rain – Brian's Spain Domain

Madrid, Mon Amour

I woke this morning to the sound a misty rain blanketing the sky. What a relief! Well, for once we had a Semana Santa without having to pull out the umbrellas every day, and the procession floats didn’t have to kick it into high gear to get back to the church. En abril, aguas mil (In April, a thousand waters), that’s the saying, the distant relative to “April showers bring May flowers”, though “hasta el 40 de mayo, no te quites el sayo” (Until the 40^th of May, don’t take off your raincoat) hints that the wet weather might be around for a while…and often is. We got a break this time, we really did. All week they had been forecasting that damper cooler weather would be moving into the country and ruining the fun for everyone, but for the most part it just kept getting pushed off and off until about midnight last night, when I came out of the Círculo de Bellas Artes movie theater and felt the sprinkling begin. Bellas Artes is one of the oldest cultural centers in Madrid. It also owns a grandiose old world café with an outdoor section that spills out onto the Calle Alcalá. The inside, is all marbly and might be something you would see in those old fancy hotels. The rest of the building offers small but generally interesting art & photography exhibits, conference rooms, a large ballroom, etc., but the real reason most people come these days is for the chic rooftop bar, which was once just a rooftop, which was once only a rooftop with lookout of the center of Madrid, but now is a happening place for the hip, and not so hip, because I go there from time to time, taking that quality down a notch. Prices are up there with the height of the building, but nothing out of this world, especially for anyone who has travelled to London, Paris or New York.

On this occasion, I was at the movie theater (there is also a regular theater), which I hit from time to time because they usually have decent film cycles featuring different directors or actors or even themes. The best thing about it is that the same movie usually has three or four showings, unlike the filmoteca, meaning you don’t normally have to hipcheck some college professor in line to ensure you have a ticket. This month they were featuring the late French director Alain Resnais, who just passed away last month. It was Hiroshima, Mon Amour, his classic innovative film about, love, loss and memory. It wasn’t the easiest film to watch, one of the densest 90 minutes of celluloid I have taken in for some time which drags a little, and probably not for everyone, but an intensively beautiful and provocative film, all the same.

Let’s not forget these places in Madrid. Let’s not forget love. Let’s remember we have memories which teach us to forget.

Cheers for Fears

The sun has emerged somewhat for the first time all year, which is only five days old, mind you, but since this isn’t Vancouver, it seems like an eternity to Madrid. I wouldn’t quite go as far as to say it’s sunny, but rather a dusty purplish hue of the kind you might see on a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.

I’ve heard several complain that the year is off to a bad start, that the murky climatic conditions are representative of the country’s mood and future, but the optimists have something different to say. It means, they claim, plenty of water for the countryside and that in turn spells good news for agriculture which, in turn, augurs a period of bonanza.

Liberal interpretations aside, four days of rain is never a bad thing in Spain because, as anyone who has spent an extended period of their life here can tell you, you just never know when it will show up next. Summertime can come and go with nary a drop from the heavens. So, we take what we can get because every little bit counts. I just wish things could be spread out a little more evenly.

Yesterday was January 5^th, the Eve of the Epiphany, The Twelfth Night, Three Kings’ Day, and with it Spain’s particular version of Santa Claus. The shops all opened their doors in hopes that the final rush will turn their otherwise listless Sunday into proof that the rains have brought better times.

Just down the street, Nuno’s, Madrid’s famous pastry shop, has a line thirty-long going out the door as people patiently wait to purchase his award-winning roscón, or Three Kings’ Cake. It’s been that way for the past three days. The TV was there just yesterday making its annual visit. I’ve tried them…they are all right…but you will not get me to wait in unfriendly weather conditions just to sink my teeth into one.

Last night the Three Kings will descended upon hundreds of cities and towns and parcel out millions of gifts to millions of nail-biting children in one final Christmas effort to close out the season. While the rest of the world has dumped most of its trees at the designated town drop-off center, Spain, in true Spanish fashion, has taken the festivities just a step further. Madrid’s parade runs along the Castellana Street, and last night’s version was a particularly bright and cheery, especially considering it drizzled for most of the event. Three American marching bands added a good measure of upbeat high school flavor to the cavalcade and for some reason, the general impression that I got was that people were plain happy to see 2013 go and start afresh. It wasn’t a good year. Another loop around the sun waiting and hoping and praying for better times. It rained…we cheered; it rained…we cheered.

Spanish Sayings: Cuando en marzo mayea, en mayo marzea

There is a saying in Spanish about springtime weather which goes “when in March it Mays, in May it Marches.” Maybe I am just one of those souls who are subject to the power suggestion, but I am inclined to believe that, over the years, the meteorological theorem for the most parts holds true. And presumably the opposite is true under normal circumstances.

Well, I can promise you that we can expect some great weather in May because it has been about as marchy a March as you can get. Rain, rain and more rain, with a few gusty days to boot. Part of this has to do with the fact that it is Semana Santa and it always rains at Semana Santa. The clouds wait for the first pasos to emerge from the church threshold and, boom, your average healthy downpour.

This year the precipitation has been particularly abundant. In a sense this is great because Spain is a land which is almost never quite satisfied in terms of rainfall. And once the dry summers drift in, there is no hope until fall again. That’s why winter rain and snowfall are vital, and this year has been particularly positive in this sense. The Sierra de Madrid has been smothered with a thick layer of snow. Some may be surprised to read that there are mountains so close to the capital, aren’t we supposed to be in the open plains? Despite Henry Higgins’ little rhymes to get a person to speak the way no sane human would want to, Spain, while home to large stretches of open plains, also happens to be the second most mountainous country in Europe, after Switzerland. I am dead serious. The Sistema Central, or Central Mountain Range, a chain that forms a bumpy southwest-to-northeast scar across the heart of the land, and dividesSpaininto basically two major climates. They aren’t the Alps but they’re no slouches either. Many peaks soar above the 7000ft mark, higher than anything you would find east of the Mississippi and the tallest in Madrid, Peñalara, stands at just a hair below 8,000ft, making it in my opinion, officially rugged in nature and not to be taken lightly by inexperienced climbers, especially during the winter. In fact, two people had to be rescued just the other day when they got disoriented and had to spend the night near the summit in a makeshift igloo. And if I recall correctly, several unwary and unfortunate hikers have lost their lives up there.

Here is some physical proof.

This is a shot of the pine forest near the top of the Navafría pass. It’s still about a 1,000ft below the highest point up there called El Nevero. I topped it last summer in August, and I can promise you that even then it was somewhat chilly during the day. There was a chance I was going to head up there in March. Snow-whitened escarpments are a habitual part of the landscape at this time of year, and it isn’t unusual for patches of the frozen precipitation to be seen well into June.

So, as I was saying, the precipitation has been outrageously plentiful and the reservoirs are full to the hilt. Capacity, which, you might be interested to know, is about 87%. It sounds a little odd, I agree, kind of like perfect unemployment rate being somewhere in the neighborhood of 4%, but it is necessary to avoid a sudden rush of water and having it all spill over in an uncontrolled manner. That way, the region has some leeway. Still, it isn’t often we can enjoy this much hydro-comfort and there are some who criticize the authorities for not having set aside more room to increase the supply, because, as anyone who has lived here long knows, dry spells can go one for a long time in this country. For those of you who are boring like me and get a kick out of following these things, you can go to the Canal Isabel II website and get a daily update and the levels, reservoir by reservoir.

So, if Spanish sayings are anything to go by, we can expect a great May to enjoy the best springtime in this city can offer the visitor and resident alike.

Now What To Do

Well, this was entirely unexpected, except for those who actually read the weather report I guess. I had a nice long walk along the Manzanares’ new river bank park lined up for this morning and it’s been raining like the city hasn’t seen for a long time. So, I’ll have to rethink my plans. God only knows I have enough to do at home. I can’t stuff any more iron-awaiting clothes in my closet and pretend it’s not there. There’s just no more room. And that’s just the beginning. And I’ve just tossed out my Euromillion ticket along with the Cuponazo from the ONCE lottery, both rendered worthless in a matter of tragic seconds, so I figure I’ll do some work too…what to do on a rainy day in Madrid…I’ll take suggestions…really…please…