The History Man

In 1807 Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Spain and Portugal and installed his brother Joseph Bonaparte as Emperor.

Together with allies Portugal and England the Spanish fought back. This was known as the War of Independence, or, as we British know it, The Peninsular War.

[© Wikipedia]    

This alliance soon began to prevail and two stories being celebrated this coming weekend are testament to that success: Montejaque and Algarrobo, both villages in the province of Malaga in Andalucia.

La Batalla de La Puente, Montejaque

In 1810 a group of 700 French soldiers came upon Montejaque but were repelled by a ragbag of old men, boys and women.

The festival called La Batalla de la Puente commemorates this.

It starts today, Friday September 18th and runs until Sunday.

    [© Pueblea]

History

The British army, under Arthur Wellesley, the future Duke of Wellington, guarded Portugal and campaigned against the French alongside the reformed Portuguese Army and provided whatever supplies they could get to the Spanish, while the Spanish Armies and guerrillas tied down vast numbers of Napoleon's troops.

In 1812, when Napoleon set out with a massive army on what proved to be a disastrous French invasion of Russia, a combined allied army defeated the French at Salamanca and took the capital Madrid.

Montejaque [© Facebook]

In the following year the Coalition scored a victory over Emperor Joseph Bonaparte's army at the Battle of Vitoria paving the way for victory in the war in the Iberian Peninsula.

More on this story:

Batalla de "La Puente" - andalucia.org

Batalla de la Puente - Montejaque - Eye On Spain

'Battle of the Bridge' historical re-enactment in Montejaque - Secret Serranía de Ronda - andalucialive.com

La Quema de Algarrobo

The "burning" of Algarrobo is a festival which commemorates the failed attempt in 1811 by French troops to burn down the town during the War of Independence.

Among other events, there are theatre performances and further events by guest associations, parades, craft markets a "tapas" route, exhibitions, workshops, competitions and musical performances.

    [Andaluciamia]

[© Facebook]    

More on this story:

Algarrobo (Málaga) - Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre

Búsqueda en la BBDD de artículos publicados - Ayuntamiento de Algarrobo

Inicio - www.algarrobo.es

© The History Man MMXXVI

Pictures:

Britannica, Karl Smallman

Thanks:

Jennie Rhodes, Paul Whitelock, SUR in English, www.secretserrania.com

Tags:

Arthur Wellesley, Ayuntamiento de Algarrobo, Ayuntamiento de Montejaque, Batalla de La Puente, Britannica, Duke of Wellington, Jennie Rhodes, Joseph Bonaparte, Karl Smallman, Napoleon Bonaparte, Paul Whitelock, Quema de Algarrobo, SUR in English, The History Man, www.secretserrania.com

On the morning of September 11th 2001 I had delivered a training session to teachers in Formby (Merseyside) - I was a schools adviser at that time - and popped into a local pub for lunch with my secretary and another colleague.

Imagine our surprise and horror at the live pictures showing on the TV. Two planes in quick succession crashed into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York before our very eyes. After the second plane hit the second tower we knew that the first collision had been no accident.

[Britannica]    

I don't think we ate much of our lunch.

After working in the office all afternoon I called into my local in Warrington (Cheshire) where the TV was re-capping the events of the day.

We learned of United Airlines flight 93 which crashed in a field just short of the Capitol after the passengers overcame the hi-jackers. We also found out that a fourth plane had failed to reach the Pentagon, its intended target, and crashed in the vicinity killing all on board.

US President Bush went into hiding, arabs cheered in the Middle East and the world gazed on in total shock.

[The Washington Post]    

In that moment we knew that the world would never be the same again.

September 11th, 2026

Today is the 25th anniversary of this terrible occurrence. At Ground Zero, the site of the Twin Towers, which collapsed following the collisions by the two planes, there was a major event to commemorate the 2,996 dead and thousands more injured from that day. Amongst the various acts of remembrance the names of all the dead were read out.

Ground Zero, New York [Trip Advisor]    

Astonishingly, President Trump did not attend. He preferred to make a private visit to a golf tournament in Ireland being held at a course which he owns. Shame on the man!

There were also vigils in London and other cities around the world.

© The History Man MMXXVI

Pictures:

Britannica, The Washington Post, Trip Advisor

Acknowledgements:

BBC, Sky News, Wikipedia

Tags:

2996 dead, 9/11, Britannica, BBC, Ground Zero, Paul Whitelock, President Bush, President Trump, September 11th 2001, Sky News, the Capitol, The History Man, the Pentagon, The Washington Post, Trip Advisor, Twin Towers, United Airlines flight 93, Wikipedia, World Trade Center