The weekend of 30th September and 1st October we had beautiful weather for the revived Fería de Los Raimundos, which had last been held quite a few years before.

We all face challenges in our lives, some are major and affect us drastically, whilst others are minor everyday matters to be dealt with.

Last weekend it was the second fiesta in Antas, the Fería de Antas, held in honour of the patron saint of Antas, the Virgen de la Cabeza. The fiesta usually starts with the romería, a procession from the town with the virgin’s statue all the way to the hermitage or small chapel, on the hill just outside Antas. There are also many tractor-drawn floats decorated in different ways, floral or with a specific theme.  At the top there is a religious service and then all around the picnic site the groups that came up on floats, and anyone else that came up by car, enjoy a picnic or buy a portion of paella, costing €1. However  this year, the romería was cancelled due to extreme weather warnings. As it turned out, the weather was not as bad as forecast, but nonetheless it was not a very bright day for a picnic.

Today I am going to talk about a local historical culture called the Argaric Culture. It is so named due to the excavation site near El Argar, which is close to the town of Antas. 

At the end of 2022, as we had enjoyed our 2021 honeymoon and 2022 holiday so much, we thought we should plan a holiday for 2023.

It was yet another fiesta last weekend but, this time, it was in our local village. The feria de Aljariz y La Huerta, in honour of the Virgen de la Huerta, our local patron saint.

In our lives we often wear “different hats”. When I was in the UK, I was a wife, a mother and I worked. In each circumstance I would be slightly different, wearing a different hat. Although at all times the intrinsic me was there, the loving that I showed at home would be tempered to the kindness and consideration I displayed to people I met in a professional situation. Once I retired and moved to Spain my life changed dramatically, as my family are all back in the UK, though distance doesn’t mean I love them any less. I am still the same Christine.

In my previous blog regarding the local elections, I said that the count took place on the evening of voting day. Of course, once the mayor was voted back in the official inauguration had to take place. This was held nearly three weeks later, on Saturday 17th June.

I have experienced quite a bit more of the Spanish Health Service than I would have liked, but I guess that is a by-product of getting older. I have already had hip and knee replacements, and am currently waiting for my second hip operation.

I was quite surprised a few months ago when the mayor asked me if I would help him with the upcoming election campaign. He wanted an English-speaking member in his team to ensure that the ex-pat residents of Antas knew they meant as much to him as any Spaniard. I readily agreed and felt very honoured to have been asked. Our mayor Pedro had done such a great job for the town I live in over the past four years I was more than happy to do as much as possible to help him be voted back in.

When I first started thinking about moving to Spain I did quite a bit of research. One of the things that was important to me was that I didn’t wish to live in a holiday resort, or an area with a high percentage of ex-pats. I am not knocking either of these sorts of areas for people to move to, or to live in. It is a personal preference of mine, as I wished to immerse myself in Spain and the Spanish way of life.

This month my blog was to be about the beauty of mystery. I opened up a new page and wrote my first sentence, then I put that aside until the next day. When I opened it up again I wrote another sentence, then stared at the page. My mind was a complete blank, inspiration would not come, I could not write another word. So I put it aside again.