South of the border, down Almeria way

 General Franco has a lot to answer for.



I was thinking of leaving it at that but in this case it is the fact under his loving care Spanish tourism got going. The image projected to the world wasn’t grim Castilian Catholicism but a combination of joyous Andalucian gypsy flamenco dancers who, when not bull fighting, were eating Valencian paella. I mention this because we are crossing into Andalucía today and sod all else is happening on the road.






The point of abroad is somewhere to project our fantasies and pander to our need for ‘other.’  Spain - across the Pyrenes, nearer to Africa than Aldershot.  A land of the ever sleeping; corrupt officials and hopeless plumbing - but full of romantic brigands, some of home will lose their shirts so much as look at a certain sort of novel cover; who will rally round to give Napoleon a kicking from their hilltop retreat.





Anyhow, we are going to head on into the Almerian part of Andalucia and embrace the difference.  The province is 8773km2 and 761,000 people live there.  It is home to Europe’s driest area, the Cabo de Gata-Nijar natural park; is home to the red fox and the Algerian hedgehog and a quarter of the humans are from non-native species.



Would you like some weather stats - go on then.



 The Lowest recorded temperature: is 20.7 °C. Puerto de la Ragua , in 2010.  The highest, 50oC, was in Almeria in 1978. AEMET don’t recognise this so be a rebel and proclaim it.  Zurgena is the wettest place in one 24 hour period -- it got 60cm in 1973.  Contrast that to El Cerecillo, which is the highest annual rainfall with 690mm.  Cabo de Gata only gets 150m a  year.


That’s it.  More nonsense tomorrow.












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