La Revista Issue 245

LA

REVI S TA

THE BRITISHSPANISH SOCIETY MAGAZINE

ISSUE 245

DECEMBER 2017

Society News

Art

Book Review

Gastronomy

THE BSS SOCIE T Y ’S YE AR OF E VENTS

SACRED AND SECUL AR IN SPANISH ART AND SONG

THE STRUGGLE FOR CATALONIA

ARBINA FOR THE TRUE TASTE OF SPAIN

Royal Visit

CONTRIBUTORS ISSUE 245

TOM BURNS MARAÑÓN Madrid-based author and journalist, and Managing Partner of eurocofin.

CHARLES POWELL Director of the Elcano Royal Institute and professor of Spanish History at CEU San Pablo University.

JULES STEWART Journalist and author.

He specialises in military history and lived in Madrid for 20 years.

JIMMY BURNS MARAÑÓN Author, journalist and Chairman of the BritishSpanish Society.

WILLIAM CHISLETT Author and journalist.

Currently writes for Elcano Royal Institute.

DOMINIC BEGG Former President of TESOLSpain and teacher at ESADE business school. Former Spanish rugby champion.

MESSAGE FROM THE EDITOR CAROLINA JARA HUERGO

Welcome back! I am honoured to take up the role of Editor in Chief for La Revista and be part of this wonderful British-Spanish community. In this issue, we gathered fantastic journalistic pieces for all tastes and ages! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Besides the political turmoil suffered worldwide in the last semester, we are closing the year with more than positive news for Spain and Britain bilateral relationship. Just to name a few, King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain paid a state visit to the UK the first by a Spanish monarch for more than 30 years and secondly, the decent boost of the Spanish economy after the challenging 6-year recession where Britain has been playing a key role as the second biggest investor in the land of sunshine, flamenco and tapas.

On page 38, we talk about tocadiscos and jukeboxes playing “la Macarena” while we learn how these songs and spanish pop icons were influenced by the international music scene as well as the local political reality in the early 60s.

DUNCAN WHEELER Author and professor of Spanish at the University of Leeds

ROBERT GRAHAM BRIAN MOONEY Author and journalist. His Former Reuters postings include Madrid Bucorrespondent, elected reau Chief , Paris Bureau Cruef, member of the Corporation and Latin American Editor of of the city of London and the Financial Times Chairman of the Confraternity of Pilgrims to Rome.

TYLER FISHER Author and Lecturer in Peninsular Spanish Literary Studies at University College London.

BARRY IFE TOMAS HILL LOPEZ-MENCHERO Former principal of the Modern Languages student Guildhall School and and Sport Editor for Palatinate, currently, Honorary Senior Durham’s official student Research Fellow at the school. newspaper.

2 – La Revista – AUtumn / Winter 2017

We couldn’t have missed the fantastic book review about bull fighting “That dangerous Summer” which will hopefully bring you back the most timeless tradition in Spain as well as the Catalonia’s political situation with a rather interesting article on the conflict.

Last but not least, don’t forget to say “hola” and pop by any of our wonderful christmas events.

Enjoy the issue and feel free to get in touch with suggestions.

COVER IMAGE COURTESY OF: CASA DE S.M. EL REY​

CLAUDIA SP RUBINO Philologist, english teacher and book lover from Valladolid.

DAVID HURST Writer and Executive Council member and Event Manager for BSS.

WITH THANKS TO THE BRITISHSPANISH SOCIETY’S PRINCIPAL SUPPORTERS:

CONTENTS

Executive Editor Jimmy Burns Marañón Editor in Chief Carolina Jara Huergo Design Carolina Jara Huergo, Julia Burns Scholarships Marian Jiménez-Riesco (Trustee) Corporate Supporters/ Advertising Alexandra Brown, José Ivars (Trustee), Patricia María Paya Cuenca Development Secretary María Soriano Casado Events Carmen Young (Trustee), David Hurst, Paul Pickering, Silvia Montes, Jordi Mateu Membership, Finance, and Website Secretary Virginia Cosano, Events and Grants Alvaro Cepero Published by the BritishSpanish Society Honorary President H.E. Carlos Bastarreche, Spanish Ambassador Honorary Vice-President Simon Manley, British Ambassador to Spain Chairman Jimmy Burns Marañón Patrons Duke of Wellington, Dame Denise Holt, Lady Maria-Belen Parker, Carmen Araoz de Urquijo, Lady Brennan, Lady Lindsay, John Scanlan, Rt Hon Baroness Hooper, Randolph Churchill, Sir Stephen Wright Trustees Jimmy Burns Marañón (Chairman), Juan Reig Mascarell (Treasurer), Carmen Young, Maria Angeles Jimenez Riesco, José Ivars Lopez, Scott Young, Roger Golland, Hugh Elliot, Cristina Alvarez Campana, Mike Short, Fernando Menendez

4

8

14

16

18

20

22

24

26

32

34

A PIECE OF SPAIN THAT ENDED UP IN FRANCE

36

40

42

44

47

KAZUO ISHIGURO

ARTURO BAREA

SHERRY

RONALDO

SPANISH STATE VISIT

Other members of the Executive Council David Hurst, Paul Pickering, Alexandra Brown, Eva Sierra, Alberto Linares, Silvia Montes, Jordi Mateu Tudo, Justin Ellis, Julian Barcena, Carolina Jara Huergo, Elisa Ramirez, Maria Perez de Arcos, Patricia Paya www.britishspanishsociety.org The opinions expressed throughout this issue represent those of the authors and contributors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the BritishSpanish Society or those of their supporters.

The BritishSpanish Society is a registered charity: 1080250 CONTACT US For all editorial contributions or to comment on an article you have read in La Revista, please write to us at: press@britishspanishsociety.org To enquire about advertising opportunities (including classified adverts) please contact: info@britishspanishsociety.org

SPAIN’S POP PIONEERS

MIAU EN FANZARA

BSS SOCIETY’S YEAR OF EVENTS

ENTRE INSULAS AND PENINSULAS: UCL UNDERGRADUATES PUBLISH THEIR ORIGINAL SPANISH MICROFICTION

ARBINA FOR THE TRUE TASTE OF SPAIN

THE STRUGGLE FOR CATALONIA

SACRED AND SECULAR IN SPANISH ART AND SONG

THAT DANGEROUS SUMMER

BUSINESS PROFILE: IGNACIO PEYRO

OBITUARIES: HUGH THOMAS AND FATHER ERNESTO

3 – La Revista – Autumn / Winter 2017

LA REVISTA

BY JIMMY BURNS MARAÑÓN

PROFILE

KAZUO ISHIGURO

S

i no mal recuerdo fue a finales de los años Noventa que

firmar un contrato conmigo otra Catalana Gloria Gutiérrez de la

el gran editor Barcelonés Jorge Herralde me invito a

Agencia Carmen Balcells que a través de los años había llegado

un encuentro de escritores británicos que habían sido

a representar autores mucho más destacados que yo, entre ellos

traducidos al español por su editorial Anagrama.

García Márquez y Vargas Llosa.

La foto de la convocatoria literaria en casa de la agente literaria

Pero para Herralde unos de su grandes logros fue captar a otros

Koukla MacLehose reapareció en los medios hace pocos días

autores que aspiraban hacia finales del siglo pasado a ser la mejor

con el anuncio de que Kazuo Ishiguro había ganada el Premio

generación de escritores británicos de la historia. Fue así que

Nobel de la Literatura. Ver la imagen de nuevo me lleno con un

identificó a varios de ellos en 1983 el autor Estadounidense Bill

sentido de gran orgullo el haber tenido la oportunidad de haberle

Buford que en ese época editaba en la ciudad universitaria inglesa

conocido personalmente aunque, para ser sincero, sin ninguna

de Cambridge la legendaria revista literaria anglo-sajona Granta.

intimidad. Como veremos Ish como le llaman sus amigos más fieles no es fácil de conocer.

Entre los identificados por Buford estaba Ishiguro, además de Martin Amis, y Julian Barnes, miembros del ‘Dream Team’ que

Entre los autores británicos allí presentes esa noche, además de

convoco Herralde esa noche Londinense en el cual participé,

ser el único con sangre española, yo era sin duda el principiante

gozando de los tragos de vino blanco y algún que otro canapé que

en el mundo editorial y muy lejos de la celebridad del cual ya

me ofrecieron y la conversación de ídolos míos que me rodeaban.

presumían varios de los otros escritores.

Otros ‘jugadores’ esa noche juntados en el patio de la casa

Yo le debía al generoso Herralde la traducción desde su versión

incluían Hanif Kureishi, Graham Swift, David Lloyd, y Vikram

original en Ingles de mi libro Barca, La Pasión de un Pueblo,

Seth. Como escribió Leila Guerrero en un perfil sobre Herralde

sobre la historia del Futbol Club Barcelona que también era un

en La Nación unos meses después :“Si una catástrofe hubiera

ensayo sobre el nacionalismo Catalán y el deporte, tema que le

sucedido ese día en ese patio (un tornado, un terremoto, una

fascinaba a Jorge como Catalán de pura cepa.

lluvia ácida, una nube tóxica) el ciento por ciento de la nueva

En tiempos cuando los independistas aun no habían destruido la convivencia cultural en la capital condal, le había animado a

narrativa británica y algo de la norteamericana hubieran quedado truncas para siempre.”

PROFILE

Sin personalizar excesivamente, recuerdo que la noche aunque en general simpática y solidaria se distinguía por la arrogancia individual de algunos y la humildad de otross de los presentes- y a Ishiguro le recuerdo entre los más simpáticos además de pensativos, con ojos que sonreían detrás de unas gafas, como si ya sabía lo frívolo y transitorio que podían ser los festejos literarios, y la auto-adulación de ciertos escritores.

“Nunca me he olvidado... la

extrañeza deslumbrante, la calidad única de como escribía, una mezcla extraña entre Ingles clásico y prosa amenazadora Japonesa.”

Ingles clásico y prosa amenazadora Japonesa.”

Fue McCrum quo publicó la primera larga novela de Ishiguro A Pale View of Hills en 1982. Era un ano que muchos Británicos y Argentinos de la generación de él y yo nunca olvidaran- cuando el Reino Unido vivió una cierta euforia pos-imperialista al liderar la Sra. Thatcher la Reconquista de esas islas llamadas por los ingleses los Falklands y los Argentinos Las Malvinas.

Yo viví esa Guerra como corresponsal del diario Británico Financial Times en Buenos Aires- pero fue en esa misma época que Ishiguro decidió presentar el fruto de su propia conciencia genética y imaginación literaria.

Ishiguro nació, igual que su madre en Nagasaki, en 1954, un año después que yo nací en Madrid- el de padre y madre Japonesa yo de padre Británico, y madre Española, nuestras historias personales y creación literaria marcadas por la memoria de Guerras traumáticas y el reto de adaptarnos a la cultura Anglo-Sajona, bien diferente a la de donde habíamos nacido.

McCrum recuerda un comentario que hizo hace tempo el

Entre mis libros esta uno dedicado a La Guerra de Las

autor sobre la mejor manera de sobrevivir el mundo literario

Malvinas - La Tierra que Perdió su Héroes, y otra Papa

de Londres: “Cuando uno se junta con otros escritores, lo

Espía sobre la Segunda Guerra Mundial y la experiencia

mejor es criticar a los agentes literarios y las editoriales

de mi padre en la embajada Británica en Madrid, espiando

etc, pero nunca hablar de la obra de uno, sino simplemente

sobre los Nazis.

hacer referencia a una página específica, para que sepan que los has leído!”

Los padres de Ishiguro igual que los míos, aunque con más tardanza, se instalaron en los años de la posguerra

Cuando,a los pocos minutos del anuncio del premio nobel,

en Inglaterra – y a partir de aquí nuestras diferencias se

los medios de medio mundo asediaron su case Londinense

agudizan.

en el barrio norte de Golders Green, la primera reacción de Ishiguro era preguntar a los periodistas: “Pero como sabían donde vivía?”

Mientras que los Británicos surgieron de la Segunda Guerra Mundial como los victoriosos, el Imperio Japonés, igual que el Tercer Reich de Hitler tuvo que soportar un cambio brusco,

La segunda era la de pensar que el haber ganado el premio

dejando de noche a la mañana el ritual y la hierarquia para

era todo un invento, un “fake news” de los medios sociales.

enfrentarse con un futuro incierto, bajo el dominio de los

Discreción y humildad tal vez son las características que

aliados.

mejor definen a la personalidad de Ishiguro, de sangre y

La narradora de A Pale View of Hills es una mujer Japonesa,

padres Japoneses, radicado en el Reino Unido desde que

Etsuko, que igual que el autor vive en Inglaterra después

cumplió los cinco años en 1959. De cierto modo, sigue siendo

de haber nacido en Nagazaki,unas de las dos ciudades

un misterio hasta para los que le han conocido desde su

Japonesas destruidas por un bombardeo atómico de los

época de joven universitario como McCrum que le descubrió

Americanos.

en 1979. En ese entonces Ishiguro tenía veinte años y había escrito tres novelas cortas, fruto de un curso de Masters en Escritura Creativa en la Universidad inglesa de East Anglia.

Desde la experiencia de su vida cómoda pero extranjera en Inglaterra, Etsuko ya viuda de su segundo marido inglés y aun de luto por el suicidio de su primer marido

Su madre que aún vive, sobrevivió la bomba atómica en

Japonés, recuerda momentos de su pasada vida en Nagasaki

Nagasaki. Su padre, ya difunto, emigro a Inglaterra e instaló

done todo va cambiando, sobre todo bajo la influencia del

a su familia en Guildford, Surrey, cerca de Londres, para

‘American Dream’ y el progreso prometido por el libre

seguir su trabajo oceanográfico.

mercado del capitalismo.

“Nunca me he olvidado,” escribió McCrum recientemente en

Sus recuerdos se centran en la amistad que tuvo con otra

el semanal inglés Observer, “la extrañeza deslumbrante, la

Japonesa, una vecina llamada Sachiko, que vive con su

calidad única de como escribía, una mezcla extraña entre

hija depresiva.

5 – La Revista – Autumn / Winter 2017

Un gran amigo de Ishiguro, su primer editor Británico Robert

PROFILE

Las dos mujeres, Etsuko y Sachiko, cada una a su manera, han

Igual que sus otras novelas, esta se narra en primera persona.

intentado liberarse del pasado, siguiendo una nueva vida que es

La voz es la de un mayordomo que narra su vida en una casa

a la vez consumista y liberadora.

señorial inglesa en los últimos anos decantes antes de la Segunda

Las dos son críticas de la represión del Japón tradicional, y como se convierte en una prisión para la mujer. Pero el centro de la

Guerra Mundial, bajo el mando de un ficticio simpatizante de los Nazis Lord Darlington.

novela, igual que su comienzo es la bomba atómica que cayó

Aunque influenciado por autores Británicos desde PG Wodehouse

sobre Nagasaki, el recuerdo presente como punto de referencia

hasta Ian McEwen pocos novelistas nos han ofrecido

existencialista en imágenes de destrucción, e infanticidio, y

perspectiva ‘de la otra ribera’-como decía Vale Inclán- tan

costumbres y vidas perdidas para siempre en el viento apocalíptico

penetrante sobre el mundo idiosincrático de la clase dominante

de la bomba monstruosa y aniquiladora.

Británica y sus servidores durante una época donde el mundo de

una

tradición y privilegio estaba a punto de cambiar irreversiblemente.

Según el comité del Premio Nobel de La Literatura, la novela se

“En el mundo frenético, inquieto e inestable en que nos toca vivir él es una voz de sensatez, decoro, humanidad, y elegancia.”

destaca por la manera genial que trata los temas universales de la memoria el tiempo, y el engaño.

En opinión de su amigo McCrum, gran crítico literario además de editor, es The Unconsoled la novela que se publica en 1995 que tal vez hasta el día de hoy sobrevive como la obra maestra de Ishiguro, “su relato hipnótico sobre el sufrimiento de un pianista

Como escribió el New York Times en el momento de su edición en Estados Unidos la primera novela de Ishiguro “está llena de

itinerante, que parece en parte estar inspirado por la propia experiencia del autor en el circuito promocional literario.

sorpresas y escrita con gran encanto, pero lo que uno recuerda

“Mi amigo Ish es gracioso, amable y discreto, con gran reservas de sabiduría y simpatía”,nos cuenta McCrum, “ En el mundo frenético, inquieto e inestable en que nos toca vivir él es una voz de sensatez, decoro, humanidad, y elegancia.”

es su equilibrio, entre elegía y ironía.”

De allí fue a su segunda novela An Artist of the Floating World, publicada en 1986 con la cual Ishuguro entro en la primera liga de genios literarios reconocidos como tal-una historia más concretamente localizada en el Japón de la posguerra, y con el personaje central,un pintor que sufre la vergüenza de su pasado.

La novela gano el premio literario el Whitbread, aunque su obra aún estaba por ver en la gran pantalla.

Fue su tercera novela The Remains of the Day, publicada en 1989, y ganadora del premio Man Booker, que a verse convertida en una gran película en 1993-con los sobresalientes actores Anthony

Sin duda alguna este Japones convertido en un gran autor

Hopkins y Emma Thomson y nominada para ocho Academy

británico es un Premio Nobel de la Literatura bien merecido.

Awards- le dio a Ishuguro una proyección y reconocimiento masivo a nivel internacional.

6 – La Revista – Autumn / Winter 2017

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SUMMER PART Y AT THE RESIDENCE OF THE SPANISH AMBASSADOR IN LONDON

2017

JUNE 29

THE BSS SOCIET Y’S YEAR OF EVENTS

JULY 11–14 THE SOCIET Y’S CHAIRMAN, JIMMY BURNS MARANON, GREETS KING FELIPE VI AND QUEEN LETIZIA , ON THEIR TWICE-POSTPONED BUT NONETHELESS HISTORIC AND SUCCESSFUL ROYAL VISIT TO THE

SEPTEMBER 9 8 – La Revista – Autumn / Winter 2017

This has been a busy year of events for the BritishSpanish Society, ranging from the historic Royal Visit in July, a reception at the British Embassy in Madrid and the summer party at the Spanish Residence in London to lively panel discussions on the role of the British Council in World War II and, rather more topically, on Brexit, a concert of Spanish classical songs at the Guildhall School of Music supported by the Cultural office at the Spanish Embassy, a themed party on the” Day of the Dead” and even … a pub crawl - truly something for all tastes!

“THE BRITISH COUNCIL AND WORLD WAR II: L ANGUAGE CULTURE AND ESPIONAGE” A CONVERSATION CHAIRED BY THE DIRECTOR OF THE BRITISH COUNCIL IN SPAIN, ANDY MACKAY, WITH MARINA PÉREZ DE ARCOS MPHIL , DPHIL , A BRITISHSPANISH SOCIET Y SCHOL ARSHIP HOLDER AND AUTHOR AND JOURNALIST, JIMMY BURNS MARAÑÓN

UNITED KINGDOM

SEPTEMBER 29 A ST YLISH COCKTAIL RECEPTION WAS ENJOYED

BY ALL AT THE MADRID RESIDENCE OF THE BRITISH AMBASSADOR TO SPAIN, SIMON MANLEY CMG. MARTIN MILLER’S GIN WAS ONE OF THE MAIN SPONSORTS OF THIS FANTASTIC EVENT

SOCIETY NEWS

OCTOBER 26

“HOLDING UP THE MIRROR: UK-SPAIN CULTURAL REL ATIONS IN THE LIGHT OF BREXIT” A PANEL CHAIRED

BY JIMMY BURNS WHO WAS JOINED BY MEMBER OF HOUSE OF COMMONS FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMIT TEE, CHRIS BRYANT MP, BEST-SELLING AUTHOR AND FORMER INTERNATIONAL REPORTER FOR EL PAIS, JOHN CARLIN, FINANCIAL TIMES EDITOR FOR CAPITAL MARKETS, MILES JOHNSON, FORMER OFFICIAL AT BANCO DE ESPAÑA AND CURRENTLY CUATRECASAS PARTNER, FERNANDO MINGUEZ, THE SPANISH ACADEMIC AND SCIENTIST, DR ESTRELL A LUNA , AND FORMER UK AMBASSADOR TO SPAIN AND MEXICO, GILES PAXMAN. EVENT HELD AT CANNING HOUSE IN COOPERATION WITH CUATRECASAS AND INSTITUTO CERVANTES

NOVEMBER 1 THERE WERE SOME PRETTY SCARY MOMENTS AS GUESTS ADORNED FANCY DRESS COSTUMES FOR THE MEXICAN “DAY OF THE DEAD” THEMED PARTY HOSTED BY THE EVER-HOSPITABLE BOQUERIA RESTAURANT IN CLAPHAM

NOVEMBER 8

ALWAYS A HIGH POINT OF THE SOCIET Y’S ANNUAL CALENDAR, THE SCOL ARSHIP AWARDS CEREMONY 2017 WERE KINDLY HOSTED BY THE NEW SPANISH AMBASSADOR, CARLOS BASTARRECHE, AT HIS OFFICIAL RESIDENCE IN BELGRAVE SQUARE WITH THANKS TO OUR PRINCIPAL SUPPORTERS: SANTANDER UNIVERSITIES, BBVA , MAHOU,

NOVEMBER 16 ALMOST

A

FULL

HOUSE

ATTENDED

THE

SOCIETY’S AGM WHICH WAS HELD ONCE AGAIN IN THE SALA LUIS VIVES OF THE RESIDENCE OF THE SPANISH AMBASSADOR

9 – La Revista – Autumn / Winter 2017

TELEFONICA , PL ASTIC ENERGY

AGENDA FOR OUR UPCOMING EVENTS

CHRISTMAS EVENTS Following Christmas Mass at 6.00pm at St James’s RC Church we will celebrate Christmas with The Villancicos and Christmas Carols Club, fabulous raffle prizes to be won, delicious Spanish tapas, fine wines, beers and Cava.

For advance raffle tickets and the list of prizes, visit the web site. If you are attending the Christmas Party, your raffle numbers will be available on arrival. If you are not attending the event, we will let you know the winners’ names and arrange collection or delivery.

This event is possible with the support of Mahou San Miguel beers and Solan de Cabras, Codorníu Raventós Cava and wines, and co-sponsor Landerer/Manzanera.

Special thanks to Rev Christopher Colven for offering the beautiful venue www.sjcrr.org.uk TIME AND DATE: 7.00pm to 9.30pm Monday 11 December VENUE: The Crypt, St James’s RC Church, Spanish Place 22 George Street, Marylebone, London W1U 3QY TICKETS: £35 BSS members / £45 Non-members RAFFLE TICKETS: 1 number £5 / 5 numbers £20

TRIP TO SEVILLE FOR MURILLO’S 400TH ANNIVERSARY Once in a life time trip to Seville with exclusive visits to private palaces and the exhibition of Murillo’s 400th anniversary. This February escape London’s freezing winter and immerse yourself in Seville’s greatest culture and history with the BritishSpanish Society.

In the 16th century, Seville was the most important city in Europe.

To its port came the riches from the New World, which were then distributed throughout the continent. The best Renaissance was combined with Gothic and Mudéjar Style in a harmony unique in the world.

10 – La Revista – Autumn / Winter 2017

We will visit the bespoke exhibition to honour the 400th anniversary of Murillo, together with the Palaces and manor houses, memories of the glorious past of the Seville still today in private hands and most of them not open to the public. This is a unique opportunity not to be missed.

DATES: Friday 2nd February Sunday 4th February BOOKING INFORMATION: julieta.rafecas@aroundart.es

EXCLUSIVE BALLET NIGHT “DANCER IN THE SPOTLIGHT” DATE: Thursday 15th February VENUE: English National Ballet, Markova House, 39 Jay Mews, London SW7 2ES

The Society is delighted once again to collaborate with the English National Ballet kindly offering 40 tickets to this exclusive event. After a drinks reception, you will watch a live rehearsal in a private studio environment followed by a Q&A with the dancer.

TIME: reception 7.00pm, rehearsal 7.30pm, Q&A 8.00pm, end c.8.45pm.

TICKETS: £25 BSS member / £35 non-member

This is a small group event with limited tickets available including drinks reception, ballet rehearsal and Q&A with the artist. For ENB information visit www.ballet.org.uk

SPANISH EMBASSY OFFICE FOR CULTURAL AFFAIRS

NO TURNING BACK: SEVEN MIGRATION

EL GRECO TO GOYA – SPANISH MASTER-

MOMENTS THAT CHANGED BRITAIN

PIECES FROM THE BOWES MUSEUM

27 MAY 2017 - 18 FEB 2018

20 SEP 2017 - 25 FEB 2018

27 SEP 2017 - 7 JAN 2018

VIctoria & Albert Museum | London

Migration Museum at The Workshop | London

The Wallace Collection | London

This exhibition examines the work and lega-

This exhibition, including works by Spanish

The Wallace Collection presents El Greco

cy of influential Spanish couturier Cristóbal

artist Roman Lokati, explores seven pivotal

to Goya - Spanish Masterpieces from The

Balenciaga, with over 100 pieces crafted by

migration moments in Britain’s migration

Bowes Museum, the first London exhibition

‘the master’ of couture, his protégées and

history. Some brought people together, others

of Spanish art from The Bowes Museum in

contemporary fashion designers working in

moved people apart; all had a profound effect

County Durham, including works by Goya

the same innovative tradition

on individuals who lived through them – and

and El Greco.

BALENCIAGA: SHAPING FASHION

DALI / DUCHAMP

A TALE ON THE MILE BY DAVID GUILLÉN

SIX SPANISH ARTISTS AT NO 20

7 OCT 2017 - 3 JAN 2018

1 NOV 2017 - 27 JAN 2018

29 NOV - 23 DEC

Royal Academy of Arts | London

Instituto Cervantes, Manchester | Manchester

London No 20 | London

This unique exhibition examines the relation-

A Tale on the Mile, the work of Spanish

Six Spanish artists show their work at No

ship between Salvador Dali and the father

photographer based in Edinburgh David

20 gallery in association with Galeria Carles

of conceptual art, Marcel Duchamp. It is the

Guillén, is a harmony of original photography

Taché from Barcelona: Miguel Ángel Campa-

first show dedicated to their friendship and

and text that explores the personalities and

no, Santi Moix, Javier Pérez, Guillermo Pfaff,

the mutual influence on their work, exploring

places on one of the most historically vibrant

Vicky Uslé and Javier Arce.

the common ground, both personal and

streets in Scotland: The Royal Mile.

aesthetic.

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE VISIT: WWW.SPAINCULTURESCIENCE.CO.UK

11 – La Revista – Autumn / Winter 2017

on the country as a whole.

ART – ARTURO BAREA

ARTURO BAREA

BY WILLIAM CHISLETT

Arturo Barea, author of the autobiographical trilogy The Forging of a Rebel (“La forja de un rebelde”), one of the seminal books on Spain in the first 40 years of the 20th century, is to be honoured with an exhibition at the Cervantes Institute in Madrid.

T

14 – La Revista – Autumn / Winter 2017

he exhibition, which I am curating and will run from December 13 for two months, will focus on Barea’s 18 years in exile in England, almost half his adult life. He and his Austrian wife Ilsa arrived in March 1939, the same month as the defeat of the Spanish Republic after the three-year Civil War. They met while working in the foreign press censorship office in besieged Madrid where they handled the copy of correspondents such as Ernest Hemingway and John Dos Passos.

Barea arrived in England “spiritually smashed …

I disembarked with nothing, my life was broken in two. I had no perspectives, no country, no job”.

What he did have with him was a draft of the first chapters of his trilogy.

It was published in English in the 1940s by Faber & Faber (T.S.Eliot was Barea’s editor), superbly translated by Ilsa and much praised by George Orwell, but not in Spain until 1977, two years after the death of General Franco.

Spanish editions of the trilogy published in Argentina in 1951 and in Mexico in 1959 circulated clandestinely in Franco’s Spain.

Barea is best known for the trilogy (published in 10 languages), but he also published a pioneering study of the poet Federico García Lorca,

a book that decisively influenced Ian Gibson, Lorca’s biographer; a novel, The Broken Root, about a Republican exile who returns to Madrid (unlike Barea who never went back); an essay on the philosopher Miguel de Unamuno and works on the Franco regime, Spain in the Post-War World and Struggle for the Spanish Soul. The typescript and first proof of the latter book were lost when German bombs destroyed the publisher’s warehouse in Plymouth in 1941.

Luckily, Barea had kept a copy.

Everything that Barea wrote was first published in English except for “Valor y miedo” (Bravery and Fear), which came out in Barcelona in 1938. A very scarce copy will be on display. Ilsa translated all of his works into English, and she will be given her due in the exhibition.

She was also an author in her own right: her book on her home city of Vienna is highly regarded.

Between 1948 and 1952 Barea was the fifth most translated Spanish author, according to UNESCO, after Cervantes, Ortega y Gasset, Lorca and Blasco Ibáñez.

The least known part of Barea’s life is his work for the BBC’s Latin American Service. He gave 856 15-minute broadcasts between 1940 and his death in 1957, under the pseudonym Juan de Castilla (John of Castile) in order to protect his family in Spain.

SOCIETY NEWS

He was not allowed to work for the Spanish service as he was considered to be too politically compromised. Unfortunately none of his BBC’s broadcasts survived – they were made on 78rpm discs – but we do have in the exhibition the complete recording of the interview Barea gave in 1956 in Argentina while on tour for the BBC. It is believed to be the only recording of his voice that remains. Barea had previous radio experience: he made broadcasts during the Civil War as La voz incógnita de Madrid (The Unknown Voice of Madrid).

The exhibition, which I am curating and will run from December 13 for two months, will focus on Barea’s 18 years in exile in England, almost half his adult life. He and his Austrian wife Ilsa arrived in March 1939, the same month as the defeat of the Spanish Republic after the three-year Civil War. They met while working in the foreign press censorship office in besieged Madrid where they handled the copy of correspondents such as Ernest Hemingway and John Dos Passos.

Barea is best known for the trilogy (published in 10 languages), but he also published a pioneering study of the poet Federico García Lorca, a book that decisively influenced Ian Gibson, Lorca’s biographer; a novel, The Broken Root, about a Republican exile who returns to Madrid (unlike Barea who never went back); an essay on the philosopher Miguel de Unamuno and works on the Franco regime, Spain in the Post-War World and Struggle for the Spanish Soul. The typescript and first proof of the latter book were lost when German bombs destroyed the publisher’s warehouse in Plymouth in 1941. Luckily, Barea had kept a copy.

Everything that Barea wrote was first published in English except for “Valor y miedo” (Bravery and Fear), which came out in Barcelona in 1938. A very scarce copy will be on display. Ilsa translated all of his works into English, and she will be given her due in the exhibition.

She was also an author in her own right: her book on her home city of Vienna is highly regarded. Between 1948 and 1952 Barea was the fifth most translated Spanish author, according to UNESCO, after Cervantes, Ortega y Gasset, Lorca and Blasco Ibáñez.

The least known part of Barea’s life is his work for the BBC’s Latin American Service. He gave 856 15-minute broadcasts between 1940 and his death in 1957, under the pseudonym Juan de Castilla (John of Castile) in order to protect his family in Spain. He was not allowed to work for the Spanish service as he was considered to be too politically compromised. Unfortunately none of his BBC’s broadcasts survived – they were made on 78rpm discs – but we do have in the exhibition the complete recording of the interview Barea gave in 1956 in Argentina while on tour for the BBC. It is believed to be the only recording of his voice that remains. Barea had previous radio experience: he made broadcasts during the Civil War as La voz incógnita de Madrid (The Unknown Voice of Madrid).

His starting brief for the BBC was to counter Nazi propaganda in South America during the Second World War by presenting a positive view of British life. These monologues, often observing and describing English life from his vantage point as a sympathetic outsider, regularly topped the listeners’ annual poll. He gave a very favourable view of the country that had received him with open arms.

Many of the talks centred on “Frank’s pub” which did not exist but was an amalgam of several that Barea frequented, particularly his favourite, The Volunteer in Faringdon near Oxford. In 2013, I organised the placing of a plaque on the façade of that pub. This followed the restoration in 2010 of his commemorative stone in the churchyard annexe to All Saints Church in Faringdon.

Barea spent the last 10 years of his life living at Middle Lodge on the estate of Lord Faringdon, a supporter of the democratically elected Spanish Republic against Franco’s coup. The eccentric aristocrat, one of the “Bright Young Things”, the nickname given to a group of bohemian young aristocrats and socialites in the 1920s, converted his Rolls Royce into an ambulance and joined a British field hospital in Aragón during the Civil War. While Barea never returned to Spain his big Underwood typewriter did. As it has an English keyboard he had to laboriously mark all accents by hand. It will be a centrepiece of the exhibition.

15 – La Revista – Autumn / Winter 2017

Barea arrived in England “spiritually smashed … I disembarked with nothing, my life was broken in two. I had no perspectives, no country, no job”. What he did have with him was a draft of the first chapters of his trilogy. It was published in English in the 1940s by Faber & Faber (T.S.Eliot was Barea’s editor), superbly translated

by Ilsa and much praised by George Orwell, but not in Spain until 1977, two years after the death of General Franco. Spanish editions of the trilogy published in Argentina in 1951 and in Mexico in 1959 circulated clandestinely in Franco’s Spain.

SOCIETY NEWS

BY TYLER FISHER

S

16 – La Revista – Autumn / Winter 2017

ometimes the shortest stories can stimulate the longest lasting reflections.Final-year undergraduates doing degrees in Spanish at University College London (UCL) have the opportunity to take a module called ‘Reading and Writing Spanish Microfiction’, in which they read stories by established masters of the genre: José María Merino, Luis Mateo Díez, Clara Obligado, among others. The students closely analyze how these authors construct imaginative, highly suggestive stories within minimal limits; then they write imitative and original microcuentos of their own in Spanish. Alongside valuable practice in writing Spanish prose, the module gives undergraduates an outlet for creative expression in their target language, and this year’s students have written more than 100 stories in Spanish.

The module is the first of its kind to be dedicated to creative writing in Spanish at UCL and the wider University of London.

The first cohort of students (2015-16) assembled an anthology of their best work. That anthology, Entre ínsulas y penínsulas: haiku narrativo y otros microcuentos, was published in Seville

by Asociación Difusionados this past February. It includes the biography of a black cat beset by superstitions, the tale of the world’s greatest cartographer, and a news bulletin regarding Odysseus as a refugee on the shores of present-day Spain.

José María Merino, a prominent author and member of the Real Academia Española, praised the students’ achievement in a letter, which itself takes the form of a short story: “Asombrado, comprendió que el delicioso librito había conseguido cruzar la frontera de los sueños.”

The Instituto Cervantes in London celebrated the anthology’s publication on Wednesday, 21 June, when seven of the student authors performed their original Spanish fiction. Entre ínsulas y penínsulas — the book’s title reflects how, while writing in the heart of London, the authors looked towards the literary traditions of the Hispanic world. “The book project really allowed us to push the limits of our creativity,” contributor Kate George

said. Commenting on the what the very short fictional form means for her, Rosalind Turkie, another student author, remarked: “It’s the beauty of brevity: pieces of fleeting fiction which reflect the immediacy of the modern day, our need to express big ideas in the smallest of spaces.”

Here is a further sampling from the students’ microcuentos: ‘La heliomanía’ de Catherine George; ‘¡Por supuesto, Mamá!

Siempre hay alguien’ de H. M. Harrington; ‘La inocente’ de Nga Nguyen; ‘La vida después de la muerte’ de Alice Franklin; ‘Manía persecutoria’ de Ros Turkie.

ENTRE ÍNSULAS Y PENÍNSULAS: UCL UNDERGRADUATES PUBLISH THEIR ORIGINAL SPANISH MICROFICTION La vida después de la muerte

La heliomanía El desdichado aguardaba en la sala de espera, mirando las manecillas del reloj. Bajo su traje arrugado se escondía un ala atrofiada, cuyas plumas estaban apelmazadas con cera.

La parpadeante luz de una bombilla le hipnotizaba.

Meditaba el deseo humano de alcanzar lo inalcanzable.

Agobiado colocó la cabeza entre las manos,

No me importó cuando un fantasma vino a vivir conmigo. Mi casa era demasiado grande para un soltero, y ya había hecho las paces con la muerte.

No me sorprendió que su apariencia fuera tan triste.

Ni siquiera me molestó que mi fantasma siempre estuviese aullando, gimiendo, y sollozando. Su ruido continuo simplemente formaba parte del estático del universo. Lo ignoraba.

La única vez que mi fantasma me molestó era cuando se fue. El silencio resultante era tan total que era como si el edificio contuviera la respiración, y por primera vez desde su llegada, tenía miedo.

No me acuerdo exactamente cuándo encontré su cuerpo, ya que después de mi descubrimiento, me puse bastante enfermo. Ni siquiera me acuerdo exactamente cuándo la policía llamó a mi puerta. Me dicen que, al verme con la piel pálida de los muertos, llamaron a un médico. Pero cuando el médico llegó, ya habían encontrado a mi fantasma, ya me habían detenido, y la casa estaba vacía.

queriendo huir del laberinto asfixiante de sus pensamientos.

Desde su caída en desgracia, se esforzaba por vivir una existencia rutinaria, como los demás, pero lamentaba no haberse ahogado. Al recordarlo, su piel chamuscada le escoció otra vez.

Una voz chillona le despertó de su enfrascamiento: — ¿Señor Ícaro? La doctora Sofrosina está lista para atenderlo.

Manía persecutoria

La inocente —¡Por favor, no! Usted ha cogido a la persona equivocada.

Solamente soy una niña.

—¡Cállate, bruja! Si de verdad eres una niña, vamos a comprobarlo …

Tiraron a la niña desde el puente y observaron como el agua la cubrió.

Quince minutos después, sin ningún indicio de la niña, la muchedumbre se dispersó entre una mezcla de desilusión y remordimiento.

Bajo del agua, la niña abrió los ojos y respiró profundamente, estupefacta.

¡Por supuesto, Mamá!

Siempre hay alguien que me acompaña cuando vuelvo de noche.

Se llama Miedo

17 – La Revista – Autumn / Winter 2017

Acababa de leer en su galleta de la fortuna este mensaje garabateado: ‘HUYA’ y cuando levantó la cabeza, de repente sintió que todo el mundo en el restaurante le estaba mirando.

EUROPE DIVIDED

SHERRY

BY JULES STEWART

S

herry is enjoying what Beltrán Domecq describes as a ‘balanced situation’ in terms of production and sales. The chairman of the Sherry Denomination of Origin Council recalls the days, not that long ago, when the future for Sherry

looked frankly bleak.

‘The 1970s and 1980s marked a negative parenthesis of excess production,’ he says. ‘We are now back to 7,000 hectares of vineyard, about the same as in the 1960s. Uncontrolled expansion in the past had led to a trebling of vineyard area, which in turn brought on a disaster in overproduction. Producers were struggling to sell at any price they could obtain. The turnaround started in the mid-1990s and we are now in a far more competitive position.’

Spain today ranks as up on average 4% of exports still which ranks consumption.

Belgium, the US are also major and Sherry set their sights a market with potential.

Sherry’s top market, with sales annually. The bulk goes to the UK, second overall in The Netherlands, and Germany consumers, producers have on Japan as considerable

The Japanese are enthusiasts of the delicate of scooping out small art of venenciar, the process amounts of Sherry from a butt and pouring it into a glass from the venencia, a 26-inch whalebone rod with a silver tip on one end.

The Sherry Council hosts a venenciador competition in Japan every year and the winner is given a ticket to visit Jerez de la Frontera. With the exception of Manzanilla, which is produced in San Lúcar de Barrameda, Jerez is the capital of all varieties of Sherry. In fact, Jerez wine gave its name to the city, which in Arabic was called Sherish.

18 – La Revista – Autumn / Winter 2017

Jerez de la Frontera is the ideal place to enjoy the drink and no better time than during the grape harvest festival, known as the Fiesta de la Vendimia, which is celebrated during the first fortnight of September.

The festival’s star attraction is the inaugural Pisa de la Uva. The event is held in front of the Cathedral, to the accompaniment of Flamenco singing and the municipal band. Wicker baskets of grapes are carried up the Cathedral steps to a vat, where in the ancient tradition they are crushed by foot and the mosto, or must, is blessed by the dean.

“We are now back to 7,000 hectares of vineyard, about the same as in the 1960s.

Producers were struggling to sell at any price they could obtain.”

One of the challenges today is to explain to consumers that Sherry is a wine and should be considered as such. It is meant to be drunk in proper wine glasses, instead of the small glasses used in the UK. Sherry has traditionally been treated as an aperitif, however Beltrán Domecq argues that since our organism needs to eat, Sherry should be on the table with our meals.

‘The English influence brought about the diversification of the wines, so as to offer the wide range of quality Sherries we produce and sell today,’ says Beltrán Domecq. He explains that Jerez has the only vine in the world that yields three types of dry wine from a single variety of the Palomino grape: Fino, Amontillado and Oloroso, which includes Palo Cortado. Their distinguishing feature is the ageing process, which gives a 2% difference in the level of added wine alcohol.

‘Sherry has a very long and complex story to tell, and we have a lot of work to do,’ says Beltrán Domecq.

“We need to revalue Sherry and get across some basic facts about pairing with food”

19 – La Revista – Autumn / Winter 2017

The triangle formed by Jerez, Sanlúcar and El Puerto de Santa María has been producing wine for 3,000 years, ever since the Phoenicians introduced vines into the region. The British have been enjoying the drink for a thousand years, so much so, in fact, that King Richard I proposed a barter arrangement to the people of Jerez, which consisted of exchanging Sherry for English wool.

‘We need to revalue Sherry and get across some basic facts about pairing with food,’ he says. ‘Finos and Manzanillas go perfectly with vinaigrette-based dishes and Japanese gastronomy – sushi, fried shrimp, for instance -- are fantastic with Sherry.’ The D.O. Council holds a biannual competition of chefs and sommeliers of seven countries. The challenge is to produce three course meals, each with a different Sherry and producer.

GASTRONOMY

ARBINA FOR THE TRUE

TASTE OF SPAIN

W

hen I ask the charming and urbane Javier Lopez de Arbina, “el patron” of Arbina Spanish Restaurant what makes his eaterie stand out, he replies quickly, “we serve traditional Spanish dishes but delivered in a completely new way.”

The restaurant, with two rustically designed floors, is in a prime location at 110 Whitfield Street, just a stone’s throw from Warren Street tube station and Tottenham Court Road in the heart of Bloomsbury, now re-named “Fitzrovia”, and surrounded by advertising agencies and the famous eateries of Charlotte Street.

“Traditional stews, or platos de cuchara, are favourites at Arbina made with top quality pulses and vegetables combined with meat or fish using only the freshest of produce.”

20 – La Revista – Autumn / Winter 2017

Javier tells me he has always loved wines and food, especially from his home province. His family are from the Basque capital, Bilbao -“the best city in the world” he quips - but he lived in Castile and Leon until he sold his engineering business five years ago to come to live and work in London. People from the region of Castile and Leon have a reputation for being noble, honest and relaxed – we shall see!

The dishes, created by head chef Enrique Garcia, aim to deliver classic Spanish dishes but with added innovation.

This improvisational style has won Enrique several awards for his impressive pintxos and, indeed, Arbina itself won the 2017 Tapas Tour Award this June from the Spanish Chamber of Commerce.

Traditional stews, or platos de cuchara, are favourites at Arbina made with top quality pulses and vegetables combined with meat or fish using only the freshest of produce. The speciality stew is Cocido Madrileno which is a famous dish from Madrid served in several stages, starting

OUR GASTRONOMIC DAVID HURST, VISIT SPANISH RESTAURA IN CENTRAL LONDO PLEASED.

with a soup made from stock and small, thin pasta followed by vegetables and meat served separately or with the soup.

Most ingredients are sourced regionally, for example with spicy chorizo from Bierzo, beef cheeks from Morucha, black puddings from Morcilla and chick peas, lentils and pulses from Salamanca.

Javier loves his wine and Arbina serves from well-known Spanish wine producing regions such as red wines from Rioja, Ribera de Duero and Priorat and white wines from Rias Baixas, Rueda and Penedes.

Bursting with ideas, Arbina Restaurant has inaugurated special Castilla y Leon Gastronomic Days putting regional Spanish foods on your plate. One Spanish regional dish that I am heartily advised to try is Pulpo a la gallega which is Galician style octopus with Pimenton de la Vera.

Watch out for special events, for example on certain days Enrique Garcia has created a Deconstructed Cocido Set Menu for just £30 per person including drinks, dessert, VAT and service. Arbina also runs Paella Masterclasses

C CORRESPONDENT, TS PROPRIETARY-RUN ANT, ARBINA, LOCATED ON AND IS WELL

&

NEWS EVENTS AT ARBINA RESTAURANT 9 December 2017

COCIDO DE MADRID 4 - 6 January 2018

using skills that Enrique learnt whilst living in Alicante.

There will be special Spanish menus for Christmas and, around the Feast of the Epiphany in early January, Arbina will serve Roscon de Reyes (Three Wise Men Brioche) served with coffee or hot chocolate.

ROSCON DE REYES (THREE WISE MEN BRIOCHE) January 2018 (dates TBD)

GASTRONOMIC MEET-UPS

With Spanish roots and a deep love of London for its cosmopolitan atmosphere, multinational population and (he opines generously) the warm welcome that it has extended to him, Javier de Arbina is the perfect host at Arbina Restaurant.

This is an independent Spanish restaurant and tapas bar, open daily from 12.00 midday until 11.00pm, with great food and an amazing atmosphere, situated right in the heart of London and all served with a Spanish smile: you have to taste it to believe it.

2018 (dates TBD)

SPANISH GAME DISHES

Let us put Castilla y León on your plate

21 – La Revista – Autumn / Winter 2017

Arbina brings to you the taste of CASTILLA Y LEÓN

SPORTS

RONALDO w

hen the final whistle blew on Real Madrid’s 3-0 win against Las Palmas, Cristiano Ronaldo was the first to leave the pitch.

For once, his name is nowhere to be seen at the top of the Pichichi chart. He has one goal in La Liga, far fewer than Messi, Zaza and Bakambu, and one less than Paco Alcácer, the former Valencia striker who had become a forgotten man at Barcelona.

The player voted the best FIFA men’s player this year had provided the inch-perfect assist for Isco’s goal, and Real had given themselves some respite after defeats to Girona and Tottenham.

But Ronaldo was not satisfied. He rarely is.

It is his worst start to a league season for Madrid, despite having taken the most shots out of anyone in La Liga apart from Messi. The difference is that the Argentine has 12 goals to show for his efforts.

Ronaldo’s frustration is clear. When Isco and the rest of the team rushed over to celebrate with him after his cross set up Real’s second, the No.7 turned his back on them. It was a petty move, but one which demonstrated how Ronaldo wants to be the main man at all costs.

It is this sort of act which makes him seem like a petulant child at times. He showed it against Las Palmas, but most strikingly against Barca in the first leg of the Supercopa at the start of the season.

Having come on before the hour mark, Ronaldo lasted some 24 minutes on the pitch before trudging off. In that time, he attempted a bicycle kick, had an effort disallowed, scored a trademark goal, received two yellow cards – one for taking his shirt off in celebration and another for diving – and pushed the referee.

“Many see Ronaldo as the ultimate pantomime villain. Some want him to fail, others have questioned whether he can still perform at the top.”

22 – La Revista – Autumn / Winter 2017

It was the definitive Ronaldo performance in a sense, with everything football fans love and hate about him laid bare. His last act earned him a five-game ban, and is partly the reason behind his sluggish start to the season.

As José Felíx Díaz wrote in Marca after the match against Las Palmas, ‘this ambition has placed him above all other mere mortals’ but the ‘excessive taste for being the decisive man in almost everything causes problems at times’.

Many see Ronaldo as the ultimate pantomime villain. Some want him to fail, others have questioned whether he can still perform at the top. But to write him off now would be a monumental error of judgement.

Yes, this is his worst start in Spain, but he has suffered from bad luck. He did everything but score against Las Palmas, hitting the post three times and providing that pass for Isco.

It is also a completely different story in the Champions League, where Ronaldo is the competition’s top scorer with six goals in four games.

What his critics seem to be forgetting is that his goal scoring statistics at this stage of La Liga have not been vastly different over the past few years. Last season he had five goals after 11 matches played, and the season before eight. Both ended with Ronaldo playing an important role as Real won their 11th and 12th European Cups. At the beginning of last season there was similar talk of Ronaldo being a spent force. Zidane rested his star player for certain matches, but only so he could harness his energy for the final stretch of the campaign. Real won their first league title since 2012, and Ronaldo was instrumental.

Perhaps we are just too used to Ronaldo’s ridiculous achievements.

The consolation goal he crashed in at Wembley was his 111th in the Champions League, 14 more than Messi at the time of writing. He has 414 goals for Real Madrid, almost 100 ahead of club legend Raúl.

But, apart from the records, the overwhelming desire to be the best remains. He has lost none of his fight, and the criticism will only motivate him further. Ronaldo’s all-consuming ambition drives him forward.

Even the best players go through bad patches, as he himself has acknowledged. But this is Ronaldo, and he will stop at nothing to put that right. When the net starts to ripple again, there will be no stopping him.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO ENJOY THE BENEFITS OF BEING A MEMBER OF THE BSS SOCIETY? DO YOU HAVE AN INTEREST IN STRENGTHENING BRIDGES BETWEEN BRITAIN AND SPAIN? PLEASE JOIN THIS FANTASTIC NETWORK OF JOURNALISTS,

membership@britishspanishsociety.org

OR FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT OUR WEBSITE: WWW.BRITISHSPANISHSOCIETY.ORG/MEMBERSHIP

23 – La Revista – Autumn / Winter 2017

PROFESSIONALS AND ENTREPRENEURS BY EMAIL TO:

BOOK REVIEW

‘THE STRUGGLE FOR CATALONIA’

BY ROBERT GRAHAM

24 – La Revista – Autumn / Winter 2017

T

he timing of Raphael Minder’s ‘Struggle for Catalonia’ is unusually prescient. Minder, the New York Times correspondent in Spain, offers a well-judged, highly readable and comprehensive view of this complex – and complexed – region at a crucial moment. The move by determined separatists to establish an independent state in Catalonia has created the biggest challenge both to the unity of Spain and the very foundations of the country’s 40 year-old democracy. The prospect of an independent Catalonia, unilaterally carved out of a sovereign democracy, also poses an unwanted problem for the European Union struggling to create fresh momentum after the Eurozone crisis and dealing with Brexit.

Minder does not pretend to predict

the future but provides the tools to understand the psyche of Catalonian nationalism and the combination of forces that have produced this crisis, thus offering clues where it might lead Spain. This is vital for most outsiders who find it near incomprehensible that one of Spain’s two richest regions, with an unprecedented degree of autonomy and vibrant democratic institutions, should have a near majority of the electorate willing to risk tearing up the country’s constitution and declare unilateral independence without any international support.

The author adopts the approach of oral history, astutely deploying the framework of interviews with over 200 people to supply opinions, facts and histories to illuminate almost every attitude and

facet of Catalan society from politicians to academics, football fans to novelists, monks to entrepreneurs. This is a risky strategy but it works because the issues are well presented while at the same time humanized. Where broaching sensitive subjects, especially nationalism, the reader is left to decide as Minder provides contrasting views. A telling quote comes from the owner of a branding agency who became disillusioned with demonstrating for independence on September 11 Catalonia’s national day( Diada) : “Perhaps independence is a really good plan, but nobody has explained to me just why.”

The reference for the region’s nationalism is rooted in the 1714 conquest of Barcelona by the troops of Felipe V, the first Bourbon king of Spain. This humiliation set in train

a slow burning sense of victimism, fuelling in the late 19 th century a romantic movement to revive the Catalan language as the core of the region’s identity, differentiating itself from the centralised government of Madrid. Brief autonomy enjoyed in the 1930s was snuffed out by the Franco regime which restored the primacy of Castillian culture, renewing old wounds of the centre ignoring the uniqueness of Catalan culture. Since then, the advent of democracy has led to Spain developing an all-but federal system of power devolved to the regions.

More than a generation of Catalans have been schooled in Catalan and the exceptionalism of Catalan culture, but the independence cause only gained traction in the wake of dramatic collapse of the Spanish economy in 2007-8.

Secession offered hope of a fresh start, which in turn reinforced an old complaint that too much of Catalonia’s wealth went to finance poorer regions. This emotive argument bears little scrutiny; but its promoters have profited from the rigid refusal of Mariano Rajoy’s Popular Party government to negotiate a new financial pact, more amenable to Barcelona. Hence over 2m people are willing to cast their votes in an illegal referendum on independence. This disparate grouping of anarchists, anti-capitalists, conservatives and left wing republicans have seemingly intractable demands that cause deep divisions in a Catalan society, composed over 35 pct of people born outside the region. The secessionist voices rise above a silent majority, many of whom are proud of being Catalan yet wary of a leap into the dark.

The deaf ears among politicians in Barcelona and Madrid prompt Minder’s sober conclusion: “Without at least trying to understand the feelings expressed by hundreds of thousands in the streets of Barcelona, any attempt to reunite the peoples of Spain will remain little more than a scramble in the dark.”

The Struggle for Catalonia Rebel Politics in Spain RAPHAEL MINDER As the Catalan independence movement makes headlines around the world, Raphael Minder of the New York Times analyses with rare impartiality what sets Catalonia apart from Spain, and how the separatist debate is playing out — from the football pitch to the dining room.

‘Invaluable.’ — Owen Jones, The Guardian

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— New York Review of Books ‘Extraordinarily timely. Deeply researched, fair-minded and empathetic.’ — Financial Times ‘Compellingly readable.’ — Paul Preston, author of The Last Days of the Spanish Republic

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25 – La Revista – Autumn / Winter 2017

Paperback, 376pp, RRP £15.99 September 2017

SPANISH STATE VISIT

I

n an earlier piece for La Revista, I argued that parliamentary monarchies can make a far more substantial contribution to their nations’ foreign policies than is often realised.

This is largely due to their very significant symbolic power, and in particular their ability to embody and project the history and culture of the societies they represent (and serve). It also reflects the fact that royal families (particularly European ones) constitute a well-established, tightly-knit network of relatives and acquaintances, who can provide continuity and stability in times of political uncertainty. Both of these attributes were very much in evidence during the highly successful state visit

to Britain by King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain on 1114 July 2017, which had been postponed twice on account of political difficulties in both countries.

King Juan Carlos’s abdication in June 2014 had greatly troubled Queen Elizabeth, who always regarded his reign as living proof of the highly positive contribution the monarchy could make to a nation’s political development and international standing.

This concern for the future of the Spanish monarchy was very visible during the preparation of the royal visit, and largely explains her determination to press ahead regardless of both the turmoil generated by the Brexit vote in Britain in June 2016

From a Spanish perspective, the main purpose of the visit was to showcase how much the country had progressed since King Juan Carlos’s state visit to Britain in 1986, while underscoring the economy’s recovery from a devastating, six-year long double-dip recession. In his speech to the Anglo-Spanish business summit held on 13 July, King Felipe duly reminded his audience that Spain was investing more in Britain (some €82 billion by 2015) than any other nation, while the UK was the second largest investor in Spain (with a stock of some

€44 billion). Furthermore, bilateral trade was worth more than €30 billion in 2015, as a result of which Britain had become Spain’s third largest export market for goods and services. If someone covering the 1986 visit had dared predict that Spanish investments would account for at least 140,000 British jobs three decades later, it is unlikely they would have been taken seriously.

27 – La Revista – Autumn / Winter 2017

and the uncertainty that gripped Spain after the inconclusive December 2015 general election.

“From a Spanish perspective, the main purpose of the visit was to showcase how much the country had progressed since King Juan Carlos’s state visit to Britain in 1986”

28 – La Revista – Autumn / Winter 2017

Additionally, Madrid hoped to convey the message that, while there was no denying that Brexit posed a potential threat to the bilateral relationship, it was sturdy enough to survive the challenge.

King Felipe’s Westminster speech duly expressed both sadness and respect for the British people’s decision to leave the EU, but also the hope that both countries would continue to work together on the global stage, particularly in the fight against jihadist terrorism.

PHOTOGRAPHIES: COURTESY OF CASA DEL REY

working closely with Britain in the global coalition against Daesh, peace-keeping operations in Afghanistan, combatting the trafficking of immigrants in the Mediterranean, and fighting piracy off the coast of Somalia, amongst other arenas.

As in 1986, the only significant thorn in the side of Anglo-Spanish relations in 2017 is the Gibraltar dispute. Thirty years

ago, Juan Carlos referred to Gibraltar as “a colonial relic” in his Westminster address; on this occasion, his son acknowledged the existence of past “estrangements, rivalries and disputes”, but expressed the hope that “through the necessary dialogue and effort, our two governments will be able to work towards arrangements that are acceptable to all involved”.

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When Juan Carlos became the first European monarch to address the British parliament in 1986, Spain had very recently joined the EC and confirmed its membership of NATO in a controversial referendum, and was only just emerging from decades of isolation and irrelevance; three decades later, it is a far more active member of the international community,

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We are Codorníu. Since 1551

In 1986, Spain was mainly known in Britain as a mass tourist destination. Three decades later, it continues to attract more British tourists -an extraordinary 18 million in 2016- than any other country in the world, but the UK now also receives over two million Spanish visitors annually. Similarly, although there are at least 240,000 permanent UK residents in Spain (a figure that could be two or three times higher), of whom approximately half are of working age, Britain has also attracted some 200,000 Spanish residents in recent years, who are mainly employed in the banking, health, education and service sectors, while some 10,000 of them are university students. Fully aware of the concern raised by Brexit amongst Spaniards living in

Britain, the King reminded his Westminster audience that “these citizens have a legitimate expectation of decent and stable living conditions, for themselves and for their families”, and urged both governments to ensure that “the agreement on the UK’s withdrawal from the EU provides sufficient assurance and certainty”.

During their stay in Britain, the Spanish royals also visited the Francis Crick Institute, where they met a delegation representing Spanish scientists working in the UK, and Oxford University, where Spanish history and literature have been taught for centuries. As King Felipe acknowledged in his speech at the Buckingham state banquet hosted by Queen Elizabeth, the bilateral relationship “stems above all from the closeness of our peoples and our civil societies”, and constitutes an “invaluable legacy” that the two royal families are ideally placed to safeguard and nurture in years to come.

BUSINESS PROFILE Dr. Charles Powell CMG is director of the Elcano Royal Institute and author of Juan Carlos of Spain, self-made monarch (Palgrave, 1996), the first biography of the former Spanish king published in English

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The king’s tone was thus considerably softer than it had been in his UN General Assembly address a year earlier, which had included references to Gibraltar as “an anachronism” and “the only colony in European territory”.

ARTS

SACRED AND SECULAR IN SPANISH ART AND SONG

BY BARRY IFE

GUILDHALL SCHOOL OF MUSIC & DRAMA, 23 OCTOBER 2017-11-09

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ollowing the success of our three Granados centenary concerts in October 2016, the British Spanish Society set the Guildhall School a much tougher challenge this year – to celebrate the fourth centenary of the birth of one of Spain’s greatest painters, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1617-1682). Although the seventeenth century was a great period for the visual arts in Spain, the musical landscape was not nearly so spectacular. So how to celebrate Murillo’s birthday in music gave us more to think about.

Our first thought was, perhaps, a little too ambitious: a production of Spain’s first opera, Celos aun del aire matan (1660) by Juan Hidalgo to a libretto

by Calderón. Even semi-staged, an opera takes months of preparation and generates considerable cost, so we had to abandon the idea almost immediately. But it is something we would like to consider for the future, with the right level of financial support. The Guildhall School is not a performing arts venue; we don’t generally put on concerts, operas and plays to order as the repertoire we perform is determined by the training needs of our students. And students’ timetables are always tightly packed, as are bookings for the best performance spaces.

However, we were able to get a slot in the School’s successful ‘Songs at Six’ series and there were half a dozen postgraduate singers and three exceptional pianists who had time in their diaries to work on Spanish repertoire. Most importantly, we were able, with the help of the BSS, to engage the outstanding Spanish pianist Ricardo Gosalbo to help me curate the concert and coach the singers and accompanists. Ricardo’s knowledge of Spanish song repertoire is second to none: he is currently working on the Spanish art song from 1868-1898 for a doctorate at Guildhall.

Murillo was a superb painter and draughtsman in both sacred and secular subjects, and it was this balance that we wanted to capture in the programme. Spanish golden-age writers, artists and intellectuals were all comfortable working in both modes, and some of the finest poetry of the period was written a lo divino, that is, using secular topics and language to convey spiritual meaning. San Juan de la Cruz was, and is, the supreme example of this technique.

Nevertheless, we had six singers and three pianists but no solo song repertoire from Murillo’s time, and that still represented a problem.

Ricardo’s brilliant solution was to programme 20th-century settings of golden-age lyrics by some of Spain’s most outstanding composers of art songs: Joaquín Rodrigo, Amadeo Vives, Joaquín Turina, Fernando Obradors, Joaquín Nin and Eduard Toldrà. This gave us the best of all worlds: some of the finest poets of the Golden Age set by some of the finest composers of the modern period, plus the opportunity to combine the songs with reproductions and details of some 30 of Murillo’s best known and less well-known paintings and drawings, including some that have not been exhibited in this country before.

We performed seventeen songs altogether, but there was one song missing, one that we had programmed but had to withdraw at the eleventh hour.

Working with singers involves a lot of crossing of fingers. Singers catch cold very easily and when they do, their instrument can become virtually unusable. Singers have short careers and they need to look after their vocal equipment very carefully. On the whole, we were lucky in this project. Two of our singers did fall ill in the run-up to the concert, but both were able to

perform on the night and no-one would have noticed the difference – they were outstandingly professional in ensuring that the show would go on. But the baritone Matthew Dixon was due to sing Frederic Mompou’s famous setting of San Juan de la Cruz’s Cantar del alma. It was clear in rehearsal that this extremely exposed setting would have put too much strain on his voice and we sadly had to remove the song from the programme.

Fortunately, no-one could have known, as we don’t print the programmes until the morning of the concert for exactly this reason. However, I did wonder whether I needed to assure the audience that the removal of a song by a major Catalan composer was not politically motivated!

The Guildhall School is very grateful to the British Spanish Society for its support and we hope that members who attended the concert enjoyed the occasion. The singers and pianists loved performing to a full house, they learned a great deal from preparing the songs, Ricardo gave them some excellent coaching and I got a kick from organising the slide show.

A good time was had by all, and we look forward to seeing what the BSS will come up with next!

LIVING KNOWLEDGE

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KNOW LIVE SERVE

TRAVEL

A PIECE OF SPAIN THAT ENDED UP IN FRANCE

BY BRIAN MOONEY

A piece of Spain that ended up in FranceNestling in a green upland valley surrounded in winter by the snowcapped foothills of the Pyrenees, the tiny town of Llívia has all the qualities of a fairytale lost kingdom, but it is more than that – it is a piece of Spain that ended up in France.

The town has an official population of just 1,500 – though fewer than 1,000 live here full time – and despite being surrounded on all sides

by French territory it is proudly Spanish and Catalan. The 12.84 square kilometre exclave in the Comarca of Cerdanya (known as La Cerdagne in France) is separated from the rest of Spain by a two-kilometre long neutral corridor road.

Llívia lies entirely inside France’s borders – and is hence defined as an exclave of Spain – thanks to a quirk in the 1659 Treaty of the Pyrenees which brought to an end the 30 Years’ War between France and Spain and settled the frontier line along the mountain chain that divides the two countries from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea.

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Under terms of the peace settlement, Spain ceded a total of 33 villages in the north of Cerdanya to France, but Llívia did not become part of the French kingdom as the treaty stipulated that only the villages were to be ceded to France, and Llívia was considered a town due to its castle and status as the ancient capital of Cerdanya.

Spanish and, more recently Catalan flags, have flown here ever since and Llívia has prospered inside what is now the French Départment des Pyrénées Orientales with only a few recent spats over such issues as water supply, grazing land and a roundabout on the approach road, but with remarkably few serious border disputes. The problems of co-habitation with their French neighbours all but vanished when Spain became part of the European Union in 1986 and in 2002 joined the common currency of the euro. In keeping with the European Union’s commitment to free movement, all border controls disappeared.

“Joining the EU and converting to the euro made co-existence almost seamless,” said local hotelier Louis Anidjar. “We used to have to change money every time we shopped in France.”

Llívia’s Mayor, Elies Nova, said relations with France were excellent. The two countries even share a hospital.

“We have a transborder hospital in Puigcerdà that is funded jointly by the French and Catalan Governments,” the mayor said. “That is testament to our cooperation.”

Ana Sálomon, the Foreign Ministry official in Madrid responsible for frontier issues with France as the current Presidenta de la Comisión de Limites con Francia y Portugal said all was indeed quiet on the Llívia front.“Although I would love to visit Llívia, in the three years that I have been doing this job there hasn’t been any call for me to go there,” Senora Sálomon said.

Surrounded by rolling countryside and with its own grazing and pasture lands and a small lake, Llívia lives primarily from tourism. The small town has retained many of its medieval streets and stone and beamed houses, with wooden balconies jutting beneath the broad eaves of tiled rooftops. The town preserves the tower of its former castle and boasts one of the oldest pharmacies in Europe, dating back to 1594, whose colourful jars and potion pots have been rehoused in a new museum next to the town hall. Each summer there is a local music festival, and visitors in winter can enjoy nearby Pyrenean ski slopes.

The territory is staked out by a total of 45 stone border markers – ceremonially inspected each year by a detachment from the Centro Geográfico of the Spanish army. Llívia is by no means an isolated quirk of cartography. Just 32 kilometres to the west is the Co-Principality of Andorra which is ruled jointly by France and Spain. Even the place where the 1659 Treaty of the Pyrenees was signed – the Isla de los Faisanes (Isle of Pheasants) on the River Bidaosa at the border crossing between Hendaye and Irun – is a condominium. France and Spain exchange sovereignty

over the uninhabited football pitch-size territory alternatively every six months.

Spain itself has a number of exclaves inside its own frontiers. The province of Castile Leon, for example, has a large slab of territory – the so-called Treviño Enclave – in the heart of the Basque Country. Territorial anomalies in Spain don’t just end there; and some give rise to thorny bilateral disputes. Portugal still claims Olivenza in Extremadura, which it says was purloined by Spain after the Peninsular War, and the two countries also squabble over the territorial rights of the tiny Savage Islands between Madeira and the Canaries. Spain, of course, has for more than three centuries doggedly pursued its claims to Gibraltar, which it was forced to cede to Britain in perpetuity under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713.

Spain also has enclaves in Morocco – Ceuta and Melilla and several islands close to the North African coast – all subject to Moroccan sovereignty claims.

There are a number of other well-known territorial anomalies across Europe, including several exclaves inside France.

The largest is the Canton de Valréas, or Enclave des Papes, which is part of the Vaucluse department, in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region, but is surrounded by communes of the Drôme (Rhône-Alpes).

Separated by less than one kilometre from Italy as the crow flies across Lake Lugano or over the mountains, Campione d’Italia is another prominent European exclave. The town is part of the Swiss customs union and uses the Swiss Franc, but its inhabitants pay income tax to Italy and consider themselves Italian. The terrain requires a 14 kilometre road journey to reach the nearest Italian town, Lanzo d’Intelvi. There is a similar German exclave, Büsingen am Hochrhein, inside northern Switzerland.

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No less odd, there are 22 Belgian enclaves, some no bigger than a parcel of land, in the Belgian Flemish Municipality of BaarleHertog in southern Netherlands. These anomalies are not just limited to Europe. There are more than 150 enclaves and exclaves worldwide, according to a list published in Wikipedia – even without new man-made islands in the South China Sea, plenty for future generations to quarrel over.

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THAT DANGEROUS SUMMER

BY DUNCAN WHEELER

JOSE GARRIDO. SALAMANCA (SEPTEMBER 2016) PHOTOGRAPH BY ANDREW MOORE.

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A DEATH IN THE AFTERNOON

HISTORY – JOHN OF GAUNT

I

knew very little about Víctor Barrio before, slightly hungover, I was asked by BBC World News on the morning of 10 July last year to comment on his televised death.

It was the first time a matador had been killed in a professional Spanish bullfight since 1985.

GINES MARIN IN MADRID, MAY 2017. PHOTOGRAPY BY ANDREW MOORE.

I’d spent a number of summers going to

have a monopoly on appearances in the

take on two bulls each, but no impresario

corridas when I was researching a book

country’s most lucrative bullrings. I kept

could have assembled this line-up, not

on the cultural politics of Spain’s transition

missing the BBC researcher’s calls and

at market prices. Heading the bill was

to democracy, and became convinced that

went back to nursing my hangover.

José Tomás, who would have guaranteed

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bullfighting was an underexplored chapter

a sell-out – all 19,000 tickets for his

in this history. Barrio, I hazily recalled,

But on 4 September 2016, I went to

appearance at Barcelona’s Monumental

had been a prodigious novillero (an

Valladolid, north-west Spain’s biggest

bullring were sold out in less than an

apprentice who takes on younger bulls),

city, to watch six of the country’s

hour: it was the venue’s first full house

but had struggled for engagements since

leading matadors appear in honour of

in decades. Spain no longer considers the

graduating as a bullfighter in 2012. This

their deceased colleague. In a standard

corrida its national fiesta; the bullfighting

was just the way things were: the figuras

contemporary corrida three bullfighters

museum in Valladolid has recently closed,

MORANTE DE LA PUEBLA IN MADRID, MAY 2013.

PHOTOGRAPY BY ANDREW MOORE.

and the town in longer officially labelled ‘a taurine city’. In the neighbouring town of Tordesillas, the toro de la vega – an event related to the corrida in which a bull is chased by hundreds of lancers, before accredited horseman stab it to death – has just been outlawed. Barrio, born in nearby Segovia, now has the fame that eluded him in life. His widow appeared embarrassed to be the focus of so much attention at this fundraising occasion (she’d closed down her husband’s Facebook page when it became a target for trolls claiming he deserved to die), which presented the preening matadors as one big happy family. Many of the figuras donating their time were among those who’d done their best to keep Barrio out of the taurine premiere league.

LAS VENTAS, MADRID. PHOTOGRAPY BY ANDREW MOORE.

The most expensive tickets in a bullring are on shady side and give the clearest view of the action. But I was sitting in 40 degrees heat, buttressed between Manolo, a garrulous fortysomething taxi driver from Albacete, and a middle-aged woman with a homemade ‘Sí al toro de la vega’ T-shirt.

Fellow attendees in the ‘sun and flies’ section used binoculars to spot VIPs on the other side of the ring. Isabel Preysler was there with Mario Vargas Llosa; Carmen Martínez-Bordiú, Franco’s granddaughter, was also in attendance. Matadors have been welcomed into elite circles since the 18th century.

In the 1950s, Ava Gardner left Frank Sinatra for Luis Miguel Dominguín – the dashing bullfighter she described as a combination of Don Juan and a good Hamlet – who was as happy hunting with Franco as dining with Picasso. Heralded Tomás was measured but hardly inspired. On his return to Valladolid five days later, he gave the kind of performance that justifies his admirers following him around the world.

He trotted backwards, seemingly fearless, as the first bull charged with unpredictable speed and malevolent intent; his poise with the second made the award of two ears inevitable (matadors are given the bull’s ears and, in exception cases, their tale for successful corridas).

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as a triumph, the event didn’t always live up to the hype.

MUSIC

SPAIN'S POP PIONEERS PRE-DYLAN, PRE-BEATLES… DOMINIC BEGG SALUTES

I

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f you can identify the following, you are either a niche collector or well over 60: Novola, Saef, Vergara, Concentric, Edigsa, Bocaccio, Zafiro.

They are all Spanish record labels from the early 1960s, soon to be overtaken by Ariola, Belter, Hispavox and multinationals like EMI, Philips and RCA. The Spanish pop pioneers who recorded for these record companies include El Dúo Dinámico, Raimon, Los Estudiantes, Joan Manuel Serrat, Los Sirex, Miguel Ríos, Mari Trini and many more, who rocked the Establishment, while giving young Spaniards the feeling of belonging to the modern world.

MUSIC

In Granada Miguel Ríos worked in the record department of Almacenes Olmedo, so he was well placed to order in the best songs. In fact he badgered the Philips rep so persistently that he got an audition and was duly signed to the label.

The Spanish pop scene really took off between 1960 and 1964 when many of the youthful singers and groups became household names. For example, in 1961(when there were 3 times as many tocadiscos than TV sets in Spanish homes) El Dúo Dinámico had four number-one hits, competing with Elvis and Paul Anka for bestsellers of the year. These Barcelona-born lads, Ramón Arcusa and Manuel de la Calva, with their trademark V-neck sweaters, started out recording decent cover versions of U.S. hits, but went on to write many hits for themselves and others, including Joan Manuel Serrat. The Dúo were genuinely talented.

The Franco régime, which had reluctantly accepted the bikini, kept a watchful eye on the best-attended gigs, while hoping that rock’n’roll was just a passing fashion. However, when the weekend matinales at the Price circus-hall began to attract as many as 2000 fans, the Civil Governor of Madrid stepped in and banned them in the spring of ’64. But it was too late, and with the Beatles showing the way, young Spanish musicians got the message and began writing their own songs, even to the point of penetrating the U.K. charts with ‘Black is Black’ by Los Bravos, Massiel’s Eurovision winner ‘La,La,La’ and ‘Song of Joy’ by Miguel Ríos. Thanks to these ’60s pioneers, the foundations were now in place for future international successes, such as Julio Iglesias and ‘La Macarena’. The yé-yé generation had arrived.

*These three acts all wrote songs about 15-year-olds in love

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Initially Spanish groups and singers followed the French model: get hold of recently recorded cuts from the U.S.A. before they are available in Europe; choose a song that is climbing the U.S. charts and make a quick recording of it in the studio, either in English or in a rough translation; then get the record into the shops and promote it via gigs and the radio. As for the song’s title, either keep it in English (‘Blue Suede Shoes’, ‘Hello MaryLou’) or translate it loosely, much as Franco’s authorities were doing with the titles of foreign movies. Thus the disreputable ‘Runaround Sue’ becomes ‘Susi La Presumida’ and the overtly political ‘Eve of Destruction’ is diluted into ‘Días Sin Mañana’.

Unlike the French fashion for singers to anglicize their names (Johnny Hallyday, Eddy Mitchell), Spanish pop stars limited themselves to subtle changes: early in his career Miguel was briefly Mike Ríos, while the ‘ph’ made Raphael seem more exotic.

The principal obstacle that apprentice rocanroleros had to overcome was the lack of original U.S. hits in the record shops.

Elvis, Ricky Nelson and the Everly Brothers made it to Spain; others, like the respectable Buddy Holly, didn’t. One solution was to cadge discs from American servicemen at U.S. air-bases, which is what El Dúo Dinámico did during their time in the mili near Zaragoza. This explains how jukeboxes in bares de alterne near places like Barajas were able to feature rarities by Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry. Meanwhile, if you were lucky enough to be invited to a party by a Madrid-based foreign diplomat or consul with a teenage daughter, the latest American or British hits were sure to be playing, having been rushed in via the diplomatic bag. Likewise, Iberia cabin crews supplied D.J.s at coastal resorts with current hit singles.

BUSINESS PROFILE

Ignacio Peyró, Periodista y escritor, Madrid, 1980) es el nuevo director del Instituto Cervantes en Londres, a donde llega tras años de dedicación al mundo de la escritura, el periodismo, la edición, la comunicación y la gestión cultural.

“EL ESPAÑOL VA A SER CADA VEZ MÁS IMPORTANTE EN GRAN BRETAÑA”

REDACCIÓN LA REVISTA

¿QUÉ ES EL CERVANTES? ¿UN CENTRO CULTURAL? ¿UNA ACADEMIA DE IDIOMAS? Somos una institución pública fundada en 1991 y, desde entonces, nuestro objetivo no ha cambiado: difundir la lengua española y la cultura de España e Hispanoamérica. Esto incluye también las lenguas cooficiales que se hablan en España (gallego, vasco y catalán) y las manifestaciones culturales que se realizan a través de ellas. Además, realizamos más de cinco mil actividades culturales en toda nuestra red de centros –un total de 87, distribuidos en 44 países. Casi cien centros en poco más de veinticinco años: es un dato sintomático de la apuesta de la España contemporánea –más allá del color de los Gobiernos- por darse a conocer y abrirse al mundo.

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¿EN QUÉ SITUACIÓN SE ENCUENTRA EL CENTRO? ¿CÓMO HA AFECTADO LA MUDANZA? Me he encontrado con un centro exitoso y muy bien gestionado, gracias al trabajo de la actual plantilla y la dirección de mis predecesores y amigos Julio Crespo e Isabel Clara Lorda. En cuanto a la mudanza, llevamos ya un año en el nuevo emplazamiento –entre el Strand, Fleet Street y el Embankment- y la situación es estratégica: junto a algunas de las instituciones académicas más importantes de Londres (LSE, King’s College, University College…), en el barrio legal por antonomasia y justo a las puertas de la City. Pero si el emplazamiento nos resulta más ventajoso, también me gustaría destacar que se ha conseguido ganar en lo que nos resulta más interesante: hemos pasado de nueve a trece aulas.

¿EL ESPAÑOL GUSTA? Gusta… e interesa. Los hispanohablantes rara vez somos conscientes de la llegada que tiene nuestra lengua y la seducción que ejerce. Somos la segunda lengua materna en términos globales -477 millones de personas tienen el español como lengua materna, de un total de 572 millones de hablantes. En la misma Europa observamos cómo hay grandes culturas nacionales con dificultades para su difusión por la barrera de entrada que suponen algunos idiomas. El mundo, sin embargo, piensa y se expresa en inglés y en español. La demografía y la economía están de nuestro lado. Además, el español y su aprendizaje se asocian a valores positivos (cultura, comunidad, futuro, alegría de vivir). Y el español –y este es un rasgo ventajoso- también se identifica de modo natural con las dos orillas en que se habla nuestro idioma. Por eso es muy importante para España hacerse presente y capitalizar lo que se ha dado en llamar “latino”. Que nadie se escandalice: bien jugado, el fenómeno del “despacito” no es nada malo para nosotros.

EL ESPAÑOL GUSTA EN GENERAL. ¿Y EN LONDRES EN PARTICULAR? Londres es una plaza extraordinariamente competida, pero el interés está ahí.

El centro ha crecido pese a las dificultades que siempre conlleva una mudanza.

El curso académico pasado se registraron 3500 matrículas, 500 más que cuatro años antes. Y se abrieron cincuenta cursos de español más. En el mismo periodo, hemos pasado de impartir 11.500 horas de clase al año a impartir 12.600. Ahora acabamos de tener la última convocatoria del examen oficial DELE (Diploma de

Español como Lengua Extranjera).

Y aunque siempre se ha dicho que en Reino Unido no existe esa pasión por la certificación que existe en países como Italia o la propia España, hemos tenido este año cerca de 650 candidatos sólo en Londres –un tercio más que hace cuatro años.

¿CÓMO PUEDE AFECTAR EL BREXIT AL ESTUDIO DE LA LENGUA ESPAÑOLA? De momento, tenemos más estudiantes y no menos: la educación y la cultura pueden ser el mejor hilo para unir.

Pero, además de eso, creo necesario señalar algo importantísimo, como es el reciente documento –publicado este mismo noviembre- del British Council, según el cual el español va a ser la lengua más necesaria para los británicos en un escenario post-Brexit, seguido del mandarín y el francés.

Y EN LA UNIVERSIDAD. ¿SE ABRE HUECO EL ESPAÑOL? Felizmente, hay universidades –Aston o Exeter- que ya funcionan o están a punto de funcionar como centros acreditados por el Instituto Cervantes. La Universidad es y debe ser un terreno prioritario para nosotros: quienes hoy estudian, son los que mañana marcan el tono intelectual de un país. Aquí tenemos iniciativas tan loables como útiles –pienso en ELEUK, asociación de profesores de español en Reino Unido-, que nos están ayudando a consolidar una presencia de calidad en el ámbito universitario. Además, la Universidad aporta estudiantes comprometidos con el estudio de la lengua. Muchos tienen ya acceso a la acreditación oficial de sus conocimientos

con el DELE. Y otros muchos viajan a España –un “turismo idiomático” que no sólo deja grandes remesas sino que nos gana sus corazones.

EL NUEVO DIRECTOR DEL INSTITUTO CERVANTES, JUAN MANUEL BONET, INSISTE MUCHO EN EL RESPALDO A LOS HISPANISTAS. La España moderna debe mucho a los trabajos de esta magnífica cuna de hispanistas que es Gran Bretaña: no sólo nos han servido para conocernos mejor; también han sido útiles para borrar complejos y para afianzar nuestra autoestima.

La hispanística británica, sea en Oxford, en Leeds, en Bath o en Essex, en tantas universidades del Reino Unido, ha hecho un trabajo especialmente brillante en estas últimas décadas.

Por desgracia, acabamos de decir adiós a Hugh Thomas, pero hay una nueva generación de estudiosos que pide paso –acabo de leer un fantástico libro de Robert Goodwin- y el Instituto Cervantes va a apoyar a los jóvenes hispanistas.

EL CERVANTES Y LA BRITISH SPANISH SOCIETY SIEMPRE HAN COLABORADO. ¿LO SEGUIRÁN HACIENDO EN EL FUTURO? Estamos en el mismo barco y por supuesto que seguiremos colaborando. Es curioso, porque mucho antes de llegar a Londres yo ya participaba en actos de la BSS. Soy un gran admirador de esta asociación, a la que me une un gran cariño, y he podido comprobar que unir nuestras fuerzas es sinónimo de éxito. ¡Cómo no vamos a colaborar!

¿UN MENSAJE PARA NUESTROS LECTORES? A quien no lo conozca, le invito a conocer el centro – y a disfrutar también de un tesoro extraordinario como es nuestra biblioteca, que es una de las mayores de la red del Cervantes y el gran centro de documentación de lo hispánico en Londres: ¡más de cuarenta mil volúmenes sobre temas españoles e hispanoamericanos! Y, por supuesto, también les animo a suscribirse a una agenda cultural que tiene tanta calidad como sabor hispánico.

COMMITMENT AND COMPROMISE FOR THE FUTURE

The main purposes of the Cañada Blanch Foundation are the promotion of culture; the support of the development of young students; and the management of cultural activities, with a special focus on the advances of research, thought, social debate and the Arts, both in the field of the Valencian Community and in the United Kingdom. www.fundacioncañadablanch.es

TRAVEL

MIAU EN FANZARA

BY CLAUDIA SP RUBIÑO

44 – La Revista – Autumn / Winter 2017

El arte está en plena lucha de clases: sólo aquellos con poder económico son los elegidos para llevar sus obras a importantes museos. Ahora bien, ¿qué es arte? Si echamos un vistazo al diccionario de la Real Academia de la lengua, Arte, en su segunda acepción, se define como “manifestación de la actividad humana mediante la cual se interpreta lo real o se plasma lo imaginado con recursos plásticos, lingüísticos o sonoros.” Desde hace un tiempo, son cada vez más los críticos y artistas los que definen al arte como la actividad que despierta a un público dormido, que lo agita y lo confunde. Fue Marcel Duchamp, en 1917, quién inició una revolución del arte que sigue hasta nuestros días. Duchamp intentó demostrar que cualquier objeto podría ser considerado una obra de arte siempre y cuando el artista lo cambiara de contexto. En este caso, el cambio de contexto se refiere a salas de exposiciones o museos. Una vez más, hablamos de museos y espacios cerrados, exclusivos y selectivos. Pero, además, ¿qué hay de la democratización del arte? ¿No debería ser el arte, ya que está creado por todos, ser disfrutado por todos? Según el artículo 17 de la Agenda 21 de la Cultura, los gobiernos locales deben: “Establecer políticas que fomenten la diversidad cultural a fin de garantizar la amplitud de la oferta, y fomentar la presencia de todas las culturas, y especialmente de las minoritarias o desprotegidas en los medios de comunicación y de difusión, fomentando las coproducciones y los intercambios, y evitando posiciones hegemónicas.”

Y no sólo eso: ¿qué ocurre si un artista no consigue pasar la prueba necesaria para que sus obras sean exhibidas en estos espacios? Se supone que existe un comité de críticos que deciden lo que es arte y lo que no, y si este es digno de ser exhibido. La solución parecer haberse encontrado en un municipio de la provincia de Castellón, en España. Fanzara es un pueblecito que cuenta con alrededor de 280 habitantes y

que sufre la maldición que azota a otros tantos pueblos: poco a poco se va quedando sin población. Como se explica en el documental “How we live / Cómo vivimos” creado por Martin Firrell, los habitantes de Fanzara y de los pueblos de alrededor se oponían firmemente a la creación de un vertedero próximo a sus casas y, para evitarlo, decidieron celebrar alguna actividad relacionada con el arte para atraer más gente. Es bien sabido que el arte atrae y une a las personas, así que se pusieron manos a la obra. En 2017 se cumple el cuarto aniversario de la creación de MIAU: el Museo Inacabado de Arte Urbano. En este festival, celebrado en verano, artistas de todo el mundo se reúnen en Fanzara y Ciudades y Gobiernos Locales Unidos (2004). Agenda 21 de la cultura. Un compromiso de las ciudades y los gobiernos locales para el desarrollo cultural. Barcelona: Ciudades y Gobiernos Locales Unidos. El título hace referencia no sólo al modo en el que viven los habitantes de Fanzara, si no a lo bien que se vive en ese entorno.

Utilizan los muros y paredes de las casas del pueblo, con permiso de sus habitantes, como lienzos inmensos. Las obras de arte se realizan a lo largo de días e incluso semanas para, después, permanecer al aire libre para disfrute y deleite de toda persona que quiera visitar Fanzara. Fanzara está de moda. Gracias a este festival, los turistas pueden descubrir también la riqueza del entorno. El río Mijares atraviesa el municipio e incluso cuenta con una piscina natural de aguas cristalinas en el que el baño está permitido. También existen cavidades y simas para los amantes de la espeleología, sin olvidar los restos de poblados de la Edad del Bronce y ruinas de antiguos asentamientos moriscos. El pueblo cuenta con una iglesia del siglo XVII, la de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción, aunque quizá el monumento religioso que más causa impresión es la pequeña Ermita del Santo Sepulcro, un edificio blanco levantado sobre una colina y que parece vigilar todo el pueblo. Esta ermita fue construida en el siglo XVIII y terminada en el siglo XIX, destaca por su cúpula de color azul intenso que contrasta con las blancas paredes y las tejas rojizas del resto del tejado. Fanzara también cuenta con un castillo, actualmente en ruinas, construido por los árabes en el siglo XVIII. A pesar de estar derruido, todavía se pueden apreciar elementos de sus murallas y torres. Pero si al turista lo que más le atrae es la gastronomía, que no sufra porque también de eso saben por estas tierras. Además de la típica paella valenciana de interior (con ingredientes que pueden variar, pero siempre de la zona donde se prepara, tales como costilla, conejo, pollo, butifarra o setas), también se puede disfrutar del delicioso arroz al horno (plato elaborado en cazuela de barro y cocinado en el horno, sus ingredientes son arroz, tocino, garbanzos, chorizo, morcilla, patatas, tomate, una cabeza de ajos y pelotas elaboradas con carne picada).

Entre sus postres típicos, hay que destacar los “rosegons” o rosigones, dulces típicos de la Comunidad Valenciana y hechos con harina, huevo, azúcar y almendra. Una vez visitado el Museo Inacabado de Arte Urbano de Fanzara, sería recomendable, de existir la posibilidad, de visitar los alrededores. Cada vez más localidades se unen a este nuevo movimiento en el que el arte está al alcance de todos. Pueblos como Vila-real o Sagunto cuentan con obras en algunas fachadas de sus edificios y no están muy lejos de Fanzara. (Fanzara-Vila real, alrededor de cuarenta minutos; Fanzara-Sagunto, alrededor de cincuenta minutos). Es una gran oportunidad también para realizar visitas culturales que no siempre aparecen en las guías turísticas.

Para más información sobre el festival de Fanzara: http://miau32.wixsite.com/miaufanzara-2016

46 – La Revista – Autumn / Winter 2017

OBITUARIES

PADRE ERNESTO ATANES R.I.P: IN MEMORIAM

alquileres, de los miles de jóvenes españoles y españolas que llegaban por falta de oportunidad en su propio país, y el sufrimiento de gente mayor o soltera que se sentía abandonada y sin asistencia social adecuada. En octubre de 2014, Atanes recibió la Medalla de Honor de la Emigración por su dedicación y trabajo a favor de los emigrantes españoles. Atanes la vio como un reconocimiento a todos los emigrantes.

Atanes consideraba un lujo el poder viajar en ‘Low Cost’ de vez en cuando a su país natal, a Monterrei, en Ourense, Galicia, para ayudar a la familia y los amigos con las vendimias. Era un hombre humilde pero también con una gran energía y sentido

El Buen Cura Gallego por Jimmy Burns Marañón.

de compasión. Siempre tenía una puerta abierta al visitante en la

Con profundo sentido de pésame nos llegó la noticia de la muerte del Padre

Capellanía en Bayswater, y no dudaba en ofrecer sus servicios

Ernesto Atanes, de la Capellanía Española y el Hogar Español en Londres

donde juzgaba que podían llevar a una solución benigna o una

en su adorada tierra de Galicia, después de sufrir una breve enfermedad.

reconciliación, tanto en el mundo espiritual como el secular, fuese

Desde que se instaló en la capital Británica en 1971, respondiendo a

un colegio, un hospital, un departamento policial, o el Consulado.

una propuesta de los Padres Paúles, «porque hacía falta gente para

Entre los premios bien merecidos que recibió por su obra en Londres,

ayudar a los emigrantes» la situación de los españoles en el Reino

figura el que le otorgo en 2016 el BritishSpanishSociety por su ‘trabajo

Unido ha vivido cambios muy grandes ya que en esa época España

comunitario’ en la ocasión de la cena de Gala celebrando nuestro centenario.

aún estaba gobernada por una dictadura y estaba fuera de la Unión Europea. A pesar de los cambios, su vida siempre tuvo una constante –la de ayudar al más necesitado y de contribuir a un sentido de justicia social, comunidad y solidaridad humana basado en los evangelios. Gran admirador del Papa Francisco, su conciencia le llevaba a preocuparse por la escasez de la vivienda en Londres y los altos precios de los

HUGH THOMAS R.I.P: IN MEMORIAM

Fue un gran orgullo, una necesaria presencia, tenerle entre nosotros, tan humilde como siempre, vestido de sacerdote, en presencia de nuestros invitados de honor La Reina Sofía y el Príncipe Andrew, Duque de York, y con más de 400 comensales aplaudiendo su persona y su trabajo. Le echaremos muchísimo de menos a este buen cura Gallego. Que en Paz Descanses, querido Ernesto.

Even in his advancing years, Thomas never shied away from the challenge of another ‘magnus opus’ while along the way writing novels and periodically delving into smaller scale projects like his biography of PierreAugustin Caron de Beaumarchais, the 18th century French polymath.

After his Spanish Civil War book, Thomas followed up with another large volume, this time on the history of Cuba, which took a critical view of Castro’s submission to Soviet influence and his curbing of human rights.

By the time of its publication in the mid 1970’s Thomas’s political allegiances had shifted away from the Labour party to the Conservative Party because of what he saw as Labour’s less than enthusiastic attitude

Hugh Thomas, who has died aged 85, was a historian with an enduring interest in and passion for the Hispanic world straddling epochs, continents and empires. He also played an active part as a policy adviser to Margaret Thatcher, and in his later years served in the House of Lords as a life peer, never seeing this as place of patronage let alone retirement but as an integral part of an effective and accountable parliamentary democracy.

He had developed an interest in Spain after a first visit in the 1950’s when he set himself the task of writing the first comprehensive history of the Spanish Civil War. The result was a ground-breaking account, detailed and innovative in its research, highly readable, and above all balanced in a way that contrasted with the poorly sourced, prejudiced and often crudely propagandist accounts that had emerged until then from each side of the conflict, both in Spain and the UK. An

international

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surpass

bibliography

while and

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increasingly

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prolific subject.

Thomas was a true liberal, in his openness to and willingness to engage with alternative views, while unyielding in core principles, and never succumbing to those on the extreme of the political spectrum.

to Britain’s membership of the European Common Market. After Mrs Thatcher came to power in 1979, Thomas developed a personal friendship as well as an advisory role, heading up the centre-right thinktank Center For Policy Studies. He was then honored as Lord Thomas of Swynnerton of Notting Hill, the London neighborhood where he lived.

Thomas’s politics were individualistic, radical, and pragmatic-very English traits according to his Spanish admirers who read his books and articles in translation with huge interest and who have produced an outpouring of generous obituaries on the news of his death.

In 1997 he quit what he saw as the increasing anti-Europeanism in the Conservative Party and joined the Liberal Democrats. He later became a cross-bencher in the House of Lords rather than openly support any one party. Like many of his compatriots who voted to remain in the European Union, he was deeply shocked by the result of the British referendum and the government’s subsequent push for Brexit.

His committed Europeanism, as expressed through his love of Spain, was not only political but also cultural. Thomas received several honors in the UK, France, Latin America, and Spain, including the prestigious Spanish orders Isabel la Católica y Alfonso X el Sabio- testament to the cultural bridges he helped build in defiance of the forces of intolerance and division. He is survived by his wife Vanessa, and their three children Inigo, Isambad, and Bella. May he rest in Peace.

47 – La Revista – Autumn / Winter 2017

My friend Hugh Thomas by Jimmy Burns Marañón.

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