For those of you that remember the India trip I did in February, I have a photo feature on Lonely Planet – it’s on the front page today, but if its gone by the time you see this, then there is also a direct link. Did you ever hear the podcast?

Spain’s most famous director and leading lady appear in a Guardian podcast as the film is released in the UK. (Direct mp3 link)

As Marbella points out in the foums “I just love the way Pedro reverts to castellano so he can express himself more colourfully… A wonderfully charming and amusing interview!”

And Penelope, what an accent, that lovely giggle, wow! Time to revisit Jamon Jamon!

Check out Simon Calder’s city guide to Madrid for Classic FM – you may recognise the third interviewee

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Colin Davies lives and blogs in Galicia, and his website makes for very worrying reading at the moment. Good luck Colin.

Following last month’s 20minutos.es photo-survey on reader’s favourite beaches, results are now in on which region takes most of the accolades. So, in first place, with the best beaches in Spain, we have The North, with 33% of the votes, followed by The South (Andalusia), The Islands, and The East (Levante and Catalonia).

Do you have a favourite beach in Spain? (Ours include Bolonia on the Costa de la Luz, Gros in San Sebastian, and Andrin, near LLanes).

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Introduction

The secret of this recipie is the mixture of the crispy chicken skin and roasted garlic.

Ingredients

1.5 Kg (3.3 pounds) of chicken with bone and skin (either a whole chicken cut in to 4 cm/2 inch pieces or thighs and legs chopped separately)
12 garlic cloves
olive oil
1 teaspoon of salt
3 bay leaves
a glass of white wine (optional)

Preparation

For this recipie you need to use the biggest frying pan you have, so all the chicken pieces fit in one layer. If you don’t have a big enough frying pan you will need to use two simultaneusly.

Start by peeling the garlic cloves and slicing them roughly, then pour olive oil until the bottom of the frying pan is covered and wait until it starts to smoke. While you wait you can add salt to all the chicken bits. Then add all the garlic pieces and just when they start to brown add the chicken, inserting the bay leaves in between. You will need to cook it for aproximately 30 minutes or until all the pieces are crispy and brown, taking care to turn the pieces over so they get equally brown all over.

Serving Idea: Great to have it with fries.

Tip: If you want to have a bit of sauce, towards the end of the cooking lower the heat to minimum, remove the excess oil from the frying pan and add a glass of white wine. Cook for another 5 minutes and serve.

Discuss this show in the forum.

Close to 90 fires are sweeping across Galicia in a desperate situation that has led to the army being drafted in to provide support for the 4,700 people already working to extinguish them. 3 people have died so far, 2 women in a car that became trapped in the flames, and a 74 year old man who was helping to keep the fire away from a village.

Most of these fires are thought to have been deliberately provoked. Who on earth does this kind on thing?

Waves of immigrants from Sub-Saharan Africa keep arriving on the shores of Tenerife in Cayucos, small boats that make the perilous journey across the Atlantic. With the Red Cross often unable to cope themselves, beach-goers are having to help bring the exhausted, de-hydrated, hyperthermic travelers ashore. This is a terrible situation that was repeated again yesterday on La Tejita beach in Tenerife.

The photos speak for themselves…

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Ben and Marina visit the wonderful market in Ourense to do some much needed shopping before heading back to Madrid from Galicia. See more photos of the market on Flickr.

Discuss this episode in the Notes from Spain Forum

The BBC’s Today Programme has an interesting interview with an ex-pat theartre group based on the Costa del Sol. Listen to the programme (Real Player required), and let us know what you think.

Are these people the scurge of the Costa del Sol? Is it OK to move to Spain and make little or no effort to learn the language?

Join the debate in the Notes from Spain Forum!