Spanish Friends: The Guardian: Letter: Gap in local knowledge
* Re recent letters: when I first came to live in Spain, I was invited to a dinner party with a group of new Spanish friends. During the meal one of the male guests stood up and leaned towards me, saying something in Spanish. Assuming he was introducing himself, I stood up too, leaned towards him and kissed his cheek. He responded in accented English: "Thank you, that is very nice, but can you pass me the bread, please?"Kath Bilsborough Vizcaya, Spain...
Spanish Friends: Financial News (Daily): Shacklock’s £26m is hard to justify
You could almost hear the howls of indignation here in Sotogrande. At the beach club it was certainly the focus point of discussion at a lunch table which mainly comprised former Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) bankers. A prominent Sotogrande lawyer was jabbing his finger at the relevant column in the paper and translating for his Spanish friends. I am supposed to be on holiday, but on that particular morning my mobile phone rang more than 30 times.So what’s wrong with TimS...
Spanish Friends: ALL CULTURES NEED A SOCIAL GLUE
In America today, much of our anxiety about social life can be traced to the suspicion that many people neither respect the government's rules nor feel any real sense of community. Not long ago, my youngest brother spent a year of college in Spain. Over the Christmas break he and some of his Spanish friends took a trip to Germany.When they entered the Berlin subway, they were startled to discover that the payment of fares was handled by an honor system. To the Spaniards, the...
Spanish Friends: THE HORNS OF PAMPLONA,
IS HE BOLD ENOUGH TO RUN WITH THE BULLS?
The skies are overcast on this July morning as I make my way through a thick crowd of people on Calle Santo Domingo. I am searching for my new Spanish friends, but everyone here looks the same -- white shirt and pants, red neckerchief, sneakers -- and for a moment I begin to think I am on my own. Alone among all these faces.But I find them, and now I know this crazy thing might really happen. I am standing in the street where I will soon be running for my life, holding a rolled-up...
Spanish Friends: The Sunday Mirror: Jonathan Pearce Column: Pablo Martin
HE barely merited a paragraph last week, but a young Spaniard could soon be making golfing headlines. Pablo Martin stunned greenside experts at Biltmore, Florida, by landing a three-shot victory in the Orange Bowl junior international championship.Spanish friends tell me he's as good as Ballesteros, Olazabal and Garcia put together....