Día de Andalucía (Andalusia Day) in Nerja

Greetings from sunny Andalusia in Spain folks. Yep, we’re keeping an eye on the winter weather back home in the UK, and neither of us can say we’re missing it. The reports of endless rain, floods, the occasional snow flurry and general British February grey-drab-winterness are making us appreciate the blood-warming, spirit-lifting blue skies of southern Espagne all the more.

Yesterday was Andalusia Day in these-here-parts, celebrated on 28th February each year, the anniversary of the date that Andalusia become an autonomous community within Spain. I can’t claim to understand the way Spain’s governed, but it appears to me as though the country is managed like the states of the US, with a central federal government (in Madrid) who look after country-wide affairs, and regional governments in the ‘autonomous communities’ who each hold various-levels of devolved powers. Andalusia is the largest (and one of the poorest) autonomous communities in Spain.

This system of government was put in place in Spain before the Spanish Civil War, although Andalusia itself was still negotiating its autonomous status when the civil war began. Once Franco had won the war he reverted the whole country back to central control, and suppressed any aspects of regional identity which didn’t fit his personal ‘ideal Spain’. After Franco had passed away, the country shifted back to democracy, putting in place a new constitution in 1978 which again allowed for autonomous regional governments. Each region had to apply for this status though, with Andalusia only receiving it after a referendum, which failed after one part of Andalusia didn’t support it, followed by a new law which effectively ignored that part of the Andalusian population, sort of, I think!

I’m not quite sure why Andalusia day is on 28 February, as that was the date of the original referendum, which was narrowly rejected? Anyway, that’s the day it’s celebrated each year with a public holiday. We first came across it when Ju fell and split her knee open last year not too far from here in the olive country at Doña Mencía. We discovered there that as well as the shops being closed, celebrations are low-key, with a focus on Spanish families spending time together rather than big carnival-and-fireworks festivities.

Nerja was no different, although they did pull off a monster slow-motion public bike ride through the streets of the town, with everyone from the lycra-clad, clipped-in hardcore cyclists (not many of ’em, maybe one) all the way to tiny nippers sat on bikes in trailers clipped to their dad’s bike. One fella had carved sections of dragon and attached them to hide the metal frame of his bike, including a rather impressive head where the headlight might have once been.

We opted to stand and watch rather than ride, which we were quite pleased we did, as it seemed like a very local, Andalusian thing and we were outsiders in all of this. Also, the cycling proceeded at roughly half walking pace, which might have driven us a tad crazy as the long tail of participants took over 15 minutes just to edge their way out of Nerja’s square, with umpteen late-comers joining from along the route.

After we’d enjoyed a wander and a sit on the beach to kill time waiting for the restaurants to open, we headed for a lovely menu del dia, squeezing our way past the cyclists as they headed slowly back to the main square. For the first time this trip we were asked if we had made a reservation when we arrived at the almost empty restaurant. An hour later and the place was packed, with people peering in looking for a free table – there weren’t any. A good 90 minutes later, bellies full of fried aubergine in cane honey, pork in pepper sauce and lightly-battered hake, we wandered back home again via the main square where a giant raffle was taking place, with around 30 or 40 brand new bikes being given away, pretty great prizes!

The whole of Nerja had a very lively feel to it yesterday, with busy streets, queues for ice cream, restaurants packed and a more than the usual number of people scattered on the beaches (they’re still almost empty). We even spotted a couple of tour groups trying to edge through the crowd, their leader holding the traditional brolly or brochure aloft for folks to latch onto from behind. Perhaps the seasons are starting to shift? Although there’s a great range of shops and restaurants open in Jan and Feb, there are still quite a few closed for winter, and we started to notice more opening up yesterday, like the town’s stretching its muscles ready for the bustle of summer.

Cheers, Jay