Here in Malaga we're blessed with an average about 300 days of sunshine a year and that is exactly what attracts the millions of tourist to both the city and the province. It is also a large contributory consideration in the decision of many thousand of European who throw caution to the wind and take up residence here. So logically that leaves a couple of months during which we experience varying degrees of inclement weather. As any resident will tell you when it rains here it buckets down and the wind can blow a hooligan so here is a photographic essay of the beauty of bad weather as taken by our own Flipside Flanuer
A lone surfer enjoys the gusty conditions
Sea and sky can fuse into one reflecting each others angry mood and at sunset the sky can burst into dramatic colours
The Cathedral spire stands boldly defying the elements
Into every life a little rain must fall but a pinch of sun brings rainbows
The tapas will have to wait for a better day
Distant snow reminds us of our how privileged we really are
The city centre is full of unique
buildings abandoned and dilapidated, with its decay we are losing the
heritage that belongs to this city
Watchful
eyes bear witness to
a Málaga thatlies dying
in its own ruins. Broken windows, boarded up
doors, tiles and balconies detached. Adistant splendour is fading year after year, a
resultof
the owners negligence and an apathy of
governing institutions.
In
the historic centre of the city, dozens of unique buildings are
abandoned and dilapidated.
The Planning Department has forced owners to
repair the outside of the building to pass the
Technical Building Inspection (ITE ) . However, there are many others
which are slowly
crumbling.
Antonio
Vargas, Dean of the
College of Architects and professor of'Escuela de Arquitectura de la
Universidad de Málaga'states
“you only have to make a brief tour through
the streets of Madre de
Dios, Dos Aceras,
Alamos and Carreteria to check numerous examples of this lack of
action, these properties are privately owned
but also belong to the community”.
“We
talk about heritage but
we should look for a more intense surveillance system before reaching
total ruination, more
frequent inspections, regulations
with greater demands and controls
not only on the
livability but to alsomaintain the architectural value of these buildings"
added Antonio Vargas.
Citing a specific
example, El Palacete Barroco de
Trinidad Grund. the baroque palace.
AmongstLa Calle
Tejón, Calle Rodríguez
and La Plaza
del Teatro, there has for
years been rising
scaffolding skeletonssupporting buildingswith nothing more that vegetation
inside. "These are
more obvious cases,"
says Vargas and suggests that developers are purposefullyleaving
the properties to come
crashing down to make
way for redevelopment projects.
For
the architect and university professor, in
certain cases "compulsorypurchase would most suit the common good ".
However, the dean of the College of Architects believes that "
the authorities are very wary and provide guarantees to the
individual rather than the collective, denying
the right of citizens to enjoy their heritage." he
goes on to stress that “In all this lies the
culture of high prices and the want
to get the maximum return”.
A
key factor in the abandonment of these properties is the ownership
structure. Sometimes the owners are elderly or their heirs don't
want act responsibly. In Calle
Madre de Dios, No10,
a unique building does not look to have passed the statutory
inspection, Another,had the openings on the
ground floor windows boarded up but has been
broken into and
stands open to
slowly corrode.
In
Dos Aceras and Alamos façadesare propped to
hide the empty interiors.
In Carreteria No
31 moldings have fallen away
and police had to act to prevent injury due to
falling cornices.
The Professorcontinues" Public space is not
only the soil of the street, the cobblestones beneath our feet , it
is also are the buildings that line
those streets ,"
another
example of neglect in Pasaje
de Chinitas, floors that form the fabric of
buildings has been
torn off and gutters
are so unstable that a metal plate protects pedestrians from falling
material .
In
this proud city the Malagueños are now
used to walking
through its dying streets
and so to must the visitors who pay to come
and see this Malaga, this 'paradise'
quotes from interview by C Ristina Fernández
málaga
Hoy
|
Integration is fast becoming a buzzword
in ex-pat circles but still remains a most satisfying exercise, and
one we all try with varying degrees of success. Whilst we
celebrate the differences that add interest and intrigue, we also
find that when we combine this with a common interests a real coming
together of cultures emerges into a memorable occasion.
Such an event took place on El Palo
Beach, Malaga one sunny Sunday in January.
A visiting team of traditional Gig
rowers from Cornwall met up with their equivalent Jabega rowing club
of Malaga.
Members of the Mounts
Bay Gig Club, Cornwall, met up with members of La Espailla, Asociacion
del Remo Traditional, for a joint row in Malaga Bay.
After convivial and enthusiastic introductions were made on the paseo
the visitors were shown the boathouse and more importantly the boats.
The ladies presented their hosts with the Cornish flag explaining the
connection with St Piran the Patron Saint. In return the hosts presented
the ladies with T-shirts bearing the club's emblem, it was then time to
get down to the job of launching the boat, by manual labour.
They then rowed in
unison following the shoreline to the lighthouse by the port. Augutin at
the helm would at times steer the boat into the breakers as an added
challenge, attracting the attention of Sunday walkers along the Paseo,
who waved and cheered to the intrepid team
the atmosphere on board the Jabega was buoyant and banter was exchanged in both languages. After
a gruelling two hour row the joyful but exhausted team returned to El
Palo for a well deserved lunch at El Zagal Chiringuito.
The lunch was traditional fritura, a mix of fried fishes and squids, washed down with cold beer. Convivial conversations Broke out spontaneously as stories of both countries were related, questions asked, explanations given and understanding grew! laughter and ribald humour abounded as the two backgrounds settled comfortably in one jovial group.
Carmen, a street hawker, that sells roses to enamoured couples, appeared and Augustin magnanimously bought roses for the ladies and bade or rather bribed Carmen to sing a Spanish sea shanty which thrilled the visitors into rapturous applause who in return sang a Cornish ayre. Talk then turned to a return visit to Cornwall and was agree in a quickly convened meeting and Easter was set as the date for the trip.
Video from on board the Jabega and other jollies
The day ended with hug and kisses and promises of future reunions, altogether time well spent.
Information on the clubs and the members:
Mounts Bay Pilots Gig Club Founded in1986 the club spent two years of fundraising to raise £10,000
necessary to build their first boat 'Lyonnesse' named after the
legendary 'Lost Land' between the Cornish Coast and the Isles of Scilly.
The Lyonesse was built by Ralf Bird and launched in 1988. Later in 1990
second boat 'Sally was launched.
The Mount's Bay Ladies are called 'The Tackies' due to the colourful, flamboyant dress code of the '80's.
Participating today;
Zoe Payne - Chairperson.
Sandra Barbiero - Broken Pin Winner.
Jo Culley - Gold Medal Winner, Veteran Class.
Becca Harvey- renowned Artist
Barbara Tremaine - English Teacher & Multi talented Flipsider.
Club La Espailla
The club was formed over40 years ago and row the traditional Jabega style boats and promote the culture of this type of boat at events all over Spain. At times they fish from the boats wearing traditional costumes
Participating today;
Agustin 'Reverts' - Patrón, Chairperson
Felipe 'Ipe' - 1st Rower
Paco 'Kiko'. - Row Hand
Francisco de paula 'paua - Row Hand
More information along with videos and fotos can be seen on 'Malaga on the flipside' Facebook page
So logically that leaves a couple of months during which we experience varying degrees of inclement weather. 
