About Spain: October 2008 Archives

This coming Sunday, 12 October, is the Día de la Hispanidad in Spain and will be celebrated in Madrid in grand fashion with a 250,000€ military parade, resided over by the Royal Family as well as the President of Spain, Madrid City and Madrid Regional leaders.

The Día de la Hispanidad, a.k.a. Fiesta Nacional de España, is/was a celebration of Spain's discovery of "America" by Christopher Columbus on this date in 1492. Of course, we all know that "America" was never lost but it seemed to have gone unnoticed by modern civilizations until that time - unless the Vikings were considered civilized, that is.

We Americans - whom grew up in the civilized and modern United States of America - know well what a military parade is all about. It's about flag waving, singing national anthems, and patting each other on the back for being born in the USA.

For those attending the parade on Sunday it'll largely be the same way - but all in Spanish. They'll be flying Spanish flags, hearing the military bands playing national songs, and watching a LONG parade of probably all of Spain's military hardware on wheels, military personnel, not to mention all the military aircraft fly-overs, parachuters, etcetera, etcetera.

I have to wonder, "Doesn't Spain need all these people, all these tanks, all these generals in some war somewhere? Hmmm.. Maybe not at the moment. Imagine that. I guess if you don't take them out at least once a year, blow off the dust, give the tanks a fresh coat of paint, then what good are they?

It's a day for Nationalism. We Americans are nearly all Nationalists by right of our DNA. It's difficult NOT being a Nationalist in the USA. It's truly in our genetic code. One scientist (a German) jokingly told me that, under a microscope, one of our chromosomes appears as a bunch of white and red stripes and a blue box with some white dots in it. Huh! Imagine that. Even I get choked up when the USA stands on the #1 level in the Olympics, the American flag is raised, and they play the National Anthem. Why is that?

Anyway - this blog entry is about SPAIN'S National Day....

So it's nearly the same in Spain during the Fiesta Nacional de España - EXCEPT maybe only HALF of the country is celebrating it - the Nationalists. The other half of Spain, fervently anti-Nationalist, is going about their business, taking trips, or sleeping most of the day because they were out late the night before.

SPAIN IS DIVIDED in this regard. While the original intention of the holiday is to celebrate Columbus' discovery of America, along the way it became more of a "4th of July"-type day, celebrating the fact that we're Spanish, and for patting each other on the back for being born in Spain. LOTS of people (and I mean LOTS) see this day as a carry-over from the 35 oppressive years under the nationalist fascist dictator General Francisco Franco when the military and the military police ruled Spain, executing hundreds of thousands of people and jailing many more for not agreeing with Franco's nationalist politics.

I've attended the parade twice in my life. Frankly, unless you arrive at the Paseo de la Castellana early it's difficult to see anything because of the hoards of people there before you with hopes of getting a good position to see the passing military regiments or a glimps of the King of Spain himself. Sometimes I'll watch it on TV but of course it's not the same - but definitely more comfortable and there are no lines at the toilet.

People wanting to watch the Madrid parade from abroad can likely do so LIVE via TeleMadrid SAT - whose link is found on the Spain Radio, TV, Music, & Movies page. At 10:30am the King of Spain will reside over the raising of the HUGE flag of Spain in the Plaza de Colón. Shortly thereafter the parade will start at the Plaza de San Juan de la Cruz and travel to the Plaza de Colón via the Paseo de la Castellana, continuing down the Paseo de Recoletos and Paseo del Prado.

October 12th is also La Vigen del Pilar, a popular Saint's Day in Spain. So if you have a friend or a family member named Pilar or María del Pilar you'll be obligated to celebrate this day as the Saint's Day and not as a Spain's National Holiday. And, as with the birthdays here in Spain, the person who celebrates their Saint's Day must pay the bill at the restaurant - and not the other way around.

So whether you're celebrating El Pilar or the Discovery of America, enjoy yourselves!

I realize I'm risking offending some Spaniards (and maybe I'm actually offending EVERYONE!) for writing today's blog entry. No one wants to appear "uncouth". But that fact is, SOME PEOPLE DO PEE IN PUBLIC.

Surely it happens throughout the world - even in the USA. And when "nature calls" you've got to answer that call. Sometimes there are no public restrooms or bars to relieve oneself. But come on, people! Make SOME effort to find someplace!

Don't think that everyone is pissing on the street in Madrid just because of what I'm writing now because they don't. I've been living here long enough to see many many things, things which I try not to judge but sometimes it's hard.

PHOTO AT RIGHT: a highly portable and very public urinal in Amsterdam as found on this flicker page. If you look closely (but not TOO closely) you can see the pee level is nearly at the spilling point!  This is an example of a truly advanced civilization - or is it?

Yesterday I was walking home from the gym along a busy 4-lane road and happen to see an odd sight. There was a taxi parked on the street next to a wooded park. About 5 yards from the taxi was presumably the taxi driver. There he was in all his splendor, standing behind (only) hip-high bushes, facing away from traffic, with his hands on his hips. He was just standing there, apparently surveying the landscape. "Hmmm.. That's odd," I thought. And then it hit me. The taxi driver turned to look at me for a good 2 seconds until I turned my head away. About 2 seconds later I turned back to see his eyes diverted "downward", his hands came off his hips to attend to "the business at hand", his knees bent, his hips shifted, and he was walking back towards his taxi. He certainly didn't seem to try to hide himself much. There were plenty of trees behind which he could've stood - or maybe the trees were too narrow. Sure, there were no bars in the IMMEDIATE vicinity but come on!

Another day, also in daylight here in Madrid, I was a passenger in a car. I noticed a large, tall truck pulled to the side of the street, door open, and could only see a pair of legs below the door with feet planted firmly on the asphalt below. I worried that a passing car might hit the door and injure the man - that's what first caught my attention. But as we drew closer I could see a faint stream of liquid coming from behind the door. AHA! But again, COME ON!

One night last summer, maybe at 2am or so, I heard some loud voices on the street below my window (I live on the fourth floor - that's the FIFTH floor in USA terms) so I poked my head out to see what was going on. It was just a small group of youths in their 20s, presumably coming back from a night on the town. Then one of the girls looked left, then right, then said something to her girlfriend with a giggle and walked a few meters away from the group, squatted down behind a parked car - and there she went - and went and went. This took place on a somewhat steep grade so imagine how the sparkling liquid appeared under the streetlights as it traveled downhill. Nice. (UGH!)

The worst is being around ANY football/soccer stadium just before the match gets started. On more than one occasion I was walking beside the Vicente Calderon soccer stadium (home to the Atlético de Madrid team) along the Manzanares River about an hour or two before game time. There were the usual hoards of football fans, all wearing their colors, all drinking from 1 Liter bottles of beer, all singing football songs and joking around. And, of course, a few dozen men and boys facing the wall and answer that call of nature. Why? Mainly because there are no public urinals or toilets outside of the stadium and it's frowned upon to enter bars just to use the restroom. So imagine the scene, I'm walking past a few dozen men, just inches from their backs, and trying to avoid the puddles surrounding their feet on the sidewalk. Nice. (BLAH!) I made some comment regarding my surprise and disgust to a couple Spaniards with whom I was walking and they seemed surprised that such a thing upset me, saying something like, "Well, when you've gotta go, you've gotta go."

And probably half a dozen times I've seen small boys and even girls, usually toddlers, with their pants down around their ankles, bare bottoms - AND FRONTS - exposed to the world, happily releasing nature's fluid against a tree, next to trash cans, between parked cars, or on walls - right in downtown Madrid in plain daylight with pedestrians and cars passing all the while. Their parents don't usually appear uncomfortable but sometimes they do. I, not being a father, don't really know what it's like having a child who has to pee RIGHT NOW! I also imagine that most people see this and don't think anything of it. In fact, it's rather cute in some respects, but it's not something you see where I come from.