Cathedrals. Heraldic dogs. Space missions. Bookshops.

I finally went into the cathedral here yesterday afternoon. Construction of the Catedral de Santa Ana began in 1497 but wasn’t completed until the 20th century. So it took longer to complete than the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona! 

I am always amazed that such huge buildings were constructed at a time when today’s lifting machinery was not available. Some years ago I read the novel “La Catedral del Mar” by Ildefonso Fonseca, a novel involving the building of La Basílica de Santa María del Mar in Barcelona, with descriptions of workers carrying huge slabs of stone on their backs. Quite a feat in itself! When they made a TV series of the novel it didn’t seem to me to do justice to that effort by the workers! So it goes! 

Be that as it may, yesterday I went inside the cathedral here. The rather austere exterior of the cathedral doesn’t impress me greatly, as I may have said already.

The interior, however, with tall columns and great arches, I found quite pleasing, not too ornate.  

Some modern stained glass, very plain in itself, sends rainbow patterns around the interior. 

Worth a visit. 

And the doors, like the doors of so many buildings here, are very beautiful.

The bronze dogs in the square opposite the entrance to the cathedral, guarding the cathedral perhaps, are statues Gran Canaria’s heraldic animal apparently! 

There you go!

Some people are getting excited about NASA sending a spaceship around the moon. One report tells me:

“The Artemis II commander, Reid Wiseman, describing the moment the crew saw Earth as a whole, said: “You can see the entire globe from pole to pole, you can see Africa, Europe, and if you look closely, the northern lights. It was the most spectacular moment and it paused all four of us in our tracks.”

It must indeed be a most impressive sight, as we know from the first photos taken of the earth from space but it almost sounds as though Commander Wiseman was surprised at how much could be seen. Has he not watched any old footage, or seen any science fiction films?

Here’s a cartoon about space missions:

Las Palmas, like so many places I have visited in mainland Spain, has a good supply of bookshops. Someone once told me that this is because Spanish parents are required to purchase school books for their children’s education. This may be true but the fact remains that small, independent bookshops continue to thrive to a greater extent than in the UK. Round the corner from our accommodation is a bookshop that specialises on horror - ghouls and ghosts and spirits and witches and such. Granddaughter Number Two is a great reader and in fact really appreciates the sort of books sold in that shop. Her rudimentary Spanish is not up to reading them in Castilian and so I just sent her some photos. 

Today being Good Friday, we may have some difficulty finding a restaurant for lunch. It remains to be seen. Our current favourite, Bodegón Lagunetas, is closed all weekend. I shall report back tomorrow.

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!

Out and about. Maundy Thursday thoughts. Processions. And chocolate.

 In the late afternoon / early evening yesterday we went to take a look at San Telmo park, not far from our accommodation here in Las Palmas. Somehow I expected more grass. There are plenty of trees but a surprising amount of paved area. In the centre is a dog exercise zone, which strikes me as a good idea on a city - an area where dog owners can let their hounds off the leash for a bit of freedom that city living denies them. 

We took a look the little chapel in one corner of the park, very simple and plain outside but very ornate inside.

My photo of the interior is not so good as I would like because I couldn’t get right inside as a service was in progress.

Today is Jueves Santos, Holy Thursday, Maundy Thursday in the UK, so the king should be distributing Maundy money to one man and one woman for each year of the king’s age, according to one source. Since 1822, rather than ordinary money, the Sovereign gives out Maundy coins which are specially minted 1, 2, 3 and 4 penny pieces, and are legal tender - probably collectors’ pieces. At one time the sovereign would also wash the feet of the deserving poor, remembering Jesus washing the feet of his disciples as a symbol of humility and service. Elizabeth the First did it but I think it’s a long time since our kings and queens followed suit. 

This year Charles and Camilla will be at St Asaph cathedral in North Wales giving coins away. It is the first time the occasion has been held in North Wales, and only the second time ever in Wales, in the 800-year history of Maundy. Attendance at the service is by invitation only, and only those with invitations/passes will be admitted to the Cathedral grounds on the day of the service. Rather a shame for anyone who just wants to look at the cathedral, or even pray!

There will probably be a procession here later today. I was reminded of the Whit Walks in the North of England. Salford is asking for people to get involved in theirs on the 25 of May, Bank Holiday Monday, and to contribute money, of course.

As we approach Easter Sunday and the distribution of chocolate eggs, here is a link to an article about a KitKat lorry being stolen in Italy.

And here’s a link to an article about banning advertisements for chocolate on Uk television until after the 9.00pm watershed. Chocolate is only for adults, apart from those spoilt children who sit up.beyond the watershed!

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!

Processions. Closed restaurants and cafes. Wider world chaos continues. And Joni Mitchell.

In the middle evening yesterday as I waited for Phil to finish his chess game I felt rather than heard rhythmic drumming. So I went out to take a look. Another Holy Week procession was underway. i should have realised this was about to happen as I had seen some barriers on side streets. I have not been able to ascertain which bit of the Holy Week story was connected to Tuesday but a procession was taking place.

Sombre looking dignitaries walked along, some in traditional anonymity.

The statue of Jesus almost as a king on his throne was carried along.

And Mary was there as well, of course.

As well as the drumming, there was the inevitable rather mournful marching band.

My Spanish sister assures me that where she loves there is a procession every day but when we spent Easter in Salamanca we did not see daily processions.

After the chess games were over we went out looking for beer and a snack. When we arrived here, almost a week ago now, it seemed that we found restaurants and bars to our liking all over the place. Starting from Monday of this week we have found more and more of these places closed. Maybe it’s a consequence of it being Holy Week. So last night we ended up at what seemed to be a vegan place where one harassed young lady appeared to be the only waitress. Eventually we got beer but the service was so slow that we gave up on  selecting a snack from the limited range available. So it goes.

Out in the wider world I read that there are plans to move Picasso’s Guernica from Madrid to Bilbao.

“The Basque regional government has formally asked Spain’s Ministry of Culture to authorize a temporary loan of Pablo Picasso‘s "Guernica" to the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, according to Ara, a Catalan-language newspaper. If the move is approved, it would mark the first time the painting has traveled since it was installed at Madrid’s Museo Reina Sofía in 1992.⁠

⁠

The proposed transfer would take place between October 2026 and June 2027, coinciding with the 90th anniversary of the bombing of Guernica, the Basque city whose destruction by Nazi and Italian Fascist air forces on April 26, 1937, inspired Picasso to paint the antiwar canvas.⁠”

⁠

So it’s 90 years since the town of Guernica was destroyed in what some have described as an experiment in carpet bombing civilian areas. Guernica, Dresden, Coventry - and still places are being flattened.

Here’s a cartoon illustration of the history of Gaza.

And here is something from Tuesday’s social media:

Zarah Sultana MP

“Queeser Zuhrah was held in detention for 15 months without trial, during which she wwent on hunger strike. I was proud, alongside others, to get the ambulance she urgently needed deep into that strike when her life was on the line.

Last week she broke her silence and spoke publicly about the violence she endured at HMP Bronzefield.

Today, just one month after being released on bail, she has been rearrested under the terrorism act - reportedly in connection with a social media post.

She was arrested in an early hours raid by police officers wearing face coverings. The same tactic used by ICE officers in the US.

This is state intimidation, designed to silence dissent. As a movement we must fight back.”

On the good news front, Joni Mitchell was presented with the the #JUNOs Lifetime Achievement Award!

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!

The market hall and other fine places in Las Palmas. And death penalties for selected terrorists.

This morning I went to check out the Vegueta market here in las Palmas. En route I discovered Marks and Spencer - St Michael is ubiquitous.

Vegueta has a fine market hall.

The fish stalls make our Uppermill Market fish-man’s van display look rather inadequate.

And as ever, the fruit and veg stalls are wonderfully colourful. 

Nearby was the Teatro Pérez Galdos, the writer being a famous son of Las Palmas. (Our accommodation, coincidentally, is on Calle Pérez Galďos.) 

I couldn’t quite work out why the statue of the famous writer was without clothes. So it goes!

I also went by the Ilustrísimo Gabinete Literario.

Such a collectipn of fine buildings in this city! 

Apparently we are suffering today from a “calima”, a sort of dust storm from the Sahara. Mostly for us it just makes the distance very hazy and the air quality poor. We’ve seen quite a lot of people wearing masks today. 7I don’t know of that helps.

Menawhile, out in the wider world, Israel just passed a law to execute Palestinian detainees.

The bill stipulates "the death penalty for anyone who intentionally or negligently causes the death of an Israeli citizen out of racist or hateful motives and to harm Israel."Does it apply to Israelis who kill Palestinians under similar circumstances? No

The bill was devised by Itamar Ben Gvir, who wore noose-shaped lapel pins in the weeks before the vote. Ben Gvir was convicted in 2007 of racist incitement against Arabs and support for the Kach group, a terrorist organization under both Israeli and U.S. law.

One report I saw said it applied to anyone involved in terrorist attacks which denied the existence of the state of Israel. Now, what about denying the existence of the state of Palestine?

Here’s another thing: on Sunday Israeli police blocked Jerusalem's top Catholic leaders from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a centuries-old tradition to mark Palm Sunday.

And here’s something from George Galloway: “British soldiers in the Grand Mosque in Gaza 1917. We fooled the Arabs into believing that if they allied with us against Turkey we would give them unity and independence. But at the very moment we conquered Gaza we had promised it to an obscure group of European and American settlers. We betrayed Palestine. We betrayed the Arabs. We betrayed the Muslims. The source of everything that happened next.”

There we are!

 

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!