Two good things about Spain for you now – food and body confidence. Is there a link? Probably. but these are just my observations, see what you think!
I’ve said it before and I’ll keep on saying it – one of the fabulous things about Spain is the rich and varied range of food on offer. We do like to eat out, mainly because it’s usually very inexpensive, and we truly believe we’re worth it! I wrote recently about a favourite restaurant in our town, where the “menu del dia” is the most amazing value. We often venture into the city by tram for a bit of a stroll, some shopping, and, of course, lunch! One of our favourite places in Murcia city is the Mercado de Correos, or the “market” which was the old post office building. It’s somewhere a bit special where we can bring friends when they come to stay with us.
It is a tapas bar, with a garden courtyard to the rear, where all the gorgeous young things gather in the evenings for cocktails and live music. In the main building the seating area is in the centre of lots of little stalls preparing and cooking fresh food to order. There’s everything from traditional Murciano fare, to Chinese, Japanese, Italian, and a variety of others! You have a wander round to decide what you’d like, the waiter then comes and takes your order, and it’s brought to your table. They are supposed to be tapas but honestly the portions are much bigger that you expect, and very reasonably priced too. Problem is my eyes are always bigger than my stomach and it’s too easy to over order! It’s a lovely, lovely place to eat but be warned – get there by about 1pm, if you leave it too much later you’ll maybe not get in as there’s always a long queue outside the door by 2pm, Spanish lunchtime.
There’s a lovely “fin de siècle” elegance about the place, and it’s no wonder the smartly dressed professionals like to eat there.
When we do have friends to stay, and we go into the city, another place of interest is the Casino. Gambling is a funny thing in Spain, you’ll be hard pressed to find general betting shops, but most big towns and cities have casinos which are not at all like the Las Vegas type places. I’ve always thought of the Las Vegas casinos to be devoid of all culture – unlike our beautiful casino in Murcia! It’s like a private club, with reading rooms, restaurant, ballroom, and beautiful design everywhere. Just the entrance alone is enough to take your breath away. Up a few steps straight off a little side street, there’s a rather ordinary looking building. Open the door, go inside and…oh my word! A different world!
The entrace is Arabian and is the most fabulous tile and mosaic sight. there are also works of art and statues throughout the building. If you’re in Murcia you must go there!
So there you have it, a couple more of the good things about Spain. When it comes to food I think the rise in fast food outlets really should be labelled “bad”. Now there are loads of places you can get “fast” food in Spain, but those are the real, freshly cooked dishes that seem to be conjured up out of nowhere and taste divine. The others are….outlets like KFC, McDonalds and Burger King. I’m happy to report that although they are all to be found in the local big shopping centres down the road towards the city, there are, so far, none in our wee town!
They say there’s a definite link between the rise in fast food chain outlets and health, in particular obesity and diabetes. There certainly seems to be a rise in children and young people looking much heavier than their peers did some years ago. It might be also down to a far too long lock up during the covid episode, so children weren’t as able to get outside for proper fun exercise as much as before. It might be to do with the rise in computer games, meaning children stay indoors and are not out with all their pals. It might be any one of a number of reasons, but most likely a combination of all of them. I just feel a little bit sad when I think of the fabulous reputation Spain has for really good food, and then see these artificial, nutritional wastelands springing up everywhere.
But….back to the good again. One of the things that I really appreciate is women’s and girls’ body confidence in Spain. They don’t seem to come under the same pressure to be thin, thin, thin as the media tries to impress on us in the UK, for example. I’m in no way advocating for females to emulate someone like the rapper Lizzo in any way, but it does seem that they carry themselves with a sense of pride about who they are, and they wear what they want. I have seen girls and women weighing at least 130 kilos – more than 20 stones in “old money” and they’re happy to walk around in skimpy vest tops and very short shorts. While nobody should condone it from a health point of view, there’s something rather admirable about a woman who knows her worth isn’t dependant on the size number on the label on her clothes.
And so to the ugly. The really, really ugly – in my opinion. Bullfighting. A fiercely guarded tradition in Spain. I have noticed the new, temporary bullring being built in our town for an exhibition of bullfighting this month. I won’t be going anywhere near it. Nor do I intend to be even in town at the same time as I do not wish to hear the cheers of a crowd of people who still believe it’s a noble sport. I’m not sure how anyone can call it noble when an animal is being taunted and tortured, causing it severe pain, before finally killing it when it’s actually no longer a threat. Most people are unaware that the bulls are actually tortured prior to going into the ring. For example, they have acid poured into their eyes, amongst other things. The matadors often make tens and even hundreds of thousands of euros for each fight.
It’s good to see that the “tradition” of bullfighting is slowly dying out across Spain, but it is holding on tenaciously in more rural, inland areas.
A final word? It may well be that bullfighting is a long-held tradition in Spain. However, it’s not always right to continue to uphold traditions. Yeasrs ago it was traditional to send pre-school age children up the inside of chimneys to clean them. Happily we realised that this was one tradition we needed to obliterate.
I rest my case.
My life in Spain 