Weather in Spain

That leap from Winter to Summer without a hint of Spring!

It happens every year and I forget every year too!  We have had a lovely winter - the end March showed us a bit of temper and threw some rain (that was the day I chose to go to Marbella shopping with a friend - drowned rats - two  of...) but all in all compared to last year it was splendid.

With the start of April we had a couple of murky days and a day when it tried to rain but didnt get very far and now the past two or three days the weather in Spain thinks its mid summer!!! No really - the temperature today is set to be in the 30 degrees centigrade area and its taken everyone a bit unawares.

For instance the animals - if your dogs and cats are bit lethargic or have upset tummies - it could well be due to the heat.  Both of our dogs have asked to be let out during the night this week and they never do that so ...... be alert folks.

And on the subject of animals the ticks are about and although probably not in full flow, they are certainly evident.

The swallows have been around for at least a couple of weeks and are swooping in their wild but measured fashion over the pool for all the interesting (NOT) insect life that are practicing their backstroke.

AND the flowers - its such a feast at this time of year.  The roses are covered in big fat buds (the greenfly and blackfly have not homed in on ours yet!) and all those "flower once a year only" plants are covered in buds ready to burst out.  Garden watering is in full flow (well pot watering is anyway) and around me as I write the neighbourhood is planting, strimming, trimming, rotavating and generally making a lot of noise as the business of converting chest high weeds into tomato plants commences!

I am sorry to say that the Spanish here have absolutely no respect for water and the conservation of same! They allow their pools to become murky green dwellings for hundreds of living "things" over the winter and now the annual pool emptying session commences (not even onto the garden but running down the track).  All that lovely food in that water going to waste whilst they water the newly planted tomatoes with water from our communal well!!

(Man with strimmer is starting to get a bit irritating now actually!!)

The front door is open and the fallen orange blossom keeps blowing into the house on the little breeze that is causing confetti like showers of the stuff all over our property.  Still there are worse things to be drifting into the house than orange blossom.

And so we start again - that little frisson of excitement that heralds the onset of summer (that frisson that is frazzled in July and August) but for now its a lovely feeling of expectation.  And you know what I love, I am certain that the summer here will be sunny and warm (albeit a bit too warm at times).  That same frisson used to grab me at this time of year in England and so often the lovely April and May weather had degenerated into showers followed by rain for the rest of the summer and that early hope drowned by July!

So I might wax and wane a little on the journey but I love summer!! Bring it on!

Three Kings and Christmas in Spain

Its one of the things about Spain that I really like.  There is no real build up for the festive period as there would be from as early as August in the UK.  The early part of December is taken up with other festivities (CONSTITUTION DAY December 6th  National holiday throughout Spain in commemoration of the 6th December 1978 when the Spanish people voted in a national referendum to approve the draft constitution, thus providing the way forward for the creation of a democratic system in Spain) and (IMMACULATE CONCEPTION December 8th  On the Roman Catholic Church calendar of holy days, today is celebrated as a holy day of obligation, commemorating the Immaculate Conception of Mary.)


So we reach the 25th December in quite a peaceful frame of mind.  The shops are full of goodies but the frenzy is short lived.  Of course the other thing to remember is that the Spanish don't really celebrate 25th December in the same way we do.  For them its a holiday but not a present giving day - although the savvy have managed to include it into their celebratory calendar.  For the Spanish children there might be a small gift on  Christmas Eve (Nochebuena) but the main day for giving presents is 6th January - Epiphany which is when the 3 Kings came bearing gifts.  Doesn't that make much more sense? 


But then why is the birth of Christ considered to be on the 25th December when no date for his birth was ever recorded?  A strong theory suggests that this date was eventually chosen by the church because it aligned closely with a major pagan festival, dies natalis solis invicti (birth of the invincible sun god), therefore allowing the church to claim a new celebration for Christianity.


So in Spain the day for giving presents is 6th January DAY OF THE THREE KINGS  (Los Reyes Magos) twelve days after Christmas Day, with the coming of the Three Kings. Children place their socks outside for the Kings to deliver them presents, but only if they have been good. Naughty children have the fear of finding black coal in their socks instead of presents. On the eve of January 6th, it is tradition for three men to dress as the Kings and ride around the town in a colourful procession, scattering sweets to all the children who eagerly follow.  We have been to this procession in Malaga city and its lovely.  However, its recommended that you dont wear anything on your feet that is not easily cleanable and dont walk back into your house wearing this footwear.  The sweets reach many willing hands but many miss and the resulting sweet, sticky crunch underfoot does not enhance your shoe soles and will certainly transfer itself to your house flooring - trust me I KNOW!!!


I do like the idea of Three Kings but its a bit weird having such a mega holiday in January!! In the UK most schools have gone back by the 6th January and here its party, party.  Funny thing though.  A few years ago we met some friends for dinner at Plaza Mayor - an entertainment centre (shopping, cinema, restaurants and bars) just outside Malaga on 6th January.  Expecting the place to be dead and in fact not entirely sure we were going to find somewhere to eat it was therefore a shock to see it absolutely packed with Spanish people - not eating, no - SHOPPING!!! The power of the Euro eh?


All in all - I definitely like Christmas here - its different and much less frenetic!