Spanish Practices - Real Life in Spain
Society & Culture:Documentary
Today Shampoo and Donkeys
Day Forty one of the Spanish Lockdown, the sometimes amusing, diary of a Brit in southern Spain under the 'Alarma' - normal life has stopped.
To find out more: https://www.thesecretspain.com
The Miba Hotel and Restaurant mentioned: https://hotelmiba.com/
Day 41 Shampoo and Donkeys
It is day 41 of our Spanish Lockdown and I should not have mentioned Noah as today it has poured with rain all day, everywhere is damp and miserable.
The Mediterranean does not do wet days very well. In a country like the UK when we are used to miserable wet weather, even in the height of summer, there is always some kind of inside activity to do, here it is all about the beach or walking, cycling, climbing, getting outdoors.
True if you are in a big city like Granada or Malaga you can or rather could go to a museum but that is about your lot.
There are some very odd perceptions of Spain, I remember a few years ago my mother came to visit with my stepfather and my sister Ann accompanied them on the visit.
It was a horrible rainy day when they arrived, something that I think surprised them both. They had come for a week but just packed the bare essentials, I sorted out my mother’s list of extras from our end.
“Do they have paracetamol in Spain?” was the first thing my mother asked. Well yes they do, but I have to go to the pharmacy and get some for you as you cannot buy anything that is considered medicine from a supermarket or corner shop. That includes indigestion tablets, cold remedies, cough syrup. The only thing you will find in the supermarket are sticking plasters and condoms .. everything else is at the pharmacy and prices vary from expensive to very expensive.
Next question.. “I use Loreal hair shampoo can you get that for me?” I went to the hypermarket and called my mother. “OK which one do you want?” She told me what she bought in the UK and then said “I don’t suppose they have Loreal?” The answer was yes the do and the type you want. She seemed surprised that there was such a choice. I discovered why when we were driving them back to the village.
Malaga is a fairly ugly sprawl of a city, the old centre is beautiful but around it have grown endless blocks of flats that lack any outward charm, it reminds me a bit of the dreary suburbs of Paris in that respect.
My mother looked out of the window of the car down at the urban sprawl below. “What ever is this place?” she said.
I replied “That’s Malaga.”
“But I thought Malaga was a little fishing village.” And there in that single line sums up the perception a lot of Brits have of Spain.
It’s all, to borrow the original description of this Podcast.. Sangria, straw donkeys and those oversized Mexican sombreros with heart sign Benidorm on the rim.
Our friends Shirley and Colin came to visit when we had just bought our new home. Shirley called me some months before and said she would like to surprise Chris, so we arranged that they would stay at a local hotel and I would divert Chris from our regular trip to the house to check on the building work on the guise that we should have a coffee at the hotel.
On the way to the house I said let’s pull over and have a nice coffee in the Hotel and Restaurant Miba. “Why?” .. I suggested that it just might be nice to do, he was suspicious but pulled the car over.
Shirley and Colin hid behind a piece of rather tasteful sculpture but with their backs to the entrance of the bar. We sat just a row of armchairs down from them. I said to Chris, “Can you see the elephant in the room.” He said “I don’t think Matilde has any sculptures of elephants in the hotel.”
“No,” I said “look around.” Well those two in front of us look a bit like Shirley and Colin… and at that moment Shirley turned around.. you should have seen the look on Chris’ face. Well everybody burst into tears and started hugging each other, all with the bemused bar staff looking on.
It was Shirley’s birthday treat to come and see us. On the day of her birthday we asked her if she wanted to go to the beach or shopping.
“Shopping please.” I warned her that Spanish shops are not going to be the same as British ones. She said that she didn’t mind and that she would make the most of whatever we had.
I knowing full well she was in for a big birthday surprise. We drove to Granada, as we got close to the enormous Nevada shopping centre, I thought she would realise where we were taking her, but good luck was on our side, her boss rang and she was deep in conversation as we drove down to the car park.
The call ended and she said “this car park is posh.” We walked her the glass entrance that swept up with escalators to the first of two massive shopping floors.
“Oh my god.” She said “I don’t believe it there is the biggest Zara I have evr seen, look a “Michael Kors, and over their..” she reeled off the names of all of her favourite shops she could see.
Nevada is based more on those big American Shopping malls, with fountains, marble floors and giant TV screens showing previous exciting shopping events at the Mall.
They were both gobsmacked. Colin said he had no idea that this was what Spain was like.. it is and always was more than sangria and straw donkeys.
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