@benbarclay
Translator and textbook writer. Post on climate, energy, health, Spain, Brexit and other stuff. Produce VoiceMap audio tours of Andalucía: https://voicemap.me/publisher/ben-barclay#tours https://andalucia-bound.com @andalucia-bound.bsky.social
That was my initial reaction, but then we thought maybe it’s something to do with different map layers somehow getting displaced relative to one another. In any case, someone should have noticed before they hung it on the wall.
One thing I hadn’t realised was how similar in size and shape Ireland and England were in the 16th century. Or how much the Isle of Wight has moved.
The castle wasn’t my favourite overall, but there was some interesting stonework, a great collection of old maps and expansive views from the top of the keep.
The final two visits of the trip were the ducal palace of the dukes of Medina Sidonia (no photos allowed) and the castle of Santiago.
Hitting desalination plants is so bad. Not just evil but strategically incomprehensible. Without desalination 75% of the entire population of the Middle East will be refugees. Israel and Kuwait depend on desalination for 90% of their water and other Middle East states aren’t far behind.
Yes, and very nice ones too. Not at all greasy.
It did, and it’s a beautiful day.
The soft blues, pale sand and apparently motionless puffy white clouds could come straight out a Sorolla painting.
Or deliberately destroyed by the warring parties…
This is no different from Putin saying MH17 was shot down by Ukraine or Assad saying rebels gassed themselves.
Giving the Iranians their country back, Trump and Netanyahu style.
Thanks, Charles!
😂
A lot of what is described on this site as a "war crime" might well not be. These laws, after all, were created by states, which gave themselves a lot of room for maneuver.
Attacks on desalination plants doesn't strike me as a difficult case. It is pretty clearly a war crime.
“Already won” 🧐
In what perhaps might be the least popular cause to take up, we should be deeply concerned that two deeply evil men have been killed in prison.
Naturally, there will be few tears shed, and frankly the world would have been a much better place had neither man existed. /1
Allegedly, the sun also rises in Spain, but we’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see whether that’s true.
“Air strike targets PMF base in Iraq: Report
A strike has hit a base belonging to Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) south of the city of Mosul, two PMF sources told AFP.”
This is allegedly a US strike against Iranian-aligned militias in Iraq.
Multiple news outlets are reporting a US attack on an Iranian #desalination plant.
If verified, this violates international law protecting #water systems during wars, and it sets a dangerous precedent, given intense dependence of Gulf countries on desalination.
timesofoman.com/article/1691...
Even in Andalusia, the sun eventually has to set.
On an entirely different note, since the storms ended a few weeks ago, sales of our audio tours have been going really well. No idea if anyone on here has bought, but if you have, thank you!
Because it’s damn good.
This is not to say the tourist shows are bad - they’re not, generally, and often excellent - but the choreography and technical skill is not at the same level.
you just won’t see in your standard flamenco show for tourists.
But they used saxophone, a percussionist who played from cow bells to a giant xylophone with a cello bow (I think), so not authentic, perhaps, in the sense a tourist expects.
Yet this is the kind of flamenco Spanish people go to.
This was the flamenco performance we went to in Jerez last night.
Magnificent, and reinforced my view that authentic is the wrong word for describing flamenco.
Technically they were brilliant - his control of his voice ”a palo seco” ie a capella, and her dancing were of a quality…
the fact that he could do it in Spanish told him something about us. And there are things that don’t translate.
Similarly with the fado performers we met the other day in Jerez. They spoke excellent English, but us speaking Spanish was why we got talking.
We just did a tour of a sherry winery in Sanlucar de Barrameda. We were lucky enough to be shown around by one of the owners, and he was pleasantly surprised that as Brits in Spain we could actually speak Spanish properly. I’m sure he could have done the tour in English, but…
It's not just about memorising verbs or whatever.
It's about courtesy, demonstrating an urge to communicate, learning something about the history and culture, showing respect, being willing to make mistakes.
But that's just my view, I'm a languages dweeb.
The “Covachas” under the palace/ mansion of the Dukes of Medina Sidonia.
On to Sanlucar.
If you want a winery visit out of the ordinary, go to Bodegas Alonso. It’s not cheap, but you’ll thank me.
Thank you for your attention with this matter.
Meanwhile, Spain's massive investment in renewables is paying dividends now: with prices for Spanish industry and consumers low and stable compared with other European economies.
www.ft.com/content/ac77...
He's still got it.