Letter from Spain #9
New Mayors ... new events.
Yesterday in Spain, Saturday 17 June, was the main date and deadline for the ‘investiture votes’ of the new Mayors (or continuing Mayors) in towns and cities across the country, following the local elections of Sunday 28 May, three weeks ago.
Because nowadays it’s rare for any one political party to have an absolute majority, in the past three weeks they’ve all been trying to strike deals with one another, with many of them leaving it until the very last minute … which is a Spanish trait that I explained last week. There’s been a great deal of ‘pressure’ being exerted, too, from what I’ve heard, and back-stabbing, for sure. Many false promises and (whisper it) bribes, too, no doubt.
Just because one specific candidate or party received the most votes, if they can’t form a working majority with other groups, they can’t lead. Or as one person has commented: ‘Once again, the city of Barcelona has a Mayor that people did not choose [at least the majority]. What an example of democracy this is. Spain is different.’ Because in Barcelona, Xavier Trias won the most votes, but Jaume Collboni finally replaced Ada Colau as the new Mayor … and, yes, at the last minute. It also happened in my hometown of Sitges, with the ‘Junts per Sitges’ party winning the most votes, but the ERC candidate and previous Mayor finally being voted in for the next four years.
Meanwhile, the right-wing PP and far-right Vox continue to strike deals to govern together in various regions across Spain - Valencia included - but we won’t talk about that this week …
The Barcelona Connection - Research
To continue with the research journey that I started in this blog-newsletter over the past two weeks, we arrive to Chapters 3 & 4.
Chapter 3 introduces the tycoon Marcos Constantinos and Brigitte, living in an ‘ugly, minimalist, white luminous sculpture’, a trendy, self-sustaining ‘intelligent home’ somewhere in Hampstead, and although I’ve been to Hampstead a few times, I think I found what I was looking for amid the pages of House & Garden or Interiors - one of the first magazines I worked on at Condé Nast, anyway.
In Chapter 4, Benjamin is between the University of East Anglia and Stansted Airport, then at the service station at Girona airport again, described in Chapter 1. I’ve been to Stansted so many times, and haggled at Ryanair check-in desks, too … so it didn’t take much research, to be honest. And I once did an evening course in creative writing at the UEA back in 2006, so that also helped (in more ways than one).
Next week I’ll tell you about Chapter 5, Elena and Girona … and especially Elena …
The Barcelona Connection - Reviews, News & Events
I have some good news but I can’t announce it just yet, at least not today …
Meanwhile, a good new review of the book came out in La Revista, a publication of the British-Spanish Society, which I think can be found via this link:
I’ve been invited to participate in a roundtable chat with other writers in Barcelona on Saturday 1 July at the Vila del Llibre festival in La Rambla - and I’ll have more details to post about it here next week.
And don’t forget these dates for your diary if you are in Barcelona or Madrid:
On Thursday 29 June at 7pm, I’m going to be doing an official presentation of the book 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 on Thursday 28 September. More details on that in due course.
Have you read the book yet? Here’s a recent review and there are more on Amazon and Goodreads. Click here to choose where to order it from!