Culture and Current Events
Coronavirus lockdown update March 27
Effective Monday, March 16 the Spanish government declared with the approval of the parliament a fifteen-day state of alarm with a nationwide order prohibiting citizens from leaving their homes except to obtain groceries, medications or to seek medical attention. Yesterday the government announced that it was asking parliament to grant an additional fifteen-day extension and it will do so. So we will be under lock down at least until April 12. The military and police are enforcing the quarantine with over thirty thousand roadblocks. Many of our friends have been ticketed for attempting to travel an unnecessary distance for groceries. That means no Costco runs as it is about fifteen miles away.
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As of today, Spain has recorded over thirty-three thousand infections and more than twenty-one hundred deaths. The convention center has been converted into a fifty-five thousand bed hospital and empty hotels have been requisitioned by the government. Today the government is receiving six hundred and four thousand rapid test kits from China and South Korea which will be used to test first all medical workers than all nursing home residents expanding to try to identify all non-symptomatic carriers of the virus so they can be quarantined. The government after having taken over all hospitals both public and private has also started centralizing services ie designating hospitals that will continue to manage non-virus related necessary medical care from those facilities managing outbreak patients with the goal of lowering the risk of transmission to otherwise healthy persons.
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For us our recently robust life has been reduced to reading, watching Netflix, and our walking trips to the grocery store (we are required to go alone). We enjoy our 8 p.m. nightly trip to our upstairs patio to cheer for all those providing medical services to the sick. And we very much appreciate connecting with our friends and family through WhatsApp.
3/27/20 - And as of tomorrow, we are here indefinitely, since there are no more flights home to the US. We made the decision to ride it out here until the flights open back up again (we are assuming that will be May/June), at which time we should be able to get home. Our life is pretty entangled here and with businesses closed in both Spain and the US, we felt that it was safer from the perspective of steering clear of the virus, to stay here for now. Safer in our apartment with an occasional walk to a grocery store than trying to navigate airports, airplanes, rental cars, selling our car, buying cars when we get home....etc...
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The numbers in Madrid sound shocking, but keep in mind there are over 6 million people in the Madrid area. And it really is in lock down. There is NO ONE outside. The numbers will come down.
Coronavirus Health Emergency
From Wuhan to Milan to Madrid this new virus seemed to move slowly until in each region exponentially exploding overnight into a public health crisis. We were first affected by the virus in late February. Sara auditioned for and was selected in October to play in an international middle school honors orchestra in Amsterdam March 3-8. Julie and I were to serve as chaperones during the flights to and from Amsterdam for Sara and her three classmates that were also participating. A week or so before the event, Sara's school, the American School of Madrid, decided in light of the Italian outbreak to prohibit its students from traveling to school-sponsored events. Several days later the event was canceled in its entirety disappointing students and parents from throughout Europe.
Our visitor schedule was full for March. Julie's high school friends, Trudy, Sue, Kathy, Whitney and Margo were scheduled to arrive Saturday, March 7. Then our friends, David and Pip Lowe were set to arrive Wednesday morning March 11 with their NYU student Julian set to join them on Saturday, March 14. Given the rising number of coronavirus cases here, Julie's friends convened a conference call and decided to make the journey. They arrived as scheduled and a fun week of activities began without incident. They rented a six-bedroom condo downtown on the Gran Via, a short walk from Puerta del Sol.
On Tuesday the 9th with virus cases rising the federal government ordered the closure of all schools and universities. Sara's school was prepared and shifted to online virtual classrooms on Thursday. So far Sara is enjoying the new routine. In the meantime, the Lowes were packed and within an hour of leaving to drive to O'hare for their March 11 flight here when they wisely elected to postpone the trip because of the sudden spike in cases here. On the same day, the city of Madrid ordered the closure of its museums, the Prado, Sofia, Thyssen and more. Julie was staying downtown with the ladies that evening. While enjoying their time together and perhaps sharing a glass of wine or two in the early morning hours, their phones simultaneously exploded with messages of concern. The President had just announced that all travel back from Europe would be halted within 48 hours. With their scheduled returns on Saturday the 14th collectively their blood pressures immediately soared and although they might enjoy some extended time with the Cabaniss family, the prospect of a 30-day lockout was extremely unsettling.
It took at least twelve hours for the President's staff to clarify that American citizens would be exempt and thus able to return. In the meantime, the ladies were scrambling to find flights home. Unfortunately, with the stampede caused by the President's reckless and misleading announcement, none were able either online or by phone to obtain earlier flights. Whitney even took an Uber out to the airport only to learn that the British Airlines counter was not really a British Airlines counter rather it was operated by Iberia on its behalf and its agents were not permitted to make reservation changes. Whitney was advised she could only do so online or by phone despite the fact neither were practically available because of the high volume. So the ladies had no choice but to take Saturday flights knowing they would be flying into an unknown American welcome ie medical screening, quarantine, etc.
Friday afternoon the city of Madrid ordered the closure of all restaurants, bars, and nonessential stores. On Saturday while I was on my daily bicycling ride in Casa de Campo, a ten square mile park, the city ordered the closure of all parks. On Sunday the federal government passed an emergency act which will be in effect for fifteen days starting 8 am tomorrow morning that prohibits all citizens from leaving their homes except to obtain groceries, pharmaceuticals or medical services. There is also a catch-all exception for otherwise unspecified necessary purposes. Given that my doctor in Milwaukee prescribed that I should have at least six hours of cardio exercise per week, I will be continuing to try to ride my bike and will take the position it is doctor's orders. Other than having slight colds we are healthy and for now, we intend to remain. Our friends Greg and Denise from Santa Barbara have elected to pull up stakes and return to the US on Tuesday.
Museum Sorolla-January 25
Joaquin Sorolla(1863-1923) was a post impressionist Spanish painter who was very successful during his lifetime. In 1911 he built a home in Madrid that served as his studio and gallery. After his death the home was donated to the state to become a museum of his works. On this sunday Mike Heilmann and I dropped in for a visit after strolling Madrid's sunday market, el Rastro. Interestingly, the museum is maintained as it was used by the Sorolla family as a gallery, studio, home and gardens. Visiting the museum is a perfect way to spend an hour or so before finding a restaurant in which to enjoy some octopus, croquettes or boquerones.
Madrid, although lacking the cache of Barcelona, has a trio of world-class art museums, the Prado, the Reina Sophia, and the Thyssen. The Thyssen fills gaps in the collections of the other two. With over 1,600 paintings it was once the second-largest private collection in the world after the British Royal Collection. Baron Thyssen of Austria-Hungary started collecting paintings in the 1920s. In the early 1930s the Baron moved to Lugano, Switzerland and recognizing the opportunities afforded by the depression, he started to acquired old European masters from financially distressed American millionaires. The collection was later significantly expanded by the Baron's son. The collection was displayed in their private home in Lugano. In 1988 the Baron applied for permission from the local municipality to add an extension to his home to showcase his art. The request was rejected and Lugano's loss was ultimately Madrid's gain.
In 1992 the Thyssen opened in a building owned by the city located next to the Prado. Julie and I enjoyed our visit and the attached photos we took will provide a sampling of the strength of its collection. Afterward, we slipped around the corner to meet friends at an Indian restaurant.
A visit to the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museo Nacional - October 29
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Museo Nacional Centro de Arte de Reina Sofia - November 22
Opened in 1992 and named for Spain's Queen Sofia this is Spain's museum of 20th-century art. As residents of Spain, for 30 Euros, Julie purchased a pass that will permit her to visit the Prado, Thyssen, and Sofia - at will - during the next year. For me, at age 65 I am admitted for free!
The museum is principally dedicated to Spanish art and includes a wonderful collection of the works of Picasso and Dali. The most significant masterpiece is Picasso's "Guernica." The story behind the "Guernica" is breathtaking. It begins in 1937, when Picasso committed to providing a painting for the 1937 Spanish Exposition however he was suffering painter's block and was without an idea for the work. Several months before the exposition, Nazi Germany offered to assist Franco in his civil war against the Republicans by trying out a new method of warfare, carpet bombing. The Basque country town of Guernica, a Republican stronghold, and populated with mostly women and children since the men were off fighting the Spanish Civil War, was selected for target practice. Franco and the Nazi Luftwaffe obliterated the town to see how effective the weapons were.
The bombing and its aftermath were filmed by journalists who happened to be in Spain, covering the civil war. Picasso and was outraged (as were people all over the world) and from this, he was inspired to create what many consider the greatest piece of anti-war art ever created - Guernica.
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The 11 foot by 25-foot painting portrays the suffering of the innocent people and animals following this "test" carpet balming. The work features a gored horse, screaming women, dismemberment and flames. After the exposition, the painting toured the country and World, and the monies raised provided Spanish war relief. See Guernica below.
On this particular visit, Julie and I spent our time exploring the works of German artist Jorg Immendorff (1945-2007), since we only had an hour there before needing to jump on the train back to Aravaca to meet Sara after school. Immendorff was a painter, sculptor, stage designer, and art professor. He is best known for his series of 16 large paintings known as Cafe Deutschland. Also, he can be considered the Walter White of artists. After being diagnosed in 1998 with ALS, in 2003 he was caught in a hotel luxury suite with seven prostitutes (four more were on their way) and cocaine. He explained his actions as an expression of his "orientalism" to provide inspiration for his work.
These two paintings were done in the late 1990s, early 2000s, soon after Immendorff was diagnosed with ALS.
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Much of Immendorff's art, though, is political in nature and he asked the question "What can art do?"
Immendorff's piece called "Gertrude Stein"
Picasso's famous Guernica
Photo from www.pulitzer.org
An Afternoon Exploring Hidden Madrid with Mark Besas
See the remnant of 9th-century Muslim fortress in a parking garage...
Drink madrono liqueur from the berries of the tree found on the coat of arms of Madrid :
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Find a surprising sparrow graveyard dating back hundreds of years...
Buy cookies from cloistered nuns through a secret window...
Learn how oranges gave away an assassin's location...
Read below for the juicy details...
Hidden Madrid October 16
Through the Wednesday Wanderers, I was fortunate to meet best selling travel author and historian of all things Spanish, Mark Besas. Mark is the son of an American father and Spanish mother who grew up here in Madrid. He was educated at the American School in Pozuelo, which Sara is attending. Ironically, Mark's daughter is a friend and classmate of Sara's now. After high school, Mark went to NYU where he majored in film. Fully bilingual and speaking English with a New York accent, Mark fluidly transitions between the languages. If you have read my post of the bullfight, you have already been introduced to Mark as he was our guide.
In 2007 Mark and his father Peter, published Hidden Madrid, a unique, and I think THE guide to have in hand to learn about Madrid with all the unusual features, curious anecdotes and fascinating details and history of this beautiful city. He answers questions such as, "Where can you buy homemade pastries from cloistered nuns? Where in Madrid do you find a statue to the fallen angel (Lucifer)? Why are people from Madrid called cats? How was the tooth fairy conceived?" and more. So on this day, Mark took the Wanderers on his three-hour Hidden Madrid tour. Here are some of the highlights but there are many more in the book and on the tour, so when you visit Madrid, pick up a copy of Mark's book. I'm also betting that I could get Mark to meet us for a beer and book signing if you are in town and are interested! His book makes a fantastic gift for anyone visiting Madrid
Alfonso XIII, born in 1886 and died in 1941, became King upon his birth as his father died during his mother's pregnancy. His mother served in his stead until he reached the age of 16 when he was crowned. His mother wanted him to marry Hapsburg royalty but Alfonso insisted he would only marry for love and so after falling in love with Victoria Eugenie, British royalty, upon her conversion to catholicism, the wedding date was set, May 31, 1906.
The couple was married in a downtown cathedral with a royal procession following the ceremony from the church to the Palace. Spectators at a certain point noticed that there were a lot of oranges on the road, which did not raise any concerns, although it should have! It turns out that an anarchist, Mateo Morral intended to kill the King and Queen and he had rented a room on the sixth floor of a building (pictured), looking over the street where he knew the newly married King and Queen's processional would pass. He used oranges as target practice to ensure that when he threw the bomb from that window, it would bypass the streetcar cables and hit the King and Queen.
He should have practiced more.
When the King and Queen approached the hotel, he threw the bomb but it hit a cable and careened back into the building, killing twenty-four and injuring over a hundred innocent people. The King and Queen were not harmed.
Mateo, whose finger had been blown off, absconded to a distant rural city, Malasana, where his Catalan accent and bloody stub gave him away in short order. He killed himself as the police were closing in.
The day started with the group meeting for coffee in Pozuelo and we took the train into the city near the Royal Palace which is discussed in Travel and Recreation. There we began our exploration. In the underground parking structure adjacent to the Royal Place we descended and found a preserved footing to one of the sixteen towers of the 9th Century Muslim Alcazar (fortress) which was on the site before the Palace was built after the city was reconquered by the Christians.
From there we went to the Plaza de Oriente which is also adjacent to the Palace. It features a statue of King Philip IV on a prancing horse. A statue of his father on horseback is in Plaza Mayor. Philip IV wanted his statue to outshine his father's so he hired the Italian sculptor Petro Tacca in 1639. He conceived of having the horse prancing or rearing up but since that had never been done before he had no idea how to handle to physics of the design. He enlisted Galileo to perform the weight calculations and create the concept of adding a lot of weight on the backside of the horse while hollowing out the half of the horse that was rearing up. This was how the first statue of a prancing horse was created.
A Botched Assassination Attempt
The building where Mateo Morral made the assassination attempt!
Old Shops and Markets
Mercado de San Miguel - inside are stands from the 20 best tapas restaurants in Madrid
On the tour as we walked from principal attraction to the next we were constantly taken into shops stores and markets. One such stop was the Mercado de San Miguel (above). Founded more than one hundred years ago as a food market about ten years ago it was failing and on the brink of closure when the owners determined to take a new approach. How about a market where the twenty best restaurants in Madrid offer tapas? And that is what the market is today. A market where the best restaurants in Madrid showcase their tapas. Truly outstanding! The only downside is that it can be extremely crowded.
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Plaza Mayor is the city's epicenter (below). It was built in 1619 by King Philip III. In the center stands the statue of King Philip III on a horse. During the reign of the republic from 1931-36 in an anti-monarchy demonstration the statue was toppled and the head of the King was severed. To the astonishment of the crowd, they found thousands of small bones in the belly of the horse. Turns out the sculpture had left an opening in the horse's mouth into which sparrows had been flying for centuries only to be trapped as if in a crab trap. When the statute was repaired the mouth was closed thus saving sparrows from further peril.
Another interesting stop was Casita-Museo Raton Perez. Spain claims to be home to the tooth fairy. In 1894 writer Luis Coloma was contracted to write a story for Alfonso XIII, age 8, to alleviate his angst following the loss of a tooth. Luis created Raton Perez who lived in a box of cookies and would visit children who had lost their teeth.
Last stop was Puerta del Sol which is a short walk from Plaza Mayor, This is the actually center of the city. When Madrid was originally designed a specific spot in Puerta del Sol was selected and all measurements were made from it. The Plaza also features a statute of the Madrid bear supposedly picking strawberries from a tree. It is the symbol of Madrid. Although the origin of the bear as a symbol of Madrid is not precisely known before it was called Madrid it was called Ursa, latin for bear. The strawberry tree is actually a madrono tree and its berries are made into a liquor which we sampled to end our tour.
A look at Spain's Political Scene 9/7/19
In May 2018 Spain's socialist party(PSOE) led by Pedro Sanchez filed a no confidence motion in the Spanish parliment which successfully ousted Mariano Rajoy of the conservation People's Party(PP). Prime Minister Sanchez was sworn in shortly thereafter.
In general elections held in April 2019 PSOE gained 38 seats however fell short of a majority thus requiring PSOE to seek the support of other parties to form a new government. Its natural ally is Unidas Podemos led by Pablo Iglesias, however it is much further to the left than PSOE and does not enjoy widespread support. Podemos has refused to support PSOE unless it agrees to a coalition government in which its members are included in the cabinet.
Sanchez this week unveiled a progressive set of 300 policy proposals PSOE will support, which fall within Podemos's legislative objectives. He has so far refused to enter a coalition because he does not want the divisiveness that the far left ministers would bring into his cabinet. Sanchez's investiture as Prime Minister was thwarted on July 25 when he did not get the votes he needed.
If Sanchez is not able to get the votes he needs by September 23, 2019, then a new general election will be held in November. Spain's fourth general election in four years.
In addition to the PP which opposes the progressive agendas of PSOE and Podemos, the Ciudadanos and Catalan secessionist groups have also been voting in opposition.
Pedro Sanchez discussing his efforts to form a new government