The Garden of Seville Lovers of urban green spaces, and long-term Andalucian expats, will be interested to hear that one of Seville’s many neglected Expo 92 sites has been resurrected. The 8.5-million-euro Jardin Americano (American Garden), now subtitled El Jardin de Sevilla (The Garden of…

What's in a name? Fans of British rock music (or pop/``Britpop``, depending on how particular you are about your music genres) will be aware that the band Doves have made a new single available online from their best of album, The Places Between, which was released last Monday. What is interesting…

Holy Week On Saturday night in Seville something happened which has been all over the newspapers, and will continue to be for some time to come. Two women returning from seeing Semana Santa pasos were hit and killed by a speeding car. The driver was more than double over the limit, and it…

¡Que barbaridad! Having studied languages at university, and now living in Spain, I am fascinated by words. What I hear, read, speak - I don't get all of it, by any means (but oh, how satisfying when I do) - is a constant source of interest. In my early,enthusastic-student days here, I used to…

Art in Sevilla Anyone who has ever been to Seville, and those who are fortunate enough to live there even more so, will appreciate the extraordinary, rich history of the city, from Tartessians, to Romans, Moors, and its important role in discovering the New World. Seville’s…

The Taste of Success Those of you live in Spain probably heard the news a few weeks ago that Ferran Adria, legendary chef of El Bulli who had just announced his decision to close his restaurant, will front a seven-million-euro international ad campaign to convince potential customers of Spain inc…

Death in the Afternoon Ever since I arrived in Spain six and a half years ago, I have wanted to do and see and experience everything that is quintessentially Andalucian, and especially part of life in Seville. Tapas, flamenco, Semana Santa, Feria, bullfighting. Yes, bullfighting. I figure that if…

Church and State Today is International Women’s Day. Thinking it was another of those 15-to-the-dozen 'read a book', 'eat more fruit'-type International Days, I was surprised to hear that it has been around since 1911, in the days of women’s suffrage. Women in those times demanded better pay (plus…

Ship to Shore I hope you're having a good puente, if you live in Andalucia, where yesterday - 28 February - was Andalucia Day. I am sure I'm not alone in thinking that three-day weekends are the way to go, especially when the weather turns out to be considerably better (warmer, drier, sunnier…

A Sense of Place As everyone who saw the horrifying pictures of that raging torrent of water in Funchal - people being saved from the water by helping hands, and cars left crushed by the force of the onslaught – will know, Mother Nature has been showing her more aggressive side of late.…