2013 San Isidro Festival in Madrid’s Pradera

Posted on May 15, 2013 by MadridMan

Today, the 15th of May, is Madrid’s Patron Saint’s Day, “El Día de San Isidro Labrador“. It’s a day for the city of Madrid to come together and celebrate its history and traditions, costumes and music, and of course, its people. Sure, the festival started on the 10th and ends on the 19th of May, but today is THE BIG DAY.

Many years it’s hot and sunny, but this 2013 San Isidro Festival in Madrid’s Pradera de San Isidro Park was cool, cloudy and rainy – until about 11:30am. After the last drop dropped I edged outside and looked up, saw some blue sky between the dark clouds and decided to take a chance. I’d also checked the (mostly unreliable) weather forecast which said it should stop raining by noon.

While I usually start at the bottom of the Paseo de la Ermita del Santo street near the Río Manzanares river and work my way uphill, this time I started at the top and walked downhill – although I walked back up when I was finished and I’m glad I did it this way.

The first things you notice at the top are rows of Port-O-Pots (mobile toilets), parked police horse trailers, and a large stage for the nighttime concerts. These rock/pop concerts, while I’ve never attended one personally, can always be heard from my home when the windows are open just 1.2 kilometers away “as the crow flies” or 15-minutes onfoot.

Walking downhill, there’s no mistaking you’re in the middle of Fair Food Heaven. But this is like no typical United States County Fair Food you’ve ever tried before. Sure, they do have hotdogs, but these are rarely touched by Spaniards. Imagine the following Fair-Food Smells wafting across the San Isidro Park: roasting suckling pig, lamb and ribs, 5 varieties of sausages, 2 varieties of fried squid, fried sardines, croquettes, roasted whole chickens, fried-egg-covered potatoes, paella, and – this is a big one – something called “entresijos“. “Entresijos” is a popular fried delicacy of the stomach and intestines of a lamb or hen. (Trust me, they look nearly as nasty as they sound, all undulating and crusty fried – and I haven’t tried them yet. No, those pictured below are NOT “entresijos“, but are fried “porras” and “churros“)

Most of the food stands have a streetside bar where you can also enjoy a beer, wine, sangria, “tinto de verano“, or even something to eat. Many of the stands also have a covered seating area with tables and chairs to have a sit-down meal. In general, the food all looks delicious to my Spanish-assimilated eyes. And although I’m tempted to stop for a bite, I have lunch plans so I have to get back.

Among the food and drink stands, there are also a number of political party stands – which I find odd. Why mix party politics with festival fun? I guess since they paid their fee to have the stand, they’re hoping to sway the opinion of passersby. Not sure.

Although dark, billowing clouds continued to threaten the party, the overall attendance seemed only slightly smaller than last year’s, surely due to the rainy morning and cool temperatures. They say the Madrid City Hall spent 20% less on this year’s festivities, but I couldn’t tell a difference, at least not at the Pradera de San Isidro. Maybe you could notice at other venues.

Shortly after noon I found myself in the middle of the Pradera de San Isidro, right at the bend in the Calle de la Ermita del Santo street where the Catholic Mass for the Madrileño masses had just begun. I stood awhile and witnessed the procession and of the image of San Isidro Labrador while youngsters sang “Hallelujah” to an acoustic guitar. That was kind of nice and not so somber. Apart from all that, I had to think for a minute. This city-sponsored festival surrounds a religious figure. No separation of Church and State? This is Spain, afterall, where most (or all) of its holidays are religion-based. The kids and parents don’t care, though. They get the day off.

Video Below:
Catholic Mass and Arrival of “San Isidro Labrador”
in the Pradera de San Isidro in Madrid, Spain:

Leaving the seated Mass(es) behind, I continued downhill with several stands on my right selling “Rosquillas”, a traditional San Isidro pastry. Rosquillas are fried dough very similar to doughnuts with different sugary glazes. The most popular and most common of all “rosquillas” are “Las Tontas“, “Las Listas“, and “Las de Santa Clara“, but there are probably five additional flavors including coffee, lemon, chocolate, orange, strawberry, and more I can’t recall now. Since I didn’t want a swinging bag around my wrist while trying to take photos, I decided to buy my “rosquillas” on the way back – so I pressed on.

A little further down I reached the “Ermita de San Isidro“. This is a small church or hermitage first constructed in 1528 and then rebuilt in 1725. It’s dedicated to Madrid’s Patron Saint, San Isidro Labrador. On this day, “Día de San Isidro“, the faithful wait in line, sometimes for hours, to get inside and pay tribute. There’s another long line to drink the spring waters, “with healing power”, on the outside wall of the hermitage. This year I didn’t wait in line for either, but during previous years I would go the day before when there are often no lines at all.

It’s here in the street, immediately in front of the “Ermita del Santo” (“Ermita de San Isidro Labrador“), where most of the real ACTION is. Organized groups from different parts of Madrid display their period dances in period costumes. The most common dances are “El Chotis” but also the “Pasodoble“. The most common costumes are those of the “Chulapas” (for women) and “Chulapos” (for men) but also the “Goyesca” costumes. These groups dance for the crowds and are always happy to pose for photos, being quite proud of their appearance and skills.

Video Below:
“Chulapas” and “Chulapos” dancing “El Chotis”
in Madrid’s Pradera de San Isidro

A few raindrops dropped and I feared the worst, but it never happened. Still, I decided it was time to make my way back up hill and head home although I was packing a mini-umbrella just in case.

Before leaving, I stepped up to a “rosquilla” stand to buy the obligatory sweets for today’s “merienda“, for tomorrow’s breakfast, or for whenever. I bought 18 total for 11 Euros, a nice mixed bag and they are tasty!

Passing the catholic mass once again and heading up through the food stands, I paused several times for food-photos and the occasional cute-kid photo, too. Some people were already having their lunch at 1pm (so early!!) while others were having a pre-lunch drink at the streetside bars.

Leaving the Pradera de San Isidro grounds at the top of the hill and passing the concert stage once again, I noticed throngs of young and old pouring in and more parking their cars wherever they could fit. That’s good. I’m glad to see the San Isidro festival still so popular among Madrileños.

Also read all year’s accounts of the San Isidro Festival in Madrid with lots of information, insights, photos and videos:

San Isidro 2012, San Isidro 2011, San Isidro 2010, San Isidro 2009, San Isidro 2008

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Posted in About Spain, Entertainment, Food, Photos | Tagged Baile, catholic mass, chotis, Chulapas, Chulapos, dance, El Chotis, ermita, ermita de san isidro, Ermita del Santo, fair food, food, imagen, Madrid, mass, Patron Saint, Pradera, pradera de san isidro, san isidro, San Isidro Labrador, Spain, Video | 5 Comments

2013 Madrid San Isidro Festival Preview

Posted on May 11, 2013 by MadridMan

Yesterday, the 10th of May, was the official start of the 10-day 2013 Madrid San Isidro Festival and it lasts until the 19th of May. The 15th of May is THE BIG DAY, San Isidro Labrador Day, Madrid’s Patron Saint, and is a city-wide holiday.

I know many people hear “San Isidro” and first think of the world’s largest bullfight festival, “Fería de San Isidro“, with daily bullfights from 9 May to 1 June. But Madrid’s San Isidro festival is much more diverse than that.

Video Below (not mine): “Gigantes y Cabezudos” dancing in Puerta del Sol:

For example, yesterday/Friday afternoon I was downtown and there was a parade of “Big Headed Giants” (“gigantes y cabezudos“) through the Puerta del Sol of Madrid. After that, there was a symphony orchestra concert in the Plaza Mayor. (photo below was taken an hour before the 9:30pm concert started)

Many events take place during the 15th of May including many things in the “Pradera de San Isidro“. This is the large, hilly city park located immediately across the Río Manzanares river from the Vicente Calderón Stadium (home of the Atlético de Madrid football team). It’s also the park from which we have Madrid skyline views as seen by painter Francisco Goya in his 1788 painting, “La Pradera de San Isidro“. (see painting below)

In the Pradera de San Isidro on the 15th of May, Catholic Mass takes place at noon and costumed “chulapas” (women) and “chulapos” (men) dance the traditional “el Chotis” in the street throughout the day. There will also be people standing in line for hours to drink the spring water beside the “Ermita de San Isidro” hermitage – which is said to contain “healing powers”. I always go the day before the 15th to drink the same water and there’s never a line – but it’s not the same as doing it ON San Isidro Day, I realize. Thousands of people will also buy “rosquillas” (kind of like doughnuts) – “las tontas, las listas y las de Santa Clara” to eat there and to take home. I always get a “mixed bag” of the three kinds to eat for “merienda” and breakfast over the following days after San Isidro.

There are also other cultural events, dances, and concerts taking place in Madrid’s “Las Vistillas“, the small park south and west the Viaducto. I tend to only attend events in the “Pradera de San Isidro” as it’s practically in my neighborhood and access is easy onfoot. These days it’s impossible to find parking anywhere in this area.

This year, 2013 Madrid San Isidro Festival, on the 15th of May itself, I’ll post a new blog with photos and video of my experiences in the Pradera – assuming it doesn’t rain, that is.

Enjoy the 2013 Madrid San Isidro Festival!

Also read all year’s accounts of the San Isidro Festival in Madrid with lots of information, insights, photos and videos:

San Isidro 2013, San Isidro 2012, San Isidro 2011, San Isidro 2010, San Isidro 2009, San Isidro 2008

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Posted in About Spain, Entertainment, Food, Photos | Tagged 2013, bullfights, ermita, ermita de san isidro, events, feria, feria de san isidro, fotos, Las Ventas, las vistillas, Madrid, photos, Pradera, pradera de san isidro, san isidro, San Isidro Labrador, toros, Video | 10 Comments

Spectacular Madrid Puerta del Sol Rooftop Views

Posted on April 21, 2013 by MadridMan

Last week I had the distinct pleasure of enjoying some INCREDIBLE views from a Madrid rooftop – IN THE PUERTA DEL SOL!

2013 Views from a Puerta del Sol Madrid Rooftop

Madrid’s Puerta del Sol, 17 April 2013.

Sometimes I think to myself, “I really am blessed to have such good friends and good contacts.” My new-ish Madrid buddy Nacho Gil, of “Callejeando Madrid“, is an impressive photographer hobbyist and seems to have more (rooftop) contacts than the Prime Minister of Spain. This time he brought me along.

I’d been begging (read: nagging) Nacho to let me tag-along for one of his Madrid rooftop photo shoots and he finally relented. Maybe it was just good timing or maybe because he knows well my affinity towards Madrid’s Puerta del Sol. In any case, he gave me an photographic experience of a lifetime.

We met at the Oso y el Madroño statue at 7:45pm last Wednesday under a super-sunny clear sky; a perfect day for taking pictures. I would’ve preferred a few thin, wispy cirrus clouds on the horizon for character, but when appointments are made, you must make the best of the time you’ve been given. So that’s what we did.

Nacho and I then met his contacts in the northeast corner building of the plaza. For reference, this is the building immediately left of the Old Hotel Paris and the would-be flagship Apple Store which held up the iconic “Tío Pepe” sign for more than 75 years.

After the obligatory handshakes and smalltalk, we were accompanied up to the fifth floor by elevator. From there we took the “secret passage” up a very tight wooden spiral staircase barely thicker than my own body. Good thing I’m not claustrophobic! Since I was the last to go up, I was asked to bolt the door behind me before going up. ‘THUNK!’ Door securely bolted behind me. Oh, my!

As I exited onto the wide-open, flat-top roof I could swear angels were singing as the afternoon sun hit my face. But the temporary euphoria was smacked-down by a heavenly hand when I saw what was next.

The corner of the building with the best views of the Puerta del Sol was just…. over there. But to get – over there, we’d first have to cross a ledge roughly 25cm/10inches wide and 1.6m/5ft long. We were told, “I hope you’re not afraid of heights because that’s the only way to get across.”

Taking a deep breath – and last in line (smart, eh?!), I quickly shuffled along the length of the ledge with my camera bag held tightly to my body. Maybe I’m making this all sound worse than it was. To my inside I had a knee-height compressor and pipes. To my outside – and about 15-feet down, I had the terrace below me. Past that terrace, well, you know, was hot asphalt and unforgiving stone. Given the choices, I leaned towards the compressor while completing the distance.

Now it’s just after 8pm and we have the entire plaza of Madrid’s Puerta del Sol at our feet. What a view. What a privileged view.

With the sun in our eyes and the plaza dark below by contrast there’s not much to do. The only things we can see clearly are to our left and behind us, buildings with sun-shining façades. These include the some-day/year/millennium flagship Puerta del Sol Madrid Apple Store, now totally gutted and with a new roof where the “Tío Pepe” sign is sorely missed by millions. A little to the right and on the near-distant horizon one can clearly see the red brick tower of the Parroquia de Santa Cruz. More to right and on the plaza Puerta del Sol is the clock and bell tower of the Real Casa de Correos, the regional Madrid government building, standing tall in the afternoon sun. Looking due west, nearly into the sun, we can see the dome of Madrid’s Almudena Cathedral. And just below the nearly setting sun we can just make out the foothills to the Sierra Guadarrama mountains. To the right of the setting sun, we can make out the tops of the FNAC and Telefónica buildings.

As the sun goes behind the Capital City buildings we can see the typically busy Puerta del Sol better and better. This plaza NEVER sleeps – especially in good weather, and today is no exception. Bicycle stunts are performed to an animated crowd. Human statues are standing/leaning/hoisted motionless at an fiscally agreeable distance between each one. The ever-present, yellow-faced Sponge Bob is dancing around with that big, goofy grin. There’s also the police van parked up against the horse-riding statue of King Carlos III in case citizens or tourists have security issues in Madrid’s “home of the pick-pockets”. Today, fortunately, there are no Mariachis entertaining us, making unaware travelers think theirs is indigenous music to Spain.

(Imagine you’re there now…) It’s just after 9pm and there goes the sun. The plaza’s street lamps are turned on and the two fountains and all building façades are now illuminated, glowing. The horizon still has a warm, cozy allure, but it’s fading fast. The yellow turns to orange and the orange turns to pale blue. The stars have tossed back their daytime blankets and are waking up, beginning to twinkle.

(You’re still there…) Now it’s 9:20pm and we’ve reached twilight, “La Hora Azul” (“The Blue Hour”), the fleeting span of time during which the sky isn’t yet dark but no longer light. It’s that moment of the evening when you hug your sweetheart a little tighter because you feel some natural, inexplicable energy in the world. It’s also the perfect hour of the evening for photography. It’s now when you have a rich, gorgeous sky while still having a slightly light landscape.

Nacho, nickname for “Ignacio“, and I were up on that Puerta del Sol rooftop for nearly two hours and we each took dozens of photos, the majority of those during this valuable and brief “Hora Azul“. Having a tripod is a necessity during this critical time because the best, richest photos require a slower exposure and a camera’s movement becomes a photo’s death sentence, quickly and easily deleted.

Shortly before 10pm we were packed up and ready to go back down – but FIRST we had to cross over “The Ledge of Doom“! The ledge gained its name since the sun went down, leaving it nearly dark and with far fewer reference points needed for balance. Oh, my! So I leaned harder on the compressor, making Nacho’s contact wince a bit, thinking I might damage the thing. Truth is, it did buckle just a bit with the added pressure I was putting on it, but only lasted a couple seconds so presumably it was fine. Knock on wood.

Back down the narrow, spiral staircase to the fifth floor and took the elevator to the building’s front door. After saying goodbye to Nacho’s contact, we stepped out onto solid ground of the Puerta del Sol with the “Oso y el Madroño” statue immediately in front of us. We then said our own goodbyes and parted ways – until the next time he’d let me tag along for more rooftop photo-ops. Thanks again, Nacho!

A final note: It should be mentioned that the rooftop I visited is not open to the public nor is easily accessible.

En Español: Lee este blog en versión española en PuertaDelSol.net, “Desde una Azotea de Puerta del Sol Madrid“, aunque es bastante distinto, está escrito en mis propias palabras.

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Posted in About Spain, Photos | Tagged azotea, Casa de Correos, hora azul, horizon, Madrid, observation deck, Oso y el Madroño, Plaza, Puerta del Sol, rooftop, rooftop views, sundown, sunset, twilight, Views | 8 Comments

Fun For Kids in Madrid: Row, Row, Row Your Boat

Posted on April 6, 2013 by MadridMan

Renting a rowboat isn’t the first priority on tourists’ To-Do-List in Madrid, Spain, but it sure is a pleasure if you have time, if you have good weather, or if you have kids!

Over the Easter holiday I rented rowboats in both of Madrid’s “lakes”, Retiro Park and Casa de Campo Park, and both are similar experiences apart from the setting. A couple relatives came to visit me in Madrid over the Palm Sunday weekend, one of which was a 10-year old boy. So what does one do with a 10-year old in a big city? Answer: Anything which has moving parts. So that’s what we did!

Saturday we went up to the observation deck under the clock tower of the Palacio de Cibeles for a 30-minute visit – of which we spent 15 minutes before the 10-year old got bored. GREAT views from up there with lots of photo-ops of the Madrid skyline.

Details: Reservations necessary. 4€ per adult. 0.50 € for kids 4-12 years old. Hours are seasonal, but they close for 2.5 hours for lunch.

From there we walked through the nearby Retiro Park and rented a rowboat on the north end of the park. It was a cool, but partly sunny day so we three took the boat out for the entire 45-minute rental period, letting the 10-year old do most of the rowing at his insistence.

We enjoyed views from the 4-corners of the lake, admired the fountains, watched the ducks, and avoided crashing into the other rowboats. The people lying in the sun on the Monument to King Alfonso XIII looks so relaxed and I vowed to do that some day. We also saw lots of kissing-couples drifting through the water while others were full of families or giggling friends as their boats tipped.

On this day, everyone was enjoying themselves around the 60,000 m² Retiro Lake “estanque”, as were we; no blisters incurred and no complaints shed.

Details: No reservations necessary. 45-minute rental. Price per boat, not per person. 5.80€ Monday-Friday. 7.50€ Saturday, Sunday, holidays. 10:00am-6:30pm. Hours are seasonal, but they are open until about 45-minutes before sunset.

Sunday morning was much cooler. We first took the double-decker Madrid City Tour touristic bus, route #1. Making one entire loop (without getting off) took about 40 minutes. After the first 15-minutes, the 10-year old was bored, complaining that each building looked exactly like the last. Understandable.

We also missed our intended stop because we didn’t go downstairs and tell the attendant. Apparently, they don’t automatically stop at every bus stop on the map unless requested. Lesson learned. Details: 21€ per adult, 9€ for kids 7-15 years old. RESULT: 51€ for 40-minutes of boredom, complaining, runny noses in the cold = a waste of money/time. Not recommended for kids. Live and learn.

Getting off at the Royal Palace/Palacio Real, two stops after our targeted stop, we popped indoors for hot coffee and chocolate and churros to warm up after freezing on the open-top bus.

Next, we walked through (read: past) the Plaza de España and up the Calle Ferraz and bought a loaf of bread to feed to the pigeons/birds. Next, we crossed through the Templo de Debod and briefly admired the views of the “river valley” and the Casa de Campo Park as well as the Royal Palace and Almudena Cathedral. Here, the pigeons had their first meal from us – but not their last.

Continuing up through the park paralleling the Paseo Pintor de Rosales, we reached “El Teleférico“, the cable-car sky-lift from the Parque de la Rosaleda to the Casa de Campo. This, the kid enjoyed! We got on and crossed over the Río Manzanares river with views of the Estación del Norte train station, the Royal Palace, and the Almudena Cathedral while spending most of the time over the unusually green Casa de Campo Park. Details: 4€ per person one-way or 5.75€ round-trip. Trip lasts about 15-minutes. Recorded, in-cabin auditory presentation can be given in English when requested at the time of boarding.

We got off in the recently remodeled Casa de Campo Teleférico station which has a large terraza bar/restaurant (fast-food, mostly) with views of the Madrid skyline. Funny, in order to exit the station one must first pass through a gift-shop!

Now we’re at the highest (?) elevation of the Casa de Campo park. Everything’s wonderfully green thanks to the seemingly and unusually non-stop winter/spring rains. Time for a walk around the trees, climbing on the playground’s Jungle Gym, and admiring the Madrid skyline. We walked around for 20-minutes before we noticed the tall-shooting fountain of the Casa de Campo park lake below and in the distance.

Although I’d bought the return/round-trip tickets on the Teleférico, the 10-year old insisted that all he wanted to do was to return where we were yesterday, the Retiro Park, to row a boat again. Luckily, I was able to persuade him to row a boat at the nearby lake below us instead. So we walked.

We walked downhill, followed winding trails, stopped for a sit on a log in the sun to admire the Madrid skyline and tiny wildflowers and take some photos. There were a few other hikers around, too, as well as a young couple relaxing under a tree with a sandwich-and-Coke picnic. What a pleasant, mostly sunny day! This is something I’d never done and was enjoying this nature walk. And as most adults know, happy children make happy adults.

After a good 20-minute walk – including a race to the next tree, we reached the Casa de Campo lakeside, passing first through the restaurants and their terrazas. Hurray! There were lots of busy ducks and large Carp fish swirling about at the surface. Break out the loaf of bread!! There, we spent 20-minutes feeding them both, watching the ducks scrambling over each other and the carp gulping at the water’s surface with their big, fat mouths.

Saving some bread, we walked to the southern edge of the large(er) Casa de Campo lake to rent a boat. I rowed us away from the pier, but the 10-year old quickly took over, splashing all over and fighting a fierce headwind. After 20-minutes of going in circles and being wind dragged to the far side of the lake, my butt took the driver’s seat, putting some muscle into the old wooden oars in search of ducks to feed. I’ll tell you, I didn’t do much better! With much effort, I was able to get us to the far sides of the lake, found some ducks to feed and even more carp. The lake’s high-shooting fountain was mercifully turned off so we didn’t have to deal with getting wet on this now cold, windy and cloudy afternoon.

The Casa de Campo lake is 80,000 m² in size, that’s 1.3 times larger than the Retiro Park Lake. This is no pond (!) and requires the entire 45-minutes to make it to the four corners, leaving 10-15 minutes for the return. Details: No reservations necessary. 45-minute rowboat rental. Price per boat, not per person. 5.80€ Monday-Friday. 7.50€ Saturday, Sunday, holidays. Hours are seasonal, but they are open daily until about 45-minutes before sunset.

On our way back to the boat dock the wind was stronger and I felt the first sprinkles so we made our way to one of the outdoor/enclosed cabañas for lunch. We chose “La Cabaña de Senen“, sat down, and it started to rain. Great timing. The lunch consisted of typically Spanish “raciones”, all chosen by me, to be shared among us. I ordered a plate of “almejas a la marinera” (clams in garlic sauce), “chorizo a la sidra” (cider-fried chorizo), “croquetas de jamón serrano” (serrano ham croquettes), and a plate of fried potatoes with mayonnaise. (mayonnaise?!) While the 10-year old had promised to try different foods during his first visit to Spain, in the end he ate nearly nothing but fried potatoes with mayonnaise. That’s okay. If he’s happy, we’re happy.

Summary: Rowing boats in Madrid, hiking in parks, and feeding the animals are quite possibly the best things for 10-year olds. Luckily, he loved the pancakes and French toast I made him for breakfast.

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Posted in Entertainment | Tagged activities, boat rental, boredom, boring, bus, bus tour, Casa de Campo, children, chocolate, churros, ducks, fish, kids, Madrid, Madrid City Tour, Palacio de Cibeles, Park, pigeons, raciones, rental, Retiro, Retiro Park, rowboat, spanish food, Templo de Debod, things for kids, things to do, to do list | 2 Comments

2013 Semana Santa in Madrid Holy Week

Posted on March 31, 2013 by MadridMan

Today is Easter Sunday in the world of the believers – and that’s a pretty large percentage of the population. It also marks the last day of the week long Holy Week festival of Semana Santa in Madrid and throughout Spain.

Events and lavish, yet often stoic processions are scheduled daily, with the most important days being Thursday and Friday, Jueves Santo and Viernes Santo respectively. In all, I witnessed four processions including one as an Official Press Photographer. That was quite an honor. (more on that later)

Some years I’ll write about Madrid’s Semana Santa processions before they happen, but that’s all pre-procession-projectory. This year I decided to wait until the end to do a general summing up. In short, nearly half of the planned processions never made it out their respective church doors due to rain. The other half marched with at least some risk of rain during their (sometimes) 2+ hour processions.

Those I witnessed included:

Nuestro Padre Jesús de la Salud “Los Gitanos” on Wednesday, 27 March, from the Parroquia de Nuestra Señor del Carmen y San Luis on the Calle del Carmen
Nuestro Padre Jesús Nazareno “El Pobre” y María Santísima del Dulce Nombre on Thursday, 28 March, from the Iglesia de San Pedro
Nuestro Padre Jesús del Gran Poder y María Santísima de la Esperanza Macarena on Thursday, 28 March, from the Real Colegiata de San Isidro
María Santísima de los Siete Dolores on Friday, 29 March, from the Parroquia de la Santa Cruz – for which I was selected as one of the official PRESS photographers.

Wednesday’s 8:30pm procession of Nuestro Padre Jesús de la Salud “Los Gitanos” was my first of the year. The weather was quite pleasant for this Holy Week procession in Madrid. I first went to the Church on the Calle del Carmen at 8pm, but couldn’t even get close. The streets were packed with those awaiting the exit of the “paso” (or “float”). I darted down to the Puerta del Sol, where I knew it would pass, and positioned myself on the “front line” of the street’s shoulder immediately in front of -and facing – the door of the Real Casa de Correos (with the clock tower) of the Puerta del Sol.

This procession portrays “pasos” of Jesus Christ carrying his cross and surrounded by purple flowers. Later came the Virgin Mary. And I was perfectly positioned to witness it all up-close and personal. And BOY was I perfectly positioned! Just before the procession reached me and the Real Casa de Correos, the masses to my right were moved to allow the procession’s path to return semi-directly to the church by first going up the Calle de Preciados due to a forecast of rain sometime between 10:30pm and 11:00pm – as I overhead the procession leader tell someone to my right. This positioned me perfectly in the elbow of the procession path so I saw them coming and going, turning the corner at my shoulder. The float of Jesus Christ passed me at 9:30pm and the Virgin Mary passed me at 10pm.

Thursday’s two attended processions were to both pass through the Plaza de la Villa so that’s where I awaited them. Unfortunately, I arrived a bit late, 7:30pm, to get any good position for the Nuestro Padre Jesús Nazareno “El Pobre” y María Santísima del Dulce Nombre procession which left the church at 7pm. The plaza was already nearly full from bottom to top so I wedged myself in towards the top. The wind was whipping and rather cold under clear skies, but the inactivity of the wait made me even colder and my feet hurt more. Leading the procession, the horsemen entered the Plaza de la Villa at 8:20pm, but the float of Jesus Christ didn’t arrive until 9:18pm and the Virgin Mary at 9:40pm, both stopped to rest below a balcony-full of dressed-up politicians or government workers before leaving the plaza up the Calle Mayor to then passing through the Plaza Mayor.

Seeing the entrance into the Plaza de la Villa of the first pointy-hooded “Nazarenos” of the second procession, I decided to “race ahead” of the first one, Nuestro Padre Jesús Nazareno “El Pobre” y María Santísima del Dulce Nombre, to meet it in the Plaza Mayor for additionally scenic photo backdrops. Unfortunately, I never made it. The streets were totally blocked so I wound back and found myself blocked again by the second procession, the one for La Macarena, formally known as Nuestro Padre Jesús del Gran Poder y María Santísima de la Esperanza Macarena.

Arriving “late” for this one, I’d missed the float for Jesus Christ and just caught the Virgin “La Macarena” passing in front of the San Miguel Church where I had a good view with lots of space among the crowd. After it passed, I was able to run ahead and catch it before she turned up towards the Plaza de la Villa and out of sight.

For anyone who has seen the La Macarena procession, it’s quite emotional as “Saetas” are sung, the band plays soulful music, and along the way people shout “VIVA LA MACARENA!“, to which the crowd shouts back, “VIVA!” Also an indivual would shout, “MACARENA!” and the crowd shouts back, “GUAPA!“. (you’ll see this in my video above) It really did give me chills. And dare I say it? At times I was compelled to shout in a musical tone, “AY, MACARENA!“, but… I don’t think people would take it in the lighthearted manner I intended it so I just kept my mouth shut. hehehe…

Good Friday, 29 March, it rained all morning, nearly all afternoon long, and I was certain all 3 of the processions would be canceled. In fact, both of the 7pm processions were canceled because it was still raining. The one I planned to attend at 7:30pm, María Santísima de los Siete Dolores from the Parroquia de la Santa Cruz, was still scheduled to go on.

I’d arrived at the Parroquia de la Santa Cruz, (big red brick tower very near the Plaza Mayor) Calle de Atocha, 6, at 6:45pm and it had stopped raining briefly, only to start raining again at 7pm, 30-minutes before the scheduled 7:30pm start of the procession through the streets of Madrid. It was delayed.

BackStory: A few months earlier I was selected to be one of the 3 official photographers for this important procession after the church saw my video of their procession from 2012, passing through the Plaza Mayor. It was a true honor. The Press Pass gave me full access to everything, a true privilege which I took very seriously.

With this honor, and the press pass clipped to my shirt, I walked among those preparing the floats, poking around and behind the floats within the Parroquia de la Santa Cruz. It also allowed me to get very up close to watch the faithful kiss the plaque of the “Heart of Jesus” as well as kiss the feet of the image of Jesus Christ, each of which was carefully wiped with a white cloth after contact.

It gave me a rarely-seen perspective as I constantly walked among those participating in the procession, front to back, side to side, beginning to end, never stopping to take photos and video, all this as the crowds crowded pushed to get a glimpse of María Santísima de los Siete Dolores along the path.

At 9pm, the procession finally left the Parroquia de la Santa Cruz, carefully and excruciatingly lowering the Virgin below the door frame and out to the momentarily clear skies outdoors. We passed through the Plaza de la Provincia, through the Plaza de la Puerta Cerrada and up the Calle de Cuchilleros, over to the Plaza Conde de Barajas, winding through the narrow streets of Madrid de los Austrias and into the wide-open Plaza de la Villa at 10pm, where surprisingly few people were waiting after the hour and a half delay. From here we entered the Calle Mayor and passed under the arch of the Calle de Ciudad Rodrigo to the Plaza Mayor at 10:30pm and exited the other side via Calle de Gerona to the Plaza de la Provincia and back again to the Parroquia de la Santa Cruz at 11pm.

Right at the end of the procession it started to sprinkle just a bit. Some might argue that, by some miracle, the clouds parted just long enough.

It was another wonderful, albeit weather-filled Semana Santa in Madrid. These processions are always an emotional spectacle even if you’re not religious. The tradition, the music and artisan sculptures alone make them worth the wait.

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Posted in About Spain | Tagged 2013, Holy Week, Jesus, jesus christ, la macarena, Madrid, maria, Maria Santisima de los Siete Dolores, pasos, Plaza de la Villa, plaza mayor, procesiones, Procession, procession route, Puerta del Sol, Semana Santa, Siete Dolores, virgen, virgin, Virgin Mary | 2 Comments

Rain Threatens Laundry in Madrid

Posted on March 4, 2013 by MadridMan

As those of you who know, here in Madrid it’s either hot and dry OR it’s cold and dry. So whenever it rains, snows (like MAYBE once a year – and only a “dusting” at that), or even gets cloudy, it makes the news. Today’s one of those days.

Today, Monday, the clouds and threatening rain are making news not only on the news channels, but also in my own household! How often has it happened that after a perfectly sunny weekend it then gets cloudy on Monday and calls for rain either late in the day or in the following days. Usually, those rainy weather forecasts never come to fruition. If it does rain it’s better if it rains during the week than on the weekend when we’re all out and about, but I need to get my laundry done – and I do it on Monday mornings! Again, oh, sure, why not change the day since the laundry gods seem to have it in for me? Good question. I have my reasons.

Our rooftop has about 8 lines available for laundry hanging. In the summer when it’s hot, laundry can dry in less than 30-minutes as it’s literally like a solar oven up there. I love drying clothes in summer. It’s so fast and easy. But you don’t want to spend more than a few minutes hanging or taking down laundry as you’ll either go blind or get sunburned. I always go up there with my sunglasses on, but I don’t put on suntan lotion – although I should. In the wintertime it takes longer, of course. Today, it’s about 48ºF/10ºC, cloudy, and VERY windy. The wind dries the sheets quickly, but those thick gym socks and jeans take all day long.

Photo credit: Tomas Fano / Foter.com / CC BY-SA

I’ve already taken down the sheets and the thinnest of clothing after 5 hours in the wind, but left the socks, jeans, towels to dry – with an ever weary eye on the sky as I work at my desk, just trying to catch those first sprinkles on the window so that I can dash upstairs to retrieve what’s left.

What do I do then with the still-wet clothes? In the winter, in the afternoons/evenings, we have the heat turned on from about 6pm to 11pm. It’s then that I’ll drape the socks and still-damp clothing over the radiators for the last drying. The jeans, too, but one pair will occupy an entire radiator and they’ll dry within an hour, depending on how wet they still are, of course.

On some winter Mondays, if I awake with two loads of laundry and an all-day-rain, I’ll still wash the clothes, turn on the radiators, and hang them throughout the house. Not only are all radiators covered, all dining table chairs have T-shirts and pants draped over their backs and seats, the 2 clothes lines in the shower are full, the 1 clothes line on the terrace is full, the bed has things hanging off every corner, the sofa too. And I’ll even put some button-down shirts on hangers and hang them from anthing I can find including the ceiling lamp! It’s quite a sight, let me tell you, and barely anywhere to sit!

You know, coming from the USA where everyone dries their clothes in clothes dryers, whenever you’d see an outdoor clothes line full of clothes you’d think those people were poor – or Amish. You kind of pitied them in a way. In Spain, as you might know, nearly everyone air-dries their clothes. And now that I’ve been living in Spain for 7 years and visiting for the 10 years prior to that, I actually like seeing clothes-lines full of clothes. It kind of warms my heart. “That’s a home,” I’d think. Your typical Spaniard will tell you that there’s nothing more natural than air or sun-dried clothes as they smell so good and require no out-of-pocket expense to get them that way. This is great and it also has absolutely no environmental impact whatsoever – apart from the visual one, of course.

More and more new residential buildings are getting creative about how they can both allow outdoor clothes-drying and hide them at the same time. The “terraza”, or the clotheslines outside the kitchen or bathroom window, are often covered by alternating vertical planks-to-space-to-planks in order to hide the drying clothes behind them while still allowing air to circulate. Other newer buildings, those which are 4-sided communities built around a central patio or plaza, allow clothes hanging facing the patio, but not facing the street. On those rare occasions where the building is a tower and has no central patio and clothes are not allowed to be hung outside the windows facing the street, residents have no choice but to dry their clothes in electrical clothes-dryers or hang them on indoor lines or on portable foldable hanging racks, usually occupying an entire room and creating a damp, humid environment. That’s not so nice.

By 4pm today it started raining just a bit and I hadn’t noticed immediately. By the time I got up to the rooftop the floor was nearly complete wet – and so were what was left of my clothes hanging on the line! So imagine the inside of my house now. Imagine…

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Posted in About Spain, Environment | Tagged clothes, clotheslines, hanging clothes, laundry, Madrid, rain, rooftop, weather | Leave a comment

Doing Neighborhood No-Car Shopping in Madrid

Posted on February 22, 2013 by MadridMan

Wasn’t it great living in the USA, driving from pillar to post, parking less than 50 meters away from any given store, leaving all your multi-stop purchases in your trunk while going out for more? Ahh… THOSE were the days of comfort, convenience, …and laziness.

That’s not the case living in “The City“, of course. Here, you walk, putting one-foot-in-front-of-the-other, dodging meandering Spaniards and random dog-do-droppings along the way. You go to one store, buy your groceries and carry them to the next store. There, you buy more and carry them to the next store, and so on, until you eventually carry everything home – and then, potentially, UP 4 flights of stairs to your flat.

Doing the on-foot shopping all sounds good-and-healthy and works well when patronizing only markets or shops, but you can’t take outside shopping into supermarkets. Some people do their shopping with handy, albeit not-so-cool, wheeled carts, but even those can’t be taken inside the supermarket shopping area. These, you have to lock them up – or leave them at the door at your own risk – until after check-out. Most supermarkets have “taquillas” or lockers into which you feed a returnable 1 Euro coin to lock up your stuff.

Planning is crucial. It sounds silly, but it’s true. Sometimes you can’t possibly fit your non-supermarket purchases (at the bakery, the chicken shop, the butcher shop, the olive shop, the nuts-and-snacks shop, the seafood shop) into one of those cubicle lockers. That means you have to do your supermarket shopping first – AND THEN take all that to those aforementioned shops afterwards. (Oh, gawd, I’m sweating just thinking about it – now that I have to do the weekend shopping today)

God forbid you have to buy milk or clothes detergent or something REALLY heavy, putting more stress on those joints. And even if you’re strong (or a 70+-year old Spanish woman used to hard labor – notice I said “woman“), this can be challenging, not only carrying the 2-handed shopping bags several blocks, but also doing that painful twist-at-the-waist as you encounter oncomers on the narrow sidewalks, holding one bag in front of your body and the other bag behind as you pass.

So you’ve completed your shopping. Congratulations. You win a gold pin for achievement. You’re still out on the street and it’s lunchtime so you’d like to go someplace to eat. Great! – except you CAN’T because you can’t lug all those bags of groceries and other miscellaneous bags into a bar/restaurant with you! And they CERTAINLY don’t have lockers into which you can put your stuff.

Very few people living in the city have garages in their buildings in which to park cars – unless they’re somewhat well-to-do AND their buildings are less than a quarter-century old. But even if I owned a car I wouldn’t/couldn’t take it food shopping. Here, you just can’t drive shop-to-shop, 50-250 meters at a time, and dream of finding a parking space anywhere near where your objective. It’s just not sensible.

So for now, as long as I’m living in the city of Madrid (and not well-to-do), I’ll continue shopping on-foot. It’s an easy trade-off for living in the city of my daily daytime dreams.

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Posted in About Spain, Food, Money | Tagged car, car ownership, city shopping, daily shopping, garages, groceries, grocery, grocery shopping, Madrid, neighborhood, parking, parking spaces, shopping, shopping bags, shopping carts, shops, Spain, Spanish supermarkets, supermarket shopping, supermarkets, walking | 2 Comments

Anti-Fluff Blogs or Rainy Monday Mornings in Madrid

Posted on February 18, 2013 by MadridMan

You know what they say, if you can’t talk about anything else, you can always talk about the weather. Today is Monday, the day I usually do the laundry and hang them out to dry – on the rooftop clotheslines but I’m not, because it’s rainy and cool. Sound boring? It is, to me, now.

My blog entries have always been a kind of “No Fluff Zone” for me and my readers since the beginning. “If it’s worth writing, it’s worth writing well and in detail,” I always say. I know that “Writers write” and all that, but I’ve never been one to talk about what I had for breakfast, sore throats or bathroom habits. But sometimes when I scan back through the entries they look very long, maybe even long-winded and exhaustive, maybe even boring to readers more accustomed to the “short blurbs of life” as hosted by some of the social media websites.

The truth is, time passes and sometimes it’s difficult finding topics which I think my readers will enjoy and appreciate. My joyful purpose is to bring Madrid/Spain to you, many of whom pine to be here “living the dream” as I am. Sometimes I get bogged down in everyday life and find it challenging to make the mundane seem interesting. I recall living in Ohio and even the most minuscule events in Spanish life was exciting to me.

Let’s look on the positive side. When you become efficient at one thing it’s time to start the next thing and achieve same. It SHOULD BE a never-ending cycle. Right? It’s when we stop seeking the next thing that it all becomes mundane. Don’t get me wrong, life has NOT become mundane for “MadridMan” in Madrid. FAR from it! But I’ve become somewhat efficient and comfortable, albeit still stimulating when I’m out and about.

For me, blog entries MUST be informative, detailed, taking on all sides of a topic, searching and/or exposing both the good and the bad, presenting each one with a point or, at the very least, a question. My readers deserve no less, which is mainly why my blog entries are sporadic at best. I am happy to share my trips into town when something unusual happens or when I visit someplace new. But if I go straight to the movies and come straight home afterwards, do you really want to hear the same story with little variation? Nah. I know, I know, it’s my job to find subtle differences and present mundane things to me as unusual things to others.

This is one of those blogs I write and, at the end, I ask myself, “Should I really publish this one? Is it worthy? Is it fluff? Do people care?” Maybe they’d care more about the delicious “Tortilla de patatas con jamón serrano” I made for lunch on Saturday, or the Spanish friends whom came over last night for dinner at 9:30pm to watch “Los Premios Goya” (Spain’s annual movie awards) until nearly 1am – all of whom had to get up at 5:00 or 6:00am to start their Monday workday, or caring for the elderly, or doing the shopping, or even my frequent power-walks along the newly redeveloped “Madrid Río“. (I can practically hear you nodding in the affirmative about all of the above, “Yeah! So why doesn’t this MadridDude write about THAT stuff?!?! Now THAT’D be interesting!“)

Maybe I’ve just answered my own question.

“Get busy living, or get busy dying.” – The Shawshank Redemption (movie, 1994)

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Posted in General | Tagged Blog, blogs, fluff, fluff blogs, living in Madrid, Madrid, making life interesting, writing, writing blogs, writing good blogs | 3 Comments

Tablao Villa-Rosa Flamenco Show in Madrid

Posted on January 26, 2013 by MadridMan

Last week I enjoyed a wonderful flamenco show in Madrid at the Tablao Villa Rosa. Anyone who knows “MadridMan” knows he loves flamenco and this tablao is definitely one of the best – if not the best – with regards to price, location, decoration, and quality of performers.

I’ve watched flamenco performed in just about all of Madrid’s tablaos, and in most of those more than once, but this was my 3rd visit to this amazing flamenco tablao. (I also wrote about the Tablao Villa-Rosa last July) This historic tablao is perfectly located in the northwestern corner of Madrid’s Plaza Santa Ana. If you’ve been to Madrid before you’ve certainly noticed the façade’s beautifully hand-painted tiles portraying scenes in Madrid and Spain.

Tuesday night’s flamenco show started at 9:30pm, but we arrived at 9am and were seated right next to the stage. What luck! Great views from beginning to end. It should be mentioned that photos are permitted to be taken but not video. If they see you recording video, they’ll kindly ask you to stop. This is typical in most tablaos.

The stage performers included one guitarist, one singer, and three dancers. Other flamenco tablaos will charge twice as much, but will give you twice the number of performers, too, and the shows last twice as long. So for those wanting an excellent taste of flamenco at half the price, the Tablao Villa Rosa is a great place to see it.

The two female flamenco dancers were Tamar González and Guadalupe Torres while the one male flamenco dancer was Marco Flores. The ladies were impressive, professional talents, to say the least. Their dances started slow and built to incredible velocity and ferocity.

I must admit I didn’t know what to expect from Marco Flores, however. He is very tall and very thin – not your stereotypical macho male, pony-tail sporting male flamenco dancer. But, my-oh-my, was he incredible!! In fact, his performance inspired more than one person in the audience, including me, to rise to his feet to applaud.

Funny thing about flamenco and dance appreciation, those not familiar with it may watch with ambivalent curiosity. In fact, a lot of those at the tablao were virtually stone-faced towards the beginning fo the show. But by the end, however, most all were visibly moved, inspired, many smiling in utter amazement.

With time and experience, I’m creating quite a personal list of “Go-To Places” in Madrid. You know, the places you can count on to treat you well, feed you well, entertain you well, and have a good price-quality ratio, too. The Villa-Rosa is fast becoming my “Go-To” flamenco tablao in Madrid.

Video: Marco Torres dancing flamenco in Villa-Rosa:

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Posted in Entertainment, Flamenco | Tagged dance, flamenco, flamenco dancers, flamenco show, flamenco tablao, Guadalupe Torres, Madrid, Marco Flores, Plaza Santa Ana, tablao de flamenco, tablao Villa Rosa, Tamar González, Villa-Rosa | 9 Comments

2012 Spain Christmas Lottery – El Gordo

Posted on December 13, 2012 by MadridMan

It’s that time of year again. “El Sorteo de Navidad“, Spain’s Christmas Lottery, and “El Gordo“, is upon us – which, frankly, makes it a bit hard to breathe. (ba-dum-dum!) It’s hard to breathe because the lottery is on everyone’s lips and constantly in the news, probably this year more than most.

While some people are spending less on lottery tickets because of Spain’s economic crisis, others are spending more on lottery tickets with hopes that they’ll be whisked away on a magic carpet ride to fortune.

A couple days ago I was in Puerta del Sol to buy my “décimos” at the famed “Doña Manolita” lottery locale on the Calle del Carmen. This lottery stand has existed since 1904, albeit not in the same location. For this reason, it has been the seller of more winning lottery tickets than any other – and so it’s considered lucky.

Question: But what did I find at “Doña Manolita“?

Answer: A line about 100 meters long and lasting about 45-60 minutes.

Needless to say, I didn’t wait in line. A LOT of people DO stand in line for hours and hours, particularly on the FIRST day the “El Gordo” Christmas Lottery Tickets are sold, in order to garner the tickets with the MOST luck. Ooooookay! (see below 2011 video of the 250+ meter line to buy Christmas Lottery Tickets at “Doña Manolita“)

Instead, I bought mine at my neighborhood lottery stand where there was absolutely no line and, in my opinion, has exactly the same “luck” as any other lottery stand. But “luck” has no logic. (yeah, I just made that up. Call me Confucius)

The price for each individual ticket is 20 Euros. It does sound like a lot, right? (particularly for what little you win!) Each ticket represents one-tenth of the series. Each series has 10 tickets and the 5 numbers on each of those 10 tickets are identical. If you match those 5 numbers in order, you win one-tenth of the total winnings for that number. If you possess all 10-tickets in that series and your number comes up, you win the whole prize. “El Gordo” – “The Fat One” – is the TOP prize of all.

The “prize” depends on a random selection of 85,000 wooden balls which roll out of a huge tumbler and also nearly 2,000 wooden balls which roll out of a smaller tumbler. The smaller tumbler balls determines the amount of money won by the 5-balls which roll out of the big tumbler. Confused?

The single big lottery prize is minuscule compared to any bi-weekly, USA state lottery. But, they say, the total payout of thousands of individual prizes is far greater. The most I’ve won was about 120 Euros for matching 3 of the five numbers. But since I’d spent 100 Euros in (5) tickets, I actually lost money – lost money because I’d “gifted” any possible winnings with a number of friends, something I’ll do this year, too – but buying fewer tickets.

Still, the big lottery is fun to look forward to, fun to do, and fun to talk about “what if” you win with friends. The winnings of nearly any prize won’t afford anyone to retire, but might buy a new house or a nice vacation.

The lottery drawing begins at 8am on 22 December, when a pair of uniformed school children (from the elementary school “El Colegio de San Ildefonso”) sing-out the numbered balls tumbling out of the tumblers. (see 2011 video below) It’s quite a spectacle, one I look forward to every year. WISH ME LUCK!!

Watch live online at: http://www.rtve.es/sorteos/loteria-navidad/directo/

Check lottery ticket numbers at: http://www.elgordo.com/

Previous blog entries about Spain’s Christmas Lottery for 2007, 2008, 2009.

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Posted in About Spain, Money | Tagged Christmas Lottery, el gordo, gordo, Loteria de Navidad, Loteria Navideña, Madrid, payout, San Ildelfonso, sorteo, Sorteo de Lotería de Navidad, Sorteo de Navidad, Spain, Spanish Christmas Lottery, Spanish Lottery, watch online, winning el Gordo | 6 Comments

Permanent Residency in Spain with Home Purchase

Posted on November 20, 2012 by MadridMan

“SALE: Buy a House in Spain and Get Permanent Residency for Free!“

I can hardly believe it myself. Today, Trade Ministry secretary Jaime García-Legaz announced a plan to offer PERMANT RESIDENCY in Spain with the purchase of a home over 160,000 Euros. Wow! That’s not a bad price for all those foreigners pining to live and work legally in Spain.

Although the plan has yet to be approved, it is expected to happen in the coming weeks. Primer Minister Mariano Rajoy said just today, Monday, “We need to sell these homes“, referring to the more than 700,000 unsold homes following the 2008 real estate collapse, in order to help revive the construction industry.

Sadly, thousands of homeowners have been evicted, unable to pay their mortgages. Even more shocking is that some homeowners have committed suicide due to foreclosures – one, very publicly, a woman threw herself off her 2nd story balcony as police were at her door, attempting to serve her the eviction notice.

Shocking to Americans, in Spain when you lose your home due to foreclosure, although the bank takes possession of the property, the (former) owner must STILL pay the balance of the loan unless and until they die. And forget about getting any future home loans. You’re red-flagged forever.

So one person’s/country’s misfortune could become the good fortune for someone abroad – with 160,000€ to blow – wishing to make their dream a relatively-cheap-and-easy reality to live and work legally in Spain.

Gaining Spanish Residency also means losing your home-country residency, although you’d maintain your citizenship. No big deal there unless you plan to return to your home country in the near future. One idea may be to buy the property, live and work legally in Spain with the granted residency for a period of time, then sell the property and return “home”.

Sure, there are both pros and cons to living in Spain. The economy is terrible. Finding meaningful work at a living wage is nearly impossible these days. (even before collapse!) And the taxes are high and getting higher. But… the food is great and the wine is better. The people are warm and wonderful for the most part. The history is second to none. And The culture is both stimulating and (sometimes) frustrating for its differences to our own. All things considered, I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.

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Posted in About Spain, Money | Tagged banks, buying a house in Spain, economy, eviction, getting residency, home, houses, jobs, living in Spain, mortgages, real estate, repossessed houses, residency, residency in Spain, Spanish, Spanish Residency, working, working in Spain | 12 Comments

Only American in my Madrid Neighborhood-Until Now

Posted on October 21, 2012 by MadridMan

Seven years I’ve been living in the same working-class neighborhood in Madrid, Spain. For the first six years I have somewhat proudly proclaimed myself as “The American of the Neighborhood“, never finding evidence to refute this. Times change.

No, I don’t hang the American flag from my balcony nor do I play American music so loud so the entire neighborhood can hear it. Nor do I ask merchants, ‘Excuse me, do you speak English?‘. That’s just silly. In fact, I don’t want ANYONE to know I’m American. They can already figure out I’m not Spanish by my ‘look’ and accent/vocabulary so if they’re curious enough, they can ask and I’ll tell them. A few have asked, too, and don’t treat me differently upon hearing the answer.

Local shopkeepers, about which I wrote in my “Feels Like Home When Merchants Know Your Name” blog post, have told me on one or two occasions that they think someone else from my country lives in the area. Not surprisingly, Spaniards sometimes confuse Americans with Brits with Irish with Australians and even with Germans because we really do look a lot alike. I have heard a small handful of people, maybe 4 or 5, speaking English around the neighborhood, but they’ve all been British – which is ALSO surprising to find here.

In the last year I discovered one of my neighbors, living within a literal stone’s-throw from me, is (likely) from the United States and about my age, maybe a little younger. No, I haven’t spoken with him yet, but I’ve heard him speak in perfect American English on his mobile phone and even sing classic American English-language songs from a distance. Sure, he could also be Canadian, I guess, but that’s even less likely.

Needless to say, I don’t suffer from The Ugly American Syndrome and have made every effort to assimilate myself into the Spanish social culture. My interactions with Americans only take place online and I don’t have a single face-to-face American friend in Madrid. That’s mostly by design. But don’t misunderstand. I’m not at all anti-American. I’m just pro-Spanish.

I must say that something about his presence does make me feel a bit different, not so special or unique anymore. I know many readers will encourage me to introduce myself, make a new friend, and share our common stories and experiences, but I’m resistant to this idea. I’m afraid to open that door. It could seriously change the dynamic of my Spanish experience and lifestyle, one I love so dearly.

I’m a true believer that one should “Stand In The Place Where You Live” (lyric from the R.E.M. song, “Stand“). Sure, I pined to live in Madrid for many years from Ohio, USA, but now that I’m here, I’m perfectly happy.

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Posted in About Spain | Tagged american, anti-american, Madrid, neighborhood, stand, Ugly American, working class | 8 Comments

Madrid Flamenco Tablao Villa-Rosa

Posted on July 29, 2012 by MadridMan

Everyone knows MadridMan LOVES flamenco dance & music. So Friday night was special as it was my first visit to Madrid’s Flamenco Tablao Villa-Rosa, located on the northwestern corner of the Plaza Santa Ana, the building’s ground floor façade has beautifully hand-panted tiles (from 1915-1920) depicting different landmarks in Madrid and Andalucía, Spain.

I’ve witnessed flamenco dance in just about every tablao in Madrid so I consider myself a bit of a critic. I’m not an expert, mind you, but I can spot good flamenco dancing when I see it – and Friday night’s performance did not disappoint. A “tablao” is the venue at which flamenco is typically witnessed – and Madrid has many.

What’s Old Becomes New Again!

The Villa Rosa has a long history, dating back to 1911, but was closed in 1960 for many years. It later reopened as a discotheque and had a re-birth during Madrid’s and Spain’s “La Movida” years. It was closed once again and remained that way (except for special events) until 2011 when it re-opened as a flamenco tablao. As a discotheque in the ’80s, the same wall paintings, beautiful ceiling and Arabic arches were present. Imagine dancing there when it was a discotheque!

Passing by the Villa-Rosa earlier in the day I stopped in to make 9pm reservations just in case. And thank goodness we did. Upon arriving at the doorman’s suggested 8:30pm time, we were seated immediately one table away from the stage. By our good/bad luck, that same night was attended by a tour group of about 40 teenage girls, seated directly in front of the stage and the venue became VERY loud with their pre-show chatter.

The performance started promptly at 9pm with a guitar-singing number. Within 10-minutes the first dancer stood up to dance, lasting 10-15 minutes. Three dancers danced, finished by the male dancer – a true artist in his profession. The show was capped-off by a brief group-dance before leaving the stage at about 10:05pm to much applause of the crowd.

After the show, the dancers waited around near the exit where many people had their photos taken with them, including someone from my group. We weren’t rushed to pay quickly and many people stayed to chat while finishing their drinks. The evening was a wonderful experience at a place I can confidently recommend.

The Tablao Villa-Rosa has a formula which is obviously successful. Their location is excellent in the northwest corner of the well-known and easy-to-find Plaza Santa Ana, about 200 meters from the Puerta del Sol. They offer a shorter show than the other tablaos – 1 hour versus 2-2.5 hours. They offer a show at about half the price of other tablaos. Their venue is probably the most beautiful tablao I’ve ever seen – ANYWHERE. And their stage-performers – albeit fewer than at other flamenco shows – are true professionals. In short, the Villa-Rosa is well-located, has shorter shows, is cheaper, and employs professional dancers. For tourists looking for a good-taste of flamenco, this is a wonderful choice.

Prices: Prices are about half that of other flamenco tablaos.
Show: 3 dancers (2 female+1 male), 1 singer, 1 guitar player.
Times: 9pm, 11:15pm, each show lasts about 1 hour.

A final note: recording video of the dancers/performers at Villa-Rosa is not permitted.

Link: 2013 January blog, “Tablao Villa-Rosa Flamenco in Madrid“

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Posted in Entertainment, Flamenco | Tagged affordable, cheap, dance, economical, flamenco, flamenco dance, flamenco dancers, flamenco guitar, flamenco singing, La Movida, Madrid, Plaza Santa Ana, reservations, stage, tablao, tablao de flamenco | 8 Comments

Madrid Stores Can Stay Open 24/7/365

Posted on July 27, 2012 by MadridMan

The USA Shopping Experience comes to Madrid! Want to buy your groceries at 3am? Now you can do it. Want to get new shoes on a Sunday evening? Now you can do it. Want to shop for new furniture at midnight? Now you can do it. Want to pick up your dry-cleaning at 7am before work? Now you can do it. But WHERE can you do it? So far, almost nowhere, but that could change soon.

It seems the market(s) is taking a wait-and-see attitude toward the Comunidad de Madrid‘s new law allowing stores to stay open 24-hour hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year which went into effect on 14 July 2012. The idea is to increase consumerism, create employment, and buoy the economy, of course. But with more and more people being laid-off/fired, salaries of the fortunately-employed reduced, and the recent and drastic rise in the IVA tax, who’s going to shop MORE? The well-to-do will shop more, I guess, but not many others. They average person will, however, alter their shopping habits.

This new act will definitely benefit the big chain stores as they’ll be able to afford the added operational costs for lighting, air conditioning, heating, and (maybe) added man-hours. But as many retail employees are paid monthly, they may well be working more hours, but not compensated for them.

The new Always-Open option will also put small shops at risk. In many cases, these small shops are operated by only one employee or is the owner him/herself like at shoe-repair shops, dress shops, butcher shops, florists, shops, and so on. These people aren’t going to work 7-days a week and they’re not likely to hire more personnel to do it, either. It’s just not feasible for them. If people spend their week’s allowance at the always-open shops the smaller shops will eventually close as they cannot compete.

There’s an old saying among Spaniards which goes, “We work to live. We don’t live to work.” Spaniards cherish their free time; time for holidays, time with families, time to have drinks outdoors with friends. For Spaniards, closing their shops for an entire month in summer is a sacred right and (most) everyone respects that right. Sure, it’s inconvenient consumers for a few weeks, but that’s the way it goes.

Closing the Mom-and-Pop shops will cause a serious social shift as well. Earlier this year I wrote, “Feels Like Home when Merchants Know Your Name“, where I waxed poetic about how nice it was to interact with the neighborhood shopkeepers, they knew my face, my history, and some knew me by name. I asked about their families and they asked about mine, never too busy to chat while preparing my meat, fish, fruit, chicken, or olives purchase. It’d be a shame to trade this rich, social interaction for a more superficial supermarket or mall-experience with teen-aged employees.

For tourists visiting Madrid for only a few days, it’s a fantastic opportunity – and maybe it’s at that sector this new law is being aimed. Before, nearly all stores closed at 2pm on Saturdays and did not open on Sundays. There, I can see tourist revenue was lost.

Dare we trade culture for sterile consumerism? The corporations, economists, and maybe even the consumers would say yes. Is it possible to maintain both or does one destroy the other? During times of crisis is often when advantage is taken of the people and sometimes it’s hard for us to see the forest for the trees. It’d be a shame to become so homogenized into the world that Spain could be Norway as easily as it could be Canada. That’s not likely to happen in our lifetimes, no, but we it sometimes seems we’re headed that way.

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Posted in About Spain, Money | Tagged 24 hours, 24/7/365, 365, always open, chain stores, consumerism, culture, hours, neighborhood, open, shops, stores | 1 Comment

Original Version Movies at Cines Princesa in Madrid

Posted on July 26, 2012 by MadridMan

There are a small few cinemas in Madrid which show foreign movies in their original form. Thankfully, 2 of them are in downtown Madrid; Cine Ideal near Puerta del Sol and Cines Princesa/Cines Renoir near Plaza de España.

In 2008, I wrote about Madrid’s Cine Ideal, which shows Original Version movies, mostly the Hollywood kind. Today I’m writing about one of the OTHER Madrid cinemas/theaters which also shows “V.O.S.” (Versión Original Subtitulada – Subtitled Original Version) movies, called Cines Princesa/Cines Renoir near the Plaza de España.

Cines Renoir is actually part of a group of cinemas which show original version movies in Spain, but 5 are here in Madrid and 2 of them are in the same movie complex just one block north of the Plaza de España. One of those two is Cines Princesa. Specifically, this cinema faces the Plaza de los Cubos at Calle de la Princesa, 3, home to Starbucks, VIPs, Nebraska, Burger King, and various other bars, restaurants, and cafés.

Cines Princesa shows a few more Hollywood movies than Spanish/Foreign movies while the two Cines Renoir cinemas tend to show more International/Spanish films than American films, most often are the award-winning/nominated type. The American movies are always shown with Spanish subtitles at the bottom, but there are also showings of some of these films dubbed in Spanish. Just be sure you know which one you’re seeing before buying your ticket.

While I like both Cine Ideal and Cines Princesa equally, I go more often to the latter simply because my bus stops just a couple blocks away from the Plaza de España. The viewing rooms, “Salas” in Spanish, are many, but some are not much bigger than a large garage. This is a turn-off for many, but once the movie starts you don’t even notice. The larger, more popular movies area always shown – at least at the beginning of its hype – in the larger “salas“. Cines Princesa also has a concession stand with pretty affordable (affordable as compared to USA prices) popcorn and soda/pop snacks. The largest popcorn box costs 3.95 Euros, I think.

Weekend tickets cost 8 Euros while weekday tickets (regardless of show time) cost 7.50 Euros – EXCEPT ON MONDAYS. Mondays, just like at Cine Ideal, is “Moviegoer Day” (“Día del Espectador“) and all tickets cost just 5.60 Euros. Add a big-box of popcorn and you’ve got a movie+popcorn for under 10 Euros! That’s a good deal. (IMPORTANT NOTE: These prices are accurate as of today, 26 July 2012. A recent – and significant – rise in the IVA tax will likely raise ticket prices soon, too)

The ticket sales for Cinesa Princesa and the concession stand lobby are at street level, but all the “salas“/cinemas/viewing rooms are down about 15 steps downstairs with no elevators. There are also several below-ground restroom areas, too. The seats are comfortable, new, but not with the super-high-backs you sometimes see in modern USA movie theaters. All seats have a cup-holder at your knee-location.

In this complex you’ll also find two separate Cines Renoir cinemas; one below ground (actually BELOW the Starbucks Coffee shop) and another on the backside of the building at street level on Calle Martín de los Heros, 12. The former of the two (shown above) has a small concession stand, but the latter (a right) has not.

First showings for all these cinemas (including the aforementioned Cine Ideal) during weekdays is usually 4pm. If you plan to get popcorn for the first day’s showing you may arrive to an empty popcorn machine until the concession stand workers get started. That can be frustrating. Also at first weekday showings, the individual “salas” can be quite warm until they turn on the air conditioning. Sometimes, I think, they either forget or not compelled to do so with only 2-10 people at the 4pm weekday showings. Bring a hand-held fan or prepare to complain to management. This has happened to me on more than a few occasions.

Finally, there’s one last cinema/movie-theater in this complex of movie theaters, but it’s not associated with Cines Renoir – as far as I can tell. It’s the Cines Golem, located 30 meters to the LEFT of the outdoor Cines Renoir (photo above-right) at Calle Martín de los Heros, 14. Here, they play only Spanish and international films, almost all are the “Art Film” types, winners/nominees of this-or-that-award.

Madrid has a good number of Original Version Movie theaters and the prices are very reasonable, I think, for a big city like Madrid. Sound and video quality is always excellent, too. Do what I do and catch that first 4pm showing, if possible, and you’ll have the movie theater (practically) all to yourself.

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Posted in Entertainment | Tagged american, Calle Princesa, cine, cinema, Cines Golem, Cines Princesa, Cines Renoir, concession, discounts, films, Golem, hollywood, international, Madrid, movie tickets, movies, original version, Plaza de España, Plaza de los Cubos, popcorn, prices, Princesa, restrooms, stand, subtitles, subtitulada, theater, theatre, ticket prices, tickets, version original | 3 Comments

15 Year Anniversary for MadridMan.com

Posted on July 20, 2012 by MadridMan

Today, 20 July 2012, is MadridMan.com‘s 15-Year Anniversary. MadridMan.com is now a maturing teenager, but still has a lot of growing up to do. JUST WAIT until he gets into his 20s!

The domain name was registered on this date 15-years ago, but “MadridMan” was actually born “without papers” about 10 months earlier in 1996. At that time, “MadridMan’s Yankee Home Page” was hosted for free on a GeoCities website at dawn of the Internet. It didn’t haven much success until “MadridMan” spawned his own DotCom. In 1997, domain names were expensive. I remember it cost $200 for a 2-year registration period. Imagine that. Now they cost about $11 a year.

GeoCities (now defunct), where the website was originally hosted for free, was the place where “MadridMan” was created to combine my passion for computers (hardware and software), the blossoming Internet, travel, and to share my new love for Madrid, Spain which I’d visited just 5 months earlier. It was also created as a learning tool to better educate myself about Madrid and Spain, its customs and culture, and its people and places. “Everybody needs a hobby,” is one of my favorite sayings. And this hobby became mine at a time when I really needed one. Life had its challenges for me then. And that’s where it all came together to give me what I have now, 15-years later, a dream-come-true-life in Madrid, Spain, being my own boss and making a living at it, too!

MadridMan has given me everything I have today – apart from family, of course. It gave me a bunch of wonderful new friends from Spain, England, and many other countries. It opened my eyes and mind about other cultures, political views, and other ways of living. It gives me an income – albeit not a fixed/reliable one as I’m “Autónomo” (self-employed). It allows me the flexibility to work-and-play at my own schedule. And, best of all, it afforded me the opportunity to live in Madrid, Spain.

“MadridMan” should also acknowledge “that guy behind the curtain” which worked a 9-hour day and came home to work another 9-hours, plus weekends, developing the website and adding information in those initial developmental years. And Thank You, “MadridMan“! That-guy-behind-MadridMan couldn’t be more grateful. (Don’t worry, I’m not having a psychological identity crisis, keeping the two separate)

And finally, OF COURSE, whom do I have to thank for reaching this mild milestone? Of course, the visitors to MadridMan.com!!! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!!!!! Without you, those reading this right now and those which came before you, NONE of this would’ve been possible. Without Internet traffic there is no way to exist or to thrive. Sure, MadridMan.com IS a now part of my business, but it’ll always be my most-loved hobby, too.

Happy 15-Year Anniversary, MadridMan.com!!!

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Posted in General, Money, Travel | Tagged 15 year, 1997, 2012, anniversary, Blog, creation, MadridMan, travel, website | 9 Comments

Madrid Party with MadridMan 4th of July 2012

Posted on June 23, 2012 by MadridMan

You heard me! Let’s Party with MadridMan in Madrid once again! This time on America’s Independence day, the 4th of July!

When: 4th of July, 2012, 8pm

Where: El Brillante Bar, Glorieta de Carlos V – a.k.a. “Plaza de Atocha”, on the ground floor of the Hotel Mediodia, on the backside terraza facing the backside of the Reina Sofia Museum.

Why: It’s the 4th of July so let’s us Americans (Expats, students, and transplants) celebrate in fine style.

Who: Americans, Spaniards, and ANY human in Madrid wishing to share a good ol’ time, speaking in English, Spanish, or wha’evar’!

What: Beer, typical Spanish raciones, especially the bars world-famous “Bocadillos de Calamares”!!

How Much: Pay for what you eat & drink. Don’t worry, it’s not at all expensive.

“MadridMan”: your host

This will be the umteenth edition of our “Party with MadridMan in Madrid”. Sometimes we have small turn-outs, but oftentimes we have 15-30 people. Some are students. Some are visitors on vacation. Some are Spaniards wishing to practice their English. In any case, we always have a good time.

Follow the discussion about the Party with MadridMan on our ALL SPAIN Message Board.

Photos below of our last Party with MadridMan on the terraza of El Brillante:

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Posted in Entertainment, Food | Tagged 4th of July, american, bar, beer, bocadillo de calamares, el brillante, fun, gathering, intercambio, Madrid, party, Party with MadridMan, terraza | 2 Comments

Madrid Tio Pepe Sign Will Find New Home in Puerta del Sol

Posted on June 6, 2012 by MadridMan

News that the famous, HISTORIC, landmark, neon Tío Pepe sign, synonymous with Madrid’s Puerta del Sol as much as the “Oso y el Madroño” statue, won’t return to the address Puerta del Sol, 1, causes nothing but discomfort in one’s heart and mind. “How can they do this?” we ask.

“Tío Pepe”, the sombrero-wearing, guitar-toting bottle, went on “holiday” in April 2011, reportedly only for a few months while the building was being renovated for the new tenants, the new APPLE STORE. It seems the Jerez-based bodega González Byass wasn’t aware, until now, their contract with the building’s owners, Mexican family Díaz Estrada, wouldn’t be renewing their contract at the end of this month. Bet that was a shock!

The neon Uncle Pepe sign was hoisted atop the building in 1936 and hasn’t been removed for any reason since – although not for lack of trying. Several Madrid mayors have tried to “knock down” Puerta del Sol’s favorite Uncle, but failed for lack of funds and public outcry.

The bodega intends to find another rooftop in the same Puerta del Sol once again. That shouldn’t be too hard, I wouldn’t think, given the economic climate these days. I’d imagine any building’s owners would love to have that extra income – AND to be shown in all future postcards. While I’d like to see the building housing La Mallorquina pastry shop get it (on the Puerta del Sol’s west end) I don’t think the building’s wide enough for the sign. This way Tío Pepe could face-off with the BIG APPLE on the east end of the same plaza. (that’s not a battle I’d like to watch because the richest always win at everything)

Just before the sign was lowered in April 2011 there was a flood of articles about how it would be restored to its former glory, down for “just a few months while completing the building’s renovation“. “The sign goes with the building,” we were told, and all parties were in agreement. As it turns out, there allegedly was no intention to return the sign and, allegedly, the city and APPLE new about it. Again, ALLEGEDLY. The story goes, now, that this, allegedly, was the agreement between the building’s owner and the new tenants from the beginning.

You’ve got to wonder, if we’d all known this before the sign was removed, what kind of “movement” would’ve taken place to deter it. I mean, let’s face it, it is just an advertisement by a rich Spanish (so far) company. Should we care? Does its removal change our quality of living in some way?

Apple knows good-and-well that the famous Tío Pepe sign has been viewed by billions of eyes from direct visitors to the Puerta del Sol, in video clips, travel photos, websites, and countless postcards. Remove Tío Pepe, put a big bitten APPLE atop that building and you achieve any company’s perfect marketing scenario. And WE, the public, do the advertising for them! How could it get any better for APPLE?

You may share your, support, rejection, comments, concerns and memories here on this blog posting as well as on the Puerta del Sol Facebook page at http://Facebook.com/PuertaDelSolMadrid and also on MadridMan’s ALL SPAIN Message Board in this thread.

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Posted in About Spain, Money | Tagged Apple Store, Diaz Estrada, Gonzalez Byass, landmark, Madrid, Plaza, protected, Puerta del Sol, sign, sign removal, Tio Pepe | 4 Comments

2012 San Isidro Festival in Madrid’s Pradera de San Isidro

Posted on May 15, 2012 by MadridMan

Today, 15th of May 2012, is Madrid’s Patron Saint’s Day, San Isidro Labrador. It’s Madrid’s most “Castizo” day of the year with festival events throughout the city including concerts in “Las Vistillas”, a month long bullfight festival in the Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas, and period costumes, dances, and food in the Pradera de San Isidro.

Yesterday morning and this morning I went to Madrid’s Pradera de San Isidro – which is just in the adjacent neighborhood to where I live, not a 20-minute walk away. Today was hot, however, but not as hot as yesterday, I don’t think, probably ‘only’ reaching 85ºF/29ºC. But it’s a dry heat, right?

There’s LOTS to see, do, and eat in the Pradera de San Isidro. When you go, remember to take your patience, first and foremost. The Pradera is FULL of people walking in all directions while looking at a 90º angle to which they’re walking. Imagine a big State Fair in the USA and that’s what it’s like. Imagine some of those same people pushing baby strollers as if it were a snow-plow without brakes. You get the idea.

Protect yourself from the scorching Madrid sun. Take a hat or an umbrella or a handkerchief or make a paper hat out of the day’s newspaper because it’s hot and there’s little shade on the main strip. Beware of umbrella-carrying people pushing strollers and looking at a 90º angle to which they’re walking.

COSTUMES:

I LOVE seeing people, very young and very old, wearing period costumes from the late 1700s and early 1800s. There are “Chulapos” & “Chulapas” as well as the “Goyesca” costumes. I prefer the more common-man “Chulapo” costume to the somewhat upper-class “Goyesca” ones, though. The cutest of the cute are the little boys and girls in costumes.

RELIGION:

During the San Isidro Festival, one can visit the “Ermita del Santo” in the Pradera de San Isidro. I went the day BEFORE San Isidro, the 14th, and could walk directly into the Hermitage without waiting.

This same day, the 14th, I was also able to drink from the fountain of the aforementioned “Ermita del Santo”, which, as legend has it, its water has “healing powers”. I don’t know about that, but it did smell a bit odd, but not better or worse than the “hard” well-water I grew up on in rural Ohio. I did notice, however, that the glasses from which were were drinking were simply re-filled for the next person and not washed first. This, I noticed, AFTER drinking from the water glass. Hmmm…

The next day, today, the 15th and Madrid’s Patron Saint’s Day, the line for the “Ermita” was half-way down the hill and the line to drink the water went alllll the way down the hill, possibly spanning 400 meters.

At noon, the Catholic Mass started – and lasted about an hour. This takes place in the open-air, under the sun, and at the mid-point of the Pradera de San Isidro, essentially dividing the bars, restaurants and gaming stands in the upper portion from the sweets, “Ermita del Santo”, and “Castizo” dances in the lower portion. I have to wonder if it was logistically planned this way, dividing the “sinful” area from the puritan area. But no, surely not, this was just the flattest portion of the hill on which to install several hundred chairs and a stage.

FOOD:

There is ABSOLUTELY NO SHORTAGE of food at this festival. A LOT of meats are consumed here, be it rabbit, ribs, suckling pig, chicken, and sausages. AND the yummy fried foods like “chopitos“, “croquetas“, “patas bravas“, “calamares“, and “salmonetes“. And don’t forget the enormous paellas concocted here! Mmmm.. It makes me hungry just thinking about them. Most “stands” have the bar up-front at the street side and the restaurant tables in under shade tarps in the back. I’ve never eaten here, but have had one or two “Tinto de verano” drinks to cool off during the uphill, sun-drenched trek. Later, I had a headache.

Apart from the meal-type-foods, you also have the bread, cheese, and olive stands which serve you in to-go containers.

SWEETS:

“Rosquillas“. They look like donuts, but they’re not, although they are fried batter in a circle with a hole in the middle and topped with flavored, hardened sugars and syrups. As opposed to donuts, these fried dough is usually drier, not as moist, oftentimes harder, too.

Rosquillas can be eaten on-the-go, of course, but are more commonly eaten for “merienda” or breakfast. This year I bought 2-dozen and finished them within 3-days. I had help, of course. Check out the mature “Chulapa” at the far right of the below photo, she’s obviously enjoying hers on-the-go. If you click the photo and look closely, you can see the crumbs on her lips. MMmm.. Gooood.

DANCE:

There’s no lack of dancing going on on the streets of the Pradera de San Isidro. Sometimes they dance “El Chotis” and othertimes they dance a “pasodoble”, but the “El Chotis” is the most typical for this festival. For the most part, the man stands still while the woman spins him around slowly. Hmm.. Sounds familiar, right? The woman does all the work while the man just stands there. See video below of “El Chotis”.

So another San Isidro has come and gone – apart from the bullfighting festival which lasts to mid-June or so, many of which will be televised, but the photos, videos, and memories will last us at least until next year.

Happy San Isidro Day, Madrileños! I’m awaiting your end-of-holiday fireworks at 12 midnight, which I’ll happily watch from our building’s rooftop terraza. Man, I love Madrid.

UPDATE: I’ve just come down from the rooftop terraza after watching a spectacular showing of 15-minutes of end-of-festival fireworks. A great show in the dead-of-night to end Madrid’s most “Castizo” of holidays. Until next year!

Also read all year’s accounts of the San Isidro Festival in Madrid with lots of information, insights, photos and videos:

San Isidro 2013, San Isidro 2012, San Isidro 2011, San Isidro 2010, San Isidro 2009, San Isidro 2008

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Posted in About Spain, Entertainment, Food, Photos | Tagged 15 mayo, 2012, Chulapas, Chulapos, El Chotis, Ermita del Santo, Fuente, goyesca, Misa, pradera de san isidro, rosquillas, san isidro, water | 13 Comments

BIG Price Raise in Madrid Public Transportation

Posted on April 11, 2012 by MadridMan

Starting 1 May 2012, end-users of Madrid’s Public Transportation System will feel the sting of the sharpest price raises in 10-years. This raise takes place at the same time as the prices of gasoline, electricity and natural gas go up while salaries go down, are frozen or jobs are lost altogether.

End-users of public transportation currently pay 39% of Madrid’s public transportation costs and the rest is was subsidized by the City and State. But due to Madrid’s and Spain’s transportation budget cuts for the city’s transportation system, 11% and 26% respectively, a price “modification” has been called necessary and riders will now pay more of their fair share.

The “modification” affects not only the metro & buses systems, but also the Madrid Airport Express Shuttle Bus, about which I have been singing their praises for the last year. This one-time economical alternative to a private taxi ride will raise prices from 2€ to a whopping 5€ per trip between the Madrid Airport and downtown Madrid. That’s brutal!

To make things more aggravating is the change in price-structure for metro trips. Since the beginning of time, you could ride ’round-and-’round a million times for the price of a single ticket. Starting 1 May 2012, the price-per-ride will depend on the number of stations you’ll pass. 1-5 metro stations will cost 1.50€. From 6-10 stations the price will be “variable” – whatever THAT means! 10+ stations will cost 2€. What fun it’ll be trying to figure this out – especially for the elderly which may not take the metro very often.

Contrary to (possible) popular belief, the Madrid Metro system and EMT bus systems are not the property of the City of Madrid. Theses are for-profit companies with strong ties to the city. But since subsidies were cut, they’ve raised prices, forcing riders to pay more of the actual cost-per-trip. This does sound fair, doesn’t it? It does to me. But such a fierce raise of 29% for the 10-trip ticket, for example? That’s like something throwing a bucket of cold water on you while you’re sleeping!

No one can do without public transportation – except the well-to-do, of course – so we’ll pay the price they ask. We have no alternative. That just means we’ll have less money for food, gas and electricity at the end of the month. It also means we’ll have less to spend on clothing, movie tickets, eating out, and lounging on outdoor terrace bars. This means those entities will then suffer, they’ll close their doors and/or lay-off more people. And spiraling down the drain we all go… We can have a protest march, sure, but we’ll be protesting against the for-profit entities which operate the public transportation systems. And as everyone knows, they have their bottom-lines to consider. Or, we could protest against the budget cuts made by the state. We’ve already done that – and with no positive result. A group of people can unite against a common cause, yes, but if your elected officials pay no attention, then what can you do? What choice do we have?

Sources: Madridiario, Metro de Madrid, EMT

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Posted in Money, Travel | Tagged airport bus, autobus, budget, bus, cheap, city, economical, expensive, Madrid, metro, price, public, public transportation, raise, shuttle, subsidized, transportation | 6 Comments

Madrid Blog Spain by MadridMan.com

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2012 San Isidro Festival in Madrid’s Pradera de San Isidro

BIG Price Raise in Madrid Public Transportation

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