Walking: Vilabertran

The day that I ran into the man with a dog from the local animal shelter (called a protectora although the one in Figueres seems to abuse and kill rather than protect the animals) I was actually headed for the nearby village of Vilabertran.  I've walked there several times before but never managed to get there on a weekday when their intriguing city hall was open.  The building is set far back from the street and surrounded by a garden, pond, and wall with a gate that locks outside of business hours -- hence the problem of taking photos.  Built in the early 20th century, an example of the modernista (Catalan art nouveau) style, the Torre de'n Reig was built as a private mansion.  Salvador Dali, who was born in nearby Figueres, used to visit there.

Where asphalt turns to dirt track

  

Salvador Dali's painting "Vilabertran"
painted in 1913 when he was about 9

Torre d'en Reig, the Vilabertran
glorious city hall

No Animal Protection in Spain

Walking out in the fields the other day I came upon a young man walking a dog and asked if I could take a photo of the pooch.  He man said sure, but that the dog wasn’t his.  The pooch was from the local animal shelter and he was just taking it for a walk.

It turns out that Marc, the young man, lives in Olot, a town about 40 minutes away.  Marc comes into Figueres two or three times a week expressly to walk dogs that live in the shelter.  He does this because the staff at the shelter doesn’t.

I told Marc I had heard some bad things about the shelter.  Marc said that whatever I’ve heard, it’s even worse.  But in fact, I’ve never heard anything specific.  People just say the shelter is bad and I was warned that if I wanted to make a donation that would actually help the animals, better to bring in food or equipment than to give money.

Marc said the conditions for the dogs at the shelter are deplorable.  The cages are small, they aren’t clean, the dogs get no exercise, they stay there a short while and then, if they are not one of the popular breeds, they are killed.    It is hard to adopt even one of the popular breeds because the dogs become unsociable.  It’s possible they are abused.  He said the situation for the cats is even worse.  Only a few of the popular dog breeds get adopted, as that is the mindset of the Spaniards who do want a dog.  Less fashionable breeds and mutts don’t find homes.

Spain has no animal protection laws.  Catalunya passed its own protection law just recently, in 2006.  But as with most laws, if no one complains about an infraction, the law isn’t enforced. 

I suppose it is good news that some people have finally filed a formal complaint about the Figueres animal shelter.  Marc says that with the figures showing how many dogs were taken in, compared with how many were placed in homes and how many remain at the shelter, it shouldn’t be hard to prove that they have been killing a lot of dogs.  If the shelter can be closed down, it would leave the way open for another group to open a real shelter.  I wish this initiative a lot of luck, and have written to the organizer of the complaint to see how I can help.

On The Road: Avinyonet de Puigventós

It's been over a year and a half since my car got washed, so finally this week I had it cleaned, inside and out.  To celebrate, the next day I took my nice clean car for an outing.  We went to Avinyonet de Puigventós (Little Avingnon of the Windy Peak), only a ten-minute drive.

This little village has a castle that dates from the 11^th century, a pretty old center full of stone buildings, views of snow-covered mountains, and is encircled by several kilometers of walking paths.  We will be back.

 

On The Road: Banyoles

A walk around a pretty lake – all level -- what could be nicer?  The lake at Banyoles has always been there, but it’s taken me over a year and a half to get to it and it’s only about 40 minutes away.  Not that I didn’t want to go.  I’d always intended to…

I’ve seen lots of photos and they’ve always been inspiring.  The lake is pretty when the sun shines and it’s pretty when it's foggy.  The organizer of the walk said that if it rained, the walk would be cancelled, and that was also fine with me.

This was a walk of English-speaking people from a group based in Girona that usually meets once a week for coffee and a chat in a café near the Girona train station.  I’ve been to a few of their meetings, but small talk is not my forte.  A walk seemed a much better idea.

 

There are 9.13 kilometers of shoreline and they are dotted with 20 pesqueres (little fishermen huts).  These are, in fact, what make the images of the lake so uniquely picturesque.  These little huts were first built in the mid-19^th century with the last one being constructed in 1931.  After that, new construction was banned.

 

Besides the pretty lake with its picturesque pesqueres, on a clear winter day you can enjoy a backdrop of snow-covered Pyrenees and Mount Canigó.  Once in Catalunya and now in France, this 2784-meter peak has historical significance for the Catalans and is the subject of many legends, poems, and songs.  It is also the source of most of the Catalan summer solstice bonfires.  Every 23 June, on the Eve of Sant Joan (Saint John) Catalans from thousands of towns and villages cross the border to France to light a torch at the peak and bring it back to light their town’s bonfire that night.  On Sunday, Canigó was blanketed with snow and clouds.

 

A Sunday Walk

Pretty much every day of the week I go out walking to do my errands.  As my errands take me in this direction and that and I don’t use a car, I usually get a good amount of walking out of it.  But every now and then (especially on Sundays when all the shops are closed and no errands can be done) I just go for a walk.

Last Sunday I went out in search of snow.  I live at a low elevation and there is no snow here.  But it has snowed in the Pyrenees and what better way to enjoy it than from a safe distance, from where the weather is much warmer.  Like from the outskirts of Figueres.

So off I went in search of snow.  I will tell you right now that I do not consider Figueres to be the loveliest of towns.  But even so, if you keep your eyes peeled, you can find some nice old buildings.

Adding a column does not ensure elegance.



This poor old thing is waiting for someone to come and invest and make it alive again.


It is located in Potato Square

Just outside town I found some kids playing football (soccer) with a backdrop of snow.

Someone's veggie patch with garden shed and Pyrenees.

And finally, an unobstructed view.

What's With The Socialists?

The Socialist Party of Catalunya (PSC) seems to have gone crazy.  After taking the stand that they support a referendum if it is held legally, when the Catalan Parliament recently voted to petition the Spanish government, asking that it allow a referendum to be held, the PSC voted against it.

Besides the fact that they had said one thing and then voted another, I wondered why they had taken such an undemocratic stand.  Voting is a basic democratic right.  There have been two massive demonstrations in Catalunya in the last two years, one with over a million people participating and the other with almost two million.  These people were telling their elected representatives that they want a referendum.   

The motion was approved by almost two thirds of the Catalan Parliament, and the PSC was the only non-right wing party to vote against it.  So what is the PSC up to?  The party is officially against Independence in accordance with their national party, but how could they be against people voting?  Voting means you can vote “no” just as well as “yes”.  How much of the population is for independence and how much is against?  It seems obvious that if you don’t allow a vote, it’s because you’re afraid to find out.

The PP (majority party in Spain) has not only taken a very inflexible position against holding a referendum but has also taken political actions that are anti-Catalan, attacking the educational system, the language, and its finances.  Spain doesn’t want Catalunya to separate because Catalunya is Spain’s goose that lays golden eggs, contributing much more to the communal Spanish pot than its share of population. 

Being anti-Catalan and anti-referendum is good currency in Spain and the PP does a good job of playing an active anti-Catalan part.  Their anti-Catalan stance is a way of campaigning in the rest of Spain (and taking the public’s attention away from all the scandals the party is involved in) so that in the next national elections, the PP can again hope to win their absolute majority.

The Catalan Socialists, PSC, are a part of the greater Spanish Socialist party (PSOE).  If a majority of Spaniards are anti-referendum and like golden eggs but don’t much care for Catalans, isn’t it a good idea to be anti-referendum if you are a major Spanish political player? 

Here in Catalunya, as each week passes, the PSC loses support and has arrived at its all-time low.  I believe that the national party, PSOE, is sacrificing the Catalan socialists in favor of having a better chance of winning the next Spanish congressional elections.   

What does that mean?  With both the PP and the socialists alienating Catalans in order to win over the rest of Spain, could it be that both the PP and PSOE think that Catalan Independence is a foregone conclusion?   If so, the PSC will have a hard time of it when independence is declared and they have no voter base left.

 

 

Photo from Cokbulan Coskun

Collioure

It started out a sad-looking grey day, but that didn’t stop me.  I needed a France fix and so I was off to Collioure.  My friend Jaye had warned me that if I was coming for the weekly market, I wouldn’t find many stalls open, as everyone was recuperating from Christmas.  What she didn’t tell me was that, in fact, practically the whole village was closed.

I had gone to look for Marseille bath soap and curtains for the living room.  Removing the window shades that came with the apartment has resulted in my being on view to the neighbors.  The solution -- having the shutters down -- means being in the dark during the day.  I need curtains.

 

 

Once I had ascertained that Collioure was shut down, I went in pursuit of coffee and some sights to see.  I found the famous bar Les Templiers that the early 20^th century artists such as Matisse, Picasso, and Dufy once frequented.  In fact, their pictures still hang on the walls, obtained, I believe in lieu of payment for their coffees and absinthes.  All I had was a coffee with milk, there being no croissants.  That alone cost me 2.90 euros.  That’s expensive, even for France.  It’s no wonder those artists had to barter with their paintings. 

 

 

I figured sightseeing was free, so I found my way to the village cemetery.  Not everyone likes to visit cemeteries on their vacation, but they have always been a favorite with me.  In fact, one of my best vacation memories is my visit to the Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris where I found the graves of Chopin and Edith Piaf and was impressed with how many people were still commemorating them with flowers.  In Collioure I found the grave of the Spanish poet Antonio Machado who died in 1939, soon after coming to Collioure to escape Franco.

 

 

Lunch was at Le Saint-Elme, a very friendly and lively neighborhood restaurant that has couscous as its special on Wednesdays.  Most people were having the couscous and that’s what I had too.  It consisted of a grilled chicken leg, a meat ball made of lamb, and a sausage flavored with a hint of fennel, served on a bed of couscous accompanied by vegetables stewed in a sauce that were served in a casserole equipped with a ladle.  With a glass of red wine, lunch was 18 euros and very well worth it.

 

 

Ape 50

 

Asking for permission to photograph
someone's dog always succeeds