Blog #La Vanguardia

The Spanish celebrate Christmas and New Year differently to most other countries. The month-long 'fiesta' lasts from 8th December, Immaculate Conception, through to 6th January, Epiphany. What happens in between is different also. Paul Whitelock first wrote about this back in 2020, when many traditional events were cancelled because of Covid-19. The original article has been tweaked. Here's the up-to-date version.

I picked up the latest copy of the Spanish version of National Geographic at the weekend because the portada proclaimed features about Alsace in France and Cordoba, here in Spain, both places I know and love. Imagine my surprise when, on flicking through the magazine, I discovered articles about Alava, Teruel, Cuenca, Picos de Europa, Vigo, Alcala de Henares, Tenerife, Andorra, and la Rioja. There were also features on Vienna, Warsaw, Pompei, Dominican Republic, Egypt, and Antarctica.

From the end of the Civil War in 1939 through to the demise of Franco's fascist dictatorship on his death in 1975, Spain was most definitely a 3rd-world country. Following Spain's return to being a monarchy in 1975 and, from 1977, a constitutional democracy, there was hope that things would improve. The borders opened and from 1986 Spain became a member of the European Union.