Font Roja

One of my last memories of Spain was a picnic with Jose Antonio Garcia, Enrique Perez, and other Alcoianos at the Font Roja, a forested park in the mountains overlooking Alcoy. It looks like planners are adding another 4,000 hectares to the park which is certainly a good thing.

A photographic journey through Alcoy

The Fiesta de Moros y Cristianos (Moors and Christians) is an interesting reenactment of a 1276 battle which liberated Alcoy from the Moors. The Moors were repelled (according to tradition) due to the miraculous intervention of San Jorge (St. George).

RadioEspaña

Radio España is an online directory of every radio station in Spain and one of the best radio directories that I have seen on the web. It helped me to locate CanalSurWeb, an Andalusian multimedia group that has sites in Sevilla and many other cities in southern Spain. I gained my appreciation for the music of Spain while walking by neighborhood bumper car amusements. These things would draw a crowd of young people, blaring the latest music into the early hours of the morning. I loved listening to the music of Camilo Sesto, songs like Jamas...

Listen to Radio Fiesta, a channel on CanalSurWeb.

Economic Growth and Economic Equality

According to the latest report from the UN, Spain continues its rapid growth and is currently third among European nations, only behind Greece and Portugal in terms of relative growth. Overall, per capita income in Spain still lags many other Western European countries. It is currently at $19,472 compared to France at $24,223, Great Britain at $23,509, and the US at $34,142. However, this gap is much less than it used to be and according to La Vanguardia Digital, Spain is 15th among the 173 nations surveyed in terms of social inequality (down from 10th the year prior).

La Explanada

During a walk down the Explanada in Alicante, one can encounter many things. La Explanada is a wonderful mosaic walkway, lined with hundreds of palm trees fronting the Alicante boat harbor. Looking up, one sees the Castillo de Santa Barbara looming overhead, an impenetrable rocky fortress, now reachable by an elevator drilled through the mountain. Alicante is a diverse city. On the waterfront, you will find visitors from England, German, and many other parts of Europe. In its neighborhoods, you used to be able to find people like Manolo Tomas. Manolo was 76 years old when I met him. He had lost his leg in the Spanish Civil War, but struggled on, looking for happiness in a world that had seemed to pass him by.

Alicantina, borracha, y fina....

The old central area of Alicante is traditional Spain... full of monuments, cathedrals, domed churches, and other wonders. Opposite the Castillo de Santa Barbara is a smaller fortress, El Castillo de San Fernando. Alicante has a beautiful harbor and some incredible beaches to the north and south.

Each year, on June 24th, Alicantinos celebrate la Noche de San Juan (patron saint) by constructing las "Fogueras", enormous wood and paper mache statues that are about three stories high. Various neighborhoods compete for the grand prize and the fogueras are burned to the ground on that night. The spectacle is tremendous with the Castillo de Santa Barbara lit up in the night sky overlooking the city. Here is last year's prize winning foguera from Carolinas Altas, where I met my good friend Beatriz Berbegal Garcia.

Hogueras 2000

La Critica en Hogueras

I just found this map of Alicante's neighborhoods which certainly brings back a lot of memories. I spent a lot of time in San Blas, las Carolinas, la Florida, and even up into Ciudad Jardin and Virgen del Remedio. I remember a time in Ciudad Jardin when the garbage collectors went on strike. The garbage piled quickly in the street between 5-6 story apartment buildings and became pretty repugnant after a while...

US-Spain Bilateral Issues

The US Embassy in Madrid maintains a site dedicated to bilateral relations between the US and Spain. Several high level meetings have occured just in the past few months, including President Bush's meeting with Aznar in May at Camp Williams. The visit was focused primarily on issues related to counter-terrorism. Spain has been very supportive of US efforts to crack down on Al Qaida operatives resulting several key arrests of operatives that appear to have had some involvement with the 9-11 tragedy.

Honduras This Week

I have been subscribing to Honduras This Week for about 6 years. It is an excellent publication and comes in HTML format through email. Wendy Griffin and other local writers provide an interesting perspective on what is happening in one of my favorite countries. I lived in Comayagua for a short while about 17 years ago...

La Verdad

This online newspaper has three editions; Murcia, Alicante, and Albacete. Content is common in all three editions with separate local sections. All three are cities that I am intimately familiar with. Both La Verdad and La Estrella appear to be high quality papers with a general news focus, but complete with abundant features on things like fashion and cuisine. The site also features an Alicante webcam with a live shot of one of my favorite beachfront areas.

Murcia Estrella

Murcia is one of my favorite places. It is a business-oriented city, the center of a citrus-growing, sun-drenched basin, in southeastern Spain. The river Segura runs through it and large 10-12 story apartment buildings line the esplanade running along the river's frontage. La Estrella Digital is evidence of the progress that has occured in the region since I was there 25 years ago, yet even then, it was a progressive city.

Spain Moves In

Spain moved its forces into place and then swept into Perejil, retaking the small rocky island in dramatic fashion. Charles Powell suggested that Prime Minister Aznar was sending a message, "You don't treat a major European power like this and think you can get away with it." With the backing of NATO and the European Union, this is about all Spain could do to save face... The military action, which included movements of submarines and artillery from Cartagena is being called a declaration of war by Morocco.

Spanish Basketball Professional Comes to Utah

In the past, many American ballplayers went to Spain to play professional ball. I knew quite a few; Ralph Bobik, Andy Toolson, Steve Trumbo. Now Raul Lopez is coming from Spain to play for the Utah Jazz. Basketball was just catching on in Spain while I was there. It was particularly popular in Alicante which had built some nice facilities. Here's Alicante's current pro team. Most of the players are from Spain. Pedro Fernandez, a major promoter of basketball in Spain, was born in Alicante.

Corte Ingles to open in smaller towns

Corte Ingles and Galerias Preciados were the two department stores of any significance when I was in Spain (1977-79). At the time, they were only located in major cities (200,00+). This expansion into smaller towns will change the ambiance of rural Spain, which has already undergone a major metamorphosis in the last 25 years.

The Century Foundation

Professor Denny used to be a prominent player in the Twentieth Century Fund. It has been renamed to The Century Foundation. Like so many others, The Century Foundation has developed their Homeland Security Project. The purpose is to provide policy recommendations and analysis for Federal decision-makers.

The Foundation supported the development of this paper entitled, Promoting State and Local Government Performance for Homeland Security. The paper asks the following questions:

1. What are the basic goals and objectives of homeland security? Can the federal government give the program strategic focus—at least to the point of ensuring that scarce budget dollars are concentrated on the most pressing problems?
2. How can the federal government shape state and local actions to fulfill this strategy? Should it set rules? Create incentives through grants? Allow local flexibility in exchange for performance standards?
3. Is there a minimum level of preparedness and capacity that all governments throughout the United States ought to provide? Or can the nation allow individual governments to create their own plans and run the risk that some governments will unintentionally subject their citizens to unacceptable risks?
4. Is FEMA’s “all-hazard” approach appropriate? Or should the federal government build a strategy tailored specially for homeland security?
5. If a performance system is created, how can it surmount the considerable technical and political obstacles facing it? If such a system is not created, how can the federal government find the proper balance between national goals and local flexibility?
6. What is the role of the states in homeland security? What role should they play in translating national plans to their circumstances—and in enforcing collaboration among their local governments?
7. Can collaboration among neighboring communities be strengthened? How?

Brewster Denny and the Founding of Seattle

Brewster Denny was the founder of the Graduate School of Public Affairs at the University of Washington. Professor Denny was also a former ambassador for the United States to the United Nations and was my advisor while at the University of Washington. In this soundbite, Professor Denny ponders about the trials faced by his ancestors who were among the original founders of Seattle. Denny Way is now a prominent thoroughfare in the city. Professor Denny was always bringing in prominent international guests which really contributed to the quality of the graduate program. The UW was second only to Harvard in establishing a graduate program in public administration.

Meanwhile, in Mexico

Farmers have taken hostages near Mexico City, protesting against the government's decision to build a new airport in San Salvador Atenco. Mexico City's current airport is 91 years old and in need of a major overhaul. The only problem is that it is surrounded by homes and there is no room for expansion.

The Mexican government considers all farmland to be property of the State. I haven't followed land policy over the last fourteen years since I left Guadalajara, but at that time, it was a constant point of contention. Rapid growth in the major metropolitan areas was always in conflict with federal land policy.

Unfaithful Brother

El Mundo posted a picture summary of the action on Perejil. The pictures show a few Moroccan men pitching a tent on this small rocky island. A little later a group of Spanish soldiers arrive at the island to investigate and tell the Moroccans to leave. The Moroccans raise their flag over the island, determined to stay.

The gesture seems to be primarily a symbolic one. I'm not sure exactly what the Moroccans are trying to achieve, but they have enlisted the support of the Arab League, while Spain has drawn support from the European Union and NATO.

Perejil

Here's a picture of the little island that is causing such a stir in Spain. Spain has called for support from the European Union while claiming to downplay the situation at the same time. On the other hand, Morocco is stating that they will push for a rapid resolution to the problem, while also saying that they plan to establish a permanent guard station on the island. Looks like this could go on for a while....

Rota to play a key role in conflict with Morocco

Morocco actually occupied a small, uninhabited island called Perejil close to Ceuta. The base at Rota hosts the Spanish fleet in addition to some important US operations. It is a critical point for controlling submarine and surface traffic near the approach to the Straits of Gibralter and the Mediterrenean Sea. Earlier this week, a Spanish official was sent to Washington to shore up strategic plans for the base.

I spent the fourth of July on a nuclear submarine docked at Rota in 1978. We had steak and lobster for dinner in the Captain's quarters, cuisine a little different that what I had been accustomed to in Spain.

Troops on alert in Sevilla

Spain put 6,000 troops on alert as concern grew concern Moroccan patrols near the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla. This two cities are on the northern coast of Africa, but are a source of pride for Spain. I had a friend in Murcia that made his living from running illegal goods across the Mediterrenean and bypassing the customs, a not-uncommon practice.

Spain is a member of NATO (OTAN in Spanish). I spent five months in the town of Rota where the US has a large naval base. I remember on one occasion having three aircraft carriers (the Enterprise, the Forstall, and the America) all come into port at the same time. It was incredible to look out from the balcony in the morning and see these floating cities just off-shore. Spain is counting on NATO coming to their aid (an attack on one is an attack on all) if Ceuta is attacked by the Moroccans.

Seville

I landed on a windblown runway and stepped out of the Iberian airliner into a world of enchantment. The Giralda, the Torre de Oro, the old Santa Cruz quarter, and more contribute the the feeling that makes Sevilla unique in the world. It is the heart of Catholocism. And the feeling you get on a hot September night looking out over the rooftops at the lighted Giralda tower with the sounds of Flamenco wafting through the narrow alleys below while people in love wander aimlessly through the city is simply magical.

Welcome to Blog International

This blog will focus on my international experience, beginning with Sevilla (Spain) in 1977 and extending to my interests and experiences in Honduras, China, Mexico, Lithuania, Czechoslovakia, Argentina, Afghanistan, and virtually anywhere else in the world. We'll look at languages, culture, people, history, technology, and more...