TWELVE GRAPES AT MIDNIGHT? WHY?

As the bells in the Puerta del Sol in Madrid chime midnight on New Year’s Eve those gathered in the square and watching TV throughout Spain will down 12 grapes – hopefully before the chimes finish. The same scene will be replicated throughout the nation in city, town and village plazas, at parties indeed wherever celebrations are held. But why?

There appears to be two theories.

The first dates back to 1909 when the Spanish grape growers found they had an excess crop. Hence they decided to spread the legend that to eat twelve of the fruit as the bells counted down would bring good luck for the coming year.

The second comes from the final years of the 19 th century. A group of citizens upset by the decision of the mayor of Madrid, José Abascal, to charge all those who wished to attend the visit from the Three Kings decided to hold their own celebrations. Hence on New Year’s Eve they gathered in the Puerta del Sol to eat grapes with the intention of ridiculing the nobles who traditionally ate grapes and drank champagne to see in the new year. Although this protest was started in Madrid it soon spread throughout Spain. In those days the bells were transmitted from Madrid to the entire nation although today the regional television stations tend to broadcast the countdown from local cities and towns.

So why twelve grapes?

One explanation is it symbolizes the twelve months of the year. Another that it is based on the number of bell chimes. What is agreed is that all must be consumed before midnight is struck.

And on that note let me wish you all every happiness in 2010.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: ZERO TOLERENCE BUT JUSTICE

On Christmas Eve around 50 separated parents including six women held a protest in the centre of Sevilla. Thirty-five of them dressed up as Father Christmas in a demonstration demanding a change to the divorce law to give shared custody of children between both parents and in support of the judge of the Sevilla family court, Francisco Serrano. Earlier some 67 organisation had defended the judge against the action of “ultra feminists” that have asked the CGPJ judicial authority to take disciplinary action against Serrano accusing him of siding with those responsible for domestic violence in seeking a fair settlement of cases.

Amongst those at the Sevilla demonstration were José Antonio Santos and Miguel Ángel Torres. They had recently been the victims of false complaints made against them by their partners in divorce proceedings. Santos had as a result spent 11 months in jail and Torres had been accused of abusing his two year old daughter.

According to the spokesperson for ‘Papá no es’, Carlos Aurelio Caldito, since 2004 when the Ley de Violencia de Género was introduced over 600,000 men had been branded as “sexist” but when the cases were investigated and brought to court they were found to be innocent.

Long term readers of my blog will know that I have a specific interest in the problem of domestic violence in Spain and as with all such cases – be it the male abusing the female – or in more cases that you might suspect the female abusing the male – I believe in zero tolerance.

I remember a year or so after the 2004 law was introduced a meeting was held in Algeciras attended by people living in the Campo de Gibraltar and others from Málaga. The majority were men and believed false accusations had been made against them by their former partners who alleged domestic violence in order to boost their claim for a divorce or as an act of revenge.

This highlights a major problem involving the law. It is vital that those who suffer domestic violence from current or former partners are protected with the full weight of the law. Unfortunately there are now many cases where one partner uses the law to make false accusations against the other – so whilst we must have zero tolerance for violence - we must also ensure justice for all.

Website: http://www.papanoes.es

A MERRY TRIVIA CHRISTMAS

I was reading through Mitch Symon’s ‘Why does earwax taste so gross’ yesterday and came across this Christmas trivia – which as it is the season of goodwill to all my readers I thought I would share with you.

According to Mitch:

The average Briton devotes 15 hours a year to Christmas shopping – around 25 per cent of that time is spent in queues.

The Christmas song ‘Jingle Bells’ was originally composed in 1857 as a Thanksgiving song.

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh send some 850 Christmas cards a year.

It’s St Francis of Assisi we have to thank for introducing Christmas carols to church services.

It wasn’t until 440 that 25 th December was first celebrated as the birthday of Christ.

Santa Claus is called Babbo Natale in Italy.

More than eight million Christmas trees were sold in Briton last year.

The reason why robins are associated with Christmas is because postmen, who wore red, were known as robins, and so many Christmas cards depicted robins delivering cards.

Holly is associated with Christmas because the sharply pointed leaves symbolized the thorns in Christ’s crown and the red berries symbolized his blood.

There are 178 legs in the song “The Twelve Days of Christmas”.

The Christmas holidays are the busiest time for American plastic surgeons.

Around 16 million turkeys were sold in the UK last Christmas.

And on that note of gluttony I wish you a Merry Christmas and an enjoyable festive season to all my readers.

A POLITICAL TURNCOAT

The major political parties in Spain have signed a pact that does not allow a politician, mayor or councillors to change parties and in so doing achieve or sustain power.

The problem is more acute in Spain than in Britain because the electoral system is based on proportional representation. Hence town halls especially often depend on coalitions and the political turncoat or turncoats can cause major shifts in who rules a municipality.

To oversee the pact is a panel of electoral law experts who form a commission and its decisions have to be verified by the Mesa Nacional Antitransfuguismo.

Recently the commission was unanimous in its decision that the mayor of Ronda, Antonio Marín, and his eight fellow Partido Andalucista councillors were political turncoats. Its decision was endorsed by the Mesa in Madrid last week and now Marín and his cohorts have said they will appeal to the Tribunal Constitucional to uphold “their” rights.

Hmm.

Well here are the facts. The Partido Andalucista has a special link with Ronda as the foundations of the Andalucismo movement were laid there in 1918 when Blas Infante – the father of the modern Andalucía – was part of a congress that established the region’s flag and anthem. Today the PA is the party of Andalucía but at the last regional government elections did not return a single MP – so you have to question the basis of an Andalucía party that is totally rejected by the people of Andalucía.

None the less Marín and the PA had ruled Ronda in coalition with the centre right Partido Popular during the last council. He and his fellow eight PA councillors were the largest group at the last local elections and renewed its pact with the PP. Then he caused a major surprise by breaking the accord and entering in to government with the support of the socialist PSOE instead.

It was at that point that Marín voiced his intention to quit the PA and join PSOE. In June he and his fellow councillors made that move and now sit as non-aligned although they are members of PSOE and in coalition with that party – so in effect PSOE now governs Ronda.

There is some overlap between PSOE and the PA as both parties are centre left – indeed the PA was once the Andalucía socialist party. However previous to the last local elections Marín had suggested that he might join the centre right Partido Popular but it seemed that party wasn’t thrilled with the idea.

Which of course leaves the people of Ronda who voted Partido Andalucista in as the major party at two consecutive elections totally unrepresented at the town hall. Not only are there now no PA councillors but having governed Ronda the party is out in the cold and PSOE rules totally – without winning a majority at the polls.

So are Marín and his fellow councillors political turncoats? You decide.

CLIMATE – NO CHANGE

I have not written about climate change before now – there is enough hot air out there already.

I received an email last week from one of the blog’s readers, Sandra, inviting me to sign a petition for the Copenhagen Summit – apparently it was the largest petition in the world. No major surprise there as this is a crisis that worries all the people of the globe.

My knowledge on the subject is limited after all I am a hack and not a scientist. So I listen to what the experts say. The problem is there are pro and anti lobbies, each with their own dogma to preach. After a lifetime of excess I now preach moderation in all things so suspect the truth lies somewhere between the two arguments.

In November when I climbed up the hill to chew the cud with Prospero over breakfast in the Vecina Bar in Jimena I needed just a shirt. We marvelled at the warm and dry weather - perhaps global warming was indeed with us.

Now in December we meet wrapped in sweaters and an overcoat – peering out of the bar window at the deluge in the knowledge that winter has arrived and normality has returned.

We were warned ahead of Copenhagen that a deal on climate change was unlikely so the fact that just that happened should not have surprised anyone.

For me alarm bells rang when I saw day after day packed in to the conference centre in Copenhagen the world’s politicians, officials, climate change professionals of all hues and the media at this circus. If the world’s nations were intent on solving climate change it could have been done in New York with the same swiftness and certainty that the USA and Britain sought a mandate to invade Iraq.

So gathered in the corridors of power was that ogre Robert Mugabe, a Chinese delegation that was intent on hiding what is going on behinds its wall, a US President who’s offer was limited by what Congress and the Senate would allow him and the British PM who sought the spotlight not to save the world but his political skin.

Did we really believe they were going to save the world?

If we did then may the good Lord help us!

A VICTORY FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

The Western Saharan civil rights activist Aminatu Haidar has returned to her home in El Aaiún. Thursday was a day of frantic activity as first Haidar was admitted to Lanzarote hospital suffering from abdominal pain as a result of her 32-day hunger strike. With reports that her life hung like a thread there was increased diplomatic contacts between the Spanish and Moroccan governments with the latter finally relenting and allowing her to return home.

She was declared free to leave Spain for her home country to be with her children and mother. So at midnight on Thursday she was flown in a hospital plane to the capital of the Western Sahara. She was accompanied on her journey by her sister and the doctor who had been recently attending her.

It was at 16.00 on Thursday that the all-clear was given for her journey and the news was given to Haidar at the hospital’s intensive care unit where she was being treated. She was dehydrated and was being given liquids intravenously as she still refused to eat or drink.

With the news that she was free to go home her protest and hunger strike ended. It was on November 14 that Morocco refused to allow her to return to her home in the Western Sahara on her return from New York where she had received a reward for her work in demanding human rights in her homeland. Although she had neither a Moroccan or Spanish passport she was allowed to return to Lanzarote with the government in Madrid guaranteeing her safe conduct.

On leaving Spain Aminatu Haidar declared: "This is a triumph - a victory for international law, human rights and the Saharan cause."

TAKE A MINUTE TO SUPPORT AMINATU

It is now over four weeks since the Saharan human rights activist Aminatu Haidar started her hunger strike after Morocco expelled her and refuses to allow her to travel from Spain to her home. She has vowed she intends to return to her native Western Sahara and will do so dead or alive. Many say her life now hangs by a thread!

Haidar has upset Morocco because she rejects that country’s right to rule over the Western Sahara. Now the prime minister of the self proclaimed República Árabe Saharaui Democrática (RASD), Abdelkader Taleb Omar, has called on the international community to pressure Morocco to comply with international law. Days earlier he had appealed to the Spanish monarch, King Juan Carlos, to add his support by interceding with the Moroccan king on Haidar’s behalf.

On Monday the US Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, met with the Spanish Foreign Minister, Miguel Ángel Moratinos, at the White House with Haidar at the top of their agenda. The meeting had originally be scheduled to discuss Spain taking over the presidency of the EU on January 1 but as Haidar’s condition weakens it has now become a diplomatic priority to seek a solution. Moratinos issued a plea from Washington for Haidar to end her hunger strike.

Morocco is standing steadfast over Haidar. The foreign minister, Taib Fassi Fihri, insists that his government would make no concessions. He accused the activist of blackmail and said it was a campaign organised by Algeria and the Polisario Front.

Apart from demanding that Haidar is allowed to return to the Western Sahara in dignity the area’s premier Abdelkader Taleb Omar, has also called for the release of all Saharan political prisoners, an investigation in to the fate of those who have disappeared plus the opening of the area to international human rights observers.

So how can you help Haidar’s cause? Very simple – just click on this link and take a minute to sign the Avaaz petition demanding she be allowed to safely return home:

http://www.avaaz.org/es/haidar_safe_return

In the early hours of Thursday morning Aminetu Haider was transferred to hospital in Lanzarote at her own request suffering from abdominal pain, vomiting and nausea. She stressed she has no intention of giving up her hunger strike that started on November 14.