Chinchón

Chinchón is one of my favorite places in the region of Madrid. I've been there three times since 2014, most recently last week. Here are a few photos from different seasons.

In the summer, the circular Plaza Mayor doubles as a bull ring.

The town's main church overlooks the Plaza Mayor.

The bell/clock tower stands apart from the church. In fact, it was once part of another church that was destroyed by Napoleon's troops. / 2nd photo is a view of the church and Calle de la Iglesia winding below it. 

 Looking down on Plaza Mayor from in front of the church.

One of many bread and pastry shops in Plaza Mayor.

Below: two residential doorways; one door with a curtain to keep the heat out and another in a tiny courtyard filled with plants and flowers.

Below: Plaza Mayor looks quite different in the early morning -- and winter, when there aren't any bullfights.

Below: Ruins of the Castle of the Count of Chinchón.

Above, a bust of Ana de Osorio, Countess of Chinchon, who Carl Linnaeus named a genus of tree species after. The story goes that she promoted the use of the medicinal bark of the tree after she was successfully treated for malaria with it in Peru the 1630s. The scientific name was later modified from Chinchona to Cinchona, which is the accepted spelling today. It's also known as the Quinine Bark tree because that's where quinine comes from. 

Below more sreets and then some famous Chinchon pastries

Below, La Dulcera pastry shop and local delciacies such as Brothers' Balls & Novices' Tits

Brothers' Balls

Novices' Titis

Madrid, Spain: Plaza Mayor and Bullfighting Culture (Video)

Saints above, party in the street!

Today is a public holiday in Madrid, as well as a day of festivities in a few other places in Spain. What's it all about?
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Well, it's all supposed to be in honor of Saint Isidore the Laborer or San Isidro el Labrador. Saint Isidore (born in 1070, died on 15 May 1130) was a native of Madrid who became the patron saint of the peasants and laborers. According to legend, he was a poor peasant farmer, who along with his wife Maria (also a saint - Santa María de la Cabeza), was so generous that they shared the little they had with others. Today Saint Isidore is the patron saint of Madrid, as well as of other locations in Spain and around the world.
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Although the 15th is the official holiday, in Madrid the partying starts the Friday before that date and lasts until the the following Sunday when cookouts serving traditional Madrid stew (cocido Madrileño) are held around the region. While most events take place in or near downtown Madrid, all of the Autonomous Region known as The Community of Madrid ("Communidad de Madrid") observes the holiday. So, suburbs, neighboring towns and even small villages have their own special events.
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Back in the city, probably one of the most traditional parts of the of the observance is the pilgrimage to the hermitage erected in the saint's honor in Saint Isidore's Meadow (La pradera de San Isidro) on the banks of the Río Manzanares River. In Plaza de las Vistillas the saint's statue is paraded around while Madrileños wear traditional costumes, enjoy picnics and drink from the plaza's fountain. At night concerts are held there. Plaza Mayor in the city center probably sees the most action, with nightly concerts and one of the biggest cocido cookouts. Another big event is the series of bullfights held at Madrid's iconic Las Ventas bullring. Of course there are many other events all week long: parades, exhibitions, street fairs, and a wide variety of musical performances -- from opera to flamenco pop to Hip-Hop; from local bands to international stars.
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Although only an official holiday in Madrid sine 1947, a picture Goya painted in 1778, La pradera de San Isidro, attests to the importance of this event in the city's past.
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Places outside the Community of Madrid that have events honoring San Isidro as their Patron Saint include:
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Tenerife, Canary Islands
Yecla, Murcia Province
Castalla, Alicante Province
Dueñas, Palencia Province
Medina de Pomar, Burgos Province
Alameda, Estepona and Nerja, Málaga Province
Bujalance and Cañete de las Torres, Córdoba Province
Alcadozo, Cenizate and Zulema, Albacete Province
Mazcuerras, Cantabria
Paterna del Campo, Huelva Province
Cañada Juncosa, Cuenca Province
Santa María del Páramo, León Province
Huétor-Tájar , Granada Province
La Lastrilla, Segovia Province
Villasequilla, ToledoProvince
Torreorgaz, Cáceres Province
and, of course, in the town of San Isidro, Almería Province.
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Chao amig@s,
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Carloz

Spain's Saturday News: The bulls, nudes and politicians are running!

The running of the toros begins in Pamplona. The bulls were after the crowds in the streets of Pamplona today for the first 'encierro' (bull run) of the Festival of San Fermin. Of course injuries are inevitable as throngs make a mad dash ahead of the two ton animals charging down the narrow streets, but only seven people have been treated for minor injuries so far.
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Last year, more than 200,000 people traveled to Pamplona, according to the city government, and even more are expected this year because the start of the festival fell on the beginning of a weekend. The major day of the festival is always July 7th, when thousands march and dance through the streets of Pamplona with an effigy of Saint Fermin.
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Every day of the festival has a carnival atmosphere, with rides, dancing and lots of wine and sangria. At night the partying intensifies, with street entertainers and large puppet-like 'giants' roaming around. Then in the morning, the encierro begins again.

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Click here for photos of the fiesta.
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The running of the desnudos, too. This past Thursday Peta (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) organized a nude march through Pamplona. Animal rights activists wearing red scarves, fake horns and not much else chanted slogans such as, ''Bulls yes! Bullfighters no!'' and ''Torture isn't culture.''
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A statement on PETA’s website reads: “The Running of the Bulls and bullfighting are often justified as culture and tradition, but some traditions – like child labour and slavery – are bad and need to end.”

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Click here for photos of the event.
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Then there's the running of the politicos. El Pais reported today that according to a survey conducted by CIS (Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas), 45% of those surveyed who sRunning of theaw or listened to the debate thought Prime Minister Zapatero won, while only 16.5% thought opposition leader Rajoy did. In addition, 60% responded that Zapatero seemed knowledgeable about the problems facing the country, 70% that he demonstrated moderation during the debate and 63% that he handled criticism well. Rajoy scored 56%, 34% and 34% respectively on the same questions.
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Click here to see more of the results.

And in Wednesday’s News…You Tube; El Fary; Fighting Over Bullfighting; Does BCN Need Another Swimming Pool?; Wedding Wrongs

YouTube Speaks Your Language
Hola, Bonjour, Ciao, こんにちは, Hallo, Czesc, Holá and Hello!

YouTube goes Spanish — and French, Italian, Japanese, Dutch, Polish and Portugese. It will now be available in seven different languages. Apparently half of its traffic already comes from outside the USA and I’m sure they must want that to increase. I say, ¡Genial! http://es.youtube.com/

El Fary is dead! Also known as the singing taxi diver, José Luis Cantero Rada, was a popular singer from the late 1960s on. As a matter of fact, his latest record was released yesterday, the day of his death from cancer.

While still working as a taxi driver in Madrid, he started as a copla singer (an Andalusian song style involving dramatic love stories, tragedies and lots and lots of passion) and eventually embraced other musical Spanish styles. He sang (and wailed!) about love, bullfighting, and everyday people.

He seemed to have been a real phenomenon. There’s even a rather unique collector’s item for fans: a little plastic replica of him called the CARROFARY that is designed to be hung from the rear view mirror of a car. (If you want to see one, watch the outrageous Spanish movie Torrente 3 - The Protector. Torrente 1 and 2 are even better, if such an adjective can be applied to this kind of movie.)

By coincidence, in one of my English lessons last week, which was based on the musical Jesus Christ Superstar, I asked my students to name Spanish superstars. El Fary was one of the first that came up –and these students were under 30 years old!

Spain, The Land of Bullfights? Speaking of bullfighting, one of the free newspapers reported today that bulffighting is causing division in Zapatero’s government under the headline, Los Toros dividen a los Españoles y tambien al Consejo de Ministros. (Bullfights divide Spaniards as well as the Council of Ministers.)

Apparently the publication asked several individual Ministers their opinions on bullfights and received a range of responses. ¡Que sorpresa! On one extreme was the Minister of Culture, who responded that fans have the right to attend bullfights and no law is going to end the events, while the Minister of the Environment claimed that personally she would favor legal reforms to do away with them, beginning with prohibiting the killing of the bulls.

By the way, bullfights are not ver popular among Catalonians and I have heard local people say thye believed they should be prohibited. A week or two ago there were protests at local bullfights, which do not take place here often. There are two bullrings in Barcelona and one of them is being converted into a shopping center. The other one seems to hold more circuses and concerts than bullfights.

Anyone for a dip? In the underwhelming developments department, the 5 star Hotel Rey Juan Carlos has opened its swimming pool and for the first time it will be open to the public, too. Hey, why should I walk five minutes to the beach when I can travel across town to a neighborhood far from the center of town and nowhere near the sea to swim in luxury.

Wedding Bell Blues In Betanzos, Galicia a woman discovered she was doubly conned into a fake marriage. It turned out the groom was only separated, not divorced, and the priest was really a tractor driver. ¡Ay caramba!


Copied from original http://myspainblog.wordpress.com/ posting by Carloz on 20 June, 2007