teapotmonk.com

This week marks the end of the teapotmonk as we have come to know him, as he shifts away from national coverage to focus more on the locality of Loja. You can follow the new postings and offerings at 12 Months in the City of Water. Vestiges of the Monk will appear there as well as his full story which can be found on this site too.

As local elections come and go, this one came and went fairly disappointingly. What the national campaign trail lacked though, the post count analysis may prove more interesting.
Even though both main parties have claimed astounding victories, the vote was clearly split leaving room for manoeuvre and pacting with smaller groups. Locally, Loja maintained the status quo and Miguel was returned as superman for another four years. It was pretty much a foregone conclusion, the only question concerned the extent of his majority. The PP played all their cards and managed to gain another concejal (from 5 to 6) still leaving them a little too short of an absolute majority (well short thank god), whilst the CPL stayed pretty much as they are with their rather nifty 2 concejales. Given the PP´s publicity machine compared to the CPL, I think the CPL deserve a bit of applause for their efforts and feel they should be given some token office for their efforts - medio ambiente for example - or transport.
Meanwhile Miguel the Man lost one concejal but retained the city as a bastion of PSOE support for the next administration.
Nationally, Valencia, Murcia and Madrid showed their rightist leanings rather alarmingly whilst other cities have to pact with IU or nationalist groups to take control.
As I said, overall a rather disappointing result. The country seems uncertain what to think and both sides seem to play off undermining the other, and thus leading to a new level of division and suspicion unseen in recent years. Perhaps it will all calm down by the general elections next year. I doubt it. The age of consensus politics seems over in Spain, the years of tip-toeing around issues in the aftermath of the transition appear to be well over. A rough ride may be ahead, but at least it will be one in which we know where the different roads lead. Better that than the bland style of politics so supported in the UK and the US. Perhaps this is where real change occurs.

Despite the reported fever in the national press about this weekends local elections, people on the street appear to be a little less enthusiastic about the promise of no-change than the publicity merchants let us believe. Where is the spirit of change in these electorally bland times?

Despite the speed with which the electoral posters went up, they are being ripped down again by the infantile party squabbling activists who somehow believe in their tiny minds that such actions constitute important political scores.

Despite an overall majority, the ruling PSOE warn that the opposition (PP) could sneak into a position of electoral influence without a big turnout from loyal supporters. This I doubt, as they only have a couple of concejales at present with all the charisma of a discarded racion of cold churros. They would need a popular revolution to achieve a success here, something that the PP have until now tried not to encourage. However the 3rd party, a sort of izquierdista - verde alliance has at least a distinct campaign of protecting the vega, the green spaces that surround us here and challenging the hegemony of traffic culture in this narrow streeted and overparked town. Shame they have about as much chance of winning as Donald Rumsfield has of achieving the Nobel peace prize.

Despite the heat wave of the last week, last night saw a change in the climate, rain fell and fell and fell. (See video).Will this reflect a change in the childish campaigns underway by the political parties? Will this promote a period of reflection and respect for the battered electorate in Loja? Will Rajoy have a shave and then subscribe to Bit-Torrent? We may live in hope.

Change is always necessary after a few mandates of the same party. I'm not saying that id like the PP in power locally. Id rather have Captain Haddock as Mayor than this bunch of opportunists. But nevertheless, absolute majorities aren't always good - para siempre - and at times its important to take on board the ideas of others rather than just reject them wholesale because you have the numbers to do so. This is the case with the green issues here in Loja where too often lip service is paid to the technological developments of green politics (wind and solar power farms) whilst traffic continues to clog the city's streets and trees are cut down to house a new bus station whilst the old train station rots on the other side of town. Why are these trees not being replanted in town? Why are there no green spaces within the urban area? Why are all new works either bland concrete squares or a yet more carparks?.

So…Despite being from the left, I want a politics of tangible environmentalism thats rooted on my doorstep. Its easy to promote a wind farm, but try reducing noise levels in town, limiting car access, pedestrianising the old town - and then see how spirited your politics really are.

With local elections looming next month, interest turns naturally to the politics of the town in which you presently find yourself. PSOE (Socialist), PP (Conservative), PA (Andalucistas) or even IU (Green-Left coalition) are all possibilities in this part of Andalucia.

This is assuming that you have made the minimal effort in the first place to register. If you haven't done this, then slap yourself on your wrists immediately and make a promise to go and empadronate tomorrow morning. Shame on you! Assuming you have been socially responsible, you must be asking yourself which way does your pueblo lean? . Loja is no different, it proudly leans left historically - or so its inhabitants claim - even revolutionary some may say if you would just take a peek into the pages of local history.
So peeked I have. And there I beheld the tale of the Revolution of Bread and Cheese. We all know about the civil war. Some even know of the 2nd Republic that opened the wounds to that fateful conflict. Perhaps, one or two amongst you have even heard of the 1st Republic, but how many have heard of the self-proclaimed republic in the Poniente Granada region in 1861?

Grab yourself a cheese sand-which and read on.




In the middle of the nineteenth century, Andalucia was still crippled by feudal laws that permitted semi-absent landowners to work their land if they wished, or to leave them if they preferred. The vast majority of Andaluces, hungry landless peasants were often unemployed for just half the year, forced to daily scrape food from an often empty cupboard and a living from an unjust and politically turbulent system. Most of the arable land had been redistributed after the Catholic Conquest according to a complex system of privileges and favours. Nothing short of a revolution would wrest the vast tracts of land in Andalucia from this apathetic class, and a starving, illiterate peasantry were coming to the very same conclusions.

Landless, unemployed and starved they may have been, but complacent and apathetic, they were not. So on the 28th June 1861, one irritated Lojeño - Rafael Pérez del Álamo - gathered 600 workers together and attacked the cuartel of the Guardia Civil in Iznájar, a pueblo in the Cordoba province. Upon taking the town he issued the following statement:

Ciudadanos: Todo el que sienta el sagrado amor a la libertad de su patria, empuñe un arma y únase a sus compañeros: el que no lo hiciere será un cobarde o un mal español.
Tened presente que nuestra misión es defender los derechos del hombre, tales como los preconiza la prensa democrática, respetando la propiedad, el hogar doméstico y todas las opiniones. En nombre del Centro Recolucionario, Rafael Pérez del Alamo. Iznajar, 28 de junio de 1861

Citizens: Everyone that feels the sacred love of freedom towards its mother country, grasp a weapon and join your companions: those that will not l be cowardly or bad Spaniards. Be aware that our mission is to defend the rights of man, such as is defended by the democratic press, respecting property, the domestic home and everyones opinions. In name of the Center Recolucionario, Rafael Perez of the Poplar. Iznajar, 28 of June of 1861


Clearly moved by such an oration, the whole village joined with him and the following day they marched in the direction of Loja. In those days Loja was famous because a certian Navarez - Prime Minister of Spain - had been born in the town and he was a powerful and priveledged noble whoose wealth and position inevitably rested on the unjust rents of lands, political control of the town hall, and the typical military and clergy ring of corruption.

As the armed masses moved towards the town they sung the Hymn Riego - a famous republican song of protest - and carried with them Republican flags. On route the army increased in numbers, thousands of men without cheese nor bread, flocked to join the insurrection from the surrounding towns. By the time the then - yet to be immortalised silhouette of the city - appeared on the horizon, the numbers had increased to almost 10.000. Loja was taken immediately and was proclaimed a republic. The uprising continued and extended to Archidona, Llora, Huétor-Tájar and Alhama de Granada.
For five days the area remained under the new workers councils, land was redistributed, raspberries were blown at monarchic effigies and cheese and bread was, presumably, eaten voraciously.

Then a General Serrano arrived with troops from Granada, forcing the peasant army to disperse. Battles were fought, insults hurled, men were captured. But Rafael Pérez del Álamo fled to Madrid whilst many others moved onto Granada with the aim of gathering more support for their cause. But these men too were later detained. Many were executed, many others imprisoned until ironically, one year later, the head of the very state that the army had denied legitimacy - Queen Isabel II - was touring through Andalucia, when she decreed an amnesty for all those implicated in the cheese and bread uprising - including Rafael Pérez del Álamo.


So, when you are considering which way to vote in the municipal elections next month and you find yourself looking for clues as to which way the town leans, don't just look at the town as it is now; look at its history; its victories and its defeats; it cheese shelves and its bread shops. And in there you will find the true character of its people. Then vote as you see fit.

The distant drums told us that the silent procession was underway. People gathered in the darkness of the plaza below, just random draws on cigarette butts or the neon blaze of a mobile phone indicated their presence. The street lights had been cut ten minutes earlier and the town disappeared as the clock struck midnight.
Miraculously, the rain had stopped for a moment, unlike the earlier processions that had either been cancelled or covered in plastic. Now, the drums had challenged the weather gods and won. The banging grew louder and louder, rebounding off steps and staircases, and still more people pressed into the plaza.



Then the first hood appeared, black figures pounding out the rhythm of those that followed: the lantern carriers, the candle carriers and those that supported the weight of Catholicism on their shoulders. As the lanterns arrived, they lined up in two rows and stopped. Candles flickered, drums ceased, coughs sporadically started. Then it began, the saeta - the spontaneous ´deep flamenco wail - slipping out between a crumbling facade and a rusty iron balcony. The darkness carried the sound to plaza and a respectful silence fell.
Until an inevitable mobile rang, and then another. Someone lit a cigarette and muted chatter erupted after the seventh or eighth verse, candles twiddled and hoods were re-adjusted until the float was heaved up and edged onwards whilst the song followed its progress down and out into the main road below the square.

Find out tuesday..........

In the midday sun last week, only an Englishman and a mad dag could be seen in this semi-occupied quarter of the Casco Antiguo where its not only the houses that get abandoned.




Pit-bulls and rooftops definitely do not go together. I'm not sure what does go with a Pit-bull, other than muzzles, strong leads and preferably quarantine, but in this case it was just a rooftop: Not, I would have thought the natural habitat for a fighting dog, but there you have it. As house was abandoned and locked, entry was not possible.

What concerned me more than just its precarious position, was its physical state. Emaciated, was an understatement: exoskeletal would have been more accurate.

Still, it was alive if a little hungry. The problem remained as to how to rescue it at best, or feed it at least. An answer appeared just as the question formed. Carlos passed by on his way home as Chef in a local bar and just happened to be carrying a spare - recently removed - pigs foot.

Now, Carlos suffers from spondylitis of the neck and so couldn't look up to either see or throw the animal any food. As a vegetarian of more than 25yrs I didn't find it easy to rustle in that bag of offal and limbs to find the right size foot to hurl, but the situation called for extreme measures.
First up went the foot, and then Carlos insisted, what appeared to be the entire skin of some farm animal. I wasn't sure whether he thought I should feed the dog with it or clothe it.

Up it went anyway, and slowly the animal ate, and ate, and ate. We called the Police. We called the Bomberos. We called the pizza delivery service. And still the dog swayed precariously on the edge of the roof.

And then it was gone. Like a guardian from the gates of hell, it had appeared from no-where and then descended back to the underworld leaving us mere mortals to just stare and wonder. Or in the case of Carlos having not seen the animal at all, to just wonder about mad dogs and Englishmen and whether he should have just carried on straight home to cook his feet.

Watch: Dogsville
Play: Diamond Dogs - Bowie
Read: The Hound of the Baskervilles

Feria de la Tapa - Loja. One to add to your digital calendar
Yet another food feria was celebrated over the weekend, and unlike some I have had the displeasure in attending, this was done at least with a little panache.




The idea is a simple one: Bring in business to the bars, stimulate and preserve the tapa tradition, publicise the town of Loja - and celebrate the arrival of spring.

To participate, you merely had to pick up the mini-guide to the participating bars that made up the tapa route, and from the Friday through to Sunday afternoon, make your way from one to the other with your passport in hand- getting it stamped at each establishment in which you imbibed.
If you collected a stamp from each bar, then you could make your way to the tent in Plaza Victoria and collect your Certificate from the Tapa Trail, printed out in your own name to keep and proudly display on your grandmothers kitchen wall - or wherever.

Each bar additionally gave out lottery tickets for a weekend break.

Now, I have to say that having lived in bigger cities in Spain, more touristic pueblos, and even one-mule towns, its often the smaller places that do these things the best. Sometimes a town hall can just throw money at a feria because they have it and, it just often lacks thought and originality. Then you have a town hall that has a limited budget and so has to think about cheap but creative solutions and comes up with some really great ideas.
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Having said that, as a resident of the town, the tapas served normally during the week were - in the humble opinion of this writer - on par, if not better than what was offered over the weekend.

So if you really want to try out the tapa trail - try it any normal day of the week.

But if you want a weekend of mayhem and bustle, tasting morsels from the best of the bars in this surprising poniente pueblo, then the experience is a unique one.

Put in in your agenda for next year.

It was chillier inside the town hall than out, as I entered the impressive patio that lead up, by a sweeping marble staircase, to the office of the Mayor of Loja. Perhaps because the doors, I was told, were always open in this small provincial town 20 minutes west of Granada. The secretary welcomed me and I was shown a settee outside the Mayor’s door. It was floral.
Very nice, I commented before realising that I had been expected to sit on it and wait whilst the mayor finished off some important phone calls.




I did up my coat and tried not to blend against the floral pattern. It was indeed cold. Perfect for those sweltering summer months, but pneumonia-provoking in January and February. I heard a knocking and looked around, but it was just my knees responding to the inside temperature. 15 minutes later, just before frost bite had set in, the door opened and I was invited into a dark and spacious room filled with faded paintings, books and piles and piles of urgent looking documents. MIguel, despite the clearly hectic day ahead, ushered me over to a corner of one ancient wobbly table, and there we sat.

In his forties, Lojeño, married and living in the old town, Miguel looked tired but proved accommodating in this lead up to the referendum on the new constitution and the municipal elections. He had a busy few months ahead.

Lets start with the subject of tourism. I get the impression that Loja is trying to build a tourist base. Is this true?

Well, we do want to encourage tourism. We attend national and international ferias - like Fitur, but we are just part of the Granada stand. The promotion is modest as we don’t have the resources for a bigger presence.
In town we have our tourist offices and we have on our web page the details what we promote.

What are you promoting?

We are promoting tourism on several different fronts - cultural tourism, fiestas like semana santa, events like the flamenco concerts, - and our yearly main fiesta. Then there is of course the richness of our natural surroundings. We try to promote the abundant waters, the sierra, the mountains, as well as promoting other activities like hill walking, mountain biking, parapente, fishing etc. Finally we are promoting our specific cuisine, local products etc . All this makes up part our tourist offer.

This is all very interesting but I would like to know more specifically about how the town backs up its tourist offers...for example there is nowhere, well almost nowhere, for the visitor to stay in the very centre of town. On the outskirts there are plenty of hotels, but the interior offers almost nothing.

Well, we have the Mirador pretty close, well… its the closest.

But its at the top of the old town, the barrio alto.It means after an evening of tapear, you have to climb the entire town to get to your hotel.

Well, we do have two casas rurals in the town...in the alcalzaba barrio...but its true we don’t have anything really in the town, though there is a pension…..

You mean the one thats up for sale and closed half the time.

Well, thats true also...yes we don’t have anything in the town as such.....but this is down to the private sector, its not the town halls job to provide hotels....

Cant you provide initiatives for someone to start something..?

We do. If anyone wants to, for example, reform an old house in the casco and convert it into a small hotel this would be a great idea, and there are subsidies to help. I would be very happy if someone did this because, like you I share this concern about the lack of accommodation for visitors in the historic centre of town....we do have a campaign for the reconstruction of houses in the old town and I’m convinced that with the help available and the buildings we have...we could have something special to offer here....

Lets talk about another form of tourism….residential tourism. With the growth of inland tourism and the subsequent influx of oversees residents, what can the local town hall do to convince these people to empadronate?

I believe its very important that people empadronate....to qualify for all your rights...for example, to qualify for housing that we offer it is necessary to have been empadronated for at least one year....but more generally, if you are empadronated, the figures mean the town hall can grow and receive greater help in its development. This is important in all of Andalucia not just in Loja. Obviously we aren’t talking about someone coming to stay for a few weeks, but if you are here for more than half the year, then empadronation is very very important.

But, what can you do to convince people to empadronate...for example in some coastal pueblos, the tourist office produces leaflets or pamphlets about how to empadrontate and what the advantages of doing so are....

I think we have about 300 English empadronated right now here in Loja...

But we know there are more lurking about….

Of course....well I think the booklet idea is a good one and maybe we should do something like that in different languages..

On the subject of residents, why is it that we can vote in municipal elections and European elections but not in national ones?

Well this is a question of national politics.......and the agreements reached with European law....but personally I’m in agreement if someone is empadronated and there is a mutual agreement with their country then why not. I think we have to do this....

The PSOE is in agreement on this issue ?

Yes

Lets move on to another question, that of the environment. I remember, not long ago you said publicly that Loja not only has satisfied the demands of the Kyoto Protocol but has exceeded it.....

Well, we are producing at the moment 32 or 34 mega-vatios of wind production, and we inaugurated in November last year a solar park. We are now constructing a new solar park which - when all of this is added up - can supply power to almost 60.000 families. And this of course means the reduction of many tons of C02 in the atmosphere...and thereby reducing the greenhouse effect...and we are going to put in effect more plans, especially more solar plants.....

On a local level, green politics is more than investment in alternative fuel sources. Loja lacks green space within the pueblo. Its no good saying that Loja has beautiful spaces up the mountain if people have to drive there to enjoy it. Driving to find green spaces seems to me a bit of a contradiction....

Well, yes, we are replanting 20 hectares of trees.....

Where...

In the mountians above Rio Frio....

Thats not within the pueblo.....

Ok, well we do have a huge plan to create a green space within the pueblo....from the new bridge to the sports stadium we intend to construct a green space. 200.000sqm....an exclusive green zone which will help recover the river side and we hope to begin this project this year....
And in the pueblo, in the Cuesta del campo, we are working on a parking space and a small park above it......and of course there is the work on the park Narvaez that is underway.....and will be amplified when we take over the space occupied at the moment by the old factories alongside the river, purchased by the Junta de Andalucia.....so the park will be much bigger.......

I’m sure that there are companies that would like to construct in such a lucrative zone....?

We are building all this into the PGOU so that the area will be a protected area by law.
Once the AVE (high-speed train) passes through, it will be using a different track than that the present one. It will be entering the mountain through a tunnel ...so what can we do with the old track? Well, we intend to pull it up and convert the whole thing in to a Via Verde....20 kilometres or so up to Cuesta de la Palma whereby people can go on bici....or footing.....or just pasear.....

And all the parties are in agreement with this

Well, maybe not the PP.. but there you go......
And we will be constructing a zona verde near the Manzanil hotel, a walk there.... in fact slowly we will be moving the industrial parts of the town alongside the autovia...and therefore the town will be used more and more for the people...

Another question...there seems to be too many cars in the town, little parking, no pedestrian zones...

I would like to see the centre pedestrianized, but until we have a road that diverts traffic what can we do? If we just cut the traffic without providing an alternative, people will complain about lack of access and will abandon the old town.
And we need the old town populated. In fact, as I mentioned before, we have an office in Loja dedicated to this, providing help for rehabilitating and restoring old houses and giving financial help to those people that buy up these buildings.
The town hall has bought up many to reconstruct as public housing but we cant buy up everything, we just don’t have the money.

So to stop the depopulation of old towns...

Hombre, its all linked, help for the rebuilding of the houses, employment, green zones and access...culture, cleanliness. I believe the quality of life ln Loja for example is far more pleasant than living in the bigger cities with such compact housing, vehicles, noise where it takes half a day to cross the city....

Loja seems to invest a lot in the quality of life in the town. Exhibitions, free films, concerts and every month an agenda is published of cultural events sent out to homes by email or snail mail. Why do you stress culture so much...?

We have a yearly writing prize, poetry, painting, short film, all this because we believe that a town that has culture is a town that has more freedom....

Hmm. Let me ask you about The Jornada de la recuperacion de la memoria historica....last year you held two sessions with Santiago Carillo and Ian Gibson. Are these to continue?

Yes, we will have one other jornada, and we are also going to publish a book about the historical memory in this area, stories that have never before been published.

The last section is about technology. What is you position on the use of open software?

Well, we are about to offer a course of open software in Loja, Linux etc. So we can save the money each year on not having to use Windows. In fact we already use it in our centres of internet in Rio Frio for example or the Espacio Joven building in town.

But not in the library

No, we have to do that.

Do you download music from the internet?

No, never tried it. Films nor music. Never even tried emule.

Yet you know of it.

Well, my son........I buy music...I don’t even have a mp3 player...an ipod,....maybe my phone can do it but I don’t know....

I looked down at my list of questions....it was clearly getting to the end when we had reached the music download section. My knees were knocking, my nose had lost all colour and I found myself edging nearer and nearer to Miguels cigarette for a little warmth. It was time to call it a wrap.

Well that’s all ...thanks Miguel Castellano Gámez for your time....

Think nothing of it. And don’t forget this is your house, your town hall too........

Well it was certainly as cold as mine. I shivered, pulled up my collar and strode over to the door.

Keep warm Miguel, keep warm.

© Paul Read

Whether we refer to a conflict 500 years ago or just 70, reconciliation requires as a first step, a recognition of a shared past.




Spain´s recent drive to come to terms with its dark era under Franco, has proved - not unsurprisingly - a little tricky. 70 years on, and the wounds are very much still open.

Still, the process is underway, and perhaps in time the majority will come to see that the injustices perpetuated during the dictatorship, remain unjust. One - often overlooked - context for such reconciliation could be found the the ever present ties that now link Spain, in particular Andalusia with the north African coast. One rather small but, significant bond exists between the town of Fez in Morocco and that of Loja in Granada.

One such exchange occurred on Friday when the town hall here in Loja opened its doors in the evening to the musical group Benmussa. Such cultural exchanges helps promote a greater understanding between these two ´civilizations´ and not only helps to understand the past, but serve also to remind us that such a cultural heritage was formed not just in Fez, but in the very heart of Al Andalus too.






It served as a strong reminder that we are what we were, and in the recognition of such roots, blood ties and even linguistic overlaps, we can learn to look again at issues that perhaps we see as outside of ourselves

With over 500.000 Moroccans living and working in Spain, often in conditions so bad and for salaries so low, doing work that Spaniards would not consider, it is useful to be reminded that these immigrants were not that long ago the residents of this country. When they were forcibly removed, they left not just their legacy, but their blood and genes so visible in many Andalucians today.

If such reconciliations are possible between nations that have warred, then with understanding, it can be achieved again. Whether the conflict was 500 or just 70 years ago


Read: to be added
Play: Radio Tarifa
Watch: to be added

Some towns just do it better than others. Toledo was crap at letting you know what was going on, Almuñecar even worse. Many was the time we would hear music or a band marching in the street or see fireworks emerging from behind a castle wall, or awake from a siesta to a loud-hailor announcing the beginning of a concert in the park. It wasn't that these towns didn't put things on - they were just crap at publicity. And as a consequence, most of the time you missed out on it all.




So how well does your Pueblo rate? If you cant answer yes to at least 3 or the following 4 questions, then I suggest moving town.

1: Are events announced well in advance of the date with street posters and local paper/radio and TV coverage?
2: Do you get sent in the post (snail mail) an agenda of cultural events lined up for the month ahead? Every month?
3: Do you get an reminder email advertising the event 3 days before with all the details?
4: Is there a free local newspaper weekly/ bi-monthly informing you of all cultural, artistic, political and social news of the town?

Here´s one example of a good bit of pueblo publicity: With the local cinema closed due to building works, our local town hall has set up a season of free films to be shown fortnightly in the local ¨casino¨. This week was: La Vida Secreta de las Palabras.
Posters go up, emails are sent out and the radio and press announce the film a week in advance. Outside, on the night in question, a young guy stands handing out publicity from the film and encouraging passers-by to enter.

Its not a great expense for the town hall, but its symbolic that there is an awareness of their need to provide cultural activities for people in town.

Vamos, creo yo.

So how did your town match up?

For those of you dying for a yoga update, I am pleased to report that the class has not let me down. Yesterday evenings offerings included a scattering of small pyramid incense sticks on the floor amongst a dozen candles - which was fine during the aerobic warm up - but when we hit the meditation middle section, the sound of many zzzzz´s accompanied the ambient background music from the film Bladerunner.




Not altogether an inappropriate choice. The class continued in semi-darkness, momentarily brightened by the teacher leaving one leg over an incense burner too long and setting fire to his trouser.

However, the zzzz´s continued, even during the most bizarre of new age compilations, this time the sound of a tap dripping in a basement or cellar as we were sent on another guided meditation. Such was the success of this particular journey, that I not only felt I was in the cellar, but I was the cellar. Worrying, even for a monk.

Play: Down in the tubestation at midnight - Jam

Cannes it most definitely wasn´t. Thankfully. But Loja did put on its own small celebration to the silver screen this weekend with its 3rd Short Film Festival. We only managed to make it to the final projection of four separate showings over three days. But we were fortunate enough to catch the short film by R. Robles Rafatal, a Malagueño who had submitted his wonderful film Domicilio Habitual. Below is a still from the movie kindly sent to me by Rafatal, along with the poster above.




According to Rafatal - who like most of the directors present, introduced the film - it was a ¨homage to the world of secretaries, the right hand of big business¨. He added it was also a recognition of the work done by cleaners in such establishments.

Should I say more? Or by doing so will I spoil the ending for you when you see it? Well, you are about as likely to see it as I am to find a Taliban in my teapot.
So here goes: The director of a large business dies in his seat at work. Without knowing he is already dead, his partner, secretary and numerous others enter his office and in secret kill him (again).
Finally, they are all arrested except the !!!!!! who inherits the lot!
Apart form a twisting and captivating story line, the film uses a range of camera speeds, glorious lighting, superb characterizations and celebratory 70´s deco that combine to serve up the film in a most palatable fashion. Heartedly recommended and should I dare say it....a director to watch out for in the immediate future.
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Needless to say. Rafatal won the first prize.

Having said all that I had a couple of questions to put to the organizers and participants of the event.
1. What´s with the pink? Pink and blue posters. Rafatal´s pink hair streaks and the woman standing behind Miguel Castellano ( Loja´s Alcalde) is wearing half a pink
coat! Check out the photo at the top.
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2. Despite the superb publicity campaign for the cine festival, it appeared to me that 99% of those in attendance were either the films directors, crew or family relatives. Where was the public? What does this say about Lojeños?

The teapotmonk is troubled.



For more info: www.rafatal.com

Play: Outta my head - Kylie.

Scene 1: Outside the townhall.

It was just 15 minutes before. Loja had organised the second jornada for the Recuperacion de la memoria Historica and this evening we were to be treated to Ian Gibson talking on Los Intelectuales Españoles Ante la Segunda Republica. For Ian, this would inevitably mean talking - yet again - about the subjects of his better known bigraphies: Machado and Lorca. Once again. But for us it was a chance to meet up with an old friend.

We had first met Ian several years previously when he had resided in Restabal, a small village in the Lecrin valley where he came to be known as El Gibson.
At that point I was teaching computers and Ian was in desperate need of tuition and advice regarding his computer and writing tools. I remember first meeting him and looking around at his umpteen old computers and his studio piled from floor to ceiling with newspaper cuttings and reference books. It appeared that it was not just his PC that needed a defrag. And the there were the plaques. Everywhere. Back then, Cherry and I both spent time with he and his wife Carol, working at making his Ian´s digital life as productive as possible. It was a challenge.

Then, he moved back to Madrid and we lost contact. Several chapters of the Tao Te Ching later and suddenly he was appearing in Loja. We were excited and planed to surprise him. But first, Cherry was to take Yogi out for a quick paseo around the plaza.

It was just 15 minutes before.

Then she appears at the door, Yogi panting and she, startled and in shock with blood running down her right hand. ¨We were attacked by a dog.¨

She had received a bite on her hand trying to remove a bull terrier from the neck of Yogi. He seemed unaffected, but in the Farmacia, we were instructed us to go straight to the health centre. We agreed I´d go into the Town Hall to tell Ian that we would meet him later and then we would go on to the Health Centre. I left Cherry outside the town hall and ran up to the 1st floor chambers.
- Where is El GIbson - I demanded running into the first office I came to.
- He´s in tthat room being interviewed. Who are you? -
I looked at this man in front of me. Where had I seen him before? I glanced up above his head. There, hanging above the table was a portrait of this man with chains of office around his neck.
- He´s an old friend. Can´t you tell him I´m here?
- Sorry, but you see....its .......a bit difficult......

Then suddenly form the back room I heard.....
- Paul, is that you. ¿Coño qué haces aquí?




Scene2: The health Centre.

Entering the main doors, two policemen wait at the counter and shuffle to attention as we enter. The medical staff are clearly expecting us.
- We are here to take your report on the dog attack - said one of the policemen. The Mayor called us and told us to meet you here.
- whoa -

Scene 3: El Medico.
- Well, as the dog was not a street dog, but there was an owner, albeit a negligent owner, I don´t think you need rabies shot. But you must come back if your whole arm goes numb -
- I see -
- By the way, why have you moved form the coast to Loja? I have been here just a short while too.
- We like it here.
- But there are better towns in the province than Loja -
- Are there?
- Oh yes, far more prettier towns.
- We´re not looking for pretty towns.
- You´re not!
- You wouldn´t be a friend of Roberto´s would you?

Scene 4: The Jornada



- And so if there are no more questions for Ian, it just leaves me the honor of presenting him with this plaque as a memento of his visit to Loja.
- Hmmmm, another plaque. Thankyou so much, I shall keep it with the others. All of them.

The meeting finishes and Ian comes rushing to the back to welcome us.
- Cherry, you been savaged by a dog!
- Well, my thumb has seen better days.
- So how are you both, you are really living here?
- Look Ian, why not come out for a drink and a tapa with us and we can catch up on old times.
- I am, alas obliged to dine with this group. He turned and pointed at the Alcalde, the Alcalde´s wife and a bunch of officials twiddling their thumbs in the exit doorway.
- Oh. Well. Maybe another time.
- Perhaps if I just spoke to.........we could........maybe......?

Scene 5: Private function room in he oldest and biggest restaurant in Loja. Ian is growling at the Deputy Major and some official from Granada about his timetable. We approach the Mayor.
- So it was you who called the police Mr Alcalde?
- Can´t have people being bitten by dogs can we?
- There are worse things to be bitten by.
- Oh yes!
- Elderly Irish Hispanists for example who are paid off in plaques rather than cheques.
We turn to look over at Ian, nibbling olives and using his plaque as an olive pip tray. He looks over to us, wearing that Elvis snarl he has so well cultivated.
Grrrrrrrrrrr.

We just gotta have broadband. Years of dial up have made us hungry for the information highway and now we are going get it. Or so we thought. Things are never quite as they seem with Telefonica.





Friday Morning:
Despite press offers of up to 20meg speeds, a free wifi router and 25 euros a month - the harsh reality of Loja´s geographical position deep in this shrouded valley, has meant that the best offer was from Telefonica: 1meg, 40euros for the wifi router and 40 euros a month. I hate Telefonica.

Friday afternoon:
Finding this out was not easy, but there you have it. So after filling out the appropriate forms and giving over our bank details we had now but to wait.

Monday week.
We waited 9 days. Eventually I got a call just confirming my address and asking when I would be at home.

- Im at home now.
- No, will you be at home tomorrow.
- I can be.
- We will deliver then.
- When tomorrow exactly?
- Cant say. Sometime.
- Thanks.


Tuesday
Excited, I arose early, sorted out my plans to network the PC and the laptop and then sat and waited. Nothing. No-one. I dusted my lap-top and readjusted my plans. Then sighed.
Inevitably, the following day was fiesta, so I had to wait till the day after.

Thursday
In the morning the phone rang – it was trusty Telefonica. There was a problem with the address – the driver cant find it. I sighed.
We confirmed the details again and I was told it would be delivered Monday of the following week. Would I be in that day?

Following Monday
Monday morning, the phone rings – telefonica!
A problem with the address – again. Apparently they had been trying to deliver it to the address of the previous owner of the phone number.
What! But we filled out a form with the correct address? You confirmed the address twice on the phone last week with me!
Dont worry, its been rectified now. We will phone again when we know what day we can deliver!

Wednesday
The Router will be delivered tomorrow. Will you be in?
I can be.

Thursday
No-one and no calls. In frustration I go out to meet some friends arriving from the coast to see how we are enjoying our new life inland. Half way down town to meet them, my mobile rings.
- Hey, where are you. I have a router for you.
- Where are you, outside my flat?
- Outside Mercadona. Its the only place in town I can park. Im on a Descargar only spot. Can you get here in the next two minutes or Ill have to leave!
- But thats the other side of town!
- Tell you what. I can come back tomorrow. Will you be in?

Its a browsers paradise, all the daily newspapers, books and DVDs and music free to take home and copy (I mean borrow), Internet access and free printing,......I can see myself spending time here just because its in our neighbourhood. And because road works in out street mean that a man drilling outside your window from 8am is not conducive to Blogging. Another of Lojas treasures.

It appears that no replacement yoga teacher can be found. The class is reduced to just one session a week and the lack of numbers in Tai Chi has meant that the class has been scrapped altogether.




My plans, are it could be said, are rather upset.

This evening´s yoga began with the usual aerobics followed by the meditation. “So why warm the body?” I asked to the horror of the other students.
“ So that you can truly relax afterwards”.

I have noticed that people rarely question authority figures here. Although historically a rebellious and even anarchic people - a side to which I am inexplicably drawn - , Spaniards have another side that is exceptionally passive and pliant. It always amazes me how they are so prepared to challenge and even change the direction of the country over i

After we had frozen on the floor for 15 mins we had an endless lecture on new-age issues at broadband speed, followed by a “discussion” period whereupon everyone either talked to each other about a cousins forthcoming marriage or picked their toe-nails in silence. Meanwhile he continued his lecture and helpfully, kept his MP3 player on at top volume. (Not an ipod I noticed) Was it a Zune? It was difficult to see anything in this half-light. Was it a Zune, could I bear a Zune in the same room? Tonight we were treated to - The All Male Cardiff Choir sings.........Coldplay.

Surreal.

Well, if I had wanted to learn yoga I was to be seriously challenged as to the meaning of the word. It was the aerobic Taoist again filling in for an absence yoga teacher. Apart from getting me to repeat yesterdays mini form in front of the class as a recruitment effort – we spent the first 20 mins on aerobic stretches, preparing the body for what I thought would be an intensive yoga session, only to find the lights dimmed and a 20 min relaxation/guided meditation followed.




Two postures were then attempted after our bodies had cooled completely followed by yet another guided 3 stage meditation.

All of which – for a enthusiastic newcomer hoping for language practice – was not a bad way to spend a couple of hours. But.....if I had wanted to learn any yoga..........

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Well if I had wanted to learn a new style of Tai Chi I was to be a little disappointed. For a Taoist he speaks a lot this guy. Kwai Chang Caine he is not. He appears to not notice I have done some before. Perhaps I´m a lot worse than I thought? Perhaps he cant see me for the crowds in the class. No, can´t be that one. There is only two of us here.
The warm up was distinctly aerobic – which I have a partiality for having been an aerobic teacher in a former existence – but I wasn’t convinced of its place in a Tai Chi class.
Still, mustn't be too judgmental. I´m here for other reasons. Moon tucking and all that.




The Chi Gung breathing was recognisable – if again a little more aerobic than I would have practised. Still, mustn't be too judgmental.

The mini form that we learnt was challenging to say the least. Not that it was confusing to learn or that that it was taught necessarily poorly – though these elements were present. It was rather that the form required a physical dexterity, a flexibility beyond that which we had been sufficiently prepared. Still, mustn't be too judgmental.

I asked: “Was this a beginners class?”
¨Uh huh. You know, I don’t understand why more people don’t come” he confessed to the two of us.¨

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Tomorrow is the first of the evening classes we have enrolled for. We will be toe dipping into Loja life at last. Ive gone for Tai Chi, hopefully to learn another style, and for Yoga. The Latin Dance didnt appeal. Cherry has gone for the Pilates session which is most probably the better choice. Her selections normally prove more sensible, particularly in the Pastelaria´s.




Our sneaky paln is to improve the spanish, keep healthy and who knows, even meet some Lojeños. Tomorrow I´m to lean on the moon and tuck my ipod under my arm. Or something like that.

At last a decision. A 3 bed, small terrace, and intriguing loft that overlooks a cobbled square just two minutes from the centre of town. On the down side, very limited parking, a botellon zone after 8pm and few neighbours under the age of 75. Still, thats old towns for you. At least we are here.

Now, what are we doing here?

Flavour 1: Inside an Immobilaria

- You're famous aren´t you?
- Not that I knew
- You used to sing with the Communards
- No. Not with the Communards, no.
- Oh come on now.
- Can you just tell us if you have any flats to rent?


Okay Ive been mistaken for Jimmy Summerville before, but not in Spain! This was too much. Loja was to do this to us a lot. We would go somewhere looking for something, only to get something totally different. Its like entering one of those Bazar Ceuta 100pts shops. You go in for a packet of tissues and come out with a handy portable BBQ.

Flavour 2: Outside another Immobilaria.

Carmen lived at the bottom of the town and twice each day had to climb the steep hills to get to work.
- Hey Carmen, Don´t you find it a pain to have to climb up here every day? Wouldn't you prefer to live closer to the centre and avoid all this effort?
- You know Pablo what I really find difficult? Sitting down all day, thats what gets me, not the hills nor the steps.




Flavour 3: Outside the Hotel Bar

A SEAT Marbella pulls up. Its 9.30.am. I look up from my lukewarm manchada as my attention is drawn to the windscreen wipers that are frozen permanently at 45༠. The car shudders, shakes, spits and then stops a few feet from my table. Yogi withdraws behind my feet. The doors fall open as though they had each been held in place by their occupants. Out stumbles five elderly campesinos making a special trip for breakfast to the hotel. The last to exit the vehicle is a fragile prune on matchsticks that requires the support from all her fellow passengers. No-one is under the age of 70. Not even the one-armed driver who fronts the group ordering coffees in varying strengths and shapes in a voice than could be heard back on the coast.

Flavour 4: Bar Rufino

Half an hour before the film.
- Two glasses of wine.
With the wine is served two hot slices of tortilla, bread and olives. A welcome tapa after the coasts mangy offerings. Feeling guilty for drinking so little and eating so much we order two small tuna and tomato rolls. - ¿Que te debo Rufino?
- 3 con 70.
- Whoa.


Flavour 5: The Cine club in the Casino.

A young guy stands outside handing out postcards with a picture of the film on one side and a resume of the back. He waves us into a darkened seating area, filled with leather backed armchairs facing towards a large screen temporarily erected at the front of the room.
- How much ?
- Nothing. Its free whilst the old cinema is being repaired.
- Whoa.

Otura, Dilar, Gojar, Monachil, Huetar-Vega and la Zubia comprised the first day of travelling, ending up in the camp site of La Zubia. A bustly town, noisy and grubby but memorable for its excellent 100pts shop. So many towns, so many possibilities. Parallel worlds open up before us at every moment like the exits on Granada´s ring road. Too many choices complicate things. We have to learn to reduce choice in order to find clarity...and there is nothing better for finding simplicity than spending a night in the confines of our Transporter commercial van.




The following day we arrived in Peligros after a depressing visit to Lorca´s grave in Viznar - a drab an eerie setting that awoke in us images of a dark and brutal time. We shivered and poodled on to Peligros.
The town was pleasant if a tad small. Could we live here? It was always the unspoken question upon arrival. Even at the petrol station stops I found myself fantasizing about a room above the pumps.
Could Peligros be our home? How would we cope with the inevitable question?

´¿Donde vivis?´
´Éstamos en Peligros´.

Nah. It just wouldn´t work. We travelled on - and backwards in time - to Pinos Puente - and Fuente Vaqueros, just to keep on the Lorca trail for another day. But nothing caught out attention other than shanty outskirts and barren hills and people wearing clothes that brought back a nostalgia for the 70´s. Onwards we drove to Montefrio (too postcardy), and umpteen more unmemorable mountain villages.
In the evening we pulled into a lorry stop on the A92 above the town of Loja and decided to sleep the night there, squeezed between giant transport vehicles.

Having fed Yogi and tied him to the bumper, we strolled into the barrio alto, and walked into the first bar we found.

La Cueva is a bar that serves an ambiguous tapa, superficially plain, but with a discreet underside. The bar is situated in part of the old town, and thus frequented by local farmers and underage drinkers. Yet there is an undercurrent. Something happened that night in that bar. Perhaps it was the discussions we had with the exotic assortment gathered that humid evening - How is the fog now in London? Shouldn´t the Queen step down now? Or perhaps it was the enquiry by Pepe as he served us our first drink: ´Did you come by horse?´

The following morning we explored the rest of the town. Our first bar proved hopeful, the manchada was served hot and in a glass. And the price was under a euro. The all important question remained about tourism: Was the town gearing up for a future in tourism - Discover Inland Spain - The Washington Irving Route - etc etc. It appeared not. The town boasted few attractions, except in the tourist brochure I discovered that the Marx Bros had used Loja for the fictitious town of Sylvania in the film Duck Soup.

It was translated as Sopa de Ganso. Intriguing.