5/11/2005
¡AY CARMELA! IN EXPOHISTÓRICA 2005
¡Ay Carmela was present at this year´s edition of the reenactment group exhibition Expohistórica, held at Castellón, Spain. .Our display where we reenacted a truce between soldiers of both sides, includee the participation of the Carlist group "boinas rojas" and the singer Sara Rierawho sang famous songs from the thirties.. Lo más importante fue sin duda la excelente acogida del público y de los medios de comunicación, que apreciaron el mensaje, de tono reconciliatorio y alejado de cualquier sectarismo, sobre el que está fundamentado nuestro proyecto. Así fue entendido, disipándose rápidamente los temores a una posible reacción adversa. Todo resultó tan emocionante y divertido como deseábamos, y esperamos volver a tener la oportunidad de repetirlo muy pronto.
Agradeceremos sinceramente las fotos que nos ha proporcionado Gabriel Ferrándiz, redactor gráfico del Heraldo de Castellón.
20/10/2005
SCW AT 1:6 SCALE
La
afición a las figuras articuladas a escala 1/6 sigue causando furor y, a pesar
de los amplios catálogos existentes en las distintas marcas, no son pocos los
apasionados de este hobby que no se
conforman con las que ya están en
el mercado. Por el contrario, buscan construir sus propias figuras mediante la
transformación de los elementos de otras, lo que se conoce como
“customización”. Eso es lo que hacen dos amigos, Vicenç y Paco, con
la particularidad de que su interés es la creación de personajes de la Guerra
Civil como los que aparecen, con notable fidelidad a su apariencia real, en las
fotos que se acompañan.
You can visit his web at: http://personales.ya.com/maquitoys/index.htm
18/9/2005
“THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR” BY ANTHONY BEEVOR
Anthony Beevor, one of the best known military historians of the last years, has finally published his work "The Spanish Civil War". The book is an update of the first version, published in 1982, being the treatment of the purely military aspects of the confict outstanding. Beevors´works are usually disputed due to some of his personal positions, but the rigor as an investigator and his intellectual honesty can´t be denied. Published by "Crítica" editorial, it costs 30 Euros.
18/9/2005
"MILICIANO" JESUS CHILD
The story is absolutely real. Two very religious sisters that lived in Madrid, often received the visit of the militia troops, looking for fifth columnists. In their modest house they kept an image of Jesus child and, afraid to lift suspicions or anger between the "milicianos" if the catholic image was found, they decided put their skills as seamstresses to good use. With a lot of ingenuity they sew a genuine miliciano uniform for the little image. It included a hat, blue coveralls and a "Sam browne" belt. “Ay Carmela” was permitted by one of the surviving sisters to take photographs of the Jesus child, which is kept exactly as it was during the war. The image is, at least, extraordinary.
9-7-2005
“¡AY, CARMELA ¡”, IN EXPOHISTÓRICA 2005
Expohistórica
2005 military
history and re-enactment exhibition will take place at Castellon, Spain
the 22nd and 23rd of October. Last
year´s success was partly due to the participation of our friends of the Línea
XYZ association, one of the most solid columns in which the
"¡Ay, Carmela!" proyect is based. 
In this year´s edition, they will be joined by all of us interested in the project of this beautiful lady called Carmela, including our british brother group "La Columna" , being their first event in spanish soil.
There will be many surprises and a staging that we hope will be remembered in future editions for its originality.
All the details of Expohistórica 2005 can be found here.
9-7-2005
BRIGADISTAS RETURN TO SPAIN
It seems it will be in november, and one of them will be Milton Wolf, celebrating his 90th birthday here. A more detailed account of the visit and the activities will be offered in this section.
9-7-2005
WAVE OF PUBLICATIONS
ABOUT THE CIVIL WAR
September
is the month when the newsstands are being flooded with periodic publications
about the Spanish Civil War. The collection “Testimonios de
la Guerra Civil” offers the re-publishing of books with personal accounts
of participants of both sides. Publisher Planet D’Agostini offers the
“Biblioteca de la Guerra Civil”, with best sellers of the last
seasons, including the book about the International Brigades by Andreu
Castells, unobtainable until now. Finally, newspaper “El Mundo”
offers a history of the war by parts. We´ll have to wait to give an
opinion about the contents and authors, but the general aspect is very good.
9-7-2005
AN EXCELLENT PLACE TO FIND A PAIR
OF ALPARGATAS
Anyone
wishing to represent a soldier of the Spanish Civil War must have a pair
of alpargatas. The use of this type of f
ootwear
was a constant during the war and can be tracked in many photos and personal
accounts. The spanish Alpargatas were fresh, light and sturdy. They are
still being manufactured, as they are perfect for the spanish summer.
In
Madrid many shops sell commonly used alpargatas
together with
"traditional" models. These last models were the ones used by the
soldiers in the thirties. Such is the case of "El Lobo", in the
calle de Toledo 30, close to la Plaza Mayor. In this shop you can
buy the alpargatas "aragonesas",
open and with black laces or the "castellanas" , closed and with white
laces. Prices range from 6 to 13 Euros depending on sizes.
9-6-2005
"BRIGADISTAS", A
PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBITION OF THE INTERNATIONAL BRIGADES
From september 14th until
november 6th, a photographic exhibition will take place in
the
Centro Cultural Conde
Duque (c/ Conde Duque 11, Madrid) in which a
complete collection of never published before photographs belonging to the
personal archives of Karol Swierczewski, the soviet-polish military
best known as "General
Walter", will be showed. It is said that this man inspired
Hemingway in the character of general Golz that appears
in "For whom the bells
toll". The exhibition promises to be excellent and a catalogue, in which
"¡Ay, Carmela!" has had a small collaboration , will be published.
The photographs of the exhibition have been lend by the A.A.B.I. (Association of friends of the International Brigades).
In the photo, Walter is fourth starting by the left . At his right is Lieutenant- Colonel Vladimir Copic, commander of the XV International Brigade.
8-29-2005
REPRO LEATHER "JERKINS"
In many photos of the first international brigadists to arrive in
Spain and fight in the battle for Madrid, they can be seen wearing
british type leather jerkins. It is not easy to track the origin of the
garment, if it was manufactured in Spain or abroad. However, and even though
it´s not hard to find original specimens in places like Ebay, it is also
possible to buy reproductions. In What Price Glory (www.whatpriceglory.com)
they can be found at 85 U.S. dollars in sizes L, XL y XXL.
8-29-2005
THE MOSIN-NAGANT RIFLE
The
soviet rifle Mosin-Nagant, especially model "Vintovka 1891-30",
is one of the few weapons that can still be purchased with relative ease at good
prices, in some 
instances
in a new or almost new condition. It´s
a good option for those interested in the SCW, republican side, for the
period after january 1937. It was built until 1944, but obviously it is
better to find one with markings pre-1938, which will give the owner more
credibility when used in a SCW reenactment.
There is an extremely good web site , http://www.russian-mosin-nagant.com/ , where you will find everything you need to know about this rifle. We recommend you to make a visit before and after buying your rifle, it will be worth the time.
8-13-2005
“¡AY, CARMELA!” PARTICIPATES IN THE FILMING OF A DOCUMENTARY ABOUT THE
BATTLE OF THE EBRO.
Living
history groups like 
“¡Ay, Carmela!” can cooperate with the audiovisual industry, something
that doesn´t often happen in many documentary productions. They can bring
credibility in the appearance of actors and extras and realism in the staging.
Televisión Española has understood this and has called “¡Ay, Carmela!
”for
the production of a documentary about the battle of the Ebro, based in the book
of the news reporter and writer Jorge Martínez Reverte. For several days,
Madrid´s "sierra" was transformed into the high lands of Tarragona
and the members of “¡Ay, Carmela!” recreated the republican and
nationalist soldiers that fought the most important battle of the Spanish Civil
War.
While the documentary has no official release date yet, will be aired next autumn in TVE.
8-13-2005
LEO DI CAPRIO
HEARS THE BELLS TOLL
The
news currently ciculates through the Internet and movie magazines worldwide.
It seems that Leonardo di Caprio is 
negotiating
with Warner to bring back to the big screen a new
version of "For whom the bells
toll", a novel by Ernest Hemingway that was adapted to Film in 1943 and
stared by Gary Cooper.
As we are waiting for the confirmation of this info, the excitement of of the movie fans worldwide has begun. Ours too: Warner executives, how about filming the movie in Spain? Have you ever heard of a beautiful lady called Carmela?
You are invited to see this web site...
