This post is dedicated to my mother, Lou, who died on April 11th 2007 aged 63, and is pictured above in Codoba’s Mezquita, a place in Spain she dearly loved. My mother spent most or our childhood telling my sisters and I things like ‘How could you be bored on a day like this?’, ‘Get outside and enjoy all the beautiful things in the garden!’, and ’stop moping, life’s too short!’ Every time a beautiful landscape was lit by a warm evening glow she would exclaim ‘Look at that wonderful light!’, so that now I can’t go anywhere at the beginning or end of the day without looking at how the changing angle of the sun causes everything it falls upon to change for the better. I know some people feel uncomfortable with posts like this, but it is simply to pass on these messages - never be bored on beautiful days, always look at the light, and, if in doubt, ‘just get out and do something!’ - a favourite piece of advice that worked pretty well for me, and, in case you’re wondering, has everything to do with Notes from Spain.

Luckily she is survived by a Ducati-driving inspiration of a father who rode a motorbike 2000 km across India with me last year and doubtless has many more such journeys ahead. Where next, Dad?

Notes in Spanish is offering a $100 prize for the best Spanish Video Blog.

Matthew at The Big Chorizo joins the ‘are the Spanish rude?’ debate.

Janelle at Tapas Talk serves up some delicious-looking Champiñones al Ajillo with a dose of local slang.

We have a great pickpockets in Madrid tale at Notes from Madrid.

Colin Davies says there’s a lot of misery ahead for the Spanish economy.

The Times reprint their original report on the 1937 Bombing of Guernica.

I just wanted to say a big front-page thank you to everyone who made it to Madrid last weekend for the Great Madrid Escape. 30 adventurous individuals from all over the world (as far afield as Sydney and L.A.!) were in town and, despite never having met, got on tremendously well.

Marina and I have never organised anything like this before and we were nervous all weekend that people might not enjoy the places we took them to. But of course everyone was in a buoyant holiday mood, the food and wine was up to scratch, and energy reserves were summoned by those who made it through to daily post 3 a.m. finishes.

Many people remarked that this would never have happened 5, even 10 years ago… the idea of 30 strangers who met ‘on-line’ getting together and meeting in person would, until recently, have just appeared plain wierd. But that is perhaps testament to how the net is changing the world. Geographically disparate people with shared interests get to know each other well enough on line to know that getting together in reality is going to be absolutely fine.

So, saludos to all of those brave enough to follow Marina and I around the restaurants, bars, and Metro stops of Madrid for the weekend. Thank goodness none of us had anything of value picked from our pockets, and hurray for the sunny weather. There will definitely be more of the same in the future, thanks again to everyone, and watch this space!

• GME in the forum
• GME Photos

A few of the comments on my last post about just how respectful the Spanish are, claimed that the Spaniards are, in fact, just plain rude. A major complaint was that the Spanish are incurable queue-jumpers…

Only the other day I was queuing with a friend to use a cafe toilet in the Retiro Park. In came a 70-something-year-old who pushed straight past us to the head of the line. Fair enough, we thought, he’s old, probably got a weak prostate, and anyway, he’s Spanish, and they often have no idea how to queue… or do they? Have you ever been into a grocer’s, butcher’s, or fruteria in Spain and seen how, despite the fact that no-one is forming any kind of line, everyone knows when it is their turn?

It works like this. The last person in asks ‘Quien es el ultimo?’, or ‘Quien da la vez?’, in order to establish who is last in turn. They then simply have to remember who that person is and step up to the counter when their marker is done with their shopping. Of course you get the occasional cheeky old codger who tries to push their way to the front, but have you seen the stick they get for it when they are caught? Wow, that’s when you know that the Spanish are serious about waiting in line. Second only to a near-beating by a bunch of skinheads outside Real Madrid’s Bernabeu station, one of the scariest things I’ve seen in Spain is a bunch of irate grannies turning on one of their own in the local post office when she surreptitiously tried to sneak his way through to the stamp counter.

Switch now from the post office to the Metro or commuter train platform, and let’s re-examine the whole concept of an orderly queue… have you ever seen Spaniards trying to get on or off a busy commuter train in Madrid? Just how complicated is this? If you want to get onto a train quickly, your best bet is to let those that want to get off depart the carriage first. Not only is plain and simple physics an issue here, it’s just polite! But no, that would be way too easy. Much more amusing is to form a solid cordon of bodies around the doors of the recently-arrived wagon and, as soon as they open, all try to pile in at once. Stuff those impatient idiots that would quite like to get off first, it’s 8 a.m., and this is war! In fact no matter what time of day it is, letting anyone off a train before you try to get on would just be plain absurd!

So the jury is out - you get queue jumpers all over the world after all and, once you get the hang of it, the systems (bizarre as they may seem) are in place in Spain to keep everyone orderly in shops… but the nonsense with the trains brings the rudeness score right back up, giving the Spanish a rudeness rating of 5 out of 10 (with 10 the rudest) when it comes to holding down a decent line. Or maybe that should be a 6. Am I being too kind?

If so then forum-user Ozgur would love to meet up!

What in the name of Don Juan is that? Why is it that alien-yellow colour? And what terrible things did I do in a previous life to deserve another plate of these with my beer? These are the kind of thoughts that pass through my head when a waiter is cruel enough to push a dish of Mejillones a la vinagreta across the counter at me with my drink.

This is when an important Spanish bar etiquette question arises: can you ask to change free tapas that you would no sooner eat than fly to a distant planet that shares their same radioactive colour? Well, it’s always worth a try, a polite ‘puedo cambiar la tapa por otra cosa, es que no me gusta…‘ usually yields something slightly more comestible… unless you’re with someone that actually appreciates these things, in which case you’re stuffed - Marina always eats mine and claims to love them. Apparently the mussels are boiled, one half of the shell is removed, then a vinaigrette including chopped up onion, green pepper, and tomato is poured on top.

Well, first the sardines and tomato, now this. Spanish waiters have really got it in for me these days. I promise to find something I can rave about for next week’s tapas!

I felt like talking instead of typing.

A few interesting snippets from some of my favourite Spain blogs this week:

Andalucid takes a trip down to Cabo de Gata, a corner of Spain well worth exploring.

Gabriella at Catavino.net decides it’s time to swot up on Iberian Wine.

Katie at España Profunda wonders what on earth happened on the Spanish roads this Easter.

South of Watford fills us in on the end of the Esperanza Aguirre tale - ‘Espe’ is the President of the Madrid regional government who can’t pay her heating bills.

Graeme also has some stunning photos of the Picos de Europa.

Finally, Nicholas Mead’s boiler packed up, leading to another classic run in with Spanish customer service.

Are you blogging about Spain? Have you got a favourite Spain blog? Let me know in the comments!

Photo: Toro de Cuerda, Gaucin, by John Harris
Last week there was a passionate response by Spanish readers of this blog to a post I wrote linking to a satirical article making fun of 24 hours in the life of a Spaniard. It made me think that it might be interesting to attempt a serious definition of the Spanish, and the question of passion and wild abandon (recklessness?) seemed an interesting place to start.

Are the Spanish passionate? Can they be reckless? They speed up at the site of orange (or recently red) traffic lights, let seven-year-olds play with fireworks (in Valencia at least) and run in front of bulls - all that suggests a recklessness to their character that you won’t find in, say, the UK - but that may just be because in the UK all the things that seem to make the Spanish wild and reckless have long ago been quashed by rules and regulations designed to put safety ahead of wild abandon and fun. A shame, as anyone who has been to a riotous Spanish fiesta will know that there is nothing better than a good dose of wild abandon once in a while.

And how about passion? The Spanish might not be as romantic as the French, but they have just as much national pride, and will defend their favourite national dish or corner of Spain tooth and nail… and boy can the guys at the bar talk about football. So passionate in fact are the Spanish when it comes to a healthy discussion about almost anything, that many newcomers to Spain often mistake a lively conversation on a street corner for a full scale argument - though the Spanish word for argument is ‘discusión‘, so I don’t know where that leaves us!

Before I am shot down, I would like to add that all this passion and recklessness is balanced by a seriousness of character and respect for correct manners, comportment, and indeed a respect for respect itself, that it is hard to find elsewhere, but we shall come back to that later. In the meantime I want to start two small lists, perhaps you can add to them below in the comments?

When the Spanish are at their most passionante:

• Talking about Spanish cuisine or the beauty of Spain
• Discussing politics
• Arguing with difficult or dishonest taxi drivers or waiters
• When someone has ‘faltado el respeto‘, shown a lack of respect, or been ill-mannered

…

…and reckless?

• Playing with bulls, while drunk, in town fiestas everywhere
• During Las Fallas, anywhere in the Valencia region
• Behind the wheel of a car (according to accident statistics - over 100 dead again this Easter)

…

Do the Spanish strike you as passionate or reckless? Is there a link between the two? What would you add to these lists?

Not for the faint-hearted this one… Cold sardines are Fishy with a capital ‘F‘! Crunchy too, as you get the bones and all… OK, you may be able to tell that I am not a big fan, but if fish/Omega 3 is your thing, this tapa goes down a treat with a cold beer on a warm sunny day - the tang of the sardine combining beautifully with the refreshing tomato, and the bread underneath to soak up the juices and provide a bit of extra sustenance - it’s really a meal in itself!

So, I might ask to swap for something else, but what would you do if you took your place at a bar in Spain and this arrived with your beer?