Driving in Spain

Driving in Spain is sometimes a pleasurable experience and sometimes a pain.

Driving around the Spanish countryside is an absolute delight - EEC funding has enabled many new roads to be built. These carriageways are usually long, wide, straight and devoid of traffic. Spain is a much less densely populated country than the UK and on many an occasion I have driven a 100-kilometre route and hardly seen another vehicle.

Driving in towns, however, is mostly an irritating experience.

Most Spanish people I have met have been most charming but once they get behind the wheel they are mostly ignorant peasants - or at least the ones I have encountered in Roquetas and Almería are! They break most of the rules of the road. They don't appear to know what indicators are for, they accelerate at crossings and roundabouts and some of them drive three abreast down a two-lane highway. Many male Spaniards are very macho when they drive - no matter what speed I travel at they nearly always try to overtake. I sometimes wonder whether they are trying to compensate for some inadequacy - like a small dick!

Most do not stop at crossings. On one occasion, after about six cars failed to slow down let alone stop at a pedestrian crossing, I had had enough. I strode determinedly onto the crossing whilst looking at the driver as if to say "You jolly well stop you bastard!" although I was ready to rapidly withdraw if he didn't. He didn't. He pulled into the outside lane and drove round me!

Some drivers here do stop at crossings - I suspect that they are British motorists. However, we still have to be very wary when this happens otherwise a maniac driver in the far lane might catapult us into the air. This happened to a British resident of our apartment block a couple of years ago. He attempted to cross the busy Calle Alicun, which is only a few hundred metres from our building. A motorist ploughed into our neighbour as he crossed the far lane using the crossing. He died in hospital a few days later.

Spanish drivers are lazy bastards. They double park, park on crossings, park on the pavement - park anywhere to save walking ten metres. There is a very nice new theatre near our apartment in Roquetas. Recently a spanking new, large, free car park was built alongside. Most days it is empty and only gets full on market days or when there is a show on. Opposite the theatre are two cafes. Quite often a number of cars double-park outside the cafes whilst the car park opposite was empty! But I suppose, in mitigation, the drivers were afraid to cross the road in case yet another maniacal Spanish driver catapulted them into the air!

Everywhere I go I encounter cars with dents and scratches and crumpled bumpers. Palm trees and road signs lean precariously in testimony to the driving habits of the Spanish driver.

It is not all doom and gloom, however. As I previously mentioned, it is a joy to drive along Spanish country roads. Another good thing about living here is that I no longer encounter 4x4s driven by dolled up females delivering their sprogs to school every morning. I reckon they drive these large 'off road' vehicles to avoid doing themselves damage when they bump into things!

Safety First for Pedestrians in Spain

1. If you are able-bodied and wish to cross a road, look both ways and if there are no vehicles in sight it may be safe to cross.

2. If you are able-bodied and wish to cross a two lane in each direction highway with no central reservation using a crossing - only cross if cars are but specks in the distance.

3. As item 2 but with a central reservation - look left and then cross if cars are only specks in the distance and then only as far as the central reservation. Repeat for further lane but first look right.

4. If you are able-bodied wishing to cross at a pedestrian crossing and a vehicle in the nearest lane stops for you - tentatively start walking but wait, retreat, make a dash for it or proceed gracefully depending on the demeanour of the motorists in the farthest lane.

5. If you are able-bodied and wish to cross a road but not at a crossing - you are taking your life in your hands - you'll probably be ok in the country but watch out for snakes and wild boar!

6. If you are not able-bodied - best to stay indoors and order meals-on-wheels!

Robert Bovington

Roquetas de Mar

2011

Almería Murallas de Jayran & Alcazaba

Muralla de Jayrán' - the walls that were built to enlarge the city's defences in the 11th century. They run all the way to the 'Cerro de San Cristóbal' - the hill of Saint Christopher.

Alcazaba Almería

by Robert Bovington

The Alcazaba is an enormous fortress that dominates the city of Almería, standing as it does on a hill overlooking the town and the sea. It was built in the tenth century but over the centuries it has had further enhancements added such as a Moorish palace and, in the time of the Catholic Kings, a Christian palace.

Alcazaba Almería - photo: Robert Bovington 

Bougainvillea, prickly pear, aloe vera, mimosa, and jasmine tumble down the slopes near the entrance. There are also gardens within the grounds of the citadel both formal and informal. Poplar, willow, rose bushes and lavender are just some of the flora to be found within.

I enjoy walking around the grounds of the Alcazaba and exploring the towers and battlements - especially as I don't have to pay to get in! Entrance to the fortress is free to EU Nationals - just remember to take your passport.

There's a lot to see in the various enclosures of the Alcazaba. For example in one of the towers of the third enclosure - the 'Torre de la Pólvora' - there are cannon. One of them points seaward. Pirates do not invade Almería anymore but the province does get its fair share of illegal immigrants especially from Morocco!

One of the towers, 'Torre de Homenaje', has the coat of arms of the 'Catholic Monarchs' above the doorway. It was Ferdinand and Isabella who ordered the construction of this, the castle part of the 'Alcazaba'.

more blogs by Robert Bovington...

"Photographs of Spain"	http://bovingtonphotosofspain.blogspot.com/
"postcards from Spain"	http://bovington-posts.blogspot.com/
"you couldn't make it up!"	http://bovingtonycmitup.blogspot.com/
"a grumpy old man in Spain"	http://grumpybobbov.blogspot.com/
"bits and bobs"	http://bovingtonbitsandblogs.blogspot.com/
"Spanish Expressions"	http://spanishsayingsbovington.blogspot.com/
"Spanish Art"	http://bovingtonspanishart.blogspot.com/
"Books About Spain"	http://bovingtonbooks.blogspot.com/

Abén Humeya

Many places in the Alpujarras have Arabic names reflecting its Moorish past. This bar was named after one of Válor's most famous residents. Abén Humeya was the leader of the Morisco rebellion of 1568. He met a premature death at the hands of his nephew, Abén Aboo, who declared himself  'the king of the Moriscos' and established the capital of his kingdom in Laujar.

Restaurante Abén Humeya, Válor, Alpujarra Granadina, Spain

Yegen (Alpujarran village)

Yegen is a little village in the Alpujarra of Granada situated between the villages of Válor and Mecina Bombarón. Like other pueblos blancos in this region, Yegen is situated amidst spectacular scenery lying as it does on the southern slopes of the Sierra Nevada.

The Alto de San Juan lies to the north of the village. It is one of the lesser peaks of the Sierra Nevada National Park but it is still pretty high with an altitude of 9,000 feet. Yegen, itself, is 4000 feet above sea level and to the south, below the village, are the valleys of Cadíar and Ugíjar. Opposite is the Sierra de la Contraviesa, which can provide tantalising glimpses of the Mediterranean beyond to travellers who view it from the appropriate location.
In the immediate vicinity of the village are forests of chestnut above the village and further up poplar. Below the village are groves of orange and olive.
Yegen is not as picturesque as villages like Pampaniera and Capileira - nor as large as Órgiva and Ugíjar. However, it is worthy of mention because it was the setting for 'South from Granada' by the celebrated English author Gerald Brenan. He lived in Yegen between 1920 and 1930. A number of famous friends visited him there including Virginia Woolf.

Brenan was one of the foremost English chroniclers of Spain and its people. He wrote 'The Spanish Labyrinth' and 'The Face of Spain' but it was 'South from Granada' for which he is most famous. It was his autobiography of his time in Yegen.
There is a plaque over the door of the house where the author lived and one of the streets in the village is named after him. There is even a 'Sendero de Gerald Brenan' footpath - it is one of a number of walking routes in the vicinity of Yegen. The long distance GR7 passes nearby. It is part of the International E-4 footpath that runs all the way from Tarifa to Greece. So even without Gerald Brenan, Yegen can lay claim to being well and truly on the map!