you clubbers should carry on reading and learn something, and see other things except for smokey bars, the toilet bowl and the inside of your bedcovers. Spanish people although laid back, they are very loyal to religion, most Spaniards are Roman Catholics, bout 90% in fact, and they have just had 'Semana Santa' Holy week, these holy holidays appear about every week or two, and are also a pretty good way to get out of doing work, for example if there's a holiday on the thursday or friday, Spanish people have made this new rule which is, that if the holidays' on thursday or friday, you have to make it into a 'puente'
which means bridge, so you have to include saturday sunday AND monday,
this is yet another insight into the Spanish mentality. These holy festivals usually last a week or two, and involve lots of Sevillana dancing and Flamenco,(entries will be written about these styles too)
drinking lots of sangria, and eating Paella ( which will be in the Spanish cusine section) The parties are very loud, and are very lively, and mean that no-one will sleep for days, including anyone not partcipating, because it can be heard for miles around.
After recovering from these festivals life resumes it's calm enjoyable pace, and people can get back to 'normal'. Another ritual which is also mis-understood in a way is bullfighting. Bullfighting is seen as a blood sport where the bull is slaughtered for everyone else's enjoyment, this is partly true, but people don't know the background on it, ( which I shall include in it's entry ) But briefly, there are places that have traditional bullfights, they are quite scarce, because of the Spaniards 'manana' attitude, they now inject the bull with drugs before it enters the bullring making it a lot less work for the 'Torreador' (bullfighter) to tire it out and eventually kill it. In the places where the practice the orignal art of bullfighting, the 'torreador' enters the ring with a bull that has just come in out of the training grounds, and hasn't been injected, poked, cut or enraged, so it's less than an equal fight, and the bullfighter has to kill the bull with a cape, and a sword thrust to the heart, which can only be achieved by positioning yourself right next to the side of the bull, and get above a point between it's shoulder blades. This sport is actually very dangerous, and has resulted in some very interesting injuries, like the man who decided that he wanted to have another anus ripped in place for him, as well as many other graphically disgusting, but rather amusing injuries.
Another great thing to see in Spain is the landscape, and the views from the high mountain villages. Most of Spains mountain villages are perched atop the most unstable looking point on a mountain overhang, so the houses look as though they are going to fall over the edge if someone so much as sneezes in the village. The houses are nearly always white, because they need to reflect the great amount of heat they recieve in the summer. Most of the villagers are very nice people, and there are also the local old loonies who have had too mch sun in their lives and a bit too much coffee and sangria ( another entry will be a typical walk through of a Spanish village) These villages are also paradise for artists, because of the nostalgic views, and very interesting sun aged faces of the inhabitants. I am an artist and have enjoyed the views from the high peaks of the 'Sierra Bermeja' mountain near a little white village called 'Casares' which is named (believe it or not) after Julius Caesar who came through Spain rather a long time ago. Spain is also very renowned for it's wildlife, and if it wasn't hopefully it will be now.
The increidble variety of species is astounding, there are many different species of animals, but the birds are alos particularly interesting, so bird watchers remember Spain is the place for you, with species like the Golden oriel, Hoo poo's, and many varieties of Vultures Eagles, and migrating birds from Moroco like Flamingos which prefer the coastal areas of Spain. That's a very brief overview of the Spanish people and their home, and in the future I will bring you more planned and detailed entries of the high spots of Spain for Golf, for different types of tourists, and also the cuisine, and spanish culture such as Bullfighting, Sevillana, and Flamenco as well as many other tips and information not usually released to the public.
I have to admit there is a lot of this, but I particularly enjoy it because, in about half an hours drive, you can get away from it all, and go to one of the white villages in the mountains on the Costa. The Costa Del Sol is mainly the South Western Coast of Spain, but I would say the main areas are between Gibraltar (A big rock which is home to a few Apes, and a lot of funny creatures who call themselves Gibraltarians, I will write another article about this place later)
A main view of the high points along the Costa are as follows: Sotogrande, Marbella, Malaga, Granada, and a few other little villages. Starting with Sotogrande, this is a place where most people go to escape their fast paced urban lives, and live like a Spaniard, who's life style is "manana" which means tomorow, anything you ask a Spaniard to do it's "manana" pronunced 'manyana' the first n is meant to have a squiggle over it like this ~ but I don't have the key for it on this British keyboard!! So as you can see Spanish people are very laid back, and live a long time. Sotogrande is basically a very large urbanisation, with long avenues bordered by bright yellow mimosa bushes, Sotogrande also has it's fair share of hotels, and a port, where you can hire boats, or have breakfast under the mediterranean sun watching the boats go by, and follow on to play a game of golf at the infamous Sotogrande Golf Club. If there are any golf fans out there, there is a golf course called 'Valderama' where the Volvo Masters Tournament is held every year. Sotogrande is a very peaceful place, but for those of you looking to live it up a bit, Marbella is the place. I think this entry will get too long, so I'll continue about Spain, and break the highspots into separate entries, so that I can go into more detail. Spain is actually a ver ybeutiful country, there is such a diversity of climatic areas over the country, for example where I live, you can go and swim in the Mediterranean sea in the morning then you can drive for three hours, and be in a Ski Resort called 'Sierra Nevada' which means snowy mountain ( a very original name I thought ) The culture of Spain is also incredibly interesting, this is where all you clubbers should carry on reading and learn something, and see other things except for smokey bars, the toilet bowl and the inside of your bedcovers. Spanish people although laid back, they are very loyal to religion, most Spaniards are Roman Catholics, bout 90% in fact, and they have just had 'Semana Santa' Holy week, these holy holidays appear about every week or two, and are also a pretty good way to get out of doing work, for example if there's a holiday on the thursday or friday, Spanish people have made this new rule which is, that if the holidays' on thursday or friday, you have to make it into a 'puente'
which means bridge, so you have to include saturday sunday AND monday,
this is yet another insight into the Spanish mentality. These holy festivals usually last a week or two, and involve lots of Sevillana dancing and Flamenco,(entries will be written about these styles too)
drinking lots of sangria, and eating Paella ( which will be in the Spanish cusine section) The parties are very loud, and are very lively, and mean that no-one will sleep for days, including anyone not partcipating, because it can be heard for miles around.
After recovering from these festivals life resumes it's calm enjoyable pace, and people can get back to 'normal'. Another ritual which is also mis-understood in a way is bullfighting. Bullfighting is seen as a blood sport where the bull is slaughtered for everyone else's enjoyment, this is partly true, but people don't know the background on it, ( which I shall include in it's entry ) But briefly, there are places that have traditional bullfights, they are quite scarce, because of the Spaniards 'manana' attitude, they now inject the bull with drugs before it enters the bullring making it a lot less work for the 'Torreador' (bullfighter) to tire it out and eventually kill it. In the places where the practice the orignal art of bullfighting, the 'torreador' enters the ring with a bull that has just come in out of the training grounds, and hasn't been injected, poked, cut or enraged, so it's less than an equal fight, and the bullfighter has to kill the bull with a cape, and a sword thrust to the heart, which can only be achieved by positioning yourself right next to the side of the bull, and get above a point between it's shoulder blades. This sport is actually very dangerous, and has resulted in some very interesting injuries, like the man who decided that he wanted to have another anus ripped in place for him, as well as many other graphically disgusting, but rather amusing injuries.
Another great thing to see in Spain is the landscape, and the views from the high mountain villages. Most of Spains mountain villages are perched atop the most unstable looking point on a mountain overhang, so the houses look as though they are going to fall over the edge if someone so much as sneezes in the village. The houses are nearly always white, because they need to reflect the great amount of heat they recieve in the summer. Most of the villagers are very nice people, and there are also the local old loonies who have had too mch sun in their lives and a bit too much coffee and sangria ( another entry will be a typical walk through of a Spanish village) These villages are also paradise for artists, because of the nostalgic views, and very interesting sun aged faces of the inhabitants. I am an artist and have enjoyed the views from the high peaks of the 'Sierra Bermeja' mountain near a little white village called 'Casares' which is named (believe it or not) after Julius Caesar who came through Spain rather a long time ago. Spain is also very renowned for it's wildlife, and if it wasn't hopefully it will be now.
The increidble variety of species is astounding, there are many different species of animals, but the birds are alos particularly interesting, so bird watchers remember Spain is the place for you, with species like the Golden oriel, Hoo poo's, and many varieties of Vultures Eagles, and migrating birds from Moroco like Flamingos which prefer the coastal areas of Spain. That's a very brief overview of the Spanish people and their home, and in the future I will bring you more planned and detailed entries of the high spots of Spain for Golf, for different types of tourists, and also the cuisine, and spanish culture such as Bullfighting, Sevillana, and Flamenco as well as many other tips and information not usually released to the public.
