Mexican food in Barcelona? Pues, claro ¡a Casa Mexicana!

As I've written before, Barcelona's cosmopolitan nature is reflected in the menus on offer in the city's many and diverse restaurants. In addition to dining establishments serving the richly varied cuisine of Spain (Andalusian, Basque, Catalan, Galician, Valencian, etc.), there are many places offering food from other parts of the world; this includes more than a few Mexican restaurants. My favorite of these by far is Casa Mexicana.

Located in the Porto Olimpico, Casa Mexicana is right next door to the Chinese restaurant I wrote about in July 2007. Like that place, there is a comfortable interior dining room filled with lots of natural light, as well as open air terrace where diners can enjoy a harbor view while eating.

The reasonably priced menu includes a wide range of items such as nachos, tacos, quesadillas, flautas, tamales, chilaquiles, burritos, enchiladas, fajitas, chimichangas, chicken mole, BBQ chicken, grilled steak and even Tex-Mex lasagna. Vegetarian varieties of many dishes are also available. For dessert choose from buñelos with whipped-cream and/or chocolate sauce, a slice of the cake of the day, or fresh fruit.

Interestingly, Casa Mexicana is the only Mexican restaurant in Barcelona that serves breakfast. Every weekday morning diners can enjoy either huevos rancheros with bacon, huevos a la Mexicana, huevos con papas, huevos con chorizo or a Mexican omelet. And serving sizes are very generous, whether its a breakfast, lunch or dinner dish.

From Monday through Friday Casa Mexicana offers excellent lunch specials for only 8.95 euros, plus tax. As an example of these mid-day specials, let me tell you about what I frequently order -- creature of habit that I am. Usually I begin with a tasty starter of nachos with cheese and guacamole. For the main plate I typically choose one of their huge beef burritos, which bulge with meat, veggies, cheese and sour cream. This comes with a fresh green salad, half of a baked potato and pico de gallo. For a follow up to this hearty and scrumptious meal I almost always go with a helping of their delicious buñelos, which I prefer with whipped-cream, but sans chocolate sauce. Of course, like most "menus del día" in Spain, the price of the lunch includes a choice of wine, beer, water or soft drink. It all amounts to a delectable deal, indeed.

The owners of Casa Mexicana are a friendly couple named Michael and Carina. If you ever visit the restaurant, ask for one of them and mention to him or her that you learned about their restaurant from Carloz's blog and you may just get a free tequila!

Buen provecho amig@s,

Carloz

Casa Mexicana

C/ Marina 16-18

08005 Barcelona

Hours:

Breakfast Weekday Mornings 8h - 12h

Lunch Weekdays and Weekends 12h - 17h

Dinner Weekdays and Weekends 19h - 24h

Reservations accepted:
Email: casa.mexicana.bcn@gmail.com
Phone (+34) 932 215 645
Web: http://www.casa-mexicana-bcn.eu/
Menu in English and Spanish.

The Spanish Constitution is 30 years old

It's a typical Constitution Day - Immaculate Conception "puente" (long weekend) here in Spain -- lovely weather, Christmas decorations everywhere, people milling about, restaurants packed with diners, politicians talking nonsense, etc.

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On this 30th anniversary of Spain's Constitution, opposition leader Mariano Rajoy has accused Prime Minister Jose Rodrigo Zapatero of destabilizing Spain. In case anyone might think he was mincing words, he threw in terms like irresponsible, frivolous and disturbing.

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Rajoy has assured everyone, however, that he did not want to cast a shadow over the country's celebrations. I suppose he simply wanted to get as much press coverage as possible -- which he seems to have done, as he's right up there on most front pages, along with reports on the Royal family's plans for today and Zapatero's revelation that in his opinion the Spanish Constitution, "has been, is and will be useful."

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I'm not sure if Z's remark was an example of faint praise or faint oratorical skill.

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We can only hope that no politicians will feel a need to comment on the Immaculate Conception.

Chao amig@s,

Carloz

May 2nd: The birthday of "Spain" or simply a rebellion against France?

That's the big debate this Dos de Mayo. In fact, aside from the events of this date being the inspiration for two of Goya's best known paintings, probably the only other things about this holiday that everyone in Spain can agree on is that this year's is the bicentennial of the Madrid Uprising, and that this act of insurrection led to the 1808-1814 Spanish War of Independence, or Peninsular War -- a war that saw Spain, Portugal and the United Kingdom fighting the troops of Napoleon Bonaparte. Just about everything else is up for debate.
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First, let me give a brief chronology of events:

• October 1807 – French troops invade Portugal, after passing through Spain, which at the time was an ally of France.


• February 1808 – French troops invade Spain. (So much for alliances!)


• March 17 – King Charles IV of Spain abdicates.


• April 1808 – Napoleon announces that his brother, Joseph, will be crowned King of Spain.


• May 2, 1808 – An insurrection against the French, today known as the Madrid Uprising, begins in the streets of the Spanish capital.


• May 3 – In retaliation French troops kill hundreds of people in Madrid, an action which only adds fuel to the fire and helps the revolt to spread throughout the country.


• June 6 – Joseph Bonaparte is proclaimed King of Spain.


• August – Full blown war rages across the Iberian Peninsula.


• March 12, 1812 - The first Spanish Constitution is adopted by the Cortes Generales, the national legislature operating in refuge at Cádiz.


• March 1814 – King Charles' son, Ferdinand VII, returns to Spain as King, with a promise to uphold the constitution.


• April – Napoleon abdicates and the Treaty of Paris is signed.


• May – Ferdinand reneges on his promise, suspends the constitution and arrests many involved in its creation. (So much for promises!)

As you can see from this bare-bones outline, during this seven year period one absolute monarch (Charles IV) abdicated , the people rose up against a foreign absolute monarch (Bonaparte), the first Spanish constitution was written, and a constitutional monarch (Ferdinand VII) came to the throne, who then dissolved the constitution and proclaimed himself absolute monarch.
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And this they call the Spanish War of Independence?! Well, not all Spaniards do. For example, here in Catalunya some refer to it as the French War. However, disagreement isn't limited to Catalunya, nor does it only focus on what the war should be called.
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No, the big debate today seems to be about whether or not a sense of Spain as a unified nation began to take shape on May 2, 1808. Some people see the events of that day and the war that followed as a point of reference for the development, for the first time, of a Spanish national identity. Others view it as simply a revolt against French cruelty and not something rising out of a common feeling of Spanishness.
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Historians, journalists, politicians and people on the street argue about which version of events is “true.” Indeed, it seems to me that Spanish newspapers have been covering this debate much more than commemorative events, such as the reenactment of the uprising or the Goya exhibition at the Prado, which includes the recent restorations of his masterpieces on the subject, 2 de Mayo and 3 de Mayo.
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To give you an idea of what I mean, below are snippets based on what I've read lately, mostly in El País, El Periódico and Público.
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One of the most vocal, and controversial, proponents of the “birth of Spain” point of view is Esperanza Aguirre, President of the Autonomous Community of Madrid. She has said, "If Spaniards rebelled against Napoleon, it was because they already had a sense of Spain as a great nation and therefore wouldn't tolerate anyone imposing their will on it."
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Some see positions like hers as hearkening back to the popular interpretation of May 2nd in the Franco era. Novelist Arturo Pérez-Reverte has described, “the myth that Spaniards of my generation were taught at school in the 50s and 60s: resistance to the last; defense of homeland and religion; unified feelings of collective loyalty to a Spain united in all its diversity, and so on.”
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Others go so far as to say the war was actually “the first Spanish civil war.” Although this notion seems to be shot down by most historians, Rafael Torres, author of 1808 - 1814 España contra España (Spain vs Spain), definitely seems to be of this opinion. He has even claimed that the seeds of the Carlist Wars and the Spanish Civil War were sown in this so-called Spanish War of Independence.
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Another interesting take on the meaning of it all was also from Arturo Pérez-Revert, when he said that what really came after the seven years of war was, "the return of the most infamous king in Spanish history, Fernando VII, the abolition of constitutional rights, and crushing proof that Spaniards got their enemies confused in 1808 – or a few years earlier when it was perhaps still possible to set up a guillotine in Madrid's Puerta del Sol. It was a mistake we are still paying for 200 years later."
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And he might have added that after all those years, Spaniards are still arguing about it -- and probably will be for the next 200 years, too!
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Chao amig@s,
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Carloz
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P.S. For a more thorough, but still brief, synopsis of May 2nd and the subsequent war, click here.
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P.P.S. The painting in the photo above is "Malasaña y su Hija" (Malasaña and his Daughter) by Eugenio Álvarez Dumont. Manuela Malasaña, a young seamstress, was one of the people killed in the uprising. Today she is considered a Spanish heroine, with streets, plazas, schools, and a lively Madrid neighborhood named after her. (I lived in that neighborhood for one year and, so, my description of it as lively is from first-hand experience!)

A one, two punch – May 1st and 2nd

May 1st is Labor Day in Spain and much of the world. May 2nd is the anniversary of the beginning of what Spaniards call the "Guerra de la Independencia española." (This translates as the "Spanish War of Independence" but in the English speaking world it is more commonly referred to as the Peninsular War.) While not an official national holiday, it is in certain communities (most significantly the Community of Madrid) and is an unofficial holiday everywhere else. While some people view these dates as simply another chance for a “puente” (literally, “bridge”; figuratively, “long weekend”), others take one or both of these days very seriously.

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First things first : May 1st is a bank holiday in Spain known as el Día del Trabador/a, or Workers Day. Here it is usually translated into English as Labour Day. (This is Europe, so British spelling is more commonly used.) Globally it is also known as International Workers' Day.

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Several times during my time in Spain I have used the history of this holiday, and the fact that "Labor Day" is not celebrated on the same date in the USA, as a basis for English lessons. (Lessons based on historical events provide opportunities for past tense usage, vocabulary building and conversation skills practice.) Students are usually surprised to learn that one of their country's holidays actually has its roots in events that took place in Chicago, Illinois -- and that this connection is not well known in the USA either. Below is a brief history:

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In 1886 the American Federation of Labor (AFL) called for a strike on May 1st to demand a limit to hours employees had to work each day. The proposal was for an 8 hour workday. So, on that date hundreds of thousands of workers across the USA walked off their jobs. In Chicago, perhaps as many as 80,000 workers struck that day. The strike continued and grew over the next few days and eventually unrest broke out.

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On May 3rd Chicago police killed 4 strikers outside a factory. During a rally in Haymarket Square on May 4th to protest the killings, someone threw a homemade bomb at the police, who then fired into the crowd. One policeman and seven civilians were killed. Although the bomber was never identified, the authorities arrested several of the city's labor leaders. Seven individuals were tried and found guilty, four of these were executed and a fifth killed himself in jail while awaiting execution. The trial was widely viewed as rigged and six years later the Governor of Illinois pardoned the two who were still in prison and declared that those who had been executed had not been guilty. Today this series of events is known by various names: the Haymarket Affair, the Haymarket Riot, and the Haymarket Tragedy.

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At the request of the AFL in 1889, the world labor movement's congress, which was being held in Paris that year, adopted May Day as an international day of action to call for the 8 hour workday as a norm and to commemorate the events in Chicago. May 1st has been known as International Workers Day / Labor Day ever since.

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Under Franco this holiday was not observed. Indeed, it wasn't until 1978, 3 years after Franco's death, that Labor Day gatherings were legalized. Despite this, events did take place in '76 and '77.

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These days the holiday is marked by rallies around the country, most of which are organized by two of the major Spanish labor unions, The CCOO (Comisiones Obreras = Workers' Commissions) and UGT (Unión General de Trabajadores = Workers' General Union). This year some 60 events are planned nationwide. Of course, the biggest rallies are usually in Madrid and Barcelona. The slogan the unions have selected for this year's celebration is, "This is the moment for equality, a decent salary and productive investment." (“Es el momento de la igualdad, el salario digno y la inversión productiva.”) The unions hope that year parliament will raise the minimum monthly salary from 600 euros to 800 a month -- to take effect in 2012!

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Let me explain here that Spain has a minimum monthly salary for full time workers, rather than a minimum hourly wage. (I believe this is the same in other EU countries that have a legal minimum. Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy and Sweden do not set legal minimums.) For part time workers I suppose that amount is divided into fractions based on a 40 hour work week. Over the years I've asked may Spaniards about this, but no one I've ever asked has known.

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As a comparison, it's interesting to note that Spain's neighbors have wildly differing minimum monthly salaries: according to the Federation of European Employers, France's is currently 1,309 euros a month, while Portugal's is 426. Of course, in all three of these countries most residents earn more than the minimum.

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While lots of people will attend rallies today, many will be traveling, going to the beach, hiking in the mountains, eating out and such. Of course, in these uncertain economic times we live in, there may be many this year who will simply stay home.

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I'll write more about May 2nd, the unofficial holiday, in my next post.

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Chao amig@s,
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Carloz