22% more than you will expect

 It is a bit of a five things sort of a day.  We will do a lot of rising and falling and will go from 257m above sea level to 799m. The countryside is beautiful and we are going off piste so strap in and prepare for knowledge that, in some odd moments, you may find useful.

|Spain has won 55 gold, 77 silver and 63 bronze medals at the Olympics. They first appeared in 1900. They next appeared in 1920 and took part in all games except the 1936 ones, when they held their own, untainted by the Nazis. Spain’s most successful sport is Sailing in terms of gold [14]. In terms of total medals is canoeing [23].

The Anjanas is a mythological creature akin to the nymphs of Ancient Greece. They are described as extremely beautiful beings with long flowing hair that they comb daily for long hours. Anjanas clothe themselves with dresses made up of stars or stardust and wear fabulous pearls. They are known to wear floral crowns and walk with floral staffs. Depending on which region of Spain they come from, anjanas are usually small in size—flower in size—but may change their size to be as large as humans or taller.  Some are human size.

Anjanas are said to live in springs, rivers, ponds, lakes and caves and generally watery places, coming out only at night when humans are sleeping. Anjanas are never malignant but always helpful souls, protecting humans from  ojancanus. They bless the waters, the trees, the farms and herds  It is said that a man that finds an anjana brushing her hair can marry her and take possession of all her  treasure. However, if the man is unfaithful, she will disappear forever with all her treasures, and the man shall remain destitute for the rest of his life. 

According to 2019 statistics, the Bay of Algeciras is the busiest port in Spain - dealing with almost 110 million tons of cargo a year  Valencia is next, with 81 million tons and Barcelona is third with 67.7.

Antonio de Ulloa was born on 12th January 1716 and died on 3rd July 1795. In between times he did things Ulloa joined the Navy, served in the Americas, did scientific work and ended up a vice admiral.  A link will take you to his works but among the things we may celebrate today are observing the 1778 total solar eclipse, told people in Europe what platinum was and his meteorological phenomena notes resulted in something called Ulloa’s halo.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_de_Ulloa

Out of 35 countries in the Americas, 21 of them have Spanish as an official language.  About 26% of Spanish speakers live in Mexico and the USA has 22% more Spanish speakers than Spain.

Onwards tomorrow.