One of my least favourite summer-in-the-city rituals is the ITV – that is, the yearly Inspección Técnica de Vehículos. Mine is always due in late July, when Barcelona is at its stickiest and most irritable. Last year, despite having hora (an appointment), I sat for hours (with air-con bust) in a queue that stretched a [...]
Mm, horchata. Thick, creamy, ice-cold. You either love it or loathe it. There are no half measures. Made by crushing the life out of tiger nuts (chufas) and mixing with sugar and water, you’ll find it at any good heladería swimming around in a glass tank next to the lemon granizado (sort of slush-puppy). I [...]
Two of the first fillers you ever pick up in Spanish are más o menos (more or less) and así-así (so-so), phrases that you hear over and over again in everyday exchanges. Half the time you don’t even hear them: you see them. “How was the exam?” Hold out your arm and rotate your [...]
The most obscene gesture in Spain is the forearm jerk, known as el corte de manga, or ’sleeve cut’. Much favoured by tantrumy footballers, this involves shooting the left arm straight up at a 90 degree angle while whacking your right palm into the elbow joint. The underlying message, which may or may not [...]
