La Revista 247

LA ISSUE 247

REVI S TA THE BRITISH SPANISH SOCIETY MAGAZINE

REACH FOR THE SKIES

IT’S ALL ABOUT HEELS

LIFE ON MARS

NOVEMBER 2018

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L A RE VISTA Executive Editor: Jimmy Burns Marañón Editor in Chief: Carolina Jara Huergo Deputy Editor Laura Gran Design: Carolina Jara Huergo, Julia Burns, Tim Parfitt E d i t o r i a l t e a m : D a v i d H u r s t, Alexandra Brown Scholarships: M a r i a n J i m é n e z- R i e s c o ( Tr u s t e e) Corporate Supporters/ Advertising: A l e x a n d r a B r o w n , J o s é I v a r s ( Tr u s t e e), Patricia María Paya Cuenca Development Secretary: María Soriano Casado, E v e n t s : C a r m e n Yo u n g ( Tr u s t e e), D a v i d H u r s t, P a u l P i c k e r i n g , S i l v i a Montes, Jordi Mateu Membership, Finance & Website Secretar y: Juan Gomez Garcia Events & Grants: Alvaro Cepero Published by the British Spanish Society Honorary President: H.E. Carlos Bastarreche, Spanish Ambassador Honorar y Vice-President: S i m o n M a n l e y, British Ambassador to Spain Chairman: Jimmy Burns Marañón Patrons: D u k e o f W e l l i n g t o n , D a m e D e n i s e H o l t, L a d y M a r i a - B e l e n P a r k e r, C a r m e n A r a o z d e U r q u i j o , L a d y B r e n n a n , L a d y L i n d s a y, J o h n S c a n l a n , R t H o n B a r o n e s s H o o p e r, Randolph Churchill, Sir Stephen Wright Tr u s t e e s : J i m m y B u r n s M a r a ñ ó n (C h a i r m a n), J u a n R e i g M a s c a r e l l ( Tr e a s u r e r), C a r m e n Yo u n g , M a r i a A n g e l e s J i m e n e z R i e s c o , J o s é I v a r s L o p e z , S c o t t Yo u n g , Roger Golland, Cristina Alvarez Campana, M i k e S h o r t, F e r n a n d o M e n e n d e z Other members of the Executive Council: D a v i d H u r s t, P a u l P i c k e r i n g , A l e x a n d r a Brown, Eva Sierra, Alberto Linares, S i l v i a M o n t e s , J o r d i M a t e u Tu d o , Justin Ellis, Julian Barcena, Carolina Jara Huergo, Elisa Ramirez, Maria Perez de Arcos, Patricia Paya w w w. b r i t i s h s p a n i s h s o c i e t y. o r g 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 Societ y is a registered c h a r i t y : 10 8 0 2 5 0 Contact us: For all editorial contributions or to comment on an article you have read in La Revista, please write to us at: p r e s s @ b r i t i s h s p a n i s h s o c i e t y. o r g To e n q u i r e a b o u t a d v e r t i s i n g o p p o r t u n i t i e s (i n c l u d i n g c l a s s i f i e d a d v e r t s) p l e a s e contact: i n f o @ b r i t i s h s p a n i s h s o c i e t y. o r g

MESSAGE FROM THE EDITOR

Carolina Jara Huergo

I

am delighted to present issue 247 of La Revista with a new design and an exceptional variety of content for all tastes and ages.

I would like to thank the advice on the redesign provided by Tim Parfitt of our new partners: Maravilla Media Group who are developing English language ventures in Spain across various media platforms (www.spainenglish.com).

Thanks to Julia Burns who is a pivotal person in the team. Julia provided a refreshing look to all our new sections. Alex Brown did a great job by maintaining the strong relationship with key supporters. Laura Gran / Laura Obiols provided innovative ideas and editorial support.

Take your time and give a close look at the material we carefully picked for this issue. Author Ignacio Peyro Director of the Instituto Cervantes in London will walk you through the exquisite British food. From a variety of cheese to sunday roasts, Ignacio explains the richness of the British culinary experience from a unique perspective as a Spaniard living in the UK, so next time, we can embrace it with our full senses. Certainly, plenty of eating options even for the toughest eater.

Laura Obiols interviewed Spanish entrepreneur Lina Amat whose shoe creations are the envy for most women in England and Spain. Her exclusive clientele ranges from celebrities to Royal families.

And, don’t forget to read the interesting piece by London based architect Alberto Villanueva about “Mars UTOPIA”. Alberto worries about topics such as climate change and overpopulation. He has created a concept that would use Mars’ newly discovered frozen water and soil as building materials to make a home for our future generations.

It is also captivating to read “40 years of democratic Spain” by Madrid based journalist William Chislett, a brief summary of his 80-page report published by The Elcano Royal institute. He gives an uplifting view of how Spain has considerably changed over four decades and moved to a more egalitarian society model since the fall of Franco. There is a message of hope here about how quickly countries can recover from a darker past and move in the right direction in order to make a better future for all. From the legalisation of gay marriage and the increase of women in universities, to the higher quality of life and longer life expectancy, William reassures us that Spain today, despite its ongoing problems, is still a great country to live in.

Needless to say, your suggestions and comments about La Revista are most appreciated. All of us are part of the BSS community and we can only achieve greater success if all work together.

Best wishes and thank you in advance for your support and for continuously promoting our British Spanish Society.

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CONTRIBUTORS ISSUE 247

M ARINA PEREZ DE ARCOS

Spanish studies at Oxford Coordinator, teaches at LSE and at Oxford University. Co-founder and director of Oxford Spanish Play. Former BSS Santander Scholar

JIMMY BURNS M AR AÑÓN

K ATE BOYLE

Specialises in Art and recently published her first novel, “Happy as a Partridge: Life and Love in Madrid”

WILLIAM CHISLET T

Author, Journalist and Chairman of the British Spanish Society

Author and journalist - Madrid correspondent of The Times 1975-78. Lived in Madrid since 1986.

ALBERTO VILL ANUEVA

IGNACIO PEYRO

Director of IDEA architecture office.

Associate Senior Lecturer and Researcher at Ravensbourne University London

L AURA OBIOLS

Choreographer, dancer, film and theatre director

Escritor y periodista.

Director del Instituto Cervantes de Londres

DAVID HURST

Writer and Executive Council member and Event Manager for BSS

JULES STEWART

Journalist and author. Specialises in military history and lived in Madrid for 20 years.

DOMINIC BEGG

Former President of TESOL-Spain and teacher at ESADE business school. Former Spanish rugby champion.

L AURA GRAN

Journalist specialised in Marketing and PR. Deputy Editor of La Revista

RAMON BUCKLEY

Visiting Pofessor in a mumber of American Universities. Currently leading historic and literary tours in Madrid and surrounding areas

w i t h t h a n k s t o t h e B r i t i s h S p a n i s h S o c i e t y ’s p r i n c i p a l s u p p o r t e r s :

VIRGINIA LL ADO BUISAN

Head of Conservation & Collection Care, Bodleian Libraries. Cultural Heritage Specialist

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CONTENTS HIGHLIGHTS

NEWS & EVENTS

6

SPOTLIGHT 20

TECHNOLOGY 24

20

HISTORY 28

EDUCATION 30

CULTURE 38

30

ART 42

HEALTH 44

46

TRAVEL 46

LAST WORD

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54

NEWS & EVENTS

A night of literature, music & wine at the Spanish School Vicente Cañada Blanch William Shakespeare and Miguel de Cervantes both died on the 23rd April 1616. This connection between the English and Spanish literature is celebrated by the International Book Day. Last April, members and friends of the British Spanish Society met at the Cañada Blanch Spanish School to share the most remarkable paragraph of their favourite book.

We had lectures about William Shakespeare, Miguel de Cervantes, Louis Stevenson, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Luis Rosales, James Joyce among others.

We can not thank the Spanish School enough for their hospitality and the two students in particular, Helena Santidrián and Diego Misiti Brea, who played music to accompany the literature readings.

English National Ballet Rehearsal with the support of BSS Following the success of previous collaborations, the BSS was delighted to support the English National Ballet (ENB), who were kindly offering BSS members and friends exclusive access to a full company rehearsal.

This was an unique opportunity to attend a rehearsal with all the talented members of the English National Ballet, before the official opening to the general public in the London West End.

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British Spanish Society scholarship awards ceremony, 10th Anniversary 2008-2018 This year marks the 10th Anniversary of the British Spanish Society’s scholarship programme 2008-2018.

Ten years of knowledge and cultural exchange supporting more than 60 post-graduate projects aiming to support individual and institutional links between the United Kingdom and Spain.

The Scholarship awards ceremony 2018 was kindly hosted by the Spanish Ambassador, Carlos Bastarreche, at his official Residence in Belgrave Square with the attendance of the British Ambassador to Spain, Simon Manley.

During the ceremony we could learn about each one of our awarded candidate’s projects in diverse fields such as law, music, mathematics, information and communication technologies, molecular microbiology, medical sciences, statistics, operational research and history.

A special thank goes out to our principal supporters: BBVA, Mahou, San Miguel, Plastic Energy, Sabadell Fundacion, Santander and Telefonica and each and everyone of all our corporates and members who made the event and scholarships possible.

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NEWS & EVENTS

Spanish Modern Masters A private guided tour with Paul Pickering Our EC member Paul Pickering hosted a private guided tour at the Tate Modern on the 17th May. Paul shared his wide knowledge of modern and contemporary art with the attendees.

Paul gave special attention to the Spanish modern masters: Picasso and Dalí. Some tea and scones were served at the end of the tour to share and discuss the impressions from the exhibition.

Visit to the Queen’s House at Greenwich with lecturer Paul Pickering We had the pleasure of joining another of the fantastic tours organised by Paul Pickering. This time at the emblematic Queen’s House in Greenwich.

The house is a former royal residence built between 1615 and 1632 in Greenwich. It is one of the most interesting buildings in the count ry. It is important architecturally, and it is famous for its former occupants and its art collection. The Queen’s House even has its own ghost – if legend is to be believed.

Royal Wedding Celebration in Madrid La Revista editor Carolina Jara Huergo with Jimmy Burns and the British Consul General in Barcelona, Lloyd Millen, in the grounds of the British ambassador Simon Manley’s residence in Madrid during the Garden Party celebrating the royal marriage of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on the 19th May. Ambassador Manley presented the British Spanish Society with a special award in recognition of the charity’s work with the community.

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New UK ambassador in Madrid appointed Summer 2019 Hugh Elliott has stepped down as a Trustee of the British Spanish Society to focus on his current assignment at the Foreign Office ahead of his new posting as the UK ambassador in Madrid which he will take up in the summer of 2019, in succession to Simon Manley.

We look forward to Hugh’s continuing support for the British Spanish Society and wish him well with his future appointment.

British Spanish Society Summer reception 2018 Every year, we welcome the summer with our special reception hosted by His Excellency the Spanish Ambassador Mr Carlos Bastarreche, Honorary President of the charity at his residence in London.

Due to the lovely high temperatures this summer our guests had a relaxed evening in the spectacular Spanish Embassy gardens.

Gourmet spanish tapas and jamon iberico Cinco Jotas were served and live music by Maria de Juan and Javier Rodriguez at the piano entertained the guests.

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NEWS & EVENTS

BSS Reception at the British Ambassador’s residence in Madrid

Venta de Aires supports BSS Celebrating their 127th anniversary, Toledo’s most legendary and culturally famous restaurant Venta de Aires has reached an agreement with the British Spanish Society as a corporate supporter with plans for a special event in 2019. The photograph shows BSS chairman Jimmy Burns with the Venta de Aires’s Cuca Diaz during a visit to the imperial city earlier this year. www.ventadeaires.com

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Simon Manley, British Ambassador in Spain, opened his house in Madrid to host the annual reception of the British Spanish Society.

More than 200 guests attended the Ambassador’s house and there was a wide representation of sectors including the diplomatic, academic, political, business and cultural sectors.

SPANISH EMBASSY OFFICE FOR CULTURAL AFFAIRS

SPANISH/FEMALE/PHOTOGRAPHER: A STORY HALF TOLD 13 NOV - 24 NOV 12 Star Gallery | London This exhibition aims to redress the balance by opening a window to the work of nine contemporary Spanish female artists who use photography as a medium, and whose work is largely unknown to UK audiences.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE ANTROPOCENE 22 NOV AT 6:30 PM University College London | London Instituto Cervantes and SRUK are pleased to bring you the Anthropocene. The rise of the Anthropocene is as remarkable as it is a highly contested concept, both in meaning and potential implication, be they philosophical, cultural, or political.

YERMA 29TH OCT - 1ST DECEMBER Cervantes Theatre | London The presentation of Lorca’s magnificent Rural Trilogy at the Cervantes Theatre ends with Yerma – “a tragic poem” of a woman with a desperate desire for motherhood, who under the pressures of social convention, is driven to commit a horrific crime.

RIBERA: ART OF VIOLENCE 26 SEP 2018 - 27 JAN 2019 Dulwich Picture Gallery | London This exhibition will explore for the first time the theme of violence in Ribera’s work to demonstrate how his images are neither the product of his supposed sadism nor the expression of a purely aesthetic interest, but rather involve a complex artistic, religious and cultural engagement in the depiction of bodily suffering.

MODERN COUPLES 10 OCT 2018 - 27 JAN 2019 Barbican | London Art, Intimacy and the Avant-garde showcases the creative output of over 40 artist couples active in the first half of the 20th century. This major interdisciplinary show features the work of painters, sculptors, photographers, architects, designers, writers, musicians and performers.

A STORY FROM LIVING WITH LESS 21 APR 2018 - 27 JAN 2019 Victoria & Albert Museum | London The short film work explores the relationship that fashion and nature could hold in a dystopian future, where materials, textures, representation, and memories are juxtaposed with a poem written by poet and playwriter Cecilia Knapp.

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

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NEWS & EVENTS

IX BSS/Guildhall School of Music Concert: Zarzuela Highlights

The amazing performers singing Mazurca de las sombrillas from the zarzuela “Luisa Fernanda”

T

he annual collaboration between the British Spanish Society and the Guildhall School of Music, sponsored by the Embassy of Spain Office for Cultural and Scientific Affairs, was a delightful and very successful event.

Zarzuela, a music genre not well-known outside the Hispanic world was the dominant Spanish stage genre from the mid-17th century until the 1950s. This distinctive Spanish lyric theatre embraced many musical and theatrical forms; it was an operatic drama that incorporated popular song as well as dance.

For this edition of our annual concert at the Guildhall School of Music, artistic directors Ricardo Gosalbo and Charlie Morgan chose a wide repertoire of well-known zarzuelas dating from the late 19th century to the first half of the 20th century.

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The audience was delighted with eleven highlights including the famous ‘El barberillo de Lavapiés” by Francisco Asenjo Barbieri and two pieces of the popular ‘Doña Francisquita’ by Amadeo Vives based on the play The Ingenious Lover by Lope de Vega. The concert ended with soprano Alda Gimeno García, mezzo-sopranos Nancy Holt & Shakira Tsindos, tenors James Beddoe & Andrés Presno de León and baritone Jonathan Eyers singing the Mazurca de las sombrillas, the beloved ‘Luisa Fernanda’ zarzuela by Federico Moreno Torroba. All these wonderful pieces were played superbly by pianist Maya Irgalina.

The artists, the pianist and the overall performance had the public standing up and giving the artists a well-deserved ovation. Although most singers were not Spanish, they sang beautifully.

Top: Ricardo Gosalbo, Artistic Director of Guildhall School of Music and Carmen Bouverat de Young, Trustee and Head of Events BSS

Drinks Reception after perfomance with Maya Irgalina (pianist), Ricardo Gosalbo (Artistic Director GSM), Alda Gimeno García (soprano), Andrés Presno de León (tenor), Carmen Bouverat de Young (Trustee & Head of Events BSS) and members of the British Spanish Society

Members of the BSS and artists during the reception

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NEWS & EVENTS

CHURCHILL & SPAIN REMEMBERED

By our social affairs correspondent

Churchill in Tenerife

C

ambridge University’s Churchill College proved the perfect venue for a conference and the opening of a special exhibition on October 22nd dedicated to the memory of Sir Winston, the towering figure of the 20th century , and the less known history of his relationship with Spain.

The event organized by Churchill College the British Spanish Society, with the support of the Cervantes Institute in London and Hispania Restaurant, drew an impressive attendance from Sir Winston’s own family, the world of academia, culture, diplomacy and intelligence.

VIP guests included Sir Winston’s great grandson, Randolph Churchill, the former head of MI6 Sir Richard Dearlove , the Chilean ambassador to the UK David Gallagher (an honorary BSS member) , the TV producer Eddie Anderson (a grandnephew of Sir Samuel Hoare Churchill’s wartime ambassador to Spain) , the racing horse trainer Mike Bell (a grandson of Sir Stewart Menzies, the British wartime spy chief ) , Miguel FragosoRecio MBE director of Lotus Engineering, Ignacio Peyro of the Cervantes Institute in London, Dr Emilio Sanchez Frances from the Universidad de Comillas, along with other senior academics, Professor Marcial Echenique, Dr Adrian Crisp, Dr Alan Harmer and Prof Pedro Linares, and supporters from various fields of activity of the British Spanish Society.

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The event was opened by BSS Patron Randolph Churchill, a former officer of the Royal Navy and banker in a symbolic ringing of a bell famously named after his grandfather.

The so-called Colonial Williamsburg Churchill Bell was presented as an award to Sir Winston in 1955 by American admirers in recognition of his role in preserving and perpetuating the values exemplified by 18th-century Williamsburg-liberty, courage, devotion to the dignity of the individual and responsible citizenship.

Guests were welcomed by Allen Packwood, OBE, the Director of the Internationally renowned Churchill Archives in Churchill College, before he invited the Cambridge historian and BSS member Dr Peter Martland to give a keynote lecture, an abridged version of which is published in the November issue of the BSS magazine La Revista.

The lecture was followed by a reception marking the opening of an exhibition, curated by author and journalist and BSS chairman Jimmy Burns chartering Churchill’s extraordinary and controversial relationship with Spain in peace and wartime including colonial times in Cuba , his relationship with his cousin the Duke of Alba, the Spanish Civil War, and wartime Gibraltar, through to his private visits as a VIP tourist to Seville, Mallorca, Barcelona, and Tenerife, in the 1950’s.

THE BULLDOG & THE BULL BY DR PETER MARTLAND I think we all know that Sir Winston Churchill was a figure forged in 19th century imperialism who went on to become the doughty defender of both democracy and his country during the course of a long and utterly unique life of public service. Perhaps not so well known was his equally long direct and indirect relationship to Spain and the Spanish empire; for example, not only was he related to the 17th Duke of Alba but, in 1895, he took part in the Spanish military action against a guerrilla insurgency on Cuba. However, the focus for his relationship with Spain was during the Second World War when as Prime Minister Churchill recognised that the key to winning and maintaining control of the Mediterranean was first and foremost a neutral Spain and, also, the retention and successful exploitation of Britain’s position on the key strategic naval and military Rock of Gibraltar.

In the autumn of 1895 Churchill was commissioned into the 4th Queen’s Hussars, a British guard’s regiment.

Using the old boy network, in his case the then British ambassador to Spain, Sir Henry Drummond Wolffe, who had been a friend of his late father, he obtained the permission of the Madrid government to go to Cuba and

attach himself to the Spanish army at that time engaged in a murderous but in the end futile guerrilla war against local insurgents. He was also an accredited journalist with the Daily Graphic and from his unique vantage point reported on the death throes of Spain’s American Empire: he also sent reports of what he saw to the Director of Military Intelligence at the War Office Well, Churchill did not leave his bones on Cuba, instead he discovered the delights of Cuban cigars, rum cocktails and afternoon siestas. It was on Cuba, before the Malakand Field Force, before Omdurman and before the Boer War, that Churchill first experienced combat. As he put it: ‘the 30th November was my 21st birthday, and on that day for the first time I heard shots fired in anger, heard bullets strike flesh or whistle through the air’. It was during that sojourn on Cuba that he first marched against an enemy, found himself under fire and witnessed violent death. For this instinctive soldier it was his first great adventure and he clearly relished every minute of it. For his service to the Spanish crown he was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Military Merit, Red Ribbon by Spain (and, in 1914, the Cuban Campaign Medal). Furthermore, he gained permissions from the UK military authorities that enabled him to wear them.

NEWS & EVENTS

Leaving behind this youthful though fascinating adventure, we must now turn to the Second World War and the decisive links between the bulldog and the bull made during Churchill’s years as wartime Prime Minister.

Winston Churchill became British Prime Minister on 10 May 1940, the day Hitler’s armies invaded the West.

Within six weeks the German army had rolled across the continent occupying neutral states like the Netherlands and Belgium; trouncing the vast but poorly led French and British armies. By the middle of June, five weeks into his premiership, France was suing for an Armistice and Britain’s army had been ignominiously withdrawn from the beaches of Dunkirk leaving behind much of its armour and equipment. Furthermore, not only were the forces of Nazi Germany heading for the Pyrenees, Mussolini had declared war on the Allies to get his share of the spoils. Any logical analysis of the situation saw Britain isolated and defeated, joining France and going cap-inhand to Hitler begging for an Armistice. The alternative, as many saw it, Britain faced imminent invasion and the inevitability of defeat and conquest.

At this decisive moment in history, Winston Churchill was having none of it. He argued that so long as the Royal Navy retained control of Home Waters and the RAF had the capacity to fight off the Luftwaffe and maintain control of the skies over Britain it was possible to prevent any invasion attempt, continue the war and maintain what he called ‘the long continuity of our institutions and our affairs’. Although this was a purely short-term defensive strategy, Churchill also entertained clear long-term views as how to move forward; at the heart of which was Spain. As he reasoned, if Spain fell to Germany Spanish Atlantic ports would be colonised by U-boats which would wreak havoc among the transatlantic convoys.

Furthermore, Gibraltar would fall and with it control of the Mediterranean, and if that happened British forces in North Africa would become isolated, Egypt and the vital Suez Canal would become vulnerable and if they fell then Britain would lose access to the oil-rich Gulf, India and the Far East – the war would be lost. Therefore, what happened to Spain was, in Churchill’s calculations, the key to preventing the defeat of Britain and it provided the platform for future offensive action.

It was from the very start a high-risk strategy. For, in 1940, Spain had just emerged from four years of bloody civil war that had brought General Francisco Franco to power heading a fascist military dictatorship. In 1940 he and his Falangist supporters were busy consolidating their power by eliminating enemies and potential opponents. Spain

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Churchill in Barcelona itself was a shattered and destroyed wreck, with shortages of everything; in the winter of 1940 there were famine conditions in many parts of the country – especially in those cities formally held by the opponents of the regime.

Furthermore, many in the regime were supportive of Hitler and Mussolini and openly hostile to Britain; seeing in its parlous position an opportunity to take back Gibraltar and expand its colonies in North Africa.

Frankly, Churchill’s Britain had no cards to play, but in the end played them very well. We must also remember that in 1940 there was no internet and very limited telephone communication with Spain; essentially there was post and telegrams. The best Churchill could do was to send someone to Spain with plenipotentiary powers to do his best; and this he did. His ambassador on a special mission was Sir Samuel Hoare.

With explicit instructions from Churchill to keep Spain out of the war at all costs, Hoare faced a seemingly impossible task. In 1940 Madrid was a dangerous place for a British ambassador. The place was overrun with Falangist thugs, the all-pervasive German intelligence was being run openly out of its embassy and the stateNazi-controlled Spanish media put out anti-British and pro-German propaganda. In fact, Hoare was forced to travel with a gun in his pocket and an armed Scotland

Yard detective in tow. He moved into the ambassadors’ residence even though it was next door to that of the German ambassador.

The regime was often openly hostile to Britain and its representatives, with Ramón Serrano Suñer, the foreign minister between October 1940 and August 1942 (and minister of the interior), happy to display pro-German and Italian fascist credentials whenever he could.

As it turned out Hoare did not simply have to bluff his way through the dark early days of his time in Spain: it turned out he did have cards to play. Despite the fertility of the land, post-civil war Spain was desperately short of food and Hoare made it clear he would arrange grain, coal and oil shipments through the allied blockade, if the shipments and Britain’s involvement were reported positively in the local press. This was the start of long at times tortuous negotiations regarding trade, credits and the purchase by Britain of Spanish goods like sherry and the key wartime mineral wolfram (the raw material for tungsten steel). Hoare knew by tying Spain economically to Britain it was less likely to fall into fascist adventurism.

He even paid Spanish generals large sums in US dollar denominated bribes to keep Spain neutral.

There were other factors playing to Churchill and Hoare’s strategy. On 23rd October 1940 Hitler met with Franco on the French-Spanish border at Hendaye. It was a neverto-be-repeated disaster. The two clearly could not stand each other and never met again, though Franco sent a military unit known as the Blue Division to fight on the Russian Front.

Let us be clear, Franco was not going to substitute British for German rule of Gibraltar and believed he could take the rock by himself. In the early years of the war this key to Churchill’s Mediterranean strategy was lightly defended on its landward border. To help understand how critical the situation was for Gibraltar there survives a remarkable series of private letters from the four wartime governors to Hoare in Madrid. During the 1940-42 period, they pleaded with the ambassador to secure Spanish neutrality for as long as possible, so they might get the defences in order and build a modern runway. Although the Fortress of Gibraltar was effectively under siege, with Falangist guns pointing at strategic points on the hills opposite, this did not prevent the daily crossing of Spanish workers providing the labour used to construct defences and the new airfield. Although bombed by Italian planes and its shipping attacked by Italian naval forces, Gibraltar survived and the route through the Straits remained in

British hands. All this came to fruition in 1942 with the success of Operation Torch, which brought US forces into play on this side of the Atlantic for the first time since 1918.

Spain was in a nodal position during the Second World War and Franco and the regime had high hopes they would play a pivotal role in forging the post war world.

In 1942 the pro-Allied Conde de Jordan was appointed foreign minister. He was a man Hoare could do business with.

After 1942 as the war turned in favour of the Allies, Churchill’s strategic goals regarding Spain began to pay off. Neutrality was increasingly seen by the Franco regime as not only an opportunity to consolidate their own power but also a sensible and rationale course of action.

Hoare had one last meeting with Franco. The dispatch he sent summed it all up. Franco said he had always supported the allied cause and felt he and Spain now had a great role to play in building the post war world.

Hoare gave him both barrels to no effect and declined the offer of a medal. As Hoare put it in his memoir of these years: ‘It was even more difficult to penetrate the cottonwool entanglements of his amazing complacency… Such staggering complacency made any serious discussion almost impossible.’

Sir Samuel Hoare, Viscount Templewood returned to Britain in 1945 and took his seat in the House of Lords, where he played an active role till his death aged 79 in 1959. Winston Churchill famously lost the 1945 elections but was returned to power from 1951 to 1955. He died a few weeks after his 90th birthday in 1965. Francisco Franco remained military dictator of Spain until his death in 1975. Thereafter Spain became a democracy and a constitutional monarchy. It is a pro-active member of both NATO and the European Union and despite the friction caused by Gibraltar one of Britain’s staunchest friends. *Dr Peter Martland is a Cambridge University postgraduate and lecturer, specialising in intelligence history. He is a member of the British Spanish Society.

Churchill History Lecture Series: The Bulldog and the Bull – Peter Martland: https://www.britishspanishsociety.org/latest-news/

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NEWS & EVENTS

British Spanish relations honoured

Professor Paul Preston

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SE’s Professor Paul Preston has been awarded a knighthood and the British Spanish Society chairman Jimmy Burns appointed an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) in recognition for services for UK/Spain in the 2018 Queen’s Birthday Honours.

Preston, the Director of the Cañada Blanch Centre for Contemporary Spanish Studies, is widely celebrated as a leading historian on contemporary Spain and the author of books which include biographies of Franco and King Juan Carlos and narratives of the Spanish Civil War. He studied at Oxford and lectured at several universities before joining LSE as a Professor in International History in 1991. He has delivered guest lectures at institutions across the globe including Harvard and NY and was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in The Queen’s Honours List 2000.

In 2005 he was awarded the Premio Internacional Ramon Llull, and in 2007 was made ‘Caballero Gran Cruz de la Orden de Isabel La Catolica.

Commenting on his latest award, Professor Preston said: “I am deeply honoured and pleased. I feel the knighthood is a recognition of both my publications on contemporary Spain and the Cañada Blanch Centre’s extensive work to encourage the study of Spain both at LSE and more widely.”

Jimmy Burns, who was born in Madrid and educated at Stonyhurst College, University College London, and the LSE, where he obtained a master’s degree in Modern Iberian and Latin American studies, has been chair of the

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BSS Chairman Jimmy Burns

British Spanish Society since 20013, before which he was vice-chairman, a founder of La Revista and a member for many years.

He is an author and journalist. He was a senior journalist at the Financial Times for over thirty years and has continued contribute to other leading media organisations including the BBC, Sky News, CBS, CNN, and in Spain Radio Cope and Ser, and TVE. His published books which have been widely translated included the Land that lost its Heroes which won the Somerset Maugham prize for non-fiction in 1987, a Literary Companion to Spain, Papa Spy, and La Roja, a history of Spanish football, and a biography of Pope Francis. He lectures and advises on Spain and Latin America.

As a journalist, he has worked as a foreign correspondent with posts that have included Madrid, Lisbon, and Buenos Ares. His press awards have included the Press Gazette prize for his work as part of the FT’s investigative team, and the Industrial Society’s journalist of the Year.

In 2012, Jimmy was awarded an Encomienda de Merito Civil granted by King Juan Carlos for his work on Spain.

Commenting on his latest award, Burns said: “I owe this honour to my close family, friends, and colleagues who have supported the work of this British and Jesuit educated boy (Stonyhurst) as a volunteer chairman with the British Spanish Society and professional work as an author, and journalist. My work for UK/Spanish relations is part of an ongoing mission instilled in me from birth by my British father Tom and Spanish mother, Mabel Marañón both beloved in memory.”

Hugh Thomas remembered

Civil War, first published in 1961, and updated in 1976, as “a masterpiece that had enormous impact”.

“He taught us to look at ourselves by looking at us from outside Spain”, said Perez Maura.

He added: “He was able to do this in a country with a long tradition of foreign intellectuals, particularly of Anglo-Saxon extraction and with differing ideas, who have made Spain the focus of their life.”

Other personal tributes were provided by his son Inigo and his daughter Bella who commented: “There was Radical Hugh, European Hugh, and a more Conservative Hugh. There was the savant of Tuscan history & hillsides and a vibrant late Mexican period. There was a consuming interest in a vast swathe of European history which underpinned his deep sense of belonging and commitment to Europe and to European initiatives.”

• An obituary of Hugh Thomas appeared in La Revista 245

A

memorial for the late historian Hugh Thomas, Baron Thomas of Swynnerton, who died on the 7th May 2017, aged 85, drew an impressive and distinguished attendance of friends and admirers from Spain and the UK to the Church of St Martin-in-theFields, London, on 17th October.

Nobel prize for Literature winner Mario Vargas Llosa and the hispanist Professor John Elliot praised Thomas’s huge contribution to British Spanish relations as well as his excellence as an author of seminal books including The Spanish Civil War and his similarly towering trilogy on the Spanish Empire.

Vargas Llosa noted Thomas’s often discreet extraofficial diplomatic engagement, smoothing the sometimes problematical challenges of bilateral relations, while noting his profound and enduring Europeanism.

Other speakers included Ramon Perez Maura, editor of Thomas’s many incisive articles over the last 12 years for the Spanish newspaper ABC who described The Spanish

LA REVISTA | THE BRITISH SPANISH SOCIETY | 19

SPOTLIGHT

IT IS ALL ABOUT HEELS

by Laura Obiols

T

he British Spanish society talks to Lina Amat, the Spanish multi-awarded designer that knows more about shoes than a shoe itself. She is one of most renowned faces in the fashion industry in the UK.

shoe maker, and then my dad, growing up surrounded by heels, leathers and all kind of craftsmanship influenced me as a person and in consequence as a designer”, she explains.

It is a snowy spring afternoon in London on a Wednesday evening, a smiling person in a total black look, arrives at the place in London Fields where we are meeting. Lina Amat has been living in the UK capital since 2008; 10 years in London have a lot to say. We chat over a lovely and filling fish and some tap water and I quickly realise that her secret is primarily, her impressive hard work, her vision and her passionate but yet calm nature. On the second day we meet, this time for a photoshoot in her Angel-based studio, full with sketches and drawings, she shows us the iconic MAGRIT’s vinyl shoe and some of the pieces she has been working on. She makes Afternoon Tea and it all feels like a day at Claridge’s… but cooler!

She is laidback and genuinely inspiring. Lina Amat makes you feel part of her world very quickly.

“My great grandfather, José Amat Sanchiz, started the shoe business in our family back in 1929 and founded Calzados Margarita. My grandfather Manuel Amat Pérez took over and became one of the pioneers in the export of shoes in Spain, manufacturing for brands such as Bally and Carolina Herrera for more than 40 years.

She was surrounded by fashion from an early age. One of three brothers, she was born in Elda, Alicante, a city known by the art of shoe making in Spain “My granddad was a

20 | LA REVISTA | THE BRITISH SPANISH SOCIETY

Lina Amat (Elda, Spain, 1983) Senior Accessories Designer at Jimmy Choo.

Graduated from Design at IED Madrid and Central St Martins (UAL) in London.

Worked as Head of Accessories Design at Alexander McQueen in their headquarters in Clerkenwell, London. Her family has an immaculate history in shoemaking in Spain and abroad, founders of MAGRIT, known as the shoes of royalty.

Photos by Pepa Yepes

Nowadays, the factory is run by the third generation, and the name has evolved to MAGRIT, which is easier to pronounce”, she adds.

MAGRIT is the name behind European Royals feet, from the Spanish Queen Dn. Letizia to Rania of Jourdan.

Camilla Parker Bowles got married in a pair of MAGRIT, “They find the shoes comfortable, as diplomats, they are exposed to long attending events”, Amat points out.

When she was a teenager, her grandfather saw some of her sketches and challenged her to create 3 styles for the next collection “I will not tell anyone which ones are the shoes you designed but you will be there to see their reactions”, his grandfather said.

The shoes were really well perceived and became best sellers that season, also selected by magazine editors and celebrities. “I thought: ‘Oh my God! I can actually make something that people want to wear’ And that was it”, she laughs. By then, she already

understood how to take a sketch from a 2D dimension into a 3D functional object.

After studying in Madrid she moved to London, worked at Alexander McQueen for years and she is now at Jimmy Choo, in Victoria; she often talks to her grandmother on the phone on her way to work. “She loves to ‘come to work with me’”, she laughs. “I remember my days at McQueen with joy, I had the pleasure to work with Alexander and then with Sarah (Burton), it was not very structured at the beginning, it was like a family but led by one of the best designer of the last decades”, she explains.

“It would be nice to go back home and continue with my family project some day, but for now I feel London still has loads to offer. This is the place where people wear birds in their heads and a very exquisite suit in their bodies. The craziest ideas merge in this city and it all works in harmony”, Amat says with passion in her eyes.

LA REVISTA | THE BRITISH SPANISH SOCIETY | 21

SPOTLIGHT

¿DESAYUNAR TRES VECES?

Un elogio (tímido) de la cocina británica Por Ignacio Peyró

M

eterse con la cocina británica es un hábito tan arraigado entre los viajeros del continente que los denuestos alcanzan casi el empaque de un subgénero literario propio. “Si está frío es una sopa; si está caliente, es una cerveza”, referirá un observador. Incluso un local como Somerset Maugham lamenta que “para comer bien en Inglaterra, hay que desayunar tres veces”. Y estos son sólo un par de ejemplos de las dudosas cortesías mostradas hacia la culinaria de las islas.

Cabe pensar, sin embargo, que el prejuicio es injustificado o –como mínimo- exagerado. No sólo porque haya chefs británicos convertidos en estrellas –Gordon Ramsay, Heston Blumenthal- convertidos en estrellas dentro y fuera de Gran Bretaña, o porque figuras como Jamie Oliver hayan elevado la cultura popular al respecto. Tampoco porque en las grandes ciudades británicas haya cocinas de todo origen, o porque los británicos hayan sabido apadrinar, basta pensar en los curries, platos foráneos hasta hacerlos propios. También hay una despensa y un recetario propios dignos de estima y de mención. Y quienes, llegados desde lejos, vivimos aquí, no dejamos de comprobarlo. Vayan algunos puntos imbatibles de la gastronomía insular:

22 | LA REVISTA | THE BRITISH SPANISH SOCIETY

1. Las “berries”. No son baratas, pero las frutas y verduras – lechugas y tomates, por ejemplo- pueden ser un escándalo de buenas, aunque sin duda la estrella son las “summer berries”: grosella, arándano, mora, frambuesa…

2. El salmón. Más escocés que inglés, en todo caso, no lo hay mejor. Con sus distintos cortes y curaciones, cae como un foulard sobre el plato. ¡Parece mentira que la fama se la hayan llevado los noruegos!

3. El lenguado. El rodaballo o el pez de san Pedro pueden ser óptimos y las ostras están entre las mejores, pero el lenguado –uno de esos lenguados que podríamos medir por yardas- es la estrella de la culinaria británica tradicional. Mejor “grilled” que à la meunière.

4. Carne. De acuerdo, tal vez el cordero nos parezca viejuno al lado de nuestros lechales, y tampoco terminamos de entender la pasión por la salsa de menta. Pero si, desde el siglo XVIII, el steak fue enseña nacional y símbolo de virtud y libertad, la marca de calidad del vacuno inglés se ha mantenido durante todo este tiempo, como los Beefsteak clubs dieciochescos, precisamente.

5. Quesos. Aunque bajo la marca “cheddar” quepan lo mejor y lo peor, que se lo digan a Chesterton: sólo el Stilton ya representaría un mérito suficiente para dar trascendencia universal a la cocina inglesa. Mejor si es con un poco de oporto.

10. Postres. El carrito de los postres, en no pocos restaurantes y clubes, puede ser una perdición. No podemos, ahí, dejar de alabar las distintas “trifles”, absolutamente autóctonas. Ni cochinadas tan sabrosas como el “Eton mess”.

6. Savouries. Con sus nombres fantasiosos –Scotch woodcock o Welsh rarebit-, las savouries no sólo están buenas: son un remedio inteligente contra la tristeza de levantarse de la mesa.

10+1. Y “last”, aunque de ninguna manera “least”, una gloria nacional: el full English, claro. Y si no, unos buenos kippers.

7. Pies. Hay algo gracioso en la culinaria británica: su apego al pasado. Por ejemplo, esos “túpers” del siglo XV, como el pastel de filete con riñones, que pasaría de los banquetes Tudor a las tabernas de Dickens.

EL REY ENTREGA EL PREMIO FIES AL DIRECTOR DEL CERVANTES

8. Sunday roast. Tal vez la Organización Mundial de la Salud no le tenga mucho afecto al Yorkshire pudding, pero el “asado del domingo” pertenece a esos platos que, además de exquisitez, son institución.

9. Grouse. Ni siquiera hay traducción al español: ¿perdiz escocesa? Pero, desde mediados de agosto, esta ave de caza, irreductible a la domesticación, llega a la mesa británica en perfectas condiciones de competir con la becada.

Con ocasión de la visita de SSMM los Reyes a Londres, el director del Instituto Cervantes en la capital británica, Ignacio Peyró, publicó en ABC una tribuna sobre el viaje, bajo el título de Las monarquías razonables. Este mes de octubre, en la Zarzuela, Felipe VI le hizo entrega del premio FIES de periodismo que mereció por dicho artículo. Otorgado por la Fundación Institucional Española, tras 29 ediciones, el premio ha galardonado a autores como Francisco Umbral, Javier Gomá, Pilar Cernuda o Ignacio Camacho, entre otros.

LA REVISTA | THE BRITISH SPANISH SOCIETY | 23

TECHNOLOGY

LIFE ON MARS:

REALITY OR UTOPIA?

by Alberto Villanueva

L

ife on Mars used to be just a David Bowie song but a Spanish architect and researcher living in London has been looking to make the sci-fi dream a reality during the last 3 years.

When I moved to London in 2014, I still had in mind the evolution of the city of Seoul in South Korea over the following 10 years. How might it be possible for this huge technological hub in Asia to reduce its population during the next decade? All the research for my last project in Dongdaemun inspired me to explore concepts related to overpopulation and sustainability.

The last reports of weather and climate world conditions were showing that around a 35% of the territories in our planet are facing extreme conditions and with an overpopulation depleting non-renewable resources it is necessary to find solutions on how to adapt to these conditions in the next decade.

It was hard to believe that this interest solving the extreme issues our planet is suffering would trigger my idea for choosing Mars as “the hardest scene” to experiment, I created a concept that would use the planet’s newly discovered frozen water and soil as building materials.

24 | LA REVISTA | THE BRITISH SPANISH SOCIETY

To pursue my project I decided to open my own small architecture firm, IDEA architecture office, and developed a strategy to tackle overpopulation by targeting one of the most extreme and yet attainable lands, Mars. The project, titled “Mars UTOPIA”, combines the realms of biomimicry, urban design, terraforming, and 3D printing to take advantage of the recently discovered existence of water on Mars to develop a new generation of building materials and possibilities for colonization that don’t rely on artificially stabilized environments.

Unlike other projects, which attempt to create impossible structures designed to withstand inhospitable conditions and house human life, Mars UTOPIA first uses a living architecture to symbiotically work with the existing environment and naturally make it habitable. Then allowing human life to be introduced. 3D printers would be sent to Mars to print large metallic towers using local materials: basalt, regolith, and other various ferrous materials found on the surface. These towers located in currently empty craters feed off the electromagnetic energy of the planet and melt the subterranean ice and phyllosilicates. After a period of 4-6 months, the towers disintegrate leaving behind a crater full of water and a ground composed of fertile soil and clay.

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LA REVISTA | THE BRITISH SPANISH SOCIETY | 25

TECHNOLOGY

Once this has been accomplished, the second phase consists of re-using the 3D printers to build new towers with a mixture of epoxy resin, fungi, and bacteria- specifically the fungus mycelium, which is capable of resisting extreme atmospheric and weather conditions. The fungus feeds off the newly created lake water, as it consumes the CO2 rich atmosphere and releases O2 in its place. Bioluminescent bacteria serves to illuminate the structures. As they are living organisms, the towers will naturally grow on their own given the abundance of nutrients, and after a projected period of two years, the culminated efforts of the various towers and lakes will have made the atmosphere hospitable for human life, paving the way for colonization.

STONYHURST

Quant je puis.

As much as I can.

The UK’s leading co-educational Catholic boarding and day school for 3 - 18 year olds.

Boarding from 7 years.

Open the door to a brighter future.

www.stonyhurst.ac.uk 26 | LA REVISTA | THE BRITISH SPANISH Tel: +44 (0) SOCIETY 1254 827073 | Email: admissions@stonyhurst.ac.uk

Stonyhurst College • Clitheroe • Lancashire • United Kingdom • BB7 9PZ

This was a completely theoretical concept, half-artistic and half-scientific. However, the original approach has been considered around the world as a real possibility.

What is more relevant is that it brings design, creativity and science as a unique concept. Design has become an essential part of every aspect of our lives. As a result of this, I have been participating in the programme of Ambassadors for Science of the Spanish Embassy to the United Kingdom promoting science from the humanistic point of view.

HISTORY

40 YEARS OF DEMOCRATIC SPAIN

by William Chislett

M

y wife and I were barred from staying in a hotel in Ávila in 1975, the last year of the Franco regime, because we did not have a libro de familia that proved that we were married. In those days the Roman Catholic Church held sway. In fact, we were married, but no amount of protestations that this document did not exist for British couples made any difference. Today, only one-fifth of marriages take place in a church and 3% of weddings are between people of the same sex. Spain was one of the first European countries to legalise marriage (in 2005) between couples of the same sex (during the 1939-75 dictatorship the law lumped ‘pimps, villains and homosexuals’ into one group). Madrid’s LGBT Pride parade this year was led by the gay Interior Minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska.

Moral attitudes are not the only aspect of life that has undergone a radical change in the 40 years since Spaniards overwhelmingly approved in a referendum on 6 December 1978 the democratic constitution that sealed the end of the dictatorship and the transition to democracy. When I began working in Madrid, as a correspondent of The Times, I was one of 165,000 foreigners in a country that was ethnically very homogeneous.

28 | LA REVISTA | THE BRITISH SPANISH SOCIETY

Today, I am one of 4.7 million, and that number excludes the more than 700,000 who have become naturalised Spaniards. Moreover, this influx has not produced any French-style banlieues or US-style ghettos.

In other areas, life expectancy at birth has risen from 74 years to 83, thanks to the creation of a universal healthcare system and the healthier Mediterranean diet.

Spaniards today live on average 18 months longer than Brits – whose life expectancy is declining. Spain’s per capita income over the last 40 years at purchasing power parity (which gives a more accurate picture of a country’s standard of living) has risen from $7,883 to $38,285.

Few countries have telescoped so much change into such a short period. Alfonso Guerra, the Socialist Deputy Prime Minister (1982-91) put it colourfully when he said ‘Vamos a poner a España que no la va a reconocer ni la madre que la parió’, which literally translates as ‘We’re going to change Spain so much that not even the mother who gave her birth will recognise her’.

The situation of women in Spain has also improved considerably. They were effectively second-class citizens in the Franco regime. Article 57 of the penal code stated that “The husband must protect his wife and she must

40 years on: Spain in a nutshell

1978 (1)

2018 (1)

Total population, million

37.0

46.7

Foreign population, million (2)

0.17

4.7

GDP, $bn, 2010 prices

640

1,460

Per capita income, $ (3)

7,883

38,285

Agriculture

20.3

4.3

Industry

27.4

14.0

Construction

9.5

6.0

Services

42.8

75.6

Life expectancy at birth, years

74.3

83.2

Population aged 15 and under, % of total

26.7

15.4

Population aged 65 and over, % of total

10.7

19.1

Fertility rate, births per woman

Employment by sector, % of total

obey her husband”. Without her husband’s approval, a wife was prohibited from almost all economic activities, including employment, ownership of property, opening a bank account or even travel away from home. The law also provided for less stringent definitions of such crimes as adultery and desertion for husbands than it did for wives. Single women were not allowed to leave their home without their parents’ consent before the age of 25.

Today, there are more women at university than men – and they tend to get better degrees–, and 11 of the 17 Ministers in the Socialist government of Pedro Sánchez are women, the largest number in Spain’s history and the highest proportion in the world. And all this in a country which gave the world the word ‘machismo and which is still imbedded in the culture.

As the British novelist L.P. Hartley said: ‘The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there’. This is certainly the case of Spain over the past 40 years; the country today is another planet. So much for Franco believing he had left his regime and its institutions “tied up, and well tied up”! Not only that, he is to be exhumed from the grandiose mausoleum at the Valley of the Fallen and buried elsewhere – something that would have been politically impossible 40 years ago.

2.54

1.33

Illiteracy rate, over 16s, % of total

9

1.75

University educated, % of over 16s

3.6

28.2

(1) Or latest available.

(2) Excluding foreigners who became naturalised Spaniards.

(3) At purchasing power parity.

Source: William Chislett, Elcano Royal Institute.

William Chislett’s 80-page report on Spain’s last 40 years, published by the Elcano Royal Institute, is available at: realinstitutoelcano.org

LA REVISTA | THE BRITISH SPANISH SOCIETY | 29

BSS SCHOLARSHIPS

2008-2018

30 | LA REVISTA | THE BRITISH SPANISH SOCIETY

EDUCATION

LA REVISTA | THE BRITISH SPANISH SOCIETY | 31

EDUCATION

Alba Guijarro Belmar Name: Alba Guijarro Belmar Principal Supporter: Santander Universities Year: 2018 Title of Research Project: The Potential of Combining Epac Activation and Novel Self Assembled Hydrogels in Promoting CNS Axonal Regeneration.

University: University of Aberdeen Degree: PhD in Neuroscience Place of birth: Valencia, Spain

I

always pictured myself with a white lab coat and working in research, so without hesitation, I started my studies in Biochemistry and Biomedical Science in Universidad de Valencia (Spain) in 2009. The nervous system has always been my passion, so following my bachelor degree, I decided to undergo a Two-year master program in Neuroscience and Biotechnology in Universidad de Valencia. After gaining knowledge and lab experience in Spain, I then set my mind to start a PhD abroad, being UK my first option. I am currently in the last stage of my PhD in Aberdeen University which focuses on finding a combinatory therapy for nerve regeneration in Spinal Cord Injury (SCI).

SCI is a global problem that affects millions, mostly young people with their whole adult lives ahead of them who are injured through sports, violent assaults and automobile accidents, as main examples. In the UK alone, three people every day are being told they have lost their ability to walk, and what is even worse: there isn’t a cure. The lack of therapies for SCI creates a substantial, unmet, clinical need for millions of patients. Single treatments over many decades have failed to produce a cure for SCI because they have not identified a means to get spinal nerve processes to regenerate through and beyond the injury site that presents a potent barrier to nerve cell regrowth.

In addition, after the nervous system develops to adult, nerve cells become less able to regenerate. My project consists on the use of a hydrogel to fill the injury site, providing physical support whilst also incorporating

32 | LA REVISTA | THE BRITISH SPANISH SOCIETY

a drug that promotes nerve regrowth. So far, my work in tissue culture has been extremely positive and I am now translating this work to a spinal injury model in adult rats. This part of the project is looking very optimistic too.

During my PhD, I have had the fantastic opportunity of having active collaborations with many other research groups here in the UK and Spain, such as the Blizard Institute in London, University of Glasgow and the Research Centre Principe Felipe in Valencia, where I first discovered my passion for spinal research and understood how important is to further investigate in this field. I have also attended annual conferences that reunite all the top scientists in Spinal Research and where I have been invited to present my work during the last three years.

The British Spanish Society Scholarship has allowed me to continue this exciting project and share my research in the biggest Neuroscience conference in the world held in San Diego (USA) in November 2018. This means a fantastic opportunity to share my results within the scientific community and a platform to increase my professional network and further develop my career in Science.

I would like to thank again the British Spanish Society and its Sponsors, especially Santander Universities, for their invaluable contribution to society through multiple initiatives and in particular for supporting my research.

Nowadays, it is challenging to find financial support for Research and Science, so I am very grateful to have received this scholarship.

Javier Diaz Brañas

Name: Javier Díaz Brañas Principal Supporter: Plastic Energy Year: 2018 Title of Research Project: Cell Dynamic Simulations of Block Copolymer Nanocomposites University: University of Lincoln Degree: PhD degree in Applied Mathematics Place of birth: Sevilla, Spain

P

olymers are considerably long, chain-like molecules, made of many repeated units, called monomers.

They are present everywhere in our everyday life, from plastics to biological molecules such as proteins.

A particular kind of polymer called block copolymer is made of groups of the same kind of monomer, like strings of different colours which are attached one to the other.

Mixtures of these chains may tend to separate from each other, as they are chemically different, but given that they are attached to each other, they are forced to separate up to a certain length. This leads to the characteristic structures of diblock copolymer, which are repeated forming, for example, stripe-like morphologies.

This repetition leads to well-organised material, which makes block copolymers perfect candidates to host additional, suspended particles called colloids. Using this procedure, extended arrays of colloids can be placed in

an ordered way. Adding colloids to polymeric materials has been done for a long time in order to improve certain properties of the resulting system.

After I finished my Physics degree at the Universidad de Sevilla, I started my current PhD at the University of Lincoln, UK. Here, under the supervision of Prof Zvelindovsky and Dr Pinna I have worked to improve our knowledge of these complex systems, using computational tools. Thanks to the British-Spanish Society and Plastic Energy company, I can extend my PhD for 6 months, which will cover my stay in Barcelona to collaborate with Prof Pagonabarraga. In two previous, short-time stays, I was able to benefit from his expertise in the field of computer simulations, which resulted in publications involving analytic studies of block copolymer systems. Thanks to this award we are able to continue this collaboration, from which we are already benefitting.

Figure 1: A mixture of diblock copolymer and colloids.

The diblock copolymer can be thought as a mixture of two elements A and B. Here, the frontier between A and B areas is depicted as a surface (grid-like structure), while the colloids are shown as red spheres that are confined inside the B-rich areas.

In this example, the presence of the colloids expands the hosting domains, leading to this cylindrical-like structure.

LA REVISTA | THE BRITISH SPANISH SOCIETY | 33

EDUCATION

In an experimental-theoretical collaboration, we have focused on studying particles with complicated shapes, such as rods (which are modelled as ellipses). We are motivated by findings of ordering in the orientation of small rods which are confined in one part of the block copolymer melt. This cooperative process can be studied also with our computational method, and the characteristics and relevance of such systems are going to be presented in a publication that we expect to submit soon. We expect to present this work in relevant scientific conferences such as the 2019 APS March Meeting in Boston, USA. I would like to express my gratitude to the British-Spanish Society, as well as Plastic Energy for this opportunity.

Thanks to this award I will be able to study these systems, creating a more competitive computer simulation method. I also believe this collaboration will strengthen the links between Spanish and British universities, which would have been impossible without the support of the British-Spanish Society and Plastic Energy.

Figure 2: A mixture of A/B diblock copolymer and rectangular colloids. Modelling non-spherical colloids can be a challenge, but the results we obtain are physically relevant and much more interesting.

This simulations show the crossover of orientation, placement and chemical compatibility between all the elements of the mixture.

Marta Baldomero Naranjo Name: Marta Baldomero Naranjo Principal Supporter: Telefónica Year: 2018 Title of Research Project: Locating Service Facilities in Cities University: Universidad de Cádiz & University of Edinburgh Degree: PhD in Statistics and Operational Research Place of birth: Cádiz, Spain

M

y name is Marta Baldomero Naranjo, a young researcher passionate about Maths.

After completing an undergraduate degree in Mathematics, I continued my studies with an MSc and I am currently a PhD candidate and pre-doctoral researcher in the Statistics and Operational Research Department at the Universidad de Cádiz. I am currently undertaking a research stay at the University of Edinburgh, generously funded by the BritishSpanish Society and Telefónica. I combined my university education with business studies,

34 | LA REVISTA | THE BRITISH SPANISH SOCIETY

following the Master in Professional Development 4.0 at the Universidad the Alcalá and in Airbus Defence and Space in El Puerto de Santa María for a year. In addition to my academic background, doing volunteer work in some NGOs in my area and attending courses and seminars about Volunteering and Cooperation have played a huge role in who I am today. Moreover, whenever I have the opportunity, I participate in Science Fairs and Scientific Dissemination Activities to convey interest to students and excitement about learning Science.

After these years of experience, I do believe that Mathematics has an important role in the development of society. More specifically, I focus my research on optimising decision. In real life, there are many strategic decisions that private and public companies have to make regarding service facility locations. For example, Telefónica has to decide where to place mobile phone towers in a region to provide adequate coverage for its population. Similarly, governments or health authorities could be interested in deciding where to locate emergency services such as Automated External Defibrillators or ambulance stations. The objective of my project is to model these situations to be able to determine the best locations for those facilities. This could result in million savings, providing better service, or even lives saved in emergencies. My project is being supervised by Professor Antonio M. Rodriguez Chía, from Universidad de Cádiz and by Joerg Kalcsics, from The University of Edinburgh.

During my short research career, I have been awarded the XVI Certamen Universitario Arquímedes Award by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports of Spain. I was also awarded the Extraordinary Master Award in 2017,

the Extraordinary Grade Award in 2016, the Profesor Manuel Caballero a la Excelencia Discente Award, 2016 (it is conferred once a year by the Faculty of Science at the Universidad de Cádiz to the Graduate student with the best Academic marks) and the University Social Responsibility Award, 2016 by the Universidad de Cádiz.

I would like to highlight that the BritishSpanish Society has helped help me to spread scientific knowledge among the general public, because after being awarded the scholarship, a local journal, La Isla Oculta, interviewed me regarding my scientific career. Additionally, the Universidad de Cádiz published an article about the BritishSpanish Society Scholarships programme.

Finally, I would like to thank the BritishSpanish Society and Telefónica, for supporting my research, since without their help I could not have been doing a research stay in the University of Edinburgh - an enrichment experience in my career and also a great opportunity to enhance the relations between British institutions and my research group.

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LA REVISTA | THE BRITISH SPANISH SOCIETY | 35

EDUCATION

BSS STAR ALUMNI James Edward Stout Name: James Edward Stout Principal Supporter: Santander Universities Humanities Award Year: 2012 Title of Research Project: Breakaway Nations: The Use of Sport and Physical Culture to Create a Cross Class Catalan Identity during the Second Republic.

University: UC San Diego Degree: PhD Nationality: British Where are you now: San Diego Next steps: Working on a monograph for Palgrave- Pivot, The Race That Was Never Run: The Popular Olympics and the Popular Front.

Sara García Ratés Name: Sara García Ratés Principal Supporter: BritishSpanish Society Bursary 2012 Year: 2012 Title of Research Project: PC12 cells as a model to study the effects of AChE C-terminal peptides, a novel approach for Alzheimer’s disease University: University of Oxford Degree: Post-doc at the Department of Pharmacology Nationality: Spanish Where are you now: Head of Drug Discovery at a biotech company called NEURO-BIO LTD (www.neuro-bio.com) Next steps: To make progress in my career in neuro-bio and be able to say that we can finally detect and cure Alzheimer’s disease.

Rodrigo García González

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Name: Rodrigo García González Principal Supporter: Telefónica Year: 2013 Title of Research Project: Artificial Clouds University: Royal College of Art / Imperial College London Degree: MSc and MA in Innovation Design Engineering Nationality: Spanish Where are you now: I am a senior lecturer in Design at Kingston University and founder of a company called Skipping Rocks Lab that employs 15 people with the goal to make packaging disappear.

Next steps: To team up with Just Eat and Lucozade to reduce their plastic waste.

Nicole Crespo O’Donoghue

Name: Nicole Crespo O’Donoghue Principal Supporter: BBVA Year: 2013 Title of Research Project: Virtuoso Violin Performance University: Royal Academy of Music, University of London.

Degree: Master of Arts Nationality: Spanish Where are you now: Performing concerts worldwide and for film soundtracks. Upcoming concerts in Abu Dhabi and tour of Germany.

Film/TV credits include: Assasin’s Creed, Alien Covenant and Planet Earth.

Next steps: Solo album coming out soon: “Serenity” and to complete my PhD at the Royal College of Music on 19th century Spanish violinist, Pablo Sarasate.

AMONG THE TOP FINANCIAL business schools TIMES

IN THE WORLD

LA REVISTA | THE BRITISH SPANISH SOCIETY | 37

CULTURE

CERRANDO EL CÍRCULO:

Una singladura de 468 años

By Virginia Lladó-Buisán

N

o me olvidaré de la visita de S.S.M.M. los Reyes de España a mi queridísima Biblioteca Bodleian, donde tengo el placer de trabajar como “Head of Conservation & Collection Care” desde 2010. Mi vida cotidiana transcurre cuidando de maravillosos tesoros, facilitando su investigación, acceso y preservación, para el avance del conocimiento sobre cualquier cultura representada en nuestras colecciones. Es un auténtico privilegio.

Cuando me pidieron que propusiera una selección de piezas de nuestras colecciones para mostrar a S.S.M.M., de inmediato pensé en el Códice Mendoza, un manuscrito único en el mundo, encargado por Antonio de Mendoza, primer virrey de México (1535-1550), para entregárselo a Carlos I de España. Su compilación requirió de trabajo en equipo: la mano de los “tlacuilos”, o escribas mayas, y un sacerdote español que tradujo el texto al español.

Contiene una copia casi idéntica de la pérdida crónica de los antiguos lores aztecas de Tenochtitlan; una copia de El Libro de Tributos, riquísimamente ilustrada, mostrando el contingente que traían las ciudades tributarias; y un relato sobre las costumbres sociales y domésticas de los antiguos mexicanos.

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Left: Virginia Lladó Buisán Right: Muestra de los tributos representados en el Mendoza

Pero un hecho importantísimo y que siempre me llamo mucho la atención es que el códice nunca llegó a España.

En el año 1549, el navío en el que viajaba zarpó de Veracruz, y pronto fue apresado por un corsario francés.

El códice llegó a manos de Andrés Thevet, geógrafo del rey de Francia, los herederos del cual lo vendieron a Ricardo Hakhuyt, capellán de la embajada inglesa en París en 1584. Una vez llegado a Inglaterra, cambió de manos varias veces hasta llegar a la Biblioteca Bodleian en 1659, como parte de la fabulosa colección del jurista John Selden.

Es, en mi opinión, el Mendoza uno de los grandes tesoros de la humanidad, porque muestra la historia de conquistadores y conquistados narrada por ellos mismos, los contemporáneos de un momento de profundos cambios. Fue producido para un rey español que nunca lo recibió y, en un contexto político como el de hoy en día, en el que mantener la libre circulación de talento en el mundo es de vital importancia, mostrarle el Mendoza a S.M. Don Felipe VI fue un privilegio para mí y para Bodleian Libraries: por fin, después de un largo recorrido desde Veracruz, el códice y su rey español fueron reunidos.

Hispania is the largest, most successful and ambitious project dedicated to Spanish gastronomy in Europe. …

Hispania offers a complete Spanish experience working with Marcos Morán, our executive chef and Michelin star and Lorenzo Castillo, one of the best Spanish interior designers.

LA REVISTA | THE BRITISH SPANISH SOCIETY | 39

CULTURE

LETTERS TO THE KING

A conversation with Alfredo Pérez de Armiñán, President of Patrimonio Nacional by Dr Marina Pérez de Arcos What is the story behind the title of the exhibition: “Cartas al Rey. La mediación humanitaria de Alfonso XIII en la Gran Guerra”?

This exhibition does not tell just one story. Each of the letters received by King Alonso XIII asking for help for WWI soldiers and their relatives is a story in itself.

Europe was in the grip of a catastrophe never previously experienced and the king realised it was necessary to do whatever was in his power to help, even if it was just a drop in a vast ocean of suffering.

What was King’s Alfonso XIII’s motivation for his humanitarian policy?

The sheer size of the humanitarian disaster, Alfonso XIII’s upbringing and military training, and his blood ties to the royal families of the United Kingdom and AustriaHungary, which were pitted against each other in the war,

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placed him in an extremely delicate and painful position.

The anguished letters Alfonso XIII received from relatives of missing soldiers and combatants who had not heard from their loved ones living in occupied territories could not go unanswered.

To what extent do you think that King’s Alfonso XIII is known for his humanitarian policy during WWI? Would you say his humanitarian policy is better known inside or outside Spain?

This is a little known and particularly praiseworthy page in Spain’s history. Alfonso XIII’s work earned much greater recognition outside Spain, particularly in the countries that went to war. Alfonso XIII received constant tokens of gratitude, notably during his official visits to France, Belgium and Italy in 1923.

Why is Patrimonio Nacional putting on an exhibition on King’s Alfonso XIII humanitarian mediation in November 2018?

The centenary of the end of the First World War was an especially fitting time to draw attention to the huge task performed by Alfonso XIII and his office, which has been brought to light by the magnificent work carried out since 2014 by the staff of the Royal Palace Archives, who have catalogued and digitised the 200,000 files handled by the office – pleas for help from soldiers and their relatives during the war.

What are the main exhibition objectives?

The aim of this exhibition is to show visitors the commendable and little-known humanitarian work performed by Spain during the First World War, especially the enormous role played by His Majesty King Alfonso XIII and his office, as well as the Spanish diplomatic service. The documentary holdings on view are of primary international importance as they shed light on less frequently studied aspects of the war, such as the humanitarian actions which are a prelude to those that have become part of international relations, especially in the present day.

What is the main source base for the exhibition?

Nearly 350 carefully chosen items including photographs, letters, documents, paintings and other art objects make up the exhibition, which sets out to examine not just Alfonso XIII’s humanitarian work but several other aspects of this tragic period in our shared history, such as modern warfare, the battlefronts, the occupied territories, the suffering of the civilian population and the need to set up a network of humanitarian organisations – such as that created by the king – which were then just starting out.

What are the main highlights? What should visitors spend more time on?

I would be hard pressed to pick any particular part of the exhibition. They are all extremely interesting and could each make up an exhibition in their own right, many of them unprecedented. Having said that, I do wish to stress the importance of the photographs included in the show.

The technical advances made during the period enabled journalists to report on everything that happened and convey the brutality of the war, as well as soldiers’ day-today lives. I would also like visitors to pay special attention to the documents that illustrate the extraordinary work of the staff of King Alfonso XIII’s office.

Is the exhibition part of a larger research project?

One of Patrimonio Nacional’s main areas of activity is precisely research. The exhibition is an example of the magnificent work carried out by the staff of the palace archives, which house documents on the Spanish Crown dating back to the sixteenth century. Researchers from all over the world come to the Royal Palace to consult its archives.

Do you think you could tell us a little bit more about the exhibition’s British connection?

I think visitors from Britain, as one of the countries involved in the war, will find this exhibition extremely interesting. We should also recall the close ties between the Spanish and British royal families: Alfonso XIII’s wife Queen Victoria Eugenie, who was born in Balmoral Castle, was the granddaughter of Queen Victoria as the daughter of her youngest daughter Beatrice. I am particularly grateful to Fundación Banco Santander, an institution that enjoys a prominent presence and great prestige in the United Kingdom, for helping organise this exhibition. We would like it to be shown in other parts of Europe, including the United Kingdom.

The exhibition “Cartas al Rey. La mediación humanitaria de Alfonso XIII en la Gran Guerra” can be visited now, following the grand opening by King Felipe VI in November 2018, up to March 2019, 10a.m.-6p.m, at the Royal Palace of Madrid.

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ART

SPANISH REVIVAL

Interview with Jorge Coll

by Kate Boyle

J

orge Coll & Nicolas Cortès founded the art gallery Coll & Cortès in Madrid in 2004, and expanded to London in 2015 when they merged with one of the oldest and most celebrated galleries in the world, Colnaghi. They specialise in art of the Spanish Golden Age and here Coll talks to Kate Boyle about it’s recent rise in popularity in the UK. The Auckland Project in Northumberland is set to become one of the world’s most significant centres of Spanish art when it opens in 2019 and we have also witnessed a rise in the number of exhibitions of Spanish artists in the UK over the last few years. To what do you attribute the British public’s increased interest in Spanish art?

Spanish art is more visible today in the UK than it has ever been. I think the most important factor encouraging this trend is the context in which Spanish art is shown, both visual and academic. This probably kicked off with the National Gallery’s landmark exhibition ’The Sacred Made Real’ in 2009. They took religious works of art from the Spanish Golden Age and presented them in an atmospheric way which shocked and stirred the audience. The history of Catholic imagery in Spain is quite contrasting to British culture and the power of that show, and the realism of the polychrome sculptures shown alongside paintings, made a really critical impact. The Auckland Project is another prominent champion of the art of Spain; what they are achieving there is remarkable, not just with the masterpieces they have acquired, but also again with the context in which they will be shown. This isn’t a place where you will simply look at paintings: it will offer an experience and atmosphere to show religious paintings in a timeless context.

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Spanish art has long been considered uncommercial in London - why do you think UK collector’s tastes have also been changing over the last decade?

In a large part, the commercial change has followed the critical reception to museum exhibitions. At the same time as ’The Sacred Made Real’ at the National Gallery, we hosted an exhibition in London on Spanish polychrome sculpture, an area of the art market which had been practically non-existent. It remains one of the most important moments for us; the reception was incredible and we sold works to some of the most important collectors and museums. We have presented Pedro de Mena (1628-1688), one of the greatest of those sculptors, as the Spanish Bernini, and that context helped people realise his talent and importance, despite his lesser international fame. Another benefit might be that today’s market tends to react strongly to images which make an impact, and with Spanish Baroque paintings in particular, this is generally the case.

They tend to be strong, impactful images, perfect for today’s audience, and for the age of Instagram.

You have been credited with hugely broadening the genre’s appeal and market in London. How have you gone about instigating this change?

We have been lucky to have been championing Spanish art in London while a broader re-evaluation has been taking place. We have also tried to present Spanish art in a fresh, new context, and this seems to have resonated with the market. Academically, we have worked very hard to publish catalogues which bring to light exceptional and established artists whose careers have been relatively overshadowed; this was most apparent with Pedro de Mena whose works we have since sold to museums around the world, including the Met and the Louvre. We also opened a new, purpose built gallery in St. James’s in 2016 which shows paintings and sculpture in a fresh,

modern setting, and at the art fairs, we make a point of dramatising the impact with darker booths which focus on the works of art and illuminate them as individual images.

How do you see the future of Spanish art in London and the UK? Now that there is such a momentum, I like to think that enthusiasm will continue to grow. There is a great cause for optimism too as a lot of important curators and museum directors in London are specialists in Spanish art including Dr Gabriele Finaldi, Director of the National Gallery, and Xavier Bray, Director of the Wallace Collection. The opening of the Auckland Project in 2019 will add more fuel to the fire, and make sure that there continues to be a growing appreciation for Spanish art throughout the UK.

Kate Boyle has worked in the art world for over 10 years and recently published her first novel, “Happy as a Partridge: Life and Love in Madrid”.

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HEALTH

¿SABÍAS QUE EL ESTRÉS AFECTA DE MANERA NEGATIVA A TUS DIENTES?

By Dra. Begoña Martí Martí Graduada en Odontología, Máster en Prótesis Dental, Máster en Ciencias Odontológicas

E

l estrés es la reacción de nuestro cuerpo a un desafío. Es un sentimiento de tensión física o emocional. Se produce a partir de una situación o pensamiento que nos genera agobio. El optimismo y la autoestima te ayudarán a combatirlo.

Algunas veces, un poco de estrés viene bien porque da empuje, pero hay que saber cuáles son las consecuencias del estrés prolongado, porque ¿quién no está estresado hoy en día?

El estrés afecta negativamente a la salud en general, pero también a tus dientes. La mayoría de los problemas tienen solución y pueden prevenirse poniendo en práctica ciertos hábitos. Si eres una de esas personas que se encuentra cansada por la intensidad de la rutina o no te dan las horas del día para todo lo que tienes que hacer. Sigue leyendo este artículo y busca un hueco para hacerte una revisión antes de que el ritmo de tu vida afecte a tu sonrisa. ¿Cuáles son los principales problemas dentales asociados al estrés?

• Sangrado e inflamación de las encías (y todos los problemas que implica).

• Apretar o rechinar los dientes. Algunas veces se hace de manera consciente y se puede intentar controlar el hábito, pero es preocupante cuando se realiza involuntariamente, por las noches.

• Desgaste dental o fracturas (asociado a apretar/ rechinar de los dientes o mordisquear objetos).

• Dolor y tensión muscular que puede provocar dolor facial y confundirlo con dolor de muelas.

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• La aparición de llagas o lesiones tipo herpes.

Cuando estamos bajo tensión tendemos a abandonar hábitos saludables, a descuidar la limpieza dental y a tomar alimentos azucarados, fumar más o beber alcohol.

Además, el bruxismo y el desgaste dental asociado a este hábito, así como los dolores musculares y de cabeza que pueden estar asociados a esto son tan frecuentes. ¿Cómo prevenir los problemas?

Acude de manera regular a tu dentista y discute tu nivel de estrés y las consecuencias que éste puede estar generando en tu boca.

• Acude de manera regular a tu dentista y discute tu nivel de estrés y las consecuencias que éste puede estar generando en tu boca.

• Recuerda cepillarte los dientes dos veces al día y usar hilo dental a diario. Ver a una higienista al menos dos veces al año te salvará de un disgusto.

• Mantén una dieta equilibrada, rica en vitaminas, fruta y verduras.

• Un tratamiento común es ir al fisioterapeuta para que te ayude con la tensión muscular.

• En ciertos casos utilizar una férula de descarga protegerá tus dientes de la sobrecarga y ayudará con la tensión muscular.

Me gusta dar una serie de trucos o consejos para bajar el nivel de estrés. Recomiendo hacer ejercicio regular, someterse a un masaje de vez en cuando, darse un baño caliente, respirar lenta y profundamente, escuchar música de manera relajada, realizar actividades con familiares o amigos y llevar a cabo prácticas físicas que contribuyen a encontrar la paz interior como es el caso del yoga o hacer ejercicios de Mindfulness.

Are you looking for a Spanish dentist in London?

Feel at home with Dawood and Tanner, providing dental excellence for 25 years Dr BegoĂąa Marti graduated in Valencia with further specialist training in Aesthetic and Cosmetic dentistry.

Dr Marti joined our outstanding team of leading specialist dental professionals in 2016.

At Dawood and Tanner we do our utmost to preserve your own teeth using gentle and minimally invasive dental treatments to improve their cosmetic appearance and restore their function.

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Our specialist team are renowned for treating patients who have missing teeth with the most advanced dental implant and restorative treatments, We are located in the heart of Central London, just a short walk from Oxford Street and Baker Street. Visit Dawood & Tanner for excellent patient care.

To book an appointment with Dr BegoĂąa Marti Call reception at 020 79350080

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LA REVISTA | THE BRITISH SPANISH SOCIETY | 45

TRAVEL HEALTH

FOOD & TRAVEL

By John Deere John experiences an electric, epicurean cycle tour in Northeast Catalonia with local specialists, Bacchus on Bikes

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I

t is on the flanks of the Empordà, an exquisite corner of Catalonia, where Spain splashes up the side of Pyrenees peaks and rolls into the azure waters of the Mediterranean, that I find myself slipping into a soporific postpaella siesta with Bacchus on Bikes founders, ex-British Bobsleigh Olympian, Tony Wallington OBE, young adventurer and hispanophile, Gareth Davies, and their Catalan counterpart and head chef/sommelier, Josep Maria Codina.

There’s a clue to the ethos of this cycling tour in the organisers’ name. Bacchus, a curious character from the mists of Greco-Roman mythology, is the god of vines, winemaking and revelry. My hosts have put him on a bike and come up with a concept that perfectly combines exercise and epicurean experiences, set in the bucolic and (at times literally) breath-taking landscapes of Catalan wine country.

Josep Maria’s passion and knowledge of this north-eastern knuckle of Spain – in particular, the family-run vineyards of Alt & Baix Empordà, where the majority of their cycling adventures are based – has me hooked. Only an hour and a half drive north of Barcelona, and considerably less from medieval Girona (subject to braving the Ryanair flight from Luton or Stansted), the Empordà is relatively unknown given its gastronomic, vinicultural and olive oil producing heritage. Wine and olive oil were first introduced here over 2,500 years ago when the Greeks, Romans and Arabs inhabited the area.

My culinary adventure on two wheels begins hidden in the contours of the undulating Garrotxa national park and weaves its way to the Costa Brava coastline over the course of four days. We are staying in a restored medieval farmhouse tonight with wonderful landlady, Monica. She has been longing to give us our first taste of Catalonia since we arrived – a mouth-watering spread of homegrown produce accompanied by an impressive selection of organic Empordà wines.

Above: Sally Paterson, pictured on a Bacchus hiking and cellar tour in the Empordà and Pyrenees.

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TRAVEL

I am excited to learn that tomorrow I will be cycling to the cellar of my favourite claret yet – Mas Ponsjoan’s 2012 vintage blend of tempranillo, monastrell and jaqué grape varietals – though my mind wonders what sort of condition I’ll be in when I get there.

Of course, I need not worry. My knees and I have opted for the electric bike and it is a sage choice indeed, as I am to gratefully discover on the spectacular Ardenya Massif coastal route, featured in a Spanish stage of the Tour de France in 2009.

If, as all purists would insist upon, you ride this route without electrical assistance, a reasonable level of fitness is required. That said, at no stage is the route totally overwhelming for the traditional pedal pushers, and we have the comfort of knowing the aptly claret-coloured Bacchus broom wagon is always close behind, ready to sweep us up and take us to the next hidden gem.

From charming overnight stays in idyllic locations, to grape picking and tasting with local winemakers at Mas Ponsjoan and a special 7-course tasting menu in the quaint fishing town of Cadaques, each day brings something new and extraordinary. It is the meticulously crafted concoction of experiences reflecting real Catalan life and the enthusiasm of the local characters we meet – not forgetting the mouth-watering cuisine, excellent wine, and good-natured camaraderie of cycle touring – which is enthralling. I wouldn’t hesitate to go back.

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John Deere travelled as a guest of Bacchus on Bikes (0207 402 4035; bacchusonbikes.com), which offers private and group cycling and wine tours in Catalonia and Spain from £1,175 per person, including *4 nights’ accommodation, all meals including wine, guiding, transfers and bike hire [electric bikes cost more], but excluding flights. Their upcoming tours in 2019 can be found on their website.

Bacchus also lead hiking tours in Alt & Baix Empordà, which can be found on their website.

HEMINGWAY´S CAVE

By Ramón Buckley

M

any moons ago, when I was teaching at Duke University, I used to banter with my friend Allen Josephs (University of Florida) as to who would be the first to discover the cave Hemingway portrays in “For Whom the Bell Tolls”. As he usually did in his novels, Hemingway based his fiction on reality, on the Spanish Civil War confrontation he himself had reported as a journalist in the Guadarrama mountains, 50 miles northwest of Madrid. Although Hemingway wrote his famous novel two years later in his home in Idaho, he was careful to surround himself with maps of the area in which the battle took place, thus grounding his fiction in the reality he knew so well. We can therefore follow the footsteps of Robert Jordan as he receives his orders to blow the bridge from a Soviet General in El Escorial, or as he ascends the Puerto de Navacerrada to start his

trek into enemy territory or as he descends the gorge of the Eresma river, where he sketches in his notebook the bridge itself and the points at which dynamite is to be placed to achieve a perfect blow-up.

It is easy to follow the footsteps of Hemingway´s hero in the Guadarramas except for one crucial location which is harder to determine. To carry out his mission, Jordan had to obtain the support of a group of guerrilla warriors fighting for the Republic who had set their camp in a cave not too far from the bridge he was supposed to destroy.

This cave becomes a crucial element in Hemingway´s story, since it is the scenario not only of the preparation for the attack on the bridge, but also the scenario for heated discussions on the war itself, the confrontation of ideas that divided Spaniards not only into two camps

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TRAVEL

but split those supporting the Republic into different groups: communists, anarchists, liberals etc. The cave is the scenario for heated political discussion but also for personal confrontations. Pablo, who leads the guerrilla fighters, is confronted by Robert Jordan who has come to the cave to carry out orders from the Military Headquarters of the Republic, regardless of the way his attack would affect the men living in the cave. Soon, however, Jordan finds an ally in Pilar, Pablo´s wife, who is quick to understand the significance of Jordan´s mission.

And Maria, a young Spanish girl living with the guerrilla fighters, will soon be attracted to the American Brigade leader.

The cave - and not the bridge- is the emotional and political hub around which the novel revolves, and so it was essential for Allen Josephs and for myself to locate this cave in the Guadarrama mountains. Both of us were aware that the rock formations in the Guadarrama are largely granite stone, hardly permeable for water to mould cave formations. Caves are frequent in calcarean and karstic rock formations but rare in areas where granite prevails. So, it was a surprise for us to find that there was a cave up in the mountains behind the Eresma river. The topographic maps of the Spanish army carry the name of a cave - Cueva del Monje- which Hemingway himself must have come across when he scoured these maps to help him write his novel.

Accompanied by Jim Denza- another Hemingway freakwe ascended the mountains behind Valsaín in search of the famous cave.

The “Monk´s Cave” is made up of huge slabs of granite stone which collapsed on top of one another, probably following an earthquake which occurred millions of years ago. The cave itself is unlike the one Hemingway describes in his novel, which probably indicates that Hemingway himself never saw it.

He simply noted its location in the maps he was looking at to help him describe the preparation and attack on the bridge at the end of his story. The “Monk´s Cave” is not too far from La Granja, a town which had fallen to Franco. This would seem to agree with Hemingway´s remarks about the guerrilla fighters crossing the lines at night and slipping into La Granja in search of female company or simply a pack of cigarettes. Crossing the lines was a feature of daily life in the Spanish war since the front lines often divided towns and villages which were in close proximity.

The cave and the territory around it is where Hemingway stages the most moving episodes in his novel.

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The Guadarrama mountains can help us re-create the story Hemingway wrote, can make the story come alive in our minds, can help us understand exactly what was going on in his novel, can introduce us to warfare not simply as the scourge of humanity but also as the awakening of the human spirit when confronted with violence. Being alive is not something we take for granted in the midst of combat. Confronting death can be a means to understanding life, as Hemingway suggests in his novel.

The term “literary tourism” has become fashionable in our time. Reading Charles Dickens´ novels may be a better way to become acquainted with the city of London than Rick Steve´s guides. Literature offers an emotional approach to our visits to cities around the world in the sense that we feel we had been there before. Even though we didn´t know it, we had been to London when we first read Dickens and now that we walk around London as tourists we feel it was already part of our lives before we ever got there. In the same order of things, we can read volumes of history about the Spanish Civil War, but perhaps Hemingway´s novel can bring it back to life more effectively. Whether you read Hemingway´s story in the past or have just finished reading it today, you are now ready to set off for the Guadarramas to feel the story come to life again. If you need a helping hand, please contact us at the Wellington Society webpage.

MUGA

by Jules Stewart

B

ritain may not be the world’s biggest wine market – that honour goes to the US, with consumption of some 31 million hectolitres per year, compared with 13 million hectolitres for the UK, which ranks sixth. Nevertheless, producers from Portugal to Australia recognise Britain’s importance as the world’s make-orbreak showcase market. After many years of lagging behind the competition, Spanish producers have taken onboard the fact that the UK is Spain’s second biggest export destination for wine. ‘‘The UK is our best European market,’ says Juan Muga, export and marketing director of the family-owned Rioja winery Bodegas Muga. ‘Given that Britain is not a significant wine-producing country, British consumers have become great connoisseurs, because they have access to wines imported from all parts of the world. The top wine critics are in Britain, which makes this the decisive marketplace.’ Muga currently exports half its output and Juan Muga says Spanish wines offer a wide range of choice, from low-cost supermarket varieties to fine wines that compete on an even footing with countries like France, Italy and Australia, amongst others. He says the greatest advantage for consumers is the ability to acquire high-quality Spanish wines at a reasonable price, which is not the case with wines of other countries.

‘I believe Spanish wine in general is carving out a promising place for itself in this highly competitive British market,’ says José A. Vicente, sales executive at C&D Wines, Britain’s leading distributor of Spanish wine and food to the trade. ‘We are well-placed to wage this commercial battle on two fronts. On the one hand

Spanish wine today competes well with highly-regarded traditional exporters, like Italy and France. Also, the value-for-money proposition allows Spain to take on New World challengers like Chile, Argentina and Australia.’

Vicente explains that Britain is home to the world’s greatest number of Masters of Wine and that their authoritative voices have in recent years brought about increased demand for high-quality, reliable wines. ‘Today we can find great wines in every Spanish region and I see this as a recipe for success, he says.’ Indeed, it was the influential American wine guru Robert Parker who once proclaimed, ‘Spain is the future.’

British consumers are discovering Spanish wine, a fact that was acknowledged in a recent article in The Daily Telegraph, which said that ‘within three years Spain will overtake France as the biggest seller in Britain’. Likewise, according to Master of Wine Victoria Moore, ‘Ninety per cent of the people in the wine trade consider Spain their most interesting market.’

For foreign wine aficionados, Rioja remains the bestknown of Spain’s wine-producing regions. But many people are not aware that its position today as the country’s most popular wine is largely due to the late 19th century outbreak of phylloxera, a vine disease that almost wiped out the vineyards of Bordeaux.

‘French winemakers were looking for other areas to source their grapes,’ says Muga. ‘One of these was where our winery is located today.’ Of all the vineyards in Europe, the French wine producers of Bordeaux considered Rioja to be the region whose grapes bore the closest resemblance to their own variety.

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TRAVEL

Some 110 years ago, when the phylloxera blight was laying waste the wine industry north of the Pyrenees, the French began transporting Rioja grapes to Bordeaux and producing it in their wineries, to be sold as local wine.

Thus Rioja came into prominence as a region of vineyards of outstanding international quality.

Bodegas Muga has achieved a privileged place in the international market for Spanish wines. The leading trade magazine Decanter rated top-of-the-range Prado Enea Gran Reserva 2010 third in its ranking of ‘the most exciting wines of 2017’, awarding it a 95-point rating.

The grapes used in this wine are always the last to arrive at the winery, making them the most mature of the harvesting season. The wine spends twelve months in oak tanks, thirty-six months in casks and another thirty-six minimum in bottles.

The crianza is followed by a unique, traditional clarification process, by which the wine is filtered through egg white, which in the course of a month sinks to the bottom of the cask, dragging with it impurities and sediment, but leaving no taste of egg. Some 400 eggs are used to clarify 15,000 litres of wine. ‘It’s an expensive process,’ says Muga, ‘but it leaves our wine with a smooth, velvety finish.’

For Vicente at C&D Wines, ‘Muga is one of the great quality wines, with a proven track record in the UK for more than thirty years. The winery has taken a dynamic stance in marketing its product at home and abroad.’

Muga says the winery will continue making a push for the British market. ‘The British consumer is looking for quality wine and this is where we are well positioned to compete,’ he says.

WHY I LOVE BATTERSEA PARK

By Jimmy Burns W

hen people ask me what I most love about London after well over half a century of surviving its various ups and downs, I think to its long tradition cultural openness to the world, but also the green spaces it creates within its own boundaries, in grater abundance than any other city in the world.

In recent months I am sure I have not been alone in finding in London’s generously spaced parkland, a necessary escape as well as a balance to my life amidst the challenging uncertainties of the political environment.

For me, Battersea Park, close to where I live, remains an enduring favourite where I can recharge my love of life and appreciate the value of nature.

Battersea Park is special to me in many ways. Back in the Spring of 1988, I became one of the founding members of a charity called the Friends of Battersea Park. We were a small group of volunteers at first but one that was lacking neither passion not commitment.

We came from different backgrounds and activities: artists, diplomats, charity workers, horticulturalists, writers, businessmen, retired soldiers, were among those

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who signed up from the outset. The existentialist issue that bound this rather hotchpotch of dog-lovers, parents, grandparents, sportsmen, naturalists, and contemplatives, was the love we shared for the Park and our determination to preserve it as an oasis of tranquillity in the midst of a predatory and disruptive urban landscape epitomised by the Battersea Park Power Station and Nine Elms developments.

Thirty years on from its foundation, the Friends of Battersea is alive and well, with an expanded membership, and a respectable status as a charity supported by many park users and consulted by local authorities. With the park close to some of the biggest property developments in London of recent years, the defence of this historic and popular green space has never been more necessary.

And it is a cause, thank God, that many people feel worth defending. Battersea is a park that is loved by Londoners because its history tells them so much about the English capital. It’s not just that its gigantic plain trees have survived generations of users and still breathe life into old and young whatever race or gender. This piece of common ground existed long before many parts of London. In the Domesday Book, -the magnificent record of much of England and Wales completed in 1086- Battersea had enough land for three ploughs, 45 villagers and 16 smallholders. There were eight slaves and seven mills.

The land where Battersea is located today was a piece of heath and woodland, somewhat wild and yet not quite anarchic. The river both encircled and defined this part of south London which is my neighbourhood. It was a village community, open to the north, west and east.

It took Queen Elizabeth I to stamp her concept of nationhood on Battersea’s wild borders: she decreed that the people of the area should turn the marshy swamps into market gardens. Within two hundred years the painter William Turner was watching the sunset from the Old Wandsworth neighbourhood of the parish church of St Mary’s.

The Park became ‘civilized’ but not suppressed. It was to become both a place for Victorian elegance and a very necessary social leveller for those cruelly exploited by the industrial revolution. Today, a riverside perspective from the Chelsea Embankment will confirm how, over the centuries, Battersea has become a Park that is both beautifully structured and full of surprises It is framed by two of the finest bridges in London-Albert and Chelsea. Within its gates, it contains a joyful variety of trees, shrubs, plants and wildlife, much of it congregated around its lake. The park is generous in what it has to offer in the way of activity or meditation, from decent playing fields to delicately crafted English Gardens, and intricate pathways punctuated with interesting sculptures by the likes of Moore and Hepworth.

Thanks in no small part to the diplomacy and fund raising of the Friends of Battersea Park, this green space has evolved as an example of all-year round civility and co-existence. Dog walkers pick up their mess, children are catered for in the playgrounds, keep fit and weight watchers have a choice between keeping on running on dropping in on the ecologically friendly and smart Pear Tree café.

There are tree-walks and tennis courts and patches of wilderness where you can shut your eyes and feel in the middle of the country, and a Winter Garden that shares it experience of living nature throughout the year.

Thankfully Battersea Park has always welcomed visitors however far away they’ve travelled, as long as they are not vandals. The Millennium Crucifix and the Japanese Peace Pagoda exemplify its cultural diversity, and the children’s zoo could have been conceived by Beatrix Potter, so wonderfully domesticated as well as entertaining its lovingly cared for inhabitants.

Around the park there is plenty of room for cricket, football, and hockey, and cyclists, dogs, children, friends and lovers. It’s a place to contemplate changing seasons, and nature’s capacity to restore and generate. It rewards attention from poets and artists. It is a necessary source of comfort.

LA REVISTA | THE BRITISH SPANISH SOCIETY | 53

LAST WORD

A FESTIVAL FOR ALL SEASONS

By Dominic Begg

W

hether in the UK or Spain, coastal resorts tend to lose their fizz by October. Not so in Sitges, where for the last 50 years its international horror-film festival has kept the town buzzing through the first half of the month. And for the last 6 years Irish and Catalan musicians, dancers and poets have brought vitality to its final week with an Arts Festival organised by Creative Connexions, led by Caroline Wynn.

The large Irish contingent of performers and followers takes over the town from Thursday till the early hours of Monday morning, with concerts, readings and dance exhibitions, as well as informal jamming sessions in several local bars and taverns. These can be memorable, especially when espontáneos join in with the professional musicians – a fine example of convivencia!

In 2018 I caught up with the festival on the Friday morning in the gardens of the Retiro Society, where more than 60 teenage musicians were sitting under a hot sun, listening to accordionist Martin Tourish as he played some rare Catalan organ tunes suitable for dancing, recently discovered in a church. Apparently the 19th century organists kept these papers hidden, as

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they were only allowed to be played as part of Christmas celebrations. Soon the Irish teenagers were playing along with Martin in a miraculous display of European crosspollination. Then John Sheahan, legendary fiddle-player with the Dubliners, took over, playing his composition ‘St Patrick’s Cathedral’. The youngsters clearly knew the melody and were soon accompanying him on fiddles, guitars, clarinets and even a harp. I noticed John’s 80-yearold eyes lighting up as the first few schoolchildren joined in. A heart-warming moment. Here was a man I’d first seen perform at the Royal Albert Hall in the late 60s, still going strong and at the top of his game.

Later I watched the Lucan Gospel Choir, featuring over 60 women and three or four men, singing their hearts out, to the delight of a packed audience that included many familiar Sitges faces. That night in the Casino Prado, singer-songwriter Donal O’Connor, a festival stalwart, included in his set a wonderful song dedicated to the sister he tragically lost. Last year it had me crying, and I confess that 12 months on, such was the impact, many of us were reaching for the Kleenex again!

One of the features of this festival is that other singers, like Lisa Lambe or Mallorca’s Felip Carbonell, feel free to join those on stage and contribute a couple of songs even when not officially scheduled for the gig in question.

Likewise, fellow-instrumentalists.

No time to mention the literature and the dancing. Just great memories of Irish and Catalans showing how much they have in common, including their own languages.

These are two peoples who’ve stayed close to the land and return regularly to their pueblo, just as plane-loads of Irish folk now gravitate annually to Sitges, guaranteeing that October goes out with a bang. www.creative-connexions.eu

Left: Felip Carbonell Right: Lisa Lambe

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