Letter from Spain #4

An invitation to review, and a date for your diary in Barcelona ...

First things first. For a limited time period, if you’d like to receive a review copy of The Barcelona Connection, then please use this link and follow the instructions:

https://booksirens.com/book/PWQDW3O/JZ59FRL

Book Sirens (which is a brilliant platform) are currently offering up to 50 slots for people to download, read and then review the new book on Amazon (or even Goodreads, I think) … and hopefully you might really enjoy it! Or, of course, you can also buy the book from any platform you like by clicking here.

Secondly, if you are living in or near Barcelona (or visiting), then here’s a date for your diary: Thursday 29 June at 7pm.

On that evening, for about an hour, followed by a glass of cava, I’m going to be doing an official presentation of the book (in other words, talking about it) in the company of the British Consul in Catalonia, Lloyd Milen, MBE. The event is taking place at the Alibri bookshop on the Carrer de Balmes, 26 - and it would be wonderful to see you there. Further info can be found here: https://www.alibri.es/events/2119.

I will also be doing an event at The Secret Kingdoms bookstore in Madrid in September. I will post further information here in due course, as well as details of an event being planned in Malaga.

This week I attended a very exciting meeting in London with the producers I am working with on developing The Barcelona Connection for the screen. Once you’ve read the book, please tell me who you think would be the perfect actor to play the main role of Benjamin Blake, the art detective … I’m genuinely curious.

Back in Spain, meanwhile, the starting pistol has been fired for the political parties’ campaigning for the local and regional elections that take place on Sunday 28 May. They’re allowed to start campaigning a fortnight before the elections, but to be honest it feels like they’ve been campaigning for the last four years, since the last elections.

I have a friend who is standing for election, being on ‘the list’ for one of the local parties. He told me that you can always tell when an election is coming up, as the local councillors all start being nice to one another, fully aware that no party will win an absolute majority, and that they’ll have to form a coalition of sorts.

This time around, I can vote on 28 May. Actually I could have voted four years ago, but I never got round to filling in all the right forms. Right now, I’m furious with the local council because they simply find every excuse they can not to make a payment on time. Personally, I think it’s a disgrace. The central Spanish government is permanently boasting about giving billions of euros to this, that and whatever, to help citizens and local businesses, but believe me, you try getting a local or regional government to make a payment in Spain … forget it. Rant over.

By the way, if you read my piece about Juan Carlos last week, this article in today’s Sunday Times might interest you, and this original documentary on Sky looks fascinating, too …

On a final note, it was Salvador Dalí’s birthday this week … born on 11 May 1904. More on my research about him next week … thanks for reading!