Last week we were in Asturias, staying in Gijon. It’s a small city, industry (pretty heavy), on one side of a river, a lovely old town and beach on the other:

Even in early March, the grannies are on the beach in the morning, getting undressed and stuffing their clothes into giant plastic bags while they prepare to brave the waves for their daily swim.

Postcard views from the old town:

And what food! The menu del dia’s in Gijon comprise FOUR courses, not three, and would often include a fish that you might pay 20 euros for in Madrid alone – in Gijon the whole 4-course meal cost around 9.50 Euros.

One more photo of Gijon, The wonderous Gran Cafe Dindurra. A haven for old floor-tile fetishists (like me!):

And a final one from down the road in Ribadesella:

Forget online communities for a moment, do you have a real, live one on your doorstep?

In Spain the collection of neighbours in a flat block is called a ‘comunidad’? But I wander what that means?

In our case it means saying hello to everyone, chatting to the occasional neighbour, feeling safe about the other people in the building. But there isn’t much ‘popping round for tea’, or ‘could you look after the kids for a minute while I nip out for (fill in the emergency)’.

Part of that is our fault. If our lovely English neighbour at the end of the corridor is reading this, then a million apologies for not having you all round for that cake yet – we will soon, as soon as a weekend looks like a weekend!

But I suspect that in big cities people don’t just pop in and out of each other’s houses any more for a cup of tea, or look after each others’ kids at the drop of a hat – like they did in the old days, didn’t they?

Do you live in that kind of real, close-knit, sociable community? Does it exist any more? Can it exist in big cities? We’d love to live it better, but wonder if that world still exists these days, or if people just don’t have time any more…

I’d love to hear your thoughts, whether you live in Spain, Ireland, Australia, or Timbuktu!