Letter from Spain #58
The fiestas are finally over ... well, almost.
It’s that time of the year in Spain for long trousers again. On cue and without fail every year, the weather changes to coincide with the so-called ‘Día de la Hispanidad’ (‘Hispanic Day’) on 12 October, and this time it literally pissed down on the parade in Madrid on Saturday, drenching the Spanish Legionnaires’ poor goat mascot that always gets wheeled out - but more on all that in a sec.
It has also coincided with all the chiringuito beach bars now packing up in my hometown of Sitges, and where the Film Festival drew to a close at the weekend, too. In two weeks from now (27 October), ‘daylight saving time’ ends and the clocks will go back an hour, and so we all have that back-to-school feeling … at last.
I say ‘at last’ because we’ve had fiestas non-stop, every weekend since the Carnival back in February, at least as far as I can remember (although I admit some of it is blurred). We have one more three-day festival this coming weekend, the grape harvest festival known as the Festa de le Verema, starting on Friday with wine tasting from the Garraf and Penedès regions (silly not to), ending with the traditional ‘grape stamping’ competition on Sunday - but then things will grind to a halt until next year’s Carnival.
Nothing really happens here from November until late February, with a number of establishments shutting totally for the winter months, having been open for seven long days and even longer nights every week for the other eight months of the year. The town goes from one extreme to another, almost overnight.
I believe that Catalonia, more than anywhere else in Spain, is capable of dragging out the summer long after its sell-by date. You’d think everyone would go back to work on 1 September after taking nearly a month off, but many wait until after La Diada (Catalonia’s National Day) on 11 September … and then they party again for a very long weekend before or after the Mercè Festival (24 September). We had the similar week-long Santa Tecla festival here in Sitges in late September … and then the Film Festival started on 3 October for 10 days. Believe me, it’s been non-stop.
They officially call it the ‘Sitges – Festival Internacional de Cine Fantástico de Catalunya’, and which some writers translate as the ‘Fantastic’ film festival - but that’s not really true. ‘Fantástico’ refers to the ‘fantasy’ genre of films - but not only ‘fantasy’, as the festival is mainly about terror and horror films, too.
The film festival is great, but to be honest I’ve walked out of more films than I’ve sat through over the years because I’m not a fan of the chainsaw-horror or slasher genre, or ‘fantasy’ or whatever you want to call it, or goths, or vampires, or zombies, or werewolves, and I’m not a great fan of sci-fi or animation, either - which they also screen - although I have total respect for those who make these movies and/or make a living out of them.
I like the festival for the networking, chatting with directors, producers, actors and others in the industry who are visiting the town.
This year, by chance, and because he was staying in the same hotel as my ‘producer boss-colleague’ who was over from London, I bumped into the American actor Giancarlo Esposito, perhaps better known as Gustavo ‘Gus’ Fring in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. He was in town because he’s in a new movie that had its premiere at the festival, Please Don’t Feed the Children, directed by Destry Spielberg (yes, ‘daughter of’ … and which she had to keep answering questions about during the press conference, rather than about her own film, the poor woman). One thing led to another, and we were invited to the premiere’s after-party on the roof of the hotel … but we didn’t go.
Anyway … the summer is over, the fiestas are over (almost) and I was going to mention something else about the ‘Hispanic Day’ or at least Christopher Columbus (Cristóbal Colón in Spanish) before signing off.
It’s because the date of 12 October originally commemorates his so-called ‘discovery’ of the Americas. In 1492 a Spanish expedition led by him arrived to what today is known as San Salvador, in the Bahamas, and made the first step towards what would become the Spanish empire.
In 1987, the name was officially changed to La Fiesta Nacional (Spain’s National Day), removing any reference to Spanish colonialism.
Most South American nations have changed it to become a combination of the ‘Day of Respect for Cultural Diversity’, a ‘Day of Interculturality and Plurinationality’ or a ‘Day of Indigenous Peoples and Intercultural Dialogue’ - preferring to not celebrate their indigenous ancestors being subdued, enslaved, raped or murdered by Spanish ‘conquerers’.
Meanwhile, Spain’s state broadcaster RTVE has just broadcast a documentary that concludes Columbus was not Genoese and Italian, as had been believed (or at least touted by the Italians) for over 20 years.
Indeed, the documentary’s findings aim to put an end to some 500 years of speculation over Columbus’s birthplace and nationality. Over the centuries, it has been suggested that not only could he have been Genoese, but also Basque, Catalan, Galician, Greek, Portuguese or even Scottish. But he wasn’t. According to the documentary, he was of Spanish Sephardic Jewish origin. So now you know.
Books, Reviews, Research, News & Events
Forthcoming Events
The event at the Hotel Castell d’Empordà in La Bisbal d’Empordà (Catalonia), which is scheduled to be part of the hotel’s 25th anniversary, will take place in April next year. The hotel is part of a key plot element in The Barcelona Connection (mentioned in Letter from Spain #8) and which is based on true events. The event is planned to be about ‘The Dalí Connection’ to the hotel and, of course, the book. More details about this event will follow in due course …
The Barcelona Connection - Research
In my weekly ‘Letter from Spain’ from #7 right up to #42, I included notes about all the research I carried out for The Barcelona Connection. Many of the posts include photos and descriptions of locations that appear in the book, from Nîmes, Figueres, Cadaqués, La Bisbal d’Empordà and, of course, many areas of Barcelona. There are also posts about Salvador Dalí’s Hallucinogenic Toreador and ‘The Face’, the Dalí Museum in Figueres, the Picasso Museum and MNAC in Barcelona, even Girona Airport and nearby motorway service station - as well as the G20 Spouse Party, museum visits and ‘art attacks’. I hope the notes about the research are of interest … and I hope you might buy, read and take The Barcelona Connection with you to some of the locations that appear in the book! If you do, please send me a photo and I’ll post it here …
The Barcelona Connection - Book & Reviews
A murder. A kidnapping. A lost Salvador Dalí painting. Just 36 hours to resolve all three. Every crime scene is a work of art …
Benjamin Blake is no ordinary detective. Specialising in the criminal underworld of stolen and forged art, things don’t always go the right way for Benjamin. But when they don’t, he has a stubborn determination to put them right.
Within hours of being sent to Barcelona to authenticate a possible Salvador Dalí painting, Benjamin is left stranded without his cell phone at a service station alongside a bloody corpse in the early hours of the morning, after being savagely attacked with his hire car stolen, together with the painting.
Helped and hindered by the fiery Elena Carmona, pursued by a psychopathic hitman, Benjamin becomes the prime suspect in a politically motivated kidnap and murder. All this on the eve of Barcelona hosting a G20 summit and UN climate change conference, with the police in hot pursuit fearing a wider terrorist threat.
From Nîmes in the South of France, across the border to the sweltering humidity of Girona, Barcelona, Figueres and Cadaqués, The Barcelona Connection is a fast-paced, gripping page-turner sprinkled with black comedy, blending the real with the surreal, art crime and mistaken identity … and where the clues at the crime scene might just be the mirror image of a long-lost work of art …
If you can’t locate a copy of The Barcelona Connection in your local store, it can be ordered from any bookshop simply by giving the ISBNnumber: 978-1-7393326-1-7.
It is also available in print or as an eBook via Amazon and Barnes & Noble, or you can also click here to choose where else to order your copy from.
Click here for the latest reviews on Amazon and on Goodreads.
A review by Michael Eaude of The Barcelona Connection was published in the October 2023 edition of Catalonia Today.
‘Short, fast-moving scenes and the deft joining of two completely different plots … the novel is not just breathlessly rapid and action-packed, but overflows with humour and satire.’
‘The excellent plotting, the local knowledge, the surreal humour, the political satire and the speed of events … it’s an admirable and very readable crime novel.’
A review by Dominic Begg of The Barcelona Connection was published in La Revista, a publication of the British-Spanish Society.
‘The Barcelona Connection is a fast-moving page-turner with a helter-skelter plot.’
‘The background to this thriller is realistic and familiar to those who know Barcelona well. It’s a world of cynical, ambitious politicians; civil servants promoted via enchufe; friction between Spanish and Catalan investigators; disruptive anti-capitalist activists; bumbling US dignitaries and security guards; the continuing influence of old supporters of Franco; the soulless 21st century, exemplified by apartment hotels seemingly without human staff-members …’
Here’s a link to a review of the book by Eve Schnitzer published by the Spain in English online newspaper.
‘Tim Parfitt very cleverly weaves together two parallel though quite different stories, set against the background of a contemporary Barcelona that is even busier than usual with major international meetings.’
‘Two plot lines interweave, with some highly ironic as well as suspenseful results … this book has a lot to offer the reader, from pure entertainment to solid information and, possibly, a fuller understanding of the complexities of Spain and Catalonia in particular.’
Here’s the link to an article I was asked to write for The Art Newspaper about my research on Salvador Dalí.
A Load of Bull - An Englishman’s Adventures in Madrid - Book & Reviews
Eighteen years since it was originally published, ‘A Load of Bull - An Englishman’s Adventures in Madrid’ has been re-issued with a new introduction, new cover and five extra chapters that were cut from the original book.
It is available in print and as an eBook worldwide, in both formats. You can also order the new paperback or digital edition via Amazon and Barnes & Noble, or the digital version on Apple, Kobo, Smashwords, or on many other platforms by clicking here.
If you’ve never read the book, I hope you will now acquire a copy and laugh out loud. If you did read and enjoy the original edition, I think you’ll love this new edition with additional chapters! More details about the book and links to many reviews are below.
As with previous posts showing images and locations that form part of the research I carried out for The Barcelona Connection novel (above), I am also planning to publish an archive of photos here of Madrid that relate to many chapters in ‘A Load of Bull’ - although it will take time! In Letter from Spain #52, I cover Chapter 1 - the Centro Colón aparthotel (entrance) Watch this space for further images …
A LOAD OF BULL - An Englishman’s Adventures in Madrid
The hilarious true story of an Englishman sent to Madrid to help launch Spanish Vogue …
In the late eighties Tim Parfitt blagged his way into a job at Condé Nast in London and from there into a six week stint in Madrid to help launch Spanish Vogue. Six weeks turned into nine years, and helping out turned into running the company. Along the way, Tim Parfitt discovered the real 'real' Spain. He never saw a Costa and he certainly never bought an olive grove. Instead, he discovered a booming city in hedonistic reaction to years of fascism, where sleep was something you only did at work and where five hour lunches invariably involved a course of bull's testicles.
Tim Parfitt's rise from unwanted guest to paparazzi-pursued mover in Spain's glamorous social scene is a hilarious comedy of errors. Frothing with a language designed to make foreigners dribble, hospitalised by tapa-induced flatulence and constantly frustrated by the unapproachable beauty of the women parading through the Vogue offices, he nevertheless falls in love with a city, a country and its people - despite the fact he hasn't a clue what they're on about.
You can click here for all the reviews of A Load of Bull on Amazon, as well as on Goodreads.
Links to newspaper and magazine reviews:
‘A hugely entertaining memoir ... frequently laugh-out-loud funny.’ (The Daily Express)
‘Parfitt is no ordinary Englishman … his light touch and neat line in self-deprecating humour perfectly suits this entertaining urban spin on the old tale of Brits having fun under the Spanish sun.’ (The Sunday Times)
‘A love letter to Madrid ... brilliantly captures a truly eccentric and hedonistic place.’ (The Daily Mirror)
‘Often hilarious ... a side-splittingly funny travel memoir.’ (BBC Online)
‘Vivid yet affectionate … fascinating, escapist stuff.’ (OK! Magazine)
‘Magnificent ... brilliant and moving, hilarious and truthful.’ (La Vanguardia)
‘Don't miss it … Madrid through the eyes of an Englishman.’ (Vogue España)
Spanish edition
A Load of Bull was also published in Spanish under the title, Mucho Toro - las tribulaciones de un inglés en la movida. Click here or on image below for the current eBook version.
Contact Details
You can email me at: tim.parfitt@hotmail.co.uk
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