28 February is a día festivo in Andalucía. It celebrates the date in 1980 when, in a referendum, andaluces voted overwhelmingly to accept the new post-Franco democratic constitution and the establishment of 17 comunidades autónomas, of which Andalucía is one.
The local population take this daybvery seriously and they set out to enjoy themselves.
The History Man recently wrote an article for EyeOnSpain about the Día de Andalucía. You can read it here.
As for me, I had a great day, much of it unexpected yet good, therefore Serendipity.
After early coffee in the Ronda Valley Hotel, my local in Ronda, I headed off to Montejaque to do some work on my reforma in the village.
Guess who was there? My new neighbours who bought the house next door 12 months ago. Robert and Edyta are Poles from Warsaw. I didn't know they were coming. That was quite unexpected and it was a pleasure to see them again.
It was now midday, so I popped to the square to watch El Juego del Cántaro, a tradition in the village on Andalucia Day.
First up were the young kids from the village, followed by the macho twentysomethings - all of them male. Then it was the turn of the older women and at the end they wanted the guiris to form a group. I was roped in, together with Jane and Samantha, all of us English. The Germans and the Americans present all declined! Three local women made up the numbers.
All three of us were debutants, despite living in the village for many years. We gave a good account of ourselves and managed to keep the pitcher in play for a good quarter of an hour. Then a mortified montejaqueña dropped it. Game over! Our guiri honour was intact!
Next I set off for the next village down the Guadiaro valley, Jimera de Líbar, for a live music gig at Allioli Bar Y Más, the bar by the station, where I had arranged to meet some friends, locals, as well as a Scotswoman, a Danish lady, a Scouser and several other British folk.
The group was EQUIS, so called because X (equis in Spanish) is the letter used for foreigners (extranjeros) on NIEs and TIEs and the group members are all foreigners: Marcus, English, on lead guitar and vocals; Lindsay, also English, on keyboards; Klaus, German, on bass guitar and vocals; and Franci, from Gibraltar, on drums.
Incredibly, although I have known Marcus Myers for many years, I had only ever seen him perform solo.
EQUIS were a revelation. They played superb covers of The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, The Who, The Doors, Joe Cocker, Santana and The Police. Listen to an excerpt here.
I then went home to Ronda. I was on cooking duties, as my missus Rita was on the coast with her German friend Helen. However, it had been such lovely weather down there that they stayed out longer than planned. So, in the end we decided to go out for dinner to one of our favourite restaurants in the area, La Cascada at Hotel Molino del Puente.
As always we were treated to delicious food from Ian Love and excellent service by his wife Elaine.
Then it was back home for a nightcap. No sooner did we sit down on the sofa than I fell into a deep sleep …..
Further reading:
Early Morning Coffee
What is a guiri?