Summer might be over, but that doesn’t mean we need to stop daydreaming about warm places and days spent at the beach. It also means that some great videos produced over the summer are now popping up on Vimeo, such as the film above by director Pau García Laita. Over the summer months, the 22-year-old filmmaker sought out to capture a day in the life of his hometown of Barcelona, Spain. From sunny shots of classic Barcelona architecture to windsurfers catching waves on the Mediterranean, the film offers a glimpse of the city that would tempt any traveler to want to hop on a plane to Spain. However, García Laita didn’t just stick to tourist trodden places; he also captured some places and spaces travelers rarely see, like the stacking of boxcars in the city’s train yard or a bird’s-eye view of some construction sites. Did he do a good job of capturing Barcelona? You tell me in the comments below.
Museum Honors 75th Anniversary Of Picasso’s ‘Guernica’ With Special Exhibit
It’s Picasso’s most famous and discussed work. “Guernica” was the artist’s response to the Luftwaffe’s bombing of the Basque town of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War. Some 1,654 civilians died. Nazi Germany was supporting General Francisco Franco and his Nationalists in their attempt to overthrow the Republican government, a fight he eventually won.
Now the Museo Reina Sofia in Madrid, which houses the work, is honoring its 75th anniversary with a new exhibition titled “Encounters with the 1930s.” This show examines the crucial decade through its art, looking at the various artistic movements and how they grappled with the increasingly polarized political landscape of Europe.
More than 400 exhibits are divided into six sections: realism; abstraction; international expositions; surrealism; photography, film and posters; and Spain: the Second Republic, the Civil War and exile. The museum is also hosting a film series titled “Cinema of the 1930s.”
This exhibition comes at a time when the old divisions from the Spanish Civil War are beginning to reemerge. This excellent article on the BBC goes into more detail.
“Encounters with the 1930s” runs from October 3-January 7, 2013.
[Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons]
Best Anti-Drug Poster Ever Found In Santander, Spain
I was at my local Sanidad Exterior here in Santander, Spain, getting some medicine for an upcoming trip when I spotted this wonderful poster. It reads: “If you bring drugs aboard the plane they’ll cook you lobster and the captain will let you fly.”
The next line reads: “If you believe that taking drugs is the solution to your problems you’ll believe anything.”
This brightened up an otherwise boring wait to see the doctor. While I don’t buy the myth that “all drugs are evil and need to be banned for your own good,” I do think this poster is a quick remedy for stoners who think they can flout international law and common sense just because they’re seeing the world on daddy’s credit card. It’s a big world out there, kids, and it’s just as interesting with a clear head.
Spain has come up with some other fun warnings on the dangers of travel. Last year, I wrote about another anti-drug poster.
[Image courtesy Ministerio de Sanidad, Servicios Sociales e Igualdad]
Brittany Ferries Strike Affects Travel, Business In Three Countries
A strike by the employees of Brittany Ferries is disrupting the movement of travelers and goods between England, France and Spain.
The BBC reports the French union that staffs the ferry service is striking in protest of cuts by the company, which is deeply in the red. Brittany Ferries operates several lines from England to various ports in northern France and Spain. In addition to travelers using the service to bring their cars across the water, about 3,000 commercial trucks use the service.
In a press release, the company stated that because of repeated wildcat strikes, they’ve made the decision to suspend almost all service: “The only route which will be unaffected is the Poole-Cherbourg passenger service which is operated on our behalf by Condor Ferries … Because of this indefinite stoppage we are recommending customers to travel to Dover where we currently have special arrangements in place with P&O Ferries and MyFerryLink to accept Brittany Ferries tickets [see website for details]. Unused Brittany Ferries crossings will be refunded.”
One of Brittany Ferries’ destinations is Santander in Spain, where I live part time. Port fees, customers using local businesses, and the shipment of goods all bring an injection of much-needed money into an economy in recession. Local paper El Diario Montañes reports that the ship Cap Finistère has been stuck here since September 20, with 500 passengers and 100 vehicles. Most have made their way to other ferries in France.
[Photo of the Cap Finistère courtesy George Hutchinson]
Embedded In The Layers Of Andalusia, Spain
…one must seek the essence of Andalusia in its geographic reality on the one hand, and on the other in the awareness of its inhabitants. From the geographic point of view, the whole of the southern lands is too vast and varied to be embraced as a single unit. – Antonio Domínguez Ortiz
While most travelers going to Spain head straight to the popular cities of Barcelona and Madrid, journeying farther south offers a unique region of contrasts.
Andalusia (also spelled Andalucia) is a region and autonomous community in Spain. In fact, of all the country’s autonomous communities, this has the highest population and is the second largest in size with 33,821 square miles. It is comprised of eight provinces, including Seville, Malaga, Jaen, Granada, Huelva, Cadiz, Cordoba and Almeria.
While the area mainly experiences a Mediterranean climate, there are still a variety of atmospheres and landscapes in Andalusia. You’ll find the Sierra Nevada, which features the highest altitudes in the Iberian Peninsula, as well as the valley of the Guadalquivir, which is barely above sea level. Visitors will also see the dry Tabernas Desert, Atlantic beaches, Mediterranean coastal cliffs, ancient cities, high-end resort towns, natural parks, wetlands and marsh, olive groves on rolling hills and oak woodlands. Moreover, many iconic Spanish traditions originated in Andalusia, like Moorish architecture, flamenco dancing and bull fighting.
For a more visual idea of this unique region, check out the gallery below.
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[Images via Shutterstock]