Its still raining in Manilva but the birds are happy!
Just thought I would share with you this amazing sight I saw out of my window this afternoon.
The rain may be depressing some people but the birds are certainly grateful. Does anyone know what type of birds these are and where they are going or have come from?
We woke up to the sound of heavy rain this morning. It doesnt rain very much here in Manilva but when it does it is like mother nature has turned on her power shower over us!
And why is it that it always seems to be the heaviest rain shower in the morning just before 9am when we are taking the children to school or at 2pm when we pick them up! The poor things got absolutely drenched. The roads and pathways turned into rivers and streams and water was gushing out of the drains which had reached their limit.
I went to check on the horses as they live out in their paddocks most of the time. I was expecting to find them looking wet, cold and miserable but was nicely suprised to see them not bothered at all by the rain and happily munching their breakfast.
I then turned to the sound of bells clanging and dogs barking to see the goat herder happily herding his goats down the hill towards me using his dogs like sheep dogs.
It made me realise that it wasn’t that bad afterall. Yes the rain here is very wet but it isn’t cold and wet like I remember it being in Bruge the weekend before last. We have warm rain here in Spain and that makes a big difference!
We also need the rain now and again to fill up our reservoirs and for our plants and crops. I remember always thinking how beautifully lush and green the countryside looks when the sun comes out again after a rain shower. And that is another wonderful thing about living in Spain – you know it wont be very long before the sun does come back out
“Who is Guy Fawkes?” my daughter asked me this morning while we were getting ready for school. And it occurred to me that unlike Halloween, the British tradition of burning an effigy of Guy Fawkes on a bonfire every 5th November wouldn’t be one adopted here in Spain.
Why? Well Guy or Guido Fawkes was born in 1570 in York to a family with strong Catholic ties at a time when Britain was a Protestant country and Catholics were being persecuted.
Guy Fawkes was 18 when the Catholic Spanish Armada attempted to invade Britain and as it had been supported by the Pope, the persecution of Catholics became more severe. Catholic Priests were forced to say Mass in private houses and Catholics had to attend Protestant services.
When Guy Fawkes was 21 he went to Europe and fought for Catholic Spain against the Protestant Dutch and even travelled to Spain to ask King Phillip III for support for a Catholic rebellion (which was rejected).
By 1605 discontent had grown to the extent that some Catholics were willing to take extreme measures. Guy Fawkes was involved in one such measure – the plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament at the opening of Parliament on November 5th, when King James I and leading politicians would be present. The intention was that with the King dead they would be able to restore a Catholic Monarch to the throne.
Unfortunately for Guy Fawkes, he was caught red handed in the cellars of the House of Lords with matches and a fuse next to 36 barrels of gunpowder. He was questioned and tortured until he confessed to the plot and immediately before his execution he jumped from the scaffold and broke his neck.
Four centuries later and people in England still commemorate this failure to blow up the Houses of Parliament by burning an effigy of Guy Fawkes on a bonfire followed by a firework display giving the effect of what blowing up the Houses of Parliament would possibly be like. It is also a reminder to all not be traitors…
“Remember, remember the 5th of November, Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason why gunpowder and treason should ever be forgot.”
I have fond memories of wrapping up warmly and going to bonfire nights with friends and standing around the bonfire, writing my name with the sparklers and drinking hot tomato soup. I vaguely remember one year making our own Guy Fawkes and walking him around our neighbourhood in a wheelbarrow “collecting for the Guy”. I also remember the excitement of watching the fireworks, the oooohs and the aaahhhhhs and loving the loud bangs.
So are my kids missing out on this….. well in a sense yes but they gain in so many other ways. And we celebrate a similar type of bonfire night here in Manilva every 23rd June which is just as if not more spectacular – El Noche de San Juan. I will blog about this some other time but if you are thinking about booking a holiday in June, make sure you are here for the evening of the 23rd as it is an amazing evening for all the family.
Manilva’s councillor for foreign residents, Diego Urieta, is encouraging both foreign residents and Spanish residents of Manilva in general to participate in this next activity organised by his delegation.
It is a one day trip to the Cadiz town of Sanlúcar de Barrameda. It is a very interesting town steeped in history. In 1498 Christopher Columbus left for his third voyage to the New World from Sanlúcar and it is one of Spain’s three better-known sherry producing towns.
I have visited Sanlúcar de Barrameda several times – it is the venue for the incredible horse race meetings on the beach every summer, next to the stunning Doñana National Park and is worth a visit even just to see the beautiful scenery on the way there.
The trip is scheduled for next Saturday, November 17 and the plan is for the bus to leave at 8.30 am from El Castillo de la Duquesa (Duquesa Castle).
There will be a guided tour of the historic area of Sanlúcar, a guided tour and tasting at Bodegas Barbadillo, a tour of La Rondeña polvorones factory and then free time in the afternoon to have lunch and do some shopping. The bus is scheduled to leave Sanlúcar at 6 pm.
The price for this trip is 16€ and lunch is not included in the price.
Those interested in reserving a place or wanting more information please contact the Foreign Residents department on 952893584 or e-mail extranjeros@ayto-manilva.com.
When we first moved to Spain 12 years ago, Halloween passed by without us seeing a witch, ghost or monster or having “trick or treat” ers at our doorstep.
However in the last few years its popularity has gained momentum.
This is probably due to the growth in foreign residents in Manilva (40% of Manilva’s population are from a different country) and the influence of American and British television, but also because the Spanish love any excuse for a party!
This year has been the best Halloween in Spain yet. When we heard that Manilva Town Hall Foreigners department were organising a Halloween party at Duquesa Castle (El Castillo de la Duquesa), we decided to invite some English and Spanish friends to meet at the Halloween Party at the castle and then when it got dark walk back to our house “trick or treat” ing on the way.
The headless horseman of La Duquesa!
When we arrived at the castle in La Duquesa I couldn’t believe my eyes at how many people had made the effort and dressed up. The castle was full up with hundreds of witches, ghouls and monsters wandering around scaring each other.
Halloween monsters with the Mayoress of Manilva, Antonia Muñoz and councillors for the Foreign Residents Department, Deigo Urieta and Valentina Radu
When the party was over and it was dark we made our way back home stopping at the urbanisations next to La Duquesa Golf Course on the way to “trick or treat”.
We knocked on the first few doors at Jardines del Golf and didn’t get a response. The kids were starting to get a bit disappointed but luckily the next house we called at there was someone there and they gave them some sweets to share. This was the boost they needed and they excitedly moved on to the next houses hoping that someone would answer. Of about 50 houses in Jardines del Golf only 3 answered but the ones that did were generous.
High on sweets and adrenalin we decided to move on to the next urbanisation, Villas del Golf, to see what response we would get there.
Thankfully the residents of Villas del Golf were very welcoming and generous and weren’t overwhelmed by the sight of lots of little monsters at their doorstep. The icing on the cake was the lovely couple at Villas del Golf who had hoped we would come as we had “trick or treated” there last year. They had decorated their house with bats and pumpkins and had gone to the trouble of making 12 orange pouches full of sweets to give to each child. The only problem was there was only 6 kids last year and this year the number had grown to 20 kids! But that didn’t matter, they went in and got more sweets so that no child was left out. My Spanish friends were amazed at their thoughtfulness and generosity and commented on how civilised the process was with them handing each child some sweets one by one. She said the Spanish would just chuck the sweets out of a window for the kids to grab as many as they can – like they do at 3 kings.
Content with the amount of sweets collected we finished the evening off back at my house which we had had fun decorating as a haunted house earlier that day. The kids ran off the rest of the sweet fuelled energy playing games in the garden. After pizza and pumpkin ice-cream cake courtesy of Mercadona everyone left happy (including my kids to sleepovers) and I was left happy that a good time had been had by all.
There will be a Christmas Charity flea market at the Municipal Hall (next to Lidl) on Saturday 15th December from 12.00 to 19.00.
It is to raise money for AFIMA (Asociación de Fibromialgia de Manilva) who the town hall supports because they do some great social work within Manilva’s community and encourage the integration of all foreign residents of the municipality to participate in the activities that are organised.
Activities at the market will include sessions of yoga, sessions of Reiki, talks about Fibromyalgia, Santa Claus, Christmas sweets, decorations, etc. There will also be music, bouncy castles, face painting, a postcard competition for the children and story telling.