Chance of a storm

Of course, it is impossible to predict exactly where and when the storms may appear.

All you need to know

About Bigastro's famous son and a whole lot more will be in this book by Pascual Segura. It is the result of ten years investigation by Pascual and includes the history of the town etc etc.

Sevillana festival in Seville

Amazing dresses but how does the lady in the middle manage to do anything like eat with cuffs like that. 

Beautiful horse, a beautiful lady and a copa de cava. No wonder he is smiling.

Not my photos you understand. These were taken by Greg Johnston, an American, who is currently on on holiday in Spain.

The bells, the bells.....

Just to let you know that, on Saturday the bells at the church will be rung.

This will not be a call to Mass, nor notice of a wedding or a funeral . It is a European initiative involving 2000 churches including 300 in Spain. 

Keep up with fashion

You can view all my photos from this event in the album located on the left.

A long day

Saturday was the day of the Certamen in Villena.

Pam and I were down at the car park in good time for the coach as were most of the people from the town. We set off at 2pm prompt and arrived outside the theatre about an hour later giving us plenty of time for a coffee before making our way to the seats.

Bigastro were the first to play and then we had a break whilst the band from San Miguel set up.

Following San Miguel, the band from Villena took to the stage to perform. Then off course we had the speeches and finally the results.

In third place with a second prize and 318.5 points was the band from San Miguel de las Salinas. In second place was our band with a first prize and 323.5 points. The mention of honour went to the band from Agost who also got a first prize and 324 points.

By the time we got back to Bigastro it was nearly 10pm. It was worth it though to hear our band play so well and indeed the other bands that we heard.

Most important

Those of you who are going to the Certamen today should take note that the buses will leave the car park at Eurener at 2pm PROMPT. You are therefore advised to be there by 1:45pm.

The weekend sorted

The end of an era

When I first became interested in photography, there were no digital cameras. For casual snapshotters a simple film camera was the only choice.

Serious amateur photographers, like myself, bought single lens reflex 35mm cameras which took interchangeable lenses. Professionals bought cameras that took 120 film in rolls or even cameras that took sheet film. The larger the negative, the better the quality.

The earliest digital cameras were generally a novelty. They could only record a handful of pictures which were of poor quality.

It didn't take long though for things to improve. Better sensors allowed photographers to print in ever increasing sizes and then came the digital single lens reflex which were a hit with serous amateurs and some professionals.

The main aims were to increase the number of megapixels which improved resolution and to make the cameras work in ever decreasing light. At the same time, things became more and more automatic- auto exposure, auto focus etc etc. These features allow photographers to concentrate on composition and framing and take photos in situations that would previously have been impossible..

The death knell came though when mobile phones started to include cameras that took remarkably good photos. You no longer see people pointing cameras at their subjects, they whip out their phone to do the job.

As in any field of electronics, development and research costs money and that cost has to be recouped. Sales of cameras are in decline and the fewer people that buy cameras, the more expensive they become. The newer version of my main camera cost 3,500 Euros when it was introduced - way more than I can justify spending.

I can't see me taking photos at concerts with a mobile phone but who knows, in the future that may be the only viable choice.

2 Euros folks

From yesterday

National Trust groundbreaking work with dogs.

Oh no!

The weather forecast indicated that there might be a few drops of rain this afternoon but that the procession tonight should not be affected.

Well, it is not quarter to six and there has been more than a few drops here in Bigastro. The forecast says that there may be strong gusts of wind with a yellow alert tomorrow. This does not bode well.

PS Spoke too soon, it is now 6:15 and the sun has come out.

Meanwhile, in Murcia.

Summertime

Those would be fabulous temperatures for a summer's day in England.

An early start

You'll need to be up early if you want to catch this.

Via Crucis

The weather Gods were kind last night for the people of Bigastro. It started to spit rain at about 9:30pm but nothing came of it. There was just a light breeze that did nothing more than blow the oil lamps out that people were carrying.

As I said though, there is very little light once the street lights have been turned off. In the calles it was just light from the odd window that illuminated the passage of the procession.

First out of the church was the statue of Jesus on a small throne that was pushed along.

The statue of Mary, holding Jesus from the cross, was carried on the shoulders of ladies from the brotherhood. You sense her pain as Mary sits with the lifeless body of her son on her lap.

This year, the procession was accompanied by the Manuel Moya Choir and the procession stopped at various points for readings from the Bible.

From nowhere

All was calm until 6am. The wind had actually died down overnight but that was not going to last.

Looking at the data, the wind suddenly picked up and gusts of up to 90kmph were being recorded. According to AEMET we are on orange alert for wind until 6pm tonight. It then drops to yellow alert until midnight. Although much of Spain is affected, it is the South East that is bearing the brunt of the wind.

On a positive note, all looks well for Palm Sunday. 

A very atmospheric parade

We've been to this parade a couple of times now.

With the street lights out and just oil lamps for illumination, this is one of the most moving parades we have witnessed.

Very difficult to photograph though with so little light and of course flash would be out of the question.

More about the Certamen

The band competition that Bigastro is participating in is divided into sections according to the number of musicians.

Bigastro competes in the popular 2nd sections which is for bands between 51 and 70 in number. Bands are allowed to recruit up to 5 musicians who do not normally play in the band but these must not be playing with the other bands from that section.

Each band will play three pieces including a work of free choice which must have a maximum duration of 22 and a minimum of 12 minutes. The set piece for the 2nd Section is Pumpkins by Juan Gonzalo Gómez Deval.

The members of the jury will each score points out of ten for each piece played  and then prizes will be awarded as follows:

1st PRIZE: To the bands that obtain from 320 to 400 points. 2nd PRIZE: To the bands that obtain from 260 to 319 points. 3rd PRIZE: To the bands that obtain from 200 to 259 points.

An honourable mention will be awarded to the band that achieves the highest score among those who have obtained the first prize. So what we are hoping for is a 1st prize and honourable mention which is what we obtained last time in Alicante.

All the bands participating in the second section are awarded 4,200 euros to cover expenses including transport.

In addition,  the band that earns the honourable mention will be awarded the prize of 2,500 euros.

The all important weather

We always live in hope that Holy Week will be dry for the processions. It seems that we may be lucky this year. Not fussed about the probability of strong wind on Saturday though.

We were there

Well you already knew that because I've posted an album of pictures taken at the Gala on Sunday night.

Here you have further proof with a picture taken by our friend Fonta.