Gold, sweetheart!

can be described as Una chapuza, an interesting word which can mean an improvised and sometimes virtuoso repair job that can last for years or a shoddy piece of work that immediately collapses or explodes.

If you have found the person you are looking for, ask:

Can you come straight away?.....¿puede venir en seguida?

When can you come?.....¿cuándo puede venir?

What time are you coming?.....¿a qué hora vendrá?

Once they are there:

It’s not working/it’s broken…..no funciona/está roto(a)

Can you mend it now?.....¿podrá arreglarlo ahora mismo?

How long will it take?.....¿cuánto va a tardar?

How long before the spare parts arrive: ¿cuánto tardarán las piezas en llegar?

Then comes the serious business: How much is it going to cost…..¿cuánto me va a costar?

I’d like a written estimate…..me gustaría un presupuesto por escrito Estimado, in contrast, means esteemed and although it sounds as stilted in Spanish as it does in English, it’s used where we say Dear when starting a formal letter.

LINDA HALL

POPE BENEDICT XVI visited Valencia in July 2006, although his Oliver Twist moment was reported only by the regional media.

Apparently Benedict was given horchata at the Archbishop’s palace where he stayed overnight. He liked it so much that before saying Mass to the usual multitude next day he asked for more horchata.

Not water, your Holiness? No, it had to be horchata and as this is principally a summer drink served ice ­ cold or as a shaved­ice granita, the pope’s request for more made sense.

You’ll find horchata wherever you go in Spain, although it originated in Valencia, where it is traditionally accompanied by sausage­shaped buns going by the unfortunate name of fartons.

Horchata is made from chufas, the little brown nutty things we called tiger nuts when I was little. Depending on which Google explanation you like best, something like horchata appears to have arrived with the Moors in the ninth century although the drink origi­ nated in the Sudan.

According to archaeologists, it was habitually left amongst the afterlife provisions in Egyptian tombs while Persian and Arab writers praised its digestive and antiseptic qualities. Even now, drinking horchata is still a popular household remedy for an upset stomach.

Nevertheless its name comes from the Italian orzata, which in turn derives from the Latin ordeata ­ made from hordeum or barley ­ meaning that horchata wasn’t always made from tiger nuts.

In Valencia, they tell you another different story, maintaining that in the 13th century the king of Aragon, Jaime I El Conquistador who retook Valencia from the Moors, was given a sweet, white, milky concoction to drink.

He asked what it was and the girl who was serving him explained that it was chufa milk.

“¡Aixo no es llet! ¡Aixo es or, xata!” he exclaimed (“This isn’t milk ­ this is gold, sweetheart!”). Fortunately for posterity, they were both speaking Valenciano and Jaime was able to combine or and xata to create a name for the drink we know today.

Unvarnished news LETTERS

I have recently taken on a new role with Euro Weekly News and am Editorial Consultant reviewing the type and style of articles that are published both in the seven weekly editions of the newspaper as well as the web page.

One story that we have been concentrating on, which appears to be ignored by much of the mainstream media, is the plight of some 104 followers of the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light sect who have been arrested and allegedly tortured due to their beliefs in Turkey.

It has been quite incredible how many supporters of this peaceful faith community which follows many of the teachings of the Prophet Mohammed have read and responded to these articles thanking Euro Weekly News for reporting their case.

Many of the comments are in Arabic but EWN has arranged for them to be translated into English so that readers can understand their comments.

It is very heart­warming to know that the largest English language newspaper in Spain is reaching across the world and doing something, no mater how little, to spread the unvarnished news.

Visit https://euroweeklynews.com/ 2023/05/27/104­members­of­a­religiousminority­face­imprisonment­or­executionon­the­turkish­bulgarian­border/ to read the full story.

John Smith Editorial Consultant EWN

Tourism fight back

There is a Facebook group called ‘180 days in Spain’ trying to get the UK government to reach a bilateral agreement with the Spanish government giving UK citizens equal rights to those of EU citizens arriving in the UK, who can stay for six months without a visa. This would help UK citizens who own homes in Spain and allow for both Easter holidays and summer holidays.

David Candlish

To David Worboys

“Third, cats are discreet…”

And where do you think they poop? That’s right, they poop in the neighbour’s property! These selfish animals keep their home clean. That’s why they prefer the clean garden of the neighbour ­ very social!

Maybe people will get cats because they have the same mindset and traits ­ BRAVO! Sometimes your column is useful, but this time it was an ill­considered own goal...

Regards

Ralph / Torre del Mar

Hi Anna

Just a quick thank you for running our football donation article. It was a great advert for the club.

Regards Duncan

Leapy

You’re welcome Graham. Yours is the first page I turn to when the paper comes out every week. I like a person who speaks their mind, and I sometimes share your column with friends in Britain. Many say that wouldn’t be allowed over there, but like your honesty.

Keep up the good work.

Hi Lee

Regards

Colin

100% agree with your comments in EWN I presume that you have read ‘Brave New World’ by Aldous Huxley. Prescient is a word that comes to mind.

Have you looked at Reform Party? I reckon they deserve a chance.

Vids worth watching:

History debunked

Rotten Politics

Mahyar Tousi

...and in USA:

Crossroads with Joshua Philipp

Best regards and keep up the great work!! Max

Jumped ship

Well, I expect you have heard by now that Britain’s answer to Trump has resigned. Even in his resignation statement Boris Johnson can’t tell the truth. He isn’t being forced out anti democratically. His departure is a nail in the Brexit coffin, which I expect you will have a comment to make about. He’s looked at the report, he knows the damage it will create, so he is avoiding the humiliation. He jumped before he was pushed.

I expect you know that there are now eight ex PMs and they are entitled to public financial support which was established after Margaret Thatcher resigned. The PDCA allows a former prime minister to claim up to £115,000 a year paid for by the tax payer. Of course they can earn a lot more on top of that by travelling around the world making speeches, while the average British tax payer struggles to pay electricity, gas, water and food bills.

Trump and Johnson are both Americans, both born in New York, both got silly hair cuts, both lie. The only difference is Johnson hasn’t got a ginger face.

Regards

Colin