Date registered: August 25, 2010
Dec
06
Today is Constitution Day, a national holiday in Spain. Spaniards are celebrating 32 years under the current constitution, which was written in 1978 by a constitutional assembly that convened following the death of General Francisco Franco. Many Spaniards were looking forward to this week as a mini-vacation week preceding the Christmas holidays. In Spain, Wednesday …
Dec
03
For Thanksgiving dinner, I prodded my brother-in-law, who was intent on bringing the wine, to go for a Spanish monastrell wine as I’ve become somewhat obsessed with the grape after writing about the different vineyards that produce wine from it. The only monastrell wine we could find in the liquor store was a mix: 50% …
Dec
01
Most Americans — and most English-speakers in general I should think – are familiar with Washington Irving’s work. His classic tales “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” have been woven into our cultural fabric. Irving also wrote the satirical A History of New York and spent considerable time in the U.K. where …
Nov
29
As much as I try to accentuate the positive here on Spainiacs, one can’t write about Spain these days without addressing the country’s miserable and depressing economy. It’s only getting worse. Can Spain recover without a bailout? And if not, what does that mean for Europe? Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, facing roughly 20% …
Nov
26
Your time is running out to be part of Spanish-language history. The joint effort by the Royal Spanish Academy and YouTube to post videos of people reading fragments of Don Quixote has 1,450 entries out of a total of 2,149, according to this site. The purpose of the project is to to promote the classic …
Nov
24
On Monday, I highlighted five new additions by the United Nations to its “world intangible heritage” list from Spain. I included a video of one of the new additions (the striking Mallorcan Cant de la Sibil·la) but it occurred to me that it might be instructive to include videos of some of the other Spanish …
Nov
22
The United Nations is making our job easy at Spainiacs by shining a bright light on Spain’s rich cultural heritage. Flamenco, the Catalan castells, the Mallorcan Cant de la Sibil·la, the Mediterranean diet and falconry were among 51 cultural practices from around the world added last week to the “world intangible heritage” list. The list, …
Nov
21
There wasn’t much substantive news coming out of Spain last week. But there’s nothing to spice up a slow news cycle like a little controversy. In death, Franco likely elicits more emotion from Spaniards than he did when he was alive. Read here for the latest battle over his memory, and specifically in this case, …
Nov
19
I’m all for limiting Thanksgiving dinner to traditional American fare. That is, for the most part: Spainiacs should feel free to inject a little bit of Spanish flavor. If you’re looking to do so, I strongly urge you to consider an earthy, crimson colored beet and walnut puree. I had no idea this was a …
Nov
17
There is a groundswell of opposition mounting against the Royal Spanish Academy’s proposed changes to the Spanish language. The most contentious point for Spanish speakers, especially in Spain, appears to be the proposed changes to the names of the letters ‘b,’ ‘v’ and ‘y.’ To some critics, this is nothing short of “cultural deterioration.” The …
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