A lot of factors most likely led to this town becoming the permanent capital of Spain in 1561. It was a surprise to many, but the choice made a lot of sense. Listen and learn more.
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A Dashing Duke of Lerma takes on Spain’s Housing Market
It’s 1601, and King Felipe III’s personal advisor, the Duke of Lerma, has talked him into moving the capital of Spain from Madrid to Valladolid, where it once held that status. What the king didn’t know was that the Duke had already gobbled up tons of real estate to sell when the court and the thousands moved up. He even sold a palace to the royal family, which would become their residence. This would become the beginning of a great property speculation scam that would send the capital back and forth in just five years and make the minister immensely, and I mean, immensely wealthy. It became known as the “pelotazo”, and it shows that Madrid’s housing woes go back a long way. Listen and learn more.
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Maria Moliner and her amazing Dictionary of Spanish Usage, a real classic of modern times, was the product of this extraordinary woman and her dream to give the world a new way of looking at learning Spanish. It was a feat she achieved nearly single-handedly, after fifteen years of tireless work. Listen and learn more.
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In late August a group of thieves broke into the muncipal Museum of Villena and in just four minutes made off with the stunning Treasure of Villena, one of the most impressive and important Bronze Age hoards in Europe, leaving the archeaological world in shock, as well as the residents of the town. The raid is just the latest in a streak of art robberies throughout Spain and the rest of Europe, and it has raised concerns as to what to do about it. Listen and learn more.
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This long overlooked wine region from Andalusia is actually one of the oldest D.O: regions in Spain. In fact, it’s one of the oldest regions too, and its wines were arguably on Columbus’ first voyage. Condado wines are made mainly with the local grape Zalema, thje source of most of its young white wine. But the wineries cover just about everything: fortified wines, red wine, sweet wines, sparkling wine, and even vermouth and vinegar. But the real star is its orange wine, and it’s not what you might think it is. Join us in this podcast as we describe the world of Condado wines and learn about them at the Oliveros winery.
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On Wednesday, August 12, the north of Spain will experience the country’s frist eclipse since 1912. The country is brimming with excitement. Listen and learn a little more about what’s to be expected. Enjoy!
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(Illustration depìcting the tornado in Madrid, published by the magazine “La Ilustración Católica”)
Most people associate tornadoes with the United States, and especially the Midwest and the South, and for good reason, but these extreme weather events are known to affect many parts of the world, including Spain. While they are generally uncommon and rarely are that strong or affect populated areas, on occasion they have cause great destruction. In 1886, an F3 tornado roared through Madrid, wreaking havoc, devastation and a large loss of life. The local population was totally unfamiliar with twisters and quite literally had no idea what hit them. The called it a cyclone or a hurricane at the time. Further research and investigation would reveal the shocking truth. Listen and learn more.
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So few people know about this this episode that if has slipped under the radar of modern Spanish history, if you’ll excuse the pun. The year is March 8, 1960, and a and American Navy plane, a DC-4, has crashed landed on the side of a mountain in a remote corner of the remote Sierra Nevada. To leave you hanging a bit, I won’t give away any more information. Listen and see what happens! Enjoy!
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Spanish literary Golden Age took place between the years ran mainly from about 1550 to 1650, with a few outliers on each end, and it was a intense period of artistic production and creation. For the most part, male content creators dominated the era, such as Cervantes in literature and Velazquez in painting, but there were a number of prominant women writers too, many of whom have gone almost completely forgotten until recently, which is a shame because they were very popular when they were alive. A perfect example is Maria de Zayas, an amazing 17th Century writer who brought to our attention many of the struggles women of her time had to endure. Listen and learn more.
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The other day, the musical artist Rosalía expressed her admiration at the goal scored by the Spanish national team and uttered “que fort!”, in her native language of Catalan. In English, it means something like, “no way!”, “that’s crazy!” The exclamation should have gone unnoticed, and yet it didn’t, which is what made it all the more noticeable. Remarked on in social media and even some news outlets, it was a minor outburst of joy that revealed once again the complexity of Spain’s linguistic reality. Listen and learn more.
Become a part of the Spain Domain community. You can subscribe to our podcasts on Spotify, Amazon, Apple and Castos. Or if you wish to support Brian’s Spain Domain, click on our PayPal donate button at www.brianmurdock.net or check us out at Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/briansspaindomain
