LaRevista250

ISSUE 250

THE BRITISHSPANISH SOCIETY MAGAZINE

IN THE STEPS OF IGNATIUS

WINTER ISSUE 2020

WELCOME TO OUR NEW YEAR ISSUE! Congratulations to Michael The subject of sustainability is Witty and Javier Fergo on a non-negotiable content, so their respective awards who better than Carlos Oppe, we report on. Michael is a an anglo-spanish expert on veteran English businessman environmental issues,to give and enthusiastic explorer us his first-hand account who has lived and worked of the ClimateChange most of his life in Spain.

Conference COP 25 in Madrid.

Javier is a young Spanish There is also exciting news photographer who studied about the new Churchill Jimmy Burns Maraùón, OBE his craft in the UK and reports Chairman Observatory at the University & Executive Editor for international media. of Comillas which is opening They personify the positive spirit of this the BSS Churchill & Spain exhibition magazine as do the scholars that our in Madrid after a successful showing in charity supports, some of whose projects London, Cambridge, and Manchester. We and news we also feature. La Revista is are delighted to support this prestigious published by the BritishSpanish Society, a university project with its aim of providing charity that sees its mission that of bridge a forum for a better understanding building between the peoples of Britain of European affairs and the politics, and Spain. This first issue of our quarterly cultures, and socioeconomic factors that magazine in 2020 aims to further promote affect British-Spanish relations. engagement and understanding.

There is much to enjoy in these pages David Hurst following Ignatius of Loyola which have come together thanks to the across the beautiful hills and mountains hard work of our wonderful editorial team: of Catalonia; arts editor Laura Obiols Julia Burns (Design Editor), Laura Obiols, tunes in to innovative British and Laura Gran and Marina Perez de Arcos, and Spanish bands in a secret venue; Maria to other hard working volunteers-Trustee Sevilla celebrates the culture of Spanish and head of events Carmen Young, along food, and Dominic Begg the joys of fresh with Executuve Council members Elisa produce; Ignacio Peyro honours Spanish Ramirez,Paul Pickering, and Silvia Montes exiles in the UK . A new book on Spanish and our admin-Maria Soriano, Juan history is intelligently appraised by Gomez,and Alvaro Cepero. A big gracias to hispanist Robert Graham, while a long- our new and regular contributors and our time resident in Avila Jim Lawley unearths growing readers and advertisers in print a great but largely forgotten English writer and digital. Keep with us. on his Spanish travels.

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Cover image: @misssu unsplash.com

britishspanishsociety.org La Revista | britishspanishsociety.org 3 Registered charity: 1080250

E xe cu t ive E dito r: Jimmy Bu rns Marañó n

CONTRIBUTORS ISSUE 250

De pu t y E dito r: Lau ra Gran

CONTENTS

Ar t s E dito r: Lau ra Obio ls De sign: Ju lia Bu rns Co nt ribu t ing E dito r: Marina Pé re z de Arco s Co rpo rate /Adve r t ising: Carme n Yo u ng Dist ribu t io n: Dav id Hu r st

L AUR A G R A N

L A U R A O B I O LS

MAR I N A P E R E Z DE ARCOS

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

Filmmaker, Theatre Director, Choreographer and Arts Editor La Revista

Spanish studies at Oxford Coordinator, teaches at LSE and at Oxford University. Commissioning Editor La Revista.

BSS Executive Council member

S cho lar ships: E lisa Ramíre z, Marina Pé re z de Arco s, Francisco Ho lgado , Marian Jimé ne z- Rie sco (Tru ste e ) Deve lo pme nt S e cre t ar y : María S o riano Casado Eve nt s: Carme n Yo u ng (Tru ste e ), Dav id Hu r st , Pau l Picke ring, S ilv ia Mo nte s, Jo rdi Mate u

NEWS & EVENTS

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EDUCATION 22 SCIENCE 24 SPOTLIGHT 26

Me mbe r ship, F inance & We bsite S e cre t ar y : Ju an Gó me z García Eve nt s & Grant s S e cre t ar y : Álvaro Ce pe ro

FOOD 32

Pu blishe d by the Brit ish S panish S o cie t y Ho no rar y Pre side nt : H. E . Carlo s Bast arre che , S panish Ambassado r PAUL PI C KE RI NG

ROB E RT GR AH AM

Arts lecturer. Official Guide.

Executive Council member

Author & Journalist. Former Financial Times Madrid Bureau Chief

DAV I D H U R ST Writer and Executive Council member.

BSS Events team

Ho no rar y V ice - Pre side nt : Hu gh E llio t t (Brit ish Ambassado r to S pain) Chairman: Jimmy Bu rns Marañó n Pat ro ns: Du ke o f We llingto n, Dame De nise Ho lt , Lady Maria- Be le n Parke r, Carme n Arao z de Urqu ijo , Lady Bre nnan, Lady Lindsay, Jo hn S canlan, Rt Ho n Baro ne ss Ho o pe r, Rando lph Chu rchill, S ir Ste phe n Wright

J ULI A B URNS Designer La Revista

DOMI N I C B E GG

JIM L AWLEY

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

Former Spanish rugby champion

Oxford linguist and teacher. Lives in Avila

TRAVEL 34

Tru ste e s: Jimmy Bu rns Marañó n (Chairman), Ju an Re ig Mascare ll (Tre asu re r), Carme n Yo u ng, María Ánge le s Jimé ne z Rie sco , Jo sé I var s Lo pe z, S co t t Yo u ng, Ro ge r Go lland, Crist ina Álvare z Campana, Mike S ho r t , Ju st in E llis

LAW 38 CULTURE 44 LAST WORD

Othe r me mbe r s o f the E xe cu t ive Co u ncil: Dav id Hu r st , Pau l Picke ring, Ale xandra Brow n, Francisco Ho lgado , Albe r to Linare s, S ilv ia Mo nte s, Jo rdi Mate u , Ju lián Bárce na, E lisa Ramíre z, Marina Pé re z de Arco s, Jo sé Olivare s britis hs panis hs o ciet y.o rg

w ith than ks to the B r i t i sh S p a n i sh S o ci et y ’s p r i n ci p a l su p p o r ter s:

The o pinio ns e x pre sse d thro u gho u t this issu e re pre se nt tho se o f the au tho r s and co nt ribu to r s and do no t ne ce ssarily re fle ct the o pinio ns o f the Brit ishS panish S o cie t y o r tho se o f the ir su ppo r te r s.

The Brit ishS panish S o cie t y is a re giste re d charit y : 10 8 0 2 5 0 Co ntac t us : Fo r all e dito rial co nt ribu t io ns o r to co mme nt o n an ar t icle yo u have re ad in La Rev ist a, ple ase w rite to u s at : info @britis hs panis hs o ciet y.o rg To e nqu ire abo u t adve r t ising o ppo r t u nit ie s (inclu ding classifie d adve r t s) ple ase co nt act : m em bers hip@britis hs panis hs o ciet y.o rg

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NEWS & EVENTS

Scholarship programme looks on the bright side We bring you Good News!

The BritishSpanish Society is celebrating a New Year with the roll out of its annual Scholarships Programme, a key part of its charitable mission of cultural and educational engagement.

Since its launch over twelve years ago, the BSS programme has gone from strength to strength, empowering knowledge by supporting cutting-edge post-graduate projects by British and Spanish students in fields as diverse as medicine, environment & sustainability, law studies, urban planning, physics, IT, history, and creative arts.

The most recent annual award ceremony on the 6 June 2019 saw the 12th British Spanish Society Scholarship Awards, kindly hosted by the charity’s Honorary President His Excellency the Spanish Ambassador Mr Carlos Bastarreche, Honorary President of the BSS, who highlighted once again the quality of students and projects.

Dr Mike Short from the BSS Board of Trustees, one of the driving forces behind the programme, emphasized its importance in building bilateral links and encouraging innovation and research of benefit to both Britain and Spain. Dr Marian Jiménez-Riesco, BSS Trustee and Charity Scholarships Programme Coordinator presented the British Society Scholarship Award 2019.

Along with the award winners,and trustees and patrons of the BSS, the ceremony drew guests from the world of academia and business, including senior executives representing the programme’s principal supporters in 2018/2019 Santander Universities, Telefónica, BBVA, Fundación Banco Sabadell, and Plastic Energy.

The corporate support for the charity’s flagship educational project is an indication of the growing importance of social responsibility in the planning and strategy of businesses engaged in British and Spanish markets.

Following the renewal of the commitment of existing sponsors, and further agreements with Cuatrecasas, SIGNE,and Direct Produce Supplies Limited (DPS), together with the

hard work of volunteers in raising funds through events and donation appeals,the BSS is hoping to award the highest ever number of scholarships this year. Building bridges not walls!

The BSS 2019 scholarship awards BBVA Scholarship Award 2019 to Marta IBÁÑEZ AZCONA, Master Degree in Data Mining and Business Intelligence at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid.

TITLE: An in-depth study of the economic impact of Brexit on Spain and the United Kingdom.

Plastic Energy Scholarship Award 2019 to Alejandro AVILA SIERRA, PhD in Chemical Engineering at the University of Birmingham. TITLE: Development of Nanotechnology informed Clean-in-Place Strategy (application mesoscale).

Fundación Banco Sabadell Scholarship Award 2019 to Celia REDONDO PEDREGAL, Msc Music Mind and Brain at Goldsmiths, University of London. TITLE: Enhance emotion self-awareness and emotion recognition in others through music therapy in high-functioning adolescents in Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Santander Universities Humanities Award 2019 to Ernesto OYARBIDE MAGAÑA, DPhil in History at the University of Oxford.TITLE: The First Count of Gondomar’s Library and Diplomatic Practice (1613-1622).

Santander Universities Medicine Award was presented to Sheila BARRIOS ESTEBAN, doctorate programme Development and Research of Medicines at the Universidade de Santiago de Compostela and the University of Nottingham.

TITLE: Programmed polymeric nanoparticles as gene delivery systems for the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme.

Telefónica Scholarship Award 2019 to Virginia Natalia CIRIANO TEJEL, PhD in Physics at the London Centre of Nanotechnology. TITLE: A new spin to siliconbased quantum computing.

BritishSpanish Society Scholarship Award 2019 to Blanca GÓMEZ GARCÍA, PhD in Hispanic Studies at University College London (UCL) TITLE: The British Exile: Memory and Trauma in the Works of Spanish Writers Exiled in Great Britain after the Spanish Civil War. The 2020 BritishSpanish Society awards ceremony will be held in London later this year.

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NEWS & EVENTS

Corpus in Toledo

The BSS in Madrid: Hola magazine reports Un año más, (Septiembre 2019) la BritishSpanish Society ha organizado un cóctel para agradecer a sus muchos amigos británicos y españoles todo el apoyo que han brindado a su trabajo.

Y el escenario elegido para la cita ha sido, de nuevo, la residencia del embajador del Reino Unido en España, situada en Puerta de Hierro, Madrid.

Spain’s annual cultural calendar is not short of fiestas, but the Corpus Christi celebrations in the historic imperial capital of Toledo is among the most enduring and popular.

The streets are covered with ancient awnings, the roads are decorated with scented herbs and the balconies are adorned with flags and tapestries, and there are processions and concerts to delight men and women of all faiths and none.

So it was with a perfect sense of timing and location, that the BritishSpanish Society organised its own very special Corpus ‘fiesta’ last June in the Venta de Aires, one of Toledo’s most iconic restaurants with a deserved reputation for traditional regional cuisine and a history of legendary figures drawn over decades to its convivial atmosphere.

BSS members and supporters in Spain were joined by local residents for a wonderful evening of conversation, live music, dancing,delicous tapas and wine, under a starlit sky in a stunning al fresco terrace decorated with twinned British and Spanish flags and scented with thyme, a Toledano tradition.

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Guests included respresenatives from the British embassy in Madrid, British and Spanish business men and women, Toledo local authorities, and artists and writers, among them a descendant of the film maker Luis Buñuel who used to be a fequent attendee of the Venta together with his Friends Federico Garcia Lorca, Alberti, and Salvador Dali.

The BSS evening was hosted by our very own Laura Obilols, arts editor of La Revista, and BSS chairman Jimmy Burns , whose Spanish grandfather the late Dr Gregorio Marañón, left an enduring literary and scientific mark on Toledo where he is commemorated. with a statue on one of its main streets and where his beloved Cigarral de Los Menores endures in the loving care of another grandson the Marques de Marañón.

que la organización está dando a un programa de becas para posgraduados en ciencias y humanidades de ambos países, y que se enfoca en el área de medio ambiente, medicina y música.

El vicepresidente honorario de la organización, el nuevo embajador británico, Hugh Elliott, y su esposa, Toñi, recibieron, junto al Chairman de la BritishSpanish Society, Jimmy Burns Marañón, a unos 200 invitados. Entre ellos, se encontraban personalidades del mundo empresarial, artístico y académico, que quisieron celebrar junto a la BritishSpanish Society los lazos que unen a nuestro país con el Reino Unido.

La simpática y animada recepción sirvió también para festejar el nuevo impulso

Jimmy Burns Marañón aprovechó su discurso para destacar la importancia de la diplomacia cultural y científica a la hora de crear puentes de entendimiento y creación, mientras que el embajador rindió un homenaje al gran esfuerzo de voluntariado que inspira el trabajo del ejecutivo de la BritishSpanish Society.

Esta organización fue creada hace más de un siglo por un grupo de académicos, estudiantes y empresarios, que decidieron crear una ‘liga de amistad angloespañola’ -nombre con el que se la conocía en sus orígenes-, con el objetivo de promover el entendimiento entre España y el Reino Unido durante la Primera Guerra Mundial.

British ambassador Hugh Elliott at the BSS reception

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NEWS & EVENTS

A Well Deserved Medal

by Geoff Cowling On 12 November the British Ambassador, Hugh Elliott presented a long overdue British Empire Medal to Michael Witty for services to British Community and UK Spanish relations at a relaxed ceremony in front the British Consul-General Lloyd Milen, Michael’s family and friends at the Círculo del Liceo in Barcelona.

between Europe, China and the Far East. In retirement, Michael remains an honorary member of the Barcelona British Chamber of Commerce where, via his extensive range of contacts, he has done much to help the trade promotion efforts of HM Consulate General in Barcelona.

Michael Witty has been a pillar of the British Spanish community for several decades and his family for more than 120 years. As described in Jimmy Burns’s history of FC Barcelona: Barca A People’s Passion, Michael’s grandfather Arthur and his brother Ernest were founder members of the club in 1898. Ernest was President from 1903 – 1905. Both played for Barca.

Michael continues to contribute to the charity work of Barcelona’s Anglican St George’s Church, serving the British/ Catalan/Spanish Community in North East Spain, frequently helping with Consular cases referred by the British Consulate General.

However, it is in his pursuit of involving the Community in exploring Catalonia’s complex history and geography that Michael has made his indelible mark.

Michael’s “Witty Walks” take the form of monthly hikes in diverse areas of Catalonia stretching from the arid south to the mountainous Pyreneen border with France and Andorra. Probably thousands have taken part in Michael’s “Witty Walks” over the years, cementing a bond of incalculable value between residents and communities in Catalonia, tramping the incredible topography of this North East corner of Spain and sampling its amazing cuisine. There were occasional challenges on the way. Some “Witty Walkers” may recall thick fog descending in the Penedes and Michael

puzzling over a map at fork in the path.

Asked if we were lost, Michael, pointing at the ground, replied -” No, we are here - I just can’t find it on the map…”

A book on Michael’s “Witty Walks” is reputedly in preparation; itself a fitting tribute to go alongside Michael’s very well-deserved British Empire Medal.

Note on the author: Geoff Cowling was HM Consul General Barcelona 2002/5.

He is a member of the BritishSpanish Society

Educated at the Merchant Taylors’ School in Liverpool, they adopted the colours of their school’s playing kit for the Barcelona team. Sport ran in their blood as they also were founder members of Barcelona’s Real Club de Tennis – Spain’s Wimbledon.

BECOME A MEMBER OF THE BRITISH SPANISH SOCIETY

Michael had a dramatic entry in to life. His British parents ran a shipping agency in Barcelona. Michael was born in Barcelona just nine days before the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. As violence increased and law and order broke down, he was evacuated from Barcelona in July 1936 on the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Douglas – the source of Michael’s middle name. The family returned to Barcelona in 1947.

During his working life Michael ran the family Witty shipping company establishing strong trading links

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Support our charity and be part of a great network of students, professionals, entrepreneurs, creators and innovators, that are strengthening bridges between britain and spain Join our widely acclaimed events and enjoy our benefits JOIN NOW! VISIT OUR WEBSITE: britishspanishsociety.org/membership Michael Witty

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NEWS & EVENTS

Spanish Sun in Belgravia

Homenaje Al Exilio Español

A ‘lleno hasta la bandera’ was reported for one of the most popular gatherings of the year in the heart of London’s diplomatic neighbourhood: the BritishSpanish Society summer party.

It was hosted at his official residence by the H. E. the Spanish Ambassador Carlos Bastarreche, Honorary President of the British Spanish Society,who kindly opened its doors once again to members of the charity and friends.

This fantastic annual event gives ongoing support to the BSS’ mission to carry on building stronger cultural links between United Kingdom and Spain through its events programme, magazine La Revista and the charity’s Annual Scholarship Programme.

It is one of the highlights of the BSS’s events programme in London: a special and exclusive occasion to enjoy an amazing venue, live music, delicious food and tapas, and meet old and new friends before the holiday season.

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The sultry and fabulous Siilouhette and her band delighted with their live music.

Gourmet Spanish tapas were served, along with 100% Jamón Ibérico de Bellota from Cinco Jotas with the magical cut of a professional Cortador, Cava and wines by Codorníu Raventós along with ice cold Mahou beers.

HE Spanish Ambassador Carlos Bastarreche with BSS chairman Jimmy Burns

escribe Ignacio Peyro De Antonio Alcalá-Galiano a José María Blanco-White, Reino Unido fue destino de un importante número de exiliados españoles en el siglo XIX, y un siglo después –a causa de la Guerra Civil- volvería a abrir sus puertas a un destacado contingente de intelectuales, artistas, periodistas, poetas y científicos que huyeron de la contienda y el franquismo y encontraron amparo en tierras británicas.

El homenaje, organizado por el Instituto Cervantes de Londres, fue el momento culminante de la conferencia de cuatro días “Cielos tan distintos a los suyos: una celebración del exilio español”, dedicada a la conmemoración del 80 aniversario de los exiliados españoles.

Dicha conferencia contó con una mañana de ponencias en Birkbeck University, la proyección del documental “Entre dos tierras”, de Javier Moreno, en King’s Entre ellos se hallan nombres de College y el concierto “La guitarra extraordinario impacto, de Luis Cernuda a exiliada: música española para guitarra Alberto Jiménez Fraud o de Arturo Barea de los años treinta”, en la capilla a Manuel Chaves Nogales. Precisamente neogótica de King’s. Asimismo, en el la tumba de este último, en el cementerio marco de las jornadas, que reunieron a de North Sheen, fue una docena de expertos, escenario el 13 de se presentó la reedición noviembre pasado de la novela Perico en del homenaje de “un Londres, del exiliado puñado de españoles”, Esteban Salazar Chapela, como dijo el escritor y Andrés Trapiello y Andrés Trapiello, Jordi Gracia departieron al propio Chaves y, en Londres y Magdalen con él, a todos los College (Oxford) sobre Jones Chaves y Carlos Bastarreche exiliados: además de la literatura de la los mencionados, Joan Gili, Salvador de guerra y el exilio. Estas actividades Madariaga, José Castillejo, Rafael Martínez cerraban el ciclo de homenajes al exilio Nadal. que el Cervantes puso en marcha en 2018 con la entrega del archivo Barea Durante el acto, presidido por el a la biblioteca Bodleiana de Oxford, Embajador Carlos Bastarreche, los actores la posterior exposición sobre Chaves Jorge de Juan y Candela Gómez leyeron Nogales organizada en Europe House en en español y en inglés las páginas más febrero de 2019, o la coedición del libro celebres de Chaves Nogales, el prólogo “Rutas del exilio español en Londres”. de A sangre y fuego; Andrés Trapiello Todo ello, con el propósito que recordó pronunció unas palabras escritas el Embajador Bastarreche ante la tumba expresamente para el homenaje, y el de Chaves Nogales: “Recordar el exilio no Embajador de España, junto a Antony es sólo recordar la España del pasado. Es, Jones Chaves, en representación de la también, celebrar la España democrática, familia del escritor sevillano, colocaron próspera e integradora que hemos una corona de flores sobre la tumba. llegado a ser”.

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NEWS & EVENTS

Saving The Last Ice Project

Another Pickering ‘Tour de Force’

by David Hurst Following up from his extraordinary interview published in the Summer issue (249) of La Revista, BSS trustee Pepe Ivars took a live audience with him on an inspirational journey of enlightenment, exploration and personal experience in the Crypt at St James’ Church in Spanish Place, London just before Christmas.

With photographs but without notes, Ivars drew his audience into the reallife story lived by him and two fellow Spanish explorers : the creation of a four-stage project called The Last Ice to publicise the effects of climate change through four polar treks in remote regions of the arctic.

The project has been planned and executed with the grateful assistance of Once in Your Life Adventures. onceinyourlifeadventures.com This epic began last winter by walking across the lake of the Great Slave in the Northwest Territories of Canada followed by crossing the second largest lake in Europe, Lake Onega in northern Russia,

to a remote enclave declared a World Heritage Site on the island of Kizhi with orthodox churches built without using nails.

The illustrated talk explained why they selected these lakes for the project, how the adventurers trained and prepared for the challenges, how they managed the extreme cold, what inspired them along the way and even how they dealt with smelly feet in a crowded tent.

Pepe shrugged off a question asking if he listened to Cold Play en route to keep him going, explaining that they were travelling “super-light with no extraneous technology”!

Two more trekking expeditions are planned to Lake Baikal in southern Siberia and finally to the geographic north Pole, all aiming to provide testimony of the effects of climate change. We hope that Pepe will return safely and give us another engaging talk.

Follow the project on thelastice.info

There are few better informed and more charming guides to some of London’s artistic treasures than the BritishSpanish Society’s Executive Council member, the indefatigable Paul Pickering whose occasional tours are a much appreciated item in the charity’s annual events programme.

Last September Paul’s latest exploration involved taking a group of members on a memorable visit to London Holland Park’s magnificent Leighton House Museum.

The former home of the Victorian artist Frederic, Lord Leighton (1830-1896), it is the only purpose-built studiohouse open to the public in the United Kingdom, a remarkable building , containing a fascinating collection of paintings and sculpture by Leighton and his contemporaries.

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Built to Leighton’s precise requirements, the house was extended and embellished over the 30 years that he lived in it. From modest beginnings it grew into a ‘private palace of art’ featuring the extraordinary Arab Hall with its golden dome, intricate mosaics and walls lined with beautiful Islamic tiles.

Upstairs, Leighton’s vast painting studio was one of the sights of London, filled with paintings in different stages of completion, the walls hung with examples of his work and lit by a great north window. Many of the most prominent figures of the Victorian age were entertained in this room; including Queen Victoria herself who called on Leighton in 1859. But Leighton lived alone in his palace, occupying the house’s only bedroom on the first floor.

Thank you, Paul. Here is looking forward to more inspired cultural guidance in 2020!

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NEWS & EVENTS

A Celebration of Zarzuela

Christmas Cheer & Villancicos

by Silvia Montes Following the 2018 success of the BritishSpanish Society’s annual collaboration with the Guildhall School of Music, artistic directors Ricardo Gosalbo and Charlie Morgan delighted the audience with another wonderful repertoire of Spanish Zarzuela as we bid a cheery goodbye to 2019.

This lyrical genre was born in Madrid and became the foundation for works that reflect the social reality of this city during the 18th and 19th centuries, depicting its streets, festivals, customs and personalities.

The BSS/Guildhall 10th Annual Concert started with the wonderful solo “Romanza de Ascensión” from La del Manojo de rosas by composer Pablo Sorozábal. We were also delighted with an extract of La Tabernera del Puerto by the same composer, followed by a passionately performed “Me llaman la primorosa” from the popular zarzuela El Barbero de Sevilla. Solo and duet highlights from Catalina, one of the most successful zarzuelas by composer Joaquín Gaztambide, were also included

in the programme. The concert ended with an ensemble of “Pasacalle de las Mantillas” from El ultimo romántico, a very successful zarzuela by composers Reveriano Soutullo and Juan Vert.

Guildhall School students - tenor Kamil Bien, soprano Cicely He, mezzo Simone Ibbett-Brown, soprano Astrid Joos, soprano Carla Satrústegui Reclusa, baritone Joël Alexandre Terrin and soprano Valerie Wong all stunned the audiences with their magnificent singing skills in Spanish. And pianist Marina Staneva played this popular Spanish music genre splendidly.

The concert was kindly sponsored by the Office for Cultural and Scientific Affairs at the Embassy of Spain in London; it was a huge success, with an audience thrilled by the performers and pianist and BSS members having the opportunity to meet the singers afterwards in a special reception. It was a unique opportunity to hear zarzuela in London, which we hope to repeat next year. Don’t miss it.

There was great festivity to be had at the BrtishSpanish Society Christmas Party last November at the City of London’s prime Spanish eaterie Hispania.

The party took over the whole of the top floor which meant plenty of space to eat and drink well, catch up with old friends, and meet new ones, and also join and sing some popular carols and villancicos.

The enthusiastic BSS ‘choir’ was expertly directed, following a couple of beautiful arias, by the talented young tenor Liam Rhys-Jones , part of our the charity’s growing intake of new members.

This is one of the BSS charity’s flagship events and another opportunity to meet our big British-Spanish family and celebrate together the festive season.

We were thrilled to celebrate our Christmas party with our longstanding friends at our corporate supporter Hispania Restaurant, with an exquisite Spanish tapas menu designed by Michelin star chef Marcos Morán, all served with the Codorníu Raventos best

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Carmen Young

Spanish wines and Cava and ice cold Mahou San Miguel beers.

The mistress of ceremonies was BSS Trustee and head of events Carmen Young who together with her team helped organize a superb event and encouraged the purchase of tickets for the BSS fund raising raffle.

The success of the raffle was assured because of the support of members and friends, and the range and quality of prizes generously donated including a return BritishAirways flight for two to Madrid, a holiday in Tenerife, and meal vouchers at Boqueria and Cambio de Tercio. There was much to be enjoyed and lots of early surprise Christmas presents!

Photography: Simon Sadek 360virtualtour.co

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NEWS & EVENTS

Upcoming Events

Office for Cultural and Scientific Affairs Embassy of Spain 2020

CHURCHILL Y ESPAÑA EXPOSICIÓN 28 JANUARY 12:00 Sede de Cantoblanco de la Universidad Pontificia Comillas, Campus Cantoblanco | Madrid, Spain Curated by Jimmy Burns & lecture by Cambridge University’s Dr Peter Martland Admission: eventos.comillas.edu/44484/detail/ inauguracion-de-la-exposicion-churchill-y-espana.html

BSS XIII SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMMES CEREMONY JUNE Spanish Embassy | London, UK

VIEWS OF LONDON AND VICTORIAN ART PLUS THE ROMAN AMPHITEATRE, WITH LECTURER PAUL PICKERING 6 FEBURARY The Guildhall Art Gallery | London, UK

EXCLUSIVE VISIT TO FARNBOROUGH ABBEY MID/LATE SEPTEMBER Farnborough Hill School TBC | Farnborough, UK Visit the tombs of Napoleon III, the Prince Imperial and his Spanish wife Eugenie & tour of residence

RENEWABLE ENERGIES PANEL END OF MARCH Venue TBC

VIP RECEPTION AT UK AMBASSADOR´S RESIDENCE LATE SEPTEMBER UK Ambassador´s residence TBC | Madrid, Spain

FERIA DE ABRIL APRIL Venue TBC | London, UK CAÑADA BLANCH BOOK EVENT MAY Venue TBC | London, UK MADRID GLOBAL RISKS BSS EVENT MAY IE business School | London, UK Admission: Free To confirm attendance, email: development@britishspanishsociety.org LUNCH FOR BSS MEMBERS TO CELEBRATE 25 YEARS OF CAMBIO DE TERCIO JUNE Cambio de Tercio TBC | London, UK Admission: BSS member £25

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BSS ANNUAL SUMMER RECEPTION END JUNE/EARLY JULY Spanish Embassy | London, UK

AUCKLAND CASTLE OPENED TO PUBLIC FROM 2 NOV 2019 | Bishop Auckland, County Durham, UK Auckland Castle is re-opened to public after a three-year conservation programme.

Auckland Castle is part of a new destination called The Auckland Project. Inspired by the Zurbarán paintings, a new gallery dedicated to Spanish art will be opening nearby in the coming years.

‘PICASSO AND PAPER’ AT ROYAL ACADEMY OF ARTS 25 JAN–13 APRIL Royal Academy of Arts | London This exhibition displays the way Picasso conceived paper and how creatively he played with it. He used this material to explore and express his ideas. ‘Picasso and paper’ collects more than 300 works spanning the artist’s 80year career.

ECO-VISIONARIES UNTIL 23 FEB Royal Academy of Arts | London In an era when humanity is facing new challenges posed by big data, bioengineering and climate change, Whitechapel Gallery has invited ten groups of artists, architects and other cultural practitioners to explore the potential of collaboration and offer their visions of the future.

¡VIVA! SPANISH & LATIN AMERICAN FESTIVAL 2020 6-26 MARCH HOME | Manchester For their 26th edition, ¡Viva! returns with a selected programme of the most exciting film from across the Spanishspeaking world.

EXCLUSIVE VISIT AND TOUR TO STONYHURST COLLEGE 23 – 25 OCTOBER Stonyhurst College | Lancashire, UK

LA CASA DE BERNARDA ALBA AT CERVANTES THEATRE 3-29 FEBRUARY Cervantes Theatre | London The production of La Casa de Bernarda Alba/ The House of Bernarda Alba at Cervantes Theatre that sold out in 2017, 2018 and 2019, is coming back in 2020 with 2 weeks at the followed by touring dates in March.

The House of Bernarda Alba explores themes of repression, passion and conformity through the depiction of a matriarch’s domination of her five daughters.

LONDON BSS ANNUAL CONCERT NOVEMBER Venue TBC | London, UK LONDON BSS CHRISTMAS PARTY DECEMBER Venue TBC | London, UK

Check for updated details: britishspanishsociety.org/events

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EDUCATION

BSS ALUMNI NEWS

By Marina Pérez de Arcos

Lucía Veintimilla Macián Principal Supporter: British Spanish Society Centenary Scholarship 2016 Title of Research Project: Bringing Cultures Together Through Music University: Guildhall School of Music and Drama Degree: MMus and MPerf in Performance in violin Nationality: Spanish Where are you now: I am based in London and giving recitals and chamber music concerts all over the UK, Spain and the rest of Europe.

Next steps: I am currently working on establishing an International Music Festival in Asturias (Spain) over the summer. It will offer several concerts, masterclasses, as well as showcase the outcome of artistic collaborations between local artists in different fields and musicians in the international music scene taking part in the Festival

Miguel Fernández-Longoria Principal Supporter: Abbey Bank/ Santander Universities 2008 Title of Research Project: International Relations between Britain and Spain during WWII. The scholarship allowed me to research the Templewood papers (Sir Samuel Hoare, ambassador to Spain 1940– 1944) at Cambridge University, the Churchill Archives and review new Foreign Office papers at the Public Records Office.

University: Universidad Nacional Educación a Distancia (UNED) Degree: PhD Nationality: Spanish Where are you now: I am Director Financial and Management Accounting, Banco Santander, London.

Next steps: My passion for history persists as a vocation, and my training as a historian gives me a unique perspective in the banking world.

Duncan Wheeler Principal Supporter: British Spanish Society Bursary 2012 Title of Research Project: Golden Age Drama in Contemporary Spain: The Comedia on Page, Stage and Screen University: Oxford Degree: D.Phil Nationality: British Where are you now: I am Professor of Spanish Studies at the University of Leeds.

Next steps: About to publish a book on the cultural politics of Spain’s Transition to Democracy. I am in the process of researching my next book, which will be a cultural history of bullfighting.

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COMMITMENT AND COMPROMISE FOR THE FUTURE The main purposes of the Cañada Blanch Foundation are the promotion of culture; the support of the development of young students; and the management of cultural activities, with a special focus on the advances of research, thought, social debate and the Arts, both in the field of the Valencian Community and in the United Kingdom. fundacioncanadablanch.org La Revista | britishspanishsociety.org 23

SCIENCE

THE MICROALGAE FOR A HEALTHY WORLD

Name: Rafael Carrasco Reinado Principal Supporter: MahouSan Miguel Year: 2018 Title of research project: Microalgae applications University: Universidad de Cádiz Degree: MSc (Master of Science) in Molecular Microbiology Place of birth: Puerto de Santa María, Cádiz

By Rafael Carrasco

A 2018/2019 recipient of a British SpanishSociety scholarship tells us about his research project aimed at countering the negative impact of destructive human activity on the environment.

I started my PhD studies two years ago, focusing on proteomics and gastronomy industrial applications on biomedicine and agri-food. My PhD is work in development at Cádiz University, specifically at the Vitivinicultural and Agri-Food Research Institute (IVAGRO) under the supervision of Francisco Javier Fernández Acero. Before I started my PhD, I worked in microbiology at London for two years after which I decided to return to Spain. This coincided with the Genetic department of Cádiz University offering me a collaboration before starting my PhD. Microalgae biomass is in great demand for many prospective applications, most of which are currently subject to on-going research. Given their potential for resolving many major problems, generated mainly by human activity, including greenhouse gas emission, water contamination, fossil fuel depletion and the need for novel therapies for many diseases, microalgae are being widely cultivated using a variety of different processes.

This interest has placed microalgae at the centre of efforts to develop

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new biotechnological tools driven by the “Blue Growth” initiative of the EU (Carrasco, Fajardo, Guarnizo, Vallejo, & Fernandez-acero, 2018).

The purpose of my investigation is to develop biotechnology applications, focusing in biomedicine and agri-food.

These applications will be developed using microalgae and proteomics analysis as tools. The proteomics tool is able to analyse the expressed or over-expressed proteins in one organism in a given moment. The generated information has allowed us to understand the behaviour of the organism in that particular situation.

Then, this information was generated into a map of microorganism biological activities capacities, in that case microalgae. We used this information and applied it to biomedicine and the agri-food field where we found more than 400 potential applications with proteins, just in these two fields. The application with proteins will have a real impact as a solution for many human diseases, but also in other fields, such as reducing the impact in the environment caused by human activities.

Since I received this scholarship, I have been able to publish three papers, as well as submit additional articles to important journals. Additionally, my team and I have also developed a patent for proteomics applications (related to cancer treatment) and also presented our research in a talk conference at the first congress of young sea scientists.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the BritishSpanish Society and their Corporate partners, (Mahou -San

Miguel was my principal supporter), for offering me, in 2018/2019 my scholarship award. Their generosity has helped me further my PhD investigation. It is my view that the Spanish Government does not invest as much as it should on I+D+I, (Investigación, desarrollo e innovación) and therefore, the financial support offered by institutions such as the BritishSpanish Society is highly important to many scientists in Spain like myself.

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SPOTLIGHT

Churchill College de la Universidad de Cambridge. Churchill además fue un autor prolífico con libros de historia fundamentales, que le hicieron merecedor nada menos que del Premio Nobel de Literatura.

UN OBSERVATORIO PARA ANALIZAR LAS CONSECUENCIAS DEL ‘BREXIT’

By Emilio Sáenz- Francés

La universidad Pontificia Comillas ICAI-ICADE de Madrid inaugura en pocos días el Observatorio Winston Churchill en Madrid que se centrará en las relaciones hispano británicas . Cuenta con la colaboración de varias organizaciones entre ellas el BritishSpanish Society Los acuerdos que han mantenido a Europa unida durante décadas y que han ido uniendo actores a la Unión Europea parece resquebrajarse con iniciativas como el Brexit, que ha alterado sustancialmente el orden político conocido hasta la fecha en Europa.

Frente a este desafío surge el nuevo Observatorio Winston Churchill.

Innovación, Europa y Relaciones Hispano-Británicas de la Universidad Pontificia Comillas ICAI-ICADE, un foro que, según su director, Emilio SáenzFrancés, “busca promover la innovación en la investigación y la difusión sobre política, sociedad y economía, y siempre volcado en la promoción de las relaciones hispano-británicas”. Para él, “el referéndum del Brexit dejo en shock a Europa. Es aún una cuestión no resuelta. Se complica cada día más. A medio y largo plazo, quedan los desafíos que se han abierto sobre el futuro de la Unión, y las perspectivas de futuro de las relaciones cruciales entre el Reino

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Unido y España. Creamos el observatorio para tratar todo ello, con un elemento transversal que es la necesidad de innovación, en este tiempo que vivimos, en política, en empresa, en cultura…”. No se trata, apunta, de dar vueltas sin parar en torno al Brexit, sino de analizar que respuestas requiere este momento de cambio, y generar conocimiento que sea útil a la sociedad.

“El Brexit supone un antes y un después en la historia de la UE”, afirman portavoces del Observatorio, “y es un escenario nuevo para la política y para el dinamismo de la cultura, la sociedad y la empresa”. Por eso es fundamental innovar y construir nuevos lazos con un espíritu investigador y de reflexión rigurosa que ayude a la comprensión de las relaciones hispano británicas, y del Reino Unido con el resto de Europa.

Por ese motivo, será una plataforma de encuentro y debate de asuntos relativos a la relación entre España y el Reino Unido, y su intención será la de

generar conocimiento y foro de reflexión de la dimensión política, cultural, económica y social de ambos países sin descuidar la reflexión del futuro de la propia UE. Entre los participantes en este proyecto, además de académicos de la Universidad Pontificia Comillas, participan especialistas de instituciones como el Real Instituto Elcano, la Universidad de Cambridge, la de Edimburgo o la Universidad de Abersytwyth, en Gales.

Respecto al nombre del Observatorio, sus responsables resaltan que Winston Churchill siempre tuvo presente la importancia de los lazos entre el Reino Unido y España, y fue un pionero a la hora de hablar de una Europa unida.

Winston Churchill lideró su país durante los momentos más oscuros de la II Guerra Mundial, y fue fundamental en el diseño del orden internacional de nuestros días. Desde esa atalaya, se mostró sensible a las innovaciones científicas, y fruto de ello surgieron iniciativas tan fructíferas como el

Entre las primeras actividades del Observatorio, destaca la inauguración el 28 de Enero en la Sede de Cantoblanco de la Universidad Pontificia Comillas de la Exposición “Churchill y España”.

Comisariada por Jimmy Burns Marañón, la exposición llega a España tras exhibirse en distintas ciudades británicas, fruto de la colaboración entre el Observatorio, la BritishSpanish Society y Cambridge Alumni Madrid. La inauguración estará jalonada por una conferencia pronunciada por el Prof.

Peter Martland, de la Universidad de Cambridge y miembro del BritishSpanish Society. Tras exhibirse en la Sede de Cantoblanco de la Universidad, la exposición podrá visitarse más adelante también en la Sede de Alberto Aguilera de la Universidad Pontificia Comillas ICAI-ICADE. Poco más tarde, el 12 de febrero, el Observatorio celebrará su I Conferencia Winston Churchill, centrada en la necesidad de innovación para dar respuesta a los desafíos del presente, entre los participantes, destacan Charles Powell, Director del Real Instituto Elcano; Ignacio Peyro, Director del Instituto Cervantes en Londres; Carlos Delclaux, Presidente de Vidrala, y el propio director del Observatorio, Emilio Sáenz-Francés. Además de esta sesión plenaria, se celebrarán distintas mesas sectoriales centradas en cuestiones como la educación, la dimensión cultural de las relaciones entre España y el Reino Unido, o los nuevos desafíos para sectores académicos clave.

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SPOTLIGHT

THE COP25 IN MADRID

By Carlos Oppe

A BritishSpanish society member and active environmentalist attending the conference last December, reports that there was much talk, little action and the buck was passed on.

At the beginning of his powerful presentation on the Climate Crisis, the once Vice President of the USA, Al Gore, thanked the Spanish Government for hosting COP25 after Chile had abandoned the task due to serious unrest in the country. The audience immediately responded by applauding and with good reason as with just 1 month’s preparation Madrid had against the odds: secured accommodation for 25.000 delegates, turned the IFEMA international exhibition centre into a meeting place, ensured tight security and allowed spaces for the counter summit and events.

This annual gathering organized by the UN serves to ensure that treaties, such as the Paris Agreement, are being met and new policies agreed.

It brings together representatives from all over the planet, but the down side was that after 2 weeks of intense negotiations and hundreds of official & unofficial meetings taking place, the final document was weak. It dodged the critical issue of CO2 reduction pledges and also leaving other major decisions to be agreed at COP26 in Glasgow.

A whole year will have been lost as the big polluters bought time.

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On the positive side for Spain, COP25 resulted in nearly 3 weeks of constant media attention with the focus being on the Climate Crisis with many stories being covered from all corners of the country: desertification, water shortage, forest fires, the recent major floods in Murcia, Madrid, Mallorca, etc. Like Al Gore’s presentation, dramatic natural events were highlighted and linked together. The signs are all there, the scientists are all in agreement, much of the population demand answers and action, but the politicians look the other way.

The meetings started on the 2nd December but the event only burst into life on Friday the 6th when a massive demonstration took place in the capital with Greta Thunberg participating.

A small diminutive figure on a large stage, she delivered a powerful message at the end of the march. Repetitive, simple and direct: the time for talk is over, action is needed.

The official event took place in IFEMA and was divided into 2 sections: Blue & Green. The Blue section was where the UN held its meetings & conferences.

The Green section was a pavilion open

Carlos Oppe with Al Gore

to the public and pocketed with stands of multinationals at one end, and small arenas, chill out areas at the other. Most of the audience was young, school trips abounded. However the fair ground atmosphere, the intense lights, the rows of TV screens and the barrage of noise from countless speakers seemed to take the attention away from the urgency of the situation – climate crisis or climate party? Even the IFEMA cafeteria was operating business as usual: throw away cups, plastic utensils and industrial food to boot.

The alternative summit was more interesting. Called the Social Summit for Climate, it took place at the Complutense University campus. Over 200 organizations, from the Extinction Rebellion to Greenpeace offered a space for debate and to meet. Fascinating, informative & austere. The contrast with IFEMA did not stop there but with the catering too: organic, pay what one can and all the utensils were reusable.

All over the capital conferences were run and events organized. From bicycle rides to forest therapy in local parks. Perhaps

the most significant side event was Al Gore’s presentation. Gore’s message is devastating and given who he is, it attracts a segment of the population that are in powerful positions, those who run companies and are in governments.

Suits and high heels were the norm – but this did this audience really understand and appreciate the core message? If they did, will they act on it?

The sheer number, types and choice of events & meetings was remarkable and visiting a cross section revealed the diversity of interests. But dialogue is not enough. The facts are on the table and what is lacking is the will and action to change course. Gore referred to the tale of the Emperor’s New Clothes: it takes just one small child to point and now we all need to act.

Note on the author: Carlos Oppe is an AngloSpanish Madrid based consultant on environmental issues and planning

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SPOTLIGHT

SPANIARD WINS BRITISH PRESS AWARD

By Jimmy Burns

A Spanish photographer who studied his art in the UK before turning professional has won a prestigious British photojournalism award. Enhorabuena!

Javier Fergo, a free-lance photographer (born Jerez de la Frontera, 1980) was the winner of the Photojournalism category in the Press Gazette British Journalism Awards last month for Europe’s South Frontier, his widely used images covering the migration crisis.

The Financial Times became the first newspaper to win the top prize of News Provider of the Year prize two years in a row, representing a triumphant conclusion to Lionel Barber’s 14 years as editor of the international business title which he leaves this month. Barber was a guest speaker at a BritishSpanish Society dinner in London in April 2015.

Speaking without notes, Barber at the well attended BSS event gave an incisive and entertaining speech, peppered with amusing anecdotes, entitled ‘Europe and the New Politics – the challenge for Spain and the UK’ and later engaged in an extensive question and answer session.

The judges at the latest Press Gazette awards , said the FT “combines consistent high quality journalism across is various platforms with an enviable ability to secure jaw-dropping exclusives”.

They added: “It has also been at the forefront of journalism innovation and

Judges said: “This was a haunting set of images that dramatically exposed the tragedy of the immigration crisis on Europe’s southern frontier.”

proved that it is possible turn a profit whilst investing in quality.”

The British Journalism Awards, now in their eighth year, are decided by a panel of 60 judges from across the news industry, who judge entries on three criteria: revelation, journalistic rigour and public interest.

There were some 560 entries from every major news organisation in the UK .

Robin Barnwell was named Journalist of the Year for his work with ITV Exposure and Hardcash Productions, shining a light on China’s use of detention camps for Muslims and the battle against oppression for women in Iran. Judges praised his “ incredible journalism” and “ impressive” undercover work to shine a light into secretive overseas regimes.

Paul Caurana Galizia, son of murdered Maltese journalist Daphne who became a journalist as a way of paying tribute to his mother, was named New Journalist of the Year.

About Javier Fergo: Has been keen on arts, image, film and photography since childhood. In the year 2001 started studying a National Diploma in Photography, followed by a Higher National Diploma in Photography at City of Bristol College, UK. Finishing in 2005.

Soon after moving back to Jerez, Spain, to start contributing to a local newspaper, other newspapers followed.

Have published in national newspapers such as El País, El Mundo, ABC, Publico, etc. and internationally on The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The NewYorker, etc

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Nowadays Javier works as a freelance documentary photographer and photojournalist. He is a frequent contributor to the Associated Press.

The prestigious annual Press Gazette awards underlined the quality of journalism published in British media, with 23 prizes in different categories handed out at a gala dinner at London’s Bankside Hotel.

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FOOD

A BRIEF HISTORY OF FOOD IN SPAIN By María José Sevilla After many years promoting the flavors of Spain in the United Kingdom, the author of a new book on the subject explores the melting-pot of cultures of Spanish cuisine.

In Spain, history can be found in every corner of this diverse country.

A diversity which is difficult to match in the rest of Europe opens up a world of all things Spanish: land and people, music, tradition, language and of course food. Today, the history of Spanish food, a subject that until fairly recently has been neglected by scholars has become a fascinating theme that attracts international research.

From early times, Spanish food has been enriched by the different cultures that arrived in the land where the Basques, the original inhabitants of the Peninsula were already living. Cereals and peas moving westward across the Mediterranean and began feeding people in the rest of the Peninsula, where Iberians and Celts would settle to raise animals and cultivate the land. From the other side of the Mediterranean came the Phoenicians.

They were looking for trade, valuable minerals and in particular, sea salt to cure fish.

The Greeks brought wine to Catalonia, and the Romans looked in Hispania for olive oil, garum, grain and gold. Before the arrival of the Romans, the Jews had already taken refuge in Sepharad,

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the name they gave to the Iberian Peninsula. Then in the fifth century Germanic tribes crossed the Pyrenees to occupy the remains of what was the Roman province. Later Berbers and Arabs would make their home here for almost eight centuries, converting most of the Peninsula into a fertile garden of beauty they called al-Andalus.

During the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries before the Christian Reconquista from the Moors had ended in Castile, the expansion of the powerful federation of Aragón, Catalonia and Valencia in the Mediterranean added to the food of Iberia another layer of flavour and tradition which was greatly influenced by Italy. From the sixteenth century onwards the American food exchange expanded the larder of ingredients and improved the colour of Spanish food.

With the arrival of the Bourbons in the early eighteenth century and the resulting French influence in Spanish life and food, a strong negative reaction was provoked in the population. By the nineteenth century Spanish authors and restaurant critics had become the defenders of the authentic food of Spain. Threatened by the loss of identity

they strongly defended the concept of a ‘National Cuisine’ which in reality had never existed before. However it might have been better if they had just championed the ‘regional’ Cocinas of Spain which had been under threat for quite some time: Las Cocinas de las Autonomías de España, as they should be correctly called today.

The Cocinas have their origins in the food of the feudal peasantry of those earlier times. However, what we understand these days as Spanish Cocinas are not necessarily based on the simple and repetitive daily diet of the poor. Many dishes of that large part of the population were prepared with great economic sacrifice and with quality ingredients especially for saints’ days, festivals and weddings, as recorded by Miguel de Cervantes.

Spain does not need to prove anymore the existence of a ‘National Cuisine’ as nineteenth-century critics thought when searching for a national identity. It has now been fully accepted, the existence and individuality of the Cocinas de España and there is more. In the last forty years, creativity and innovation in the professional kitchen, starting in the Basque Country, followed up by Catalonia and the rest of the country, has placed Spanish food among the best in the international arena, adding at the same time new chapters in the rich history of the food cooked in an unequalled and beautiful land.

Note on the author: María José Sevilla is a cook, writer, and broadcaster. A member of the British Guid of Food Writers, she holds the Diploma of the Wine and Spirits Trust and is a member of the Gran Orden de los Caballeros del Vino. Her new book on the culture of Spanish food is Delicioso.

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TRAVEL

IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF IGNATIUS By David Hurst In the 16th century ,the founding father of the Jesuits Ignatius of Loyola travelled across Northern Spain on a spiritual journey that was to transformed him and many followed him. The BritishSpanish Society Executive Council member David Hurst joins a pilgrimage in his footsteps with alumni from his old school Stonyhurst College

The coach made its way from Barcelona airport on our journey north into Collsacabra, an area of outstanding natural beauty in the heart of Catalonia.

Two hours later, as dusk settled, we drove higher and higher into the hills, finally arriving at L’Avenc de Tavertet, a converted bishop’s country house dating back to the thirteenth century.

In the near dark, this mysterious and imposing-looking stone and glass structure, with its huge and creaking electric wooden doors giving access to a vast underground car park, seemed like a villain’s lair from the next James Bond film. We expected to meet the host, stroking his white cat and whispering in sinister tones, “we’ve been expecting you, Mr Burns”.

The reference was to the BritishSociety chairman Jimmy Burns, who I had joined with other alumni from our old Jesuit school Stonyhurst including our chaplain, Fr Nick King SJ, walking in the footsteps of St Ignatius of Loyola. We were going to visit the holy cave and hospital in Manresa, the Benedictine Monastery at Montserrat and the Jesuit Church of the Sagrada Corazon in Barcelona whose prized possession is the sword of St Ignatius which he had

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placed with his dagger as an offering at the Monastery of Monserrat in 1522. This signified the end of his former courtier’s life and his dedication to a new vocation.

Finally we were going to visit the most famous work-in-progress church in the whole of Spain, the Sagrada Familia.

As a start to our journey, the remote L’Avenc offered a wonderful opportunity for Ignatian contemplation. We awoke on the first day and walked along the nearby 1100m high clifftop ridge to view the Valley of Sau, one of the most beautiful landscapes in Spain looking over the Pantano de Sau reservoir towards Montseny mountain in the distance. Pyrenean longhorn cattle carelessly chewed the grass and Egyptian vultures hovered overhead. The words of Gerald Manley Hopkins never seemed so true, “the world is charged with the grandeur of God”.

Our first Mass was celebrated in the XI century church of San Cristofol in the nearby sleepy village of Tavertet and we pondered that Ignatius would have passed through or stayed in this kind of hamlet on his walking journey from Loyola to Barcelona. Fr Nick gave us an Ignatian contemplation: Where are we now?

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TRAVEL

After two nights in the mountains, we journeyed south to the bustling city of Manresa where Ignatius lived from March 1522 to February 1523 as a hermit among the poor and the sick and had a mystical experience by the banks of the nearby River Cardoner.

We visited the former Hospital of Santa Lucia, now called the Chapel of Rapture because Ignatius experienced a spiritual rupture and lay motionless in this place for eight days. This is where Ignatius worked with the sick, the orphaned, the mentally ill and the elderly who were abandoned to charity.

We moved on to the cave in the cliffs, originally located beyond the city walls, where his most intense experimentation and experience of prayer, meditation and contemplation took place and the seeds of the Spiritual Exercises were sown. The Jesuit Church of the Sanctuary was built on the site of this cave and, movingly, we shared Mass in this very place and received our second challenge: Where are we going?

After a tour of the magnificent Gothic Basilica Santa Maria de la Seu in the heart of Manresa, we moved on to Montserrat and our coach climbed high to the Benedictine mountaintop monastery, one of Spain’s most venerated and spectacular shrines with evidence of hermitages dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary dating back to the ninth century.It was in Montserrat that Ignatius held a vigil of arms before he gave away his gentleman’s clothes to a beggar and put on his sackcloth and rope soled sandals.

After enjoying sung Vespers at 6.00pm in the Basilica, we joined the long queue to kiss the feet of the famous statue of the

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We walked through the narrow streets and squares of medieval Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter and were then invited inside the Jesuit Church of Sagrado Corazon with its altar dedicated to Ignatius and hosting a proud display of the sword he offered to the Virgin during his time in Monserrat.

Antoni Gaudi, was consecrated by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010 and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Work on the project began in 1882 and, relying solely on public donations, construction has progressed slowly but it is now allegedly due to be completed in 2026, the centenary of Gaudi’s death.

Our penultimate day opened with Mass in the Crypt Chapel of the astonishing and almost-finished Basilica La Sagrada Familia at which Fr Nick set us our final contemplation: What have we learnt and how are we going to move forward?

Our now closely bonded group’s Mass in the Sagrada Familia was an absolute privilege and formed a suitable finale to a memorable pilgrimage in the footsteps of St Ignatius Loyola.

Described as the most extraordinary interpretation of Gothic architecture since the Middle Ages, the church, designed by Catalan architect

Photography: Jimmy Burns

Madonna and Child, also known as the Black Madonna, high up behind the main altar.The following day opened with Mass in the small Chapel of Our Lady and a new challenge to consider: What has gone wrong in our lives and how can we put it right?

Taking the ultra-steep Funicular de Sant Joan railway, we then made a valiant attempt on the mountain itself and a select few bagged the highest peak of Sant Jeroni at 1,236m - there were footpaths!

Our final destination was the Catalan capital of Barcelona. This was where Ignatius arrived in March 1524 at the end of his Camino on the first of several visits. In the time of Ignatius, Barcelona had a population of 40,000 which has now grown to 1.6 million.

Note on the author: David Hurst is a regular contributor to La Revista.

The Ignatian pilgrimage to Catalonia was organised in the Spring of 2019 by the Stonyhurst Association with Pax Travel.

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LAW

INDEPENDENCE & THE EUROPEAN RESPONSE

By Núria González Campañá

A recipient of a BritishSpanishSociety/Santander University scholarship reports on her research into relevant aspects of law.

I am a Spanish lawyer doing my PhD at Oxford University focusing on secession, pro-independence movements and European Union Law. I started my doctoral degree in 2015 and I am about to finish it in the next months. I have just recently submitted my thesis and I am waiting for my viva, the final oral examination.

During these last years, secession has been a live issue in Western Europe. In effect, we have witnessed the failure of two pro-independence attempts in Scotland and Catalonia. In the near future, we might see their re-emergence or the rise of other pro-secession movements in other European regions.

The response of the EU institutions to secession within EU Member States may well be based mainly on political considerations. However, since the EU is a community of law based on the Rule of Law, it has also to justify its position with some normative arguments of principle.

My thesis aims to provide such normative support. My intention is to offer a legal reflection that goes beyond a case-specific approach and that could be of relevance to any EU Member State.

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However, needless to say the cases of the UK and Spain are particularly relevant. Since the position of the United Kingdom regarding its relationship with Europe is still highly unclear, the legal discussion around this type of territorial debates is not only relevant for Spain (with the ongoing Catalan crisis), but also for the UK (affecting, basically, Scotland and Northern Ireland).

Law might not prevent things from happening (I come from Barcelona, I know what I am talking about), but a clear legal path is surely a good way of at least avoiding some negative effects.

My project wants to provide this legal path.

My claim is that the role of EU law is to follow an assessment made in the light of the relevant national constitutional law, provided that the Member State concerned is not violating EU values such as democracy, Rule of Law and respect for human rights. Accordingly, if domestic law considers that secession is illegal, EU law should respect that position by not recognizing the statehood of the secessionist entity.

If, on the contrary, domestic legal order has enabled the secessionist attempt, EU law should respect that outcome by recognizing the new entity as a sovereign State and by entering into good faith negotiations.

Since I received the British Spanish Society (“BSS”) scholarship, I have been able to do a research stay at McGill University in Canada, I have attended several conferences, in Spain and in the UK, and I have published one article in a Spanish journal focused on the EU approach to secessionist movements in third States. Completing my degree would not have been possible without the support of the BSS and particularly my sponsor, Santander Universities.

Thank you, I am deeply grateful for the opportunity you have offered me. I know that there were many other applicants and I am really honoured for being selected as one of the recipients of these prestigious scholarships.

Note on the author: Núria González Campañá (born Barcelona) was a recipient of the 2018 BritishSpanish Society/ Santander Universities scholarship.

The title of her research project: Secession and EU law ( University of Oxford, DPhil Degree)

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CULTURE

SPANISH FACTS AND ENGLISH FANCIES

By Jim Lawley

British visitors to Spain over time have produced a rich legacy of cultural observation and insight about the land and its people. A long-term British pays tribute to the contribution of one of the most illustrious and yet unfairly largely forgotten British writers George Borrow’s The Bible in Spain (1843) and Richard Ford’s A Handbook for Travellers in Spain (1845) are of course the classic accounts of Spain by nineteenth-century Englishmen. A little known but fascinating addition to the genre is Stanley Weyman’s beautifully written 9,000-word essay Spanish Facts and English Fancies (1886).

Stanley Weyman (1855-1928) was one of the most illustrious British writers in the last decade of the nineteenth century and the early decades of the twentieth.

Although now largely (and unfairly) forgotten, in his day Weyman was as well-known and highly regarded as HG Wells, Oscar Wilde, Rudyard Kipling and Robert Louis Stevenson. Stevenson in fact sent Weyman letters of admiration and Oscar Wilde petitioned the Home Office from Reading Gaol to make Weyman’s novels available to convicts.

By early January 1886, several years before he became famous but only several weeks after the death of Alfonso XII (25 November 1885), Weyman had crossed from France into Spain: “I felt

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proud and free… a land of adventure and romance lay before me … I did much of my journeying on foot, and was without companions – an advantage when the object is to gain knowledge of the country. I stayed at Spanish fondas, paradors, and casinos … I mixed with the people so far as my mastery of the language permitted … I think I may have learned some things new to English readers.”

Certainly the Spain Weyman encountered had changed in significant ways since the time of Borrow and Ford. On more than one occasion, for example, Weyman had cause to be grateful to “the famous civil guards [established in 1844], the police of Spain … They have done great things in a short time. They have extirpated brigands and highway robbers, and have made the roads of the country, with rare exceptions, as safe as Watling Street. They have made possible commerce, pedestrianism, and all good things…”

Like Borrow and Ford before him, Weyman was keenly interested in the people he met, and like many British authors since, he celebrates the Spanish people’s generosity of spirit and essential human decency, their reserves of solidarity and grace: “To the harmless stranger, wandering about the country for purposes inexplicable indeed, but not believed to be bad, the average Spaniard of the lower and middle classes is well-disposed … he will receive him with hospitality … The Spaniard is a gentleman and gentleman-like regards all men as his equals … A man in rags will address a duke with self-respect as well as with respect. He does not know what it is to be awkward in any presence, but will offer a cigarette to a marquis or a millionaire, and accept one in return with equal nonchalance and affability. It is a fine feature…”

Weyman seems to have spent about three months in Spain (before crossing into Morocco). He travelled south usually

on foot but sometimes on train. It is not possible to trace his exact route but he mentions being at Irún, San Sebastian, Bilbao, Pamplona, Burgos, Palencia, The Escorial, Madrid, Valencia, Alhama, and Cadiz. The things he sees and the people he meets give rise to fascinating observations on religion, politics, the countryside and geography, the weather, food and drink, the Guardia Civil (“civil, courteous and ready to assist the foreigner”), the cost of living, and history, but it is to his positive experience of the character of the ordinary people that he returns again and again.

At the time this essay was published Weyman had only a few short stories to his name; he described his income from his writing as ‘altogether insufficient’.

However his adventures before entering Spain while in France (which included being arrested on suspicion of spying), and then in Spain and Morocco seem to have galvanised him. It was not long before he was writing a thousand words a day, producing a string of swashbuckling historical novels that all became international best-sellers: The House of the Wolf, The Story of Francis Cludde, A Gentleman of France, The Man in Black, Under the Red Robe, and The Red Cockade were all completed by 1895.

Weyman was soon earning about ten thousand pounds a year – approximately half a million pounds in today’s money.

In all Weyman wrote some twenty-four novels including Ovington’s Bank, his masterpiece, published in 1922 (the same year as The Waste Land and Ulysses), which was filmed by the BBC in 1965 as Heiress of Garth. The novel

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CULTURE

throws light on timeless questions of integrity, moral courage and what living a good life entails; just as Weyman had observed all those years before in Spain, being a gentleman, it turns out, is a matter of behaviour and outlook, not birth.

A forgotten literary giant, today Weyman is little read yet it is easy to see why Hugh Walpole described him as ‘one of the finest masters of the narrative gift the English novel has known’, and why Graham Greene referred to his novels as ‘key books in my life.’ Weyman’s essay, Spanish Facts and English Fancies, a fascinating portrait of Spain at a time of great turmoil and uncertainty immediately after the death of Alfonso XII, is available online and certainly deserves to be better known.

LA VIDA A TRAVÉS DE LA PINTURA

By Lidia Boix Martínez Note on the author: Jim Lawley, a member of the BritishSpanish Society, has lived in Ávila since 1983. His edition of Ovington’s Bank by Stanley Weyman, with an appendix containing the most complete biography of Weyman available, was published by Merlin Unwin Books in August 2018. This edition also contains Weyman’s complete and unabridged fivethousand-word account of his arrest and detention in France in 1885.

He vivido siempre rodeada de arte, en un entorno familiar sencillo pero especialmente favorable por la diversidad de actividades artísticas que se desempeñaban en él.

Tras finalizar mis estudios de Bellas Artes y después de ejercer como restauradora y conservadora de obras de arte durante nueve años, en la Fundación “La Luz de las Imágenes”, el IVAM y el Museo de Bellas Artes de Valencia, decidí dedicarme a mi verdadera vocación, la pintura.

Me gusta jugar con diferentes materiales y técnicas, para crear y materializar mi visión del mundo.

Técnicamente exigente pero de gran sensibilidad y color, mi pintura refleja tradiciones y costumbres de nuestra tierra valenciana y su historia; las relaciones humanas, nuestra manera de vivir y sentir en el retrato; la fuerza y belleza de la naturaleza en el paisaje, reivindicando el valor de esta, como tal, en los bodegones y la importancia de transmitir en positivo a través de la pintura, en una sociedad en la que a veces parece normalizarse la fealdad y el caos.

Hoy me siento privilegiada. Es un honor para mi ser socia de la British Spanish Society, por la importancia de su labor; promover la cultura y el arte como valores que definen la identidad de los pueblos y los unen, a pesar de los tiempos que corren. Me sumo convencida y os dejo una imagen esperanzada en que se crearan nuevos lazos artísticos y culturales entre el pueblo británico y el español. faceboook: Bioleos Liboz instagram: lidia_liboz e-mail: liniazul@hotmail.com website: liboz.com

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CULTURE

A SPANISH STRUGGLE THROUGH DARKNESS & LIGHT By Robert Graham Book Review: Violencia: A New History of Spain: Past, Present and the Future of the West

by Jason Webster, (Constable), 418pp, £25 Behind the screaming dust jacket of ‘Violencia’, there is a rather different and more interesting book. Jason Webster, already the author of five books on various aspects of Spain, has extended his ambitions to present a sweeping history from the advent of the Neanderthals in the Iberian Peninsula to the present day. All this in 400 pages.

The timeline is consecutive, but this is less an history and more an interpretation of history. Inevitably a vast array of events, personalities and trends have to be compressed; but compression permits Webster to be opinionated, deploying a series of short chapters, some of which are astute, others a bit flippant or controversial, but always readable.

Throughout runs a theme that Spaniards have sought to remove unwanted truths from their past, a trait which risks, if not causes, the repetition of destructive patterns of behaviour. In other words Spain is a model of the maxim that history repeats itself. Limited periods of enlightenment, prosperity and unity have been constantly offset by longer periods of conflict, regional squabbles, ineffective rulers and civil wars, right down to the 1936-39 Civil War that

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Note on the author: Robert Graham is a former Financial Times Madrid Bureau Chief. He lives between Paris and Sanlucar de Barrameda.

He is a member of the BritishSpanish Society.

still casts a divisive shadow over the country’s collective memory.

Such Darkness and Light is reminiscent of Machado’s ‘dos Españas’. Alongside these two faces Webster introduces a third facet, a Spain watching patiently from the sidelines ‘ trying to explain to the other two the folly of their struggle’.

The author seems to fit himself into this third face, saying the book is ‘part homage to the best of Spain’.

What really sets the country apart from its fellow Europeans has been the ideological cement of Roman Catholicism, not least via the Inquisition and the absence of the puritan work ethic, combined with the Arab conquest which established a near eight hundred year presence and whose influence outlasted their expulsion.

Also to be considered is Spain’s complex geography/orography, which has limited communication, been a brake on economic development and exacerbated regional differences. Madrid, stuck on an arid plateau in the middle of a large landmass with no access to seaports, Webster states ‘ is at once a symbol of the unity and division within the country’.

Just over half the book takes us up to the late 15th/early 16th century which marks the end of Moorish rule and the beginning of Europe’s first nation state.

Reflecting the author’s university studies of Arabic and Islam, much attention is devoted to the long Arab/Berber rule whose importance has often been down played and whose demise has been traditionally been known as ‘la Reconquista’. He reframes this trope by talking of ‘a very staggered process of Northern Spain militarily dominating the South’ driven by ideology not ethnicity.

Of the subsequent unification of Aragon and Castille under Ferdinando and Isabella, he claims they ‘didn’t make Spain but made Spain a possibility’.

Carlos V, (1516-56) effectively the first king of Spain and its most powerful monarch, is treated rather harshly. He presided over the Holy Roman empire covering much of Europe at a time

of great turbulence with the rise of Protestantism, the military challenge of the Turks, while being responsible for the New World colonies. Webster says that as a Hapsburg he was never a real Spaniard, creating costly problems that he was unable to solve: a man who took ‘early retirement’ by abdicating abdicated in favour of his son.

The ensuing three centuries come at speed to allow more space for the 20th century and contemporary Spain.

Here he provides a wise and succinct prelude to the Civil War, then a fair bird’s eye view of what happened. Of the subsequent long Franco era he correctly sees that behind Spain’s isolation, ‘put on ice’ by a dictatorial regime, the country ‘was going through rapid and quite fundamental change’ – a factor that helped ease the Transition to democracy.

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CULTURE

MYSTERY, GUITARS, AND CHANDELIERS

By Laura Obiols

La Revista’s arts editor reports on a wonderful venue and a unique Spanish music festival that is surprising, innovative, and popular with British and Spanish bands.

Maria Rodés

In a sunny December afternoon, nerves are cracking with a thousand people outside a 19th century mansion, 5 minutes away from the coastal town of Sitges, just south of Barcelona.

Welcome to Secret Vida, a winter music festival with a unique format: a secret line-up that nobody knows the identity of before the artist goes on stage.

For months, impossible clues have been posted on social media for attendees to guess who is the band from Brighton, who is coming from Glasgow, or further afield, and who is the band which is related to a drawing of a dog… or is it a wolf?

Bands from over the globe, fly to this exquisite renaissance style venue in Spain, for a weekend in the local winter.

The mansion, that once housed the former Gran Casino Barcelona during its

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Wooze

golden age in the 1970’s, has gardens, a fireplace and a cellar.

The event, which started last year, has become popular with music lovers, a platform for upcoming bands and a treat for more established bands thanks to its unusual setting. ‘We have been out there for 30 years and tonight has been like being back in the old days, like playing to audiences when people did not know us’, explains Norman Blake, former singer of Teenage Fanclub, who surprised fans with a show that was described by many, with tears of happiness, as the best gig of their lives.

Composer Maria Rodés opened this year’s edition, with her folk wisdom and her astral pop. David Byrne (Talking Heads) invited her to Meltdown London in 2015, making her feel ‘like a little ant who has been miraculously seen’. Today, she continues appearing in David’s

Finca Mas Solers

Spotify list of favourite artists. She is the first artist that brought a revisited version of the Spanish Copla to Mexico and Colombia, playing with Julieta Venegas and Carla Morrison.

‘In Latin America there is a huge tradition of songwriters that we do not have here’, she says, before explaining that she engages with different music styles as a therapy and a way of selfdiscovery. She creates melodies from genres that are not usually touched by young musicians.

With a mix of tribal African music and futuristic sounds exploring spirituality, love and politics, the band Egosex also immediately connected with the audience. ‘We do what we call visual music; we like to talk about deep stuff and interact with the audience allowing them to interpret it.’ With a great concept behind it, their music feels like a spiritual. They define themselves as a trance jungle blues band and they feel they have ‘a responsibility to connect with the Spanish audience’ that is less used to bands like theirs. Korean-British band Wooze took the audience into their unique lyricism and genre-bending sound. ‘We are big fans of people who can create pop out of a very un-poppy template, it is pop music in a weird hold’, they explain. ‘The idea of Secret Vida is very dared, it is very different to see a band who you have paid for than

seeing someone you might not know, we felt people was going up with us throughout the gig and it felt amazing’, the South London-based band explains.

With a great sense of humour and spark they are definite rising stars on the indie circuit.

Brighton’s Ensemble Fur, who amazed everyone with their vibrant nostalgiatinged bops, have made a name for themselves through shows soaked in modernized 60s reminiscence. ‘You wear your influences on your sleeves but when you put it in your own context, you naturally create something that sounds different; we do it unconsciously’, they explain. They are in the top lists in places like Asia, Perú and Brazil. A selfmade video they posted, reached 20M views and cemented their position in the industry. ‘It put us in a very unique place as we do not even have an album and we have been playing gigs over the world for three years so we are testing the album before recording it; that is unusual’, they explain with a lovely contagious energy.

All bands found it very hard to keep the secret but no-one spoiled the wow factor, or the mystery; it really felt like playing Cluedo with music. en.vidafestival.com/secret-vida Photography: Ray Molinari

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Johnson’s political idol, and a subject of one of his books is Winston Churchill.

He shares with Churchill a privileged education (Eton and Oxford), and sense of entitlement to power bred by his social upbringing along with a deeply felt admiration for Britain’s contribution to the development of human history.

BORIS JOHNSON: LIVING A LIFE LESS ORDINARY

By Jimmy Burns

The Executive Editor of La Revista, a journalist and author, shares some personal insights about a politician who in December 2019 pulled off one of the most remarkable election victories in British modern history.

I first met Boris Johnson in London in early 1988. Johnson was then a trainee reporter with The London Times, I was a staff journalist with the Financial Times (FT). Johnson was not long out of university. I had some years already in the profession. We were covering a national strike by the National Union Seamen (NUS) against the new labour laws brought in by Mrs. Thatcher’s government.

He had an engaging look of bemusement. He asked me whether I might help him make sense of it all, which I was happy to do. I was somewhat taken back by his humorous selfdepreciation. We struck up a friendship which would be rekindled over the years, even if our politics diverged.

Johnson would be eventually sacked by the Times for his lack of professional rigour-before moving to the Telegraph as its Brussels correspondent. He repaid the favour of that early ‘lifeline’ he felt I had extended to him inviting me to British cooked breakfast when we met again- by then he was a member of parliament, and I was covering a Conservative Party conference for the FT.

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When Johnson was elected Mayor of London, he agreed to be guest speaker in March 2013, of a fund-raising gala dinner of the BritishSpanish Society. He arrived late for the black-tie event on his bicycle, his hair uncombed and wearing a loose tie and crumpled suit. He shared a table with the then chairman of the BSS, Dame Denise Holt and the then Spanish Ambassador Federico Trillo.

It was a sell-out guest-list of anglophile Spaniards and British with enduring Hispanic links. Johnson entertained his audience with stories of his travels around Spain in his youth. He concluded his spirited speech by jokingly suggesting that Spain´s relationship with the UK was so good that Spain should consider leaving the Euro and joining the pound.

Such sense of ‘Boris’ humour has not always played well with his critics.

Johnson’s biographer, Sofia Purnell, said he and his sister Rachel reported in their youth on animal welfare in Spain and Portugal in 1985. Her book said the pair took pictures of bullfights. When Johnson later was editing the Spectator magazine, he asked a former Conservative foreign minister Lord Tristan Garel -Jones

Johnson valued in Churchill his reputation for taking risks, often in the pursuit of personal glory, and his belief in the overriding liberal democratic sentiment of the British.

Where Johnson’s path diverges from that of Churchill is in his choice of pets and infidelities. Churchill had a preference for cats-although he is associated with a bulldog- and was devoted to his enduring wife Clementine. Johnson has a Jack Russell called Dilyn, one of the stars of his election campaign.. if he might become his bullfighting correspondent.

There is of course much more to Johnson’s life that is worth considering.

They include his biased anti-EU reporting during his years as the Telegraph Brussels correspondent which undoubtedly fed into the radical Eurosceptic tendency of the most right wing nationalist wing of the Conservative Party and which gave way to Johnson’s decision to be one of the lead campaigners to leave the EU in the 2016 referendum.

Despite his apparent populist nationalism, Johnson is interested in European history and culture, can speak some French, German and Spanish, and has often spoken openly about his multi-cultural immigrant ancestry.

Nor of course has Johnson yet proved himself with anything that remotely equates to the achievement of that Finest Hour in 1940 when Churchill rallied his people to fight and defeat Nazism when Europe seemed lost to the forces of tyranny.

Churchill said of the British people: “We are with Europe but not of it. We are linked, but not comprised. We are interested and associated but not absorbed…”

Only time will tell whether Johnson sees the need to balance his political opportunism with his ability to take risks, drawing on the British tradition of pragmatism and his own personal charm to win friends not just among his voters, but also in Europe, in a spirit of give and take.

Photography: Richard Barker

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LAST WORD

¡QUÉ BUENOS SON LOS FRESONES! By Dominic Begg A long-term British resident celebrates the enduring tradition of the Spanish food market with its engaging vendors and quality home-grown produce while reflecting on how the sector has evolved over the years.

A stallholder at Madrid’s San Miguel market used to bellow this proclamation in the late spring of 1967 and I’ve never forgotten it. The strawberries he was promoting came from nearby Aranjuez and the market where he worked just sold raw food, to be taken away, prepared and eaten. In recent years this lovely structure has evolved into an upmarket tapas rendezvous, with a few surviving fruit & vegetable stalls for local colour, and if you can find any strawberries, they’ll probably have made the journey from around Lepe or Palos de la Frontera.

Something similar has happened to many Spanish markets, including the modernista Sarrià market in Barcelona, where I lived in the late 70s and 80s. I remember two details from those times.

One involved a toothless old lady at her poultry stall who, scrutinising my face and that of our first baby in my wife’s arms, commented “¡Así que ella no te ha engañado!” (“So she didn’t cheat on you!”). The other concerns an Andalusian mother and son toiling away at their fruit stall, while the father kept a low profile among the empty crates, only to emerge as the key man during the melon season.

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the air heavy with Moroccan spices; and the old Figueras market, strong on cheeses from across the border, which, in the French way, used to close at 1 pm, thus nudging us towards hearty lunches at Can Jeroni just a few yards away.

My favourite open-air market, occupying the main square of Viveiro (Rías Altas) every Thursday morning, is almost a medieval experience, with peasantwomen from outlying villages sitting on the stone steps, offering wild strawberries, pale home-made cheeses, dark honey and creamy milk, still warm from the family cow. Everything is local, though once (out of a total of 15 summers in Viveiro) we came across some truly delicious red pears from the Bierzo area. We’ve never seen them since, anywhere!

In Sitges on Saturdays there’s an alfresco market in Plaça Catalunya, a short stroll from home. Lluís and his wife drive their truck up from Xerta, one of the northernmost Levante pueblos blessed with extensive orange groves.

Their mandarins and clementines are sensational (*see photo). Likewise

peaches, nectarines and cherries, including the stalkless picota variety that arrive as the season ends. The perfect apricot remains hard to find, though Lluís occasionally strikes gold.

Finally I should mention a local fruit & vegetable shop that has been serving Sitgetans for over 60 years, owned by the Xamaní family, who happen to be our neighbours. (They sell the biggest and best nísperos sent up from Alicante, packed on straw in a wooden case).

Great-grandmother María hails from the small village of Gualba (Montseny) where, as a girl on the family farm, she had to get up early to bake bread.

One morning, before dawn, in early 1939, a shepherd’s boy ran in from the hills to give warning that Franco’s advanceguard were approaching along the hilltops. María immediately doused her fire, shutting all doors and windows in order to prevent a whiff of fresh bread attracting violent plunderers. Her plan worked and the troops carried on along the ‘high road’, unaware of the village below, which survived. As, thankfully, did María!

near Lanjarón meant he had an uncanny gift for picking out the perfect melon, to the point that other fruit vendors would get him to check out their batches.

Other covered markets that have impressed me include Arrecife (Lanzarote), featuring unusual fish from African waters; Sanlúcar de Barrameda, a feelgood space on a spring morning; Compostela’s small red peppers, twice the size of a classic Padrón; Almuñécar,

Dominic Begg at a local market in Sitges: Fruit from Xerta

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