Andalucia Day

Andalucia (spelled with a "s" in english and "c" in spanish) is Spain's largest autonomous province. Created as such on February 28th 1980, it marks the date with a public holiday, so all the schools, public buildings and shops are closed although a few of the pavement bars and cafes are open.

It's still the middle of the Flamenco festival so the streets are crowded with people; spanish tourists of course but also plenty of British, German, French and Japanese ones as well. There are always lots of Japanese here for the flamenco. With the streets mostly empty of traffic, the churches take the opportunity to practice carrying their floats.

The prawns we bought in the market yesterday are big deep red ones called "carabineros", supposedly because they are the colour of Spanish customs police uniforms!

Packing tomorrow to go home, we've been coming now since 2015, with just a few years out - one when finlay was born and only came here for a week with him and Natalie, one when we went to almeria instead, and one in the pandemic when we couldn't travel. That first time we came for three months from New year to Easter, just coming home for a week in the middle. So being here so long , it really felt like a second home!Read more