People say you can’t kill an idea, but you can. For that's what happened in Spain in 1937.
No other political or social ideology would come close to the anarchist movement of 1936 in Spain, yet by 1937 the movement had not only been dealt a death blow, but its very existence had begun to be eradicated from the minds and memory of popular history in a chilling pre-run of Orwells 1984.
How could this happen? And why - 80 years later - are we seeing the shoots of the movement once more arise between the down-trodden soles of the disenchanted and unemployed in Spain? Read More here..... The Silenced Revolution Part 2Bank robber, kidnapper, rousing speaker, reputed assassinator of kings and archbishops, anarchistic leader and a man on the run from death sentences in at least 4 countries. Today, in PART 2 of the Silenced Revolution (if you haven't read Part 1 yet, you can read it here) we look at a man followed by millions when he drew his pistol, grinned knowingly at the enemy and launched into his next revolutionary act. Today we introduce Buenaventura Durruti.
In Spain of the 1920’s, the big employers in cities like Barcelona were using armed groups to hunt down and eliminate “agitators” - a euphemism for CNT workers and anarchist leaders. This practice became known as pistolerismo and alongside the ley de fugas (where agitators were shot 'trying to escape' from political sentences in jail) almost every well-known union or anarchist leaders between 1919 and 1922 was murdered. Helping organise this political repression of workers in Spain, were figures such as the Cardinal Soldevila of Zaragossa, who had financed alternative employer-backed unions with money raised from his gambling empires. After a period of time in exile, Durruti returns to Spain and helps form a new group to combat this wave of violence. "Give Peace a Chance" will be a slogan for later era. Now, argues Durruti, peace needs more than a chance, it needs bullets. Just as all hope seems lost for the struggling workers of Catalunya - riding in at the sun-set from San Sebatian comes the the Justiceros - the pistol waving bullets-for-peace gang led by our hero Durruti. This armed group of radical anarchists seeks out the private band of Pistoleros and kills them off or chases them out of town. "Yeehah!" But the hand that fed the Pistoleros was still alive and functioning. Durruti takes the next logical step in the Justiceros manual: he decides if peace is still to have a chance, he must assassinate the archbishop. (Read more below) Primo de Rivera and the KingSomewhat unpleased with the murder of their Archbishop - and displeased immensely with the newly found strength of the working classes to fight back - the state begins to organise itself in the shape of the curiously moustached King - Alfonso XIII who pacts with the military and installs Primo de Rivera as military dictator with the king's blessing. Rivera’s aim is to halt the rise in militarism amongst the working people, and so increases the militarism of the state. Simple enough. The CNT is forced underground and all Anarchist newspapers are banned. ( Recognise that moustache? Yes this is the same Alfonso that appears in "Inside The Tortilla") Latin AmericaDurruti is eventually exiled once more. This time he moves to Latin America and continues his series of campaigns and bank robberies by joining the anarchist movements in Cuba, Mexico and Argentina. Adhering to the Anarchist ideology - no-one is allowed a professional wage - all monies acquired are collected are used to fund the activities of the anarchist groups, including the building of libraries and schools. These examples of social and political direct action are far too threatening for the different Latin governments and so a price is put on Durruti's head, a price that increases from one country to the next. By the time of his return to Europe - this time to Paris in 1926 - he has a death sentence hanging over his head in countries across the world. To Kill a Mocking KingIn Paris, The tapa king Alfonso XIII is visiting the French monarch in order to show off his new moustache. Durruti plans the assassination of the moustache and whilst at it, the rest of his useless body. But before he can carry out the deed, someone informs on Durruti's foul deed and he is arrested and imprisoned. Not one to bow down before any bourgeois states definition of justice, Durruti flees and spends his time organising in Germany, France, Belgium and even North Africa. Durruti the ManAll this constitutes the life of the anarchist leader before the outbreak of the Spanish civil war. Durruti has established himself as the Malcolm McClaren of the emerging anarchist movement, with his recognisable trademark jacket, the one pistol at his side, and the characteristic hat on his head. Physically, he is described as tall, solidly built, curly black hair with penetrating eyes and a disarming smile. Sociable, amiable and a dab-hand at networking, Durruti's reputation is also based on his simple lifestyle and simple needs. At home he always lived poorly. His house was a simple dwelling where he would often spend his time engrossed in doing the housework or cooking - much to the surprise of his compañeros. This was a man who wouldn’t hang up his libertarian ideals as he passed through his front door. At home they would breathe there too, and apply to all aspects of life in this new world opening before him. Civil WarAs the civil war broke out and the revolution in Catalunya spread, Durruti’s influence, example and prestige grows proportionately. In an interview that appeared in the Toronto Herald, the reporter Van passen asked Durruti what should happen if the war would continue and the workers are left with nothing but a pile of ruins. Durruti fixeed his disarming eye on the reporter, pushed back his hat and said: “Yes this war may leave us with nothing more than ruins. We have always lived in ruins. We the workers are the only producers of wealth. We make the machines in the factories, we extract the coal from the ground, it is we that construct the cities… but we will rebuild them and build them better. We know we are going to inherit a world in ruins, but we carry in out hearts another world that is being born." A Call to ArmsFor the anarchists, the military uprising that leads to the civil war is not about challenging the reformist policies of the democratic republic, but rather a final attempt by the privileged classes to halt the spreading anarchist revolution. Durruti and the CNT decide to extend the work of the collectivisation process, moving the revolution to the smaller towns, setting up schools, libraries and to begin to organise the anarchist militia groups to fight against the nationalist uprising. Once Barcelona is won for the CNT, his personal assembly: The Durruti Column are directed to free the city of Zarragosa, but without adequate arms their attempts to take the city are thwarted. Their weapons are too few and too antiquated. The central government looks on worried. It does not want to see the anarchists well-armed, despite their battle skills and their effective resistance to the military uprising in Catalunya. Durruti begins discreet negotiations to buy new arms from overseas suppliers with money from the central bank, but the Republican Government, finally withdraws from the deal. Durruti feels frustrated and betrayed and now believes the government is more worried about halting the social revolution than fighting Franco. Now he is convinced of the growing influence of the Communists on government policy and their opposition to the anarchists ideals. Drawing on his past, Durruti calls together a few of his most Trusted Compañeros and tells them that he has a sneaky plan to win the war. He draws them closer, checks over his shoulder to see if anyone else is listening, pulls down the peak of his hat and whispers into their eager faces: “Trusted Compañeros, we are going to steal the gold reserves from the Banco De España in Madrid!” SPANISH GOLDThe Spanish reserve is valued at 700m dollars and is guarded 30m below ground. Durruti tells his compañeros that with the aid of the CNT rail workers, a train will carry a 1000 of his men from Barcelona to Madrid. There, they will join up with other members of his column and enter the bank. Each militia member is to enquire about the conditions and interest rates on savings accounts, ask for a mortgage or a private loan, ask about hedge fund options for political bodies - anything - to keep the staff busy whilst the rest of the team steal the gold. The Trusted Compañeros scratch their heads and look confused. "Alright, alright" says Durruti. " Forget I said anything about Hedge-funds. You can force your way into the bank and use pistols if you like." The Trusted Compañeros give a collective sigh of relief. "Once you have the gold", continues Durruti, "it will be brought to Barcelona where it will be traded for the arms that I have already arranged to buy." Amongst the eager faces of the Trusted Crew - staring into the penetrating eyes of their leader - was one face that continued to show a worried frown. His name was Santillán and he had doubts about the whole plan. "But Boss...How are we to get into the vaults? How are we to get the money out without raising suspicions? How will we get the gold back on the train without other passengers spotting the millions of gold bars in the overhead luggage rack?" But Santillán didn't have the courage to ask these questions in public. So he kept them to himself, nodding in agreement with the rest of the group, slapping Durruti on the back and applauding him for his ingenious plan. But Santillán immediately stitched on our charismatic leader and informed the national committee of the CNT about Durruti's plans. Upon hearing Santillán's comments, the CNT committee - who didn’t see a problem with the transport of the gold in the luggage racks - saw that Durruti’s plans could trigger yet another war between Catalunya and the rest of the country. They call him in for a talk and Durruti is forced to withdraw. Perhaps this was all just as well for a lot of anarchist funds could have been wasted on the train tickets, or opening unnecessary Hedge-fund accounts. Unknown to either Durruti, the CNT committee, the Nationalists or the rest of the country - the Republican government had already given the go-ahead for the Communists to begin to move the gold from Madrid to Moscow. Next week - in the final episode of the Silenced Revolution
Read Part 3: Final Part of the Silenced revolution Here. Want more on the Spanish Civil War? Read the Forgotten Stories Series - The Ambulance Man and the Spanish Civil war 1984 and the Spanish Civil War Most people believe the Spanish Civil War was a straightforward struggle between democracy and fascism. It wasn't. The struggle had begun years earlier when a libertarian revolutionary movement began across the country. Consolidated in Barcelona, this new society was not interested in the defence of the a republic - but it was keen to develop and spread the one and only anarchist society in the history of the modern world. This is another Forgotten Story from Spain. Part One: The Backdrop
As elections draw closer I fear the continuum. More of the same - save a difference in colour or shape of beard - I fear there will be no change, when change really ought to be on everyone's agenda. You must have noticed it too. The same lack of idealism, the same lack of vision and the same lack of leadership. But now we have some hope, we have Podemos talking about change. Some people are excited, some are frightened, some are not interested. But, before you condemn the new, remember that history moves in circles. Yes, it's actually all happened before. What if we thought again about leadership? What if we could say to those in government: "justify your position to govern us, and if we are not satisfied by your explanation, we are at liberty to throw you on to the scrap heap". Sounds fun doesn't it, but maybe a little idealistic? Well, hold on to your horses because it is not only an attractive theory, it was a working theory in Spain during the early 1930’s. This is the story of a struggle that was silenced and a genuine revolution from below. A Revolution from BelowIn this series of articles on the Other Civil War in Spain - a subject I have already touched upon with Orwell and Ethel MacDonald - we are going to take a look at a figure that shook the establishment to the ground. A bank robber, an assassin, a soldier, and an inspiration to millions of people across the world: Put your hands together please for... Buenaventura Durruti Composed of three special investigations, the Gazpachomonk offers up a Mediterranean diet of text, classic videos and films as well as audio files - (See "To the Barricades" above). So put on the kettle, tilt back your Durruti hat, stick your feet up on the dog and enjoy The Silenced Struggle. Part 1: Backdrop to a Silenced StruggleI often think of the great heroes of my youth - Che Guevara - Georgie Best - Bruce Lee - Captain Pugwash - those that earned an Athena poster on the bedroom wall. I'd lie on my bed glancing over those assorted faces and often say to myself : "Is there someone missing?" Recently, I learnt who that person was, and his name was Buenaventura Durruti To understand this man we have to first take a look at the background that produced such a figure. A background whereby freedoms were hard fought for and often short lived. Freedoms that were restrained by the military and the church as well as by the state. Freedoms that were denied to the majority, but revelled in by the minority.
Anarchy in IberiaYes thats right: Anarchism. But lets get one thing straight before we start - Anarchism has nothing to do with "chaos", The Sex Pistols or Internet "hackers": This is just popular media nonsense. Anarchism is a highly organised force that is run and composed democratically from "below", as oppressed to "above". This is because when power rests with a few, then corruption inevitably occurs. Anarchists do not believe we need "rulers" in fact if we were left to ourselves, we could organise more effectively, more efficiently and more justly without overlords, royal families, CEO's; Bishops and petty tyrants. All sounds good in theory, you may be saying to yourself, but where are the practical examples? Well, we are coming to that soon enough. Just remember that although all progressive political forces agree on opposing the exploitation of man by man, only anarchism opposes the domination of man over man. Ok, have another sip of tea and lets get back to Spain... In 1923 the CNT was outlawed by the military dictator Primo de Rivera. This was rather silly for if you remember when Frankie Goes to Hollywood was banned on Radio One back in the 1980's - the single Relax shot straight to number one and stayed there for months to the acute embarrassment of the BBC. Well, the same thing happened here. Primo de Rivera bans the CNT only to find memberships increases and new factions get developed, such as the new Federación Anarquista Ibérica (FAI). Created on a beach in Valencia in 1927, ( one can only assume they had all just been for a swim) this radical division had its own newspaper called: Tierra y Libertad (from which Ken Loach took the name for his film) and focussed on Direct Action. The 2nd RepublicBy 1931, Primo has fortunately gone and, lo and behold, the king has been sent packing too. The Second Republic is declared by which time the anarchist CNT had become the most important workers movement in Spain and the most effective union in Europe with over 70.000 members. The principles of Anarchism had found a solid root and a home in the working peoples of Spain. As the new republic got underway, the Anarchist Unions push onward to overturn the old corrupt system. Education is offered free in los Ateneos and new publications offering new, radical perspectives on alternative living appear everywhere. Revolutionary TimesPublications such as Estudios - the magazine of sexuality and health that encourage the liberation of women from the mindset of the church and state. Organisations spring up such as the anarchist women's organization Mujeres Libres that establishes equal opportunities for women - unique in Europe for the time. Abortion is permitted, nudism and naturalism is promoted and free-partnerships can now at last be formed outside of marriage. Even the vocabulary is changing: Esposa for example changes to compañera. Buenos Dias is dropped for salud. And to the great relief of the grammatically challenged learners of the language, Tú is used in exchange for usted. "I don't Need no Education...."Throughout Catalunya new and free schools are established on anarchist principles and for the first time, they can offer education away from the influence of the church. They are based in the cultivation of self-knowledge and the individual expression of each child. These schools are called Natura schools and no doctrine or propaganda is allowed to be taught, just the humanities, poetry and philosophy but nothing of revolutions. In fact, so much are the schools anti-ideological that they refuse subsidies from the state or town halls so that they can remain politically independent. Such was the overwhelming popularity of the new movements that in Barcelona 1/2 of all workers are now affiliated to the CNT - whose ranks have now swollen to half a million. But elsewhere - further up the hierarchical power ladder in Spain - the Professional politicians declare they are not happy bunnies, and decide that the revolutionary movements have gone far enough. In Cadiz, 23 people are killed and 50 injured when the Guardia Civil are instructed to terminate a small anarchist collective at Casas Viejas. In Asturias, there is a 2 week long revolution, but it is not backed up by the rest of the county. It is brutally put down by Franco and his North African troops. The Anarchists call on the Republic to go forward to a full social revolution. People argue. Threats are made. Names are called. Fingers are pointed. Posters appear everywhere demanding change. Some people wait for permission to change things, but who ever waits for Permission to have a Revolution? Then, before anything really gets resolved, the debate is interrupted after the 1936 election when the forces of the right stage a revolt to put down the new revolutionary movements springing up across the country that are dismantling the power of the church, the military and calling the people in power nasty names. In Barcelona there is a fine tradition of not waiting for permission that will never come. Here, the anarchists are not simple Centralist Republicans happy to participate in the painstakingly slow process of reform. The anarchists are not interested in defending a bourgeois republic based in Madrid. This military uprising is a challenge to all they had gained as part of the social libertarian movement in Catalunya and if these gains are under threat from the army, then so be it. They must be defended by the people themselves. The CNT demands arms for the people to defend their society, but the government refuses. So the anarchists (not waiting for permission) storm the barracks and arm themselves. They then release all political prisoners and turn Barcelona into what is effectively the vanguard of the Iberian Revolution. Change is no longer an academic subject to be debated, it is instead the consequence of Direct Action. In the city, 80% of all medium to large sized businesses are collectivized. Homage and all that...
The reason that the anarchist ideology spread so quickly and effectively was that it adapted to each village and each region. Every town worked according to the needs and culture of each area. There was no generalised formulae. It was a federation of independent and individual groups. And its greatest success was that it was not imposed, instead it grew organically from each place according to the needs of the people. Between the villages grew a federation where goods and services were exchanged. The 1st (and only) Anarchist Revolution the World Has Ever SeenThis was the first anarchist revolution the world had ever seen. At a time of vast shortages of raw materials, communication impossibilities and prohibited or reduced trade, those industries collectivized under the anarchists increased production and modernized the plants so efficiently that when the employers eventually returned after the "war", they could not believe they had a surplus of stock and an improved production line. This was a revolution that didn't need police, or priests or even revolutionaries. It was a revolution that increased output in collectivised factories despite rationing, and a revolution that set out new civil rights far and beyond any other country in the world. Such a revolution was always going to be a threat - not just to the clerical or military right, but to the moderate left and, as Orwell was to discover, to the authoritarian left too - as we shall see in next weeks instalment.
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Part 2: The Silenced Revolution Part 2 Part 3: Final Part of The Silenced Revolution Forgotten Stories 1: The Ambulance Man and the Spanish Civil War Forgotten Stories 2: 1984 and the Spanish Civil war What prompted a working class girl from Scotland to come to Spain during the civil war? What compelled her to side with the anarchist movement and become the voice of that movement to the world? Part of the series: Anarchism in Spain featuring George Orwell, Durruti, the Catalan Car Industry etc - this week we look at Ethel McDonald (see links below). The Struggle For another LifeIt is astonishing how many accounts of the Spanish Civil War today, still portray that battle as a struggle between the forces of Fascism and the forces of Democracy. Yet for anyone who has delved into the origins of the 2nd Republic in Spain and the issues being fought out during the early 1930's there was another agenda, a parallel struggle as important as anything that was happening in the barracks or on the battlefield. This was the struggle for another way of life. Not merely the defence of the new "democratic Republic" that had still to tackle the hardships, inequalities and injustices of the masses. This was another struggle that defied the simple definitions of "left or right". This was a struggle to forge something new, something - as Noam Chomsky has argued - that would represent an entirely new way of living in this world. Anarchism in SpainIn this short series on Anarchism in Spain, I shall be exploring this radical and immensely popular movement through the eyes of a few individuals that were driven, not simply to defend the few hard-won rights in a fledging democracy, but to go further and begin the construction of a new society altogether. These individuals were not satisfied with the reformism of democracy, nor the authoritarianism of the Communist dreams, for they were individuals that articulated a new future that would shake the political forces across the globe and in so doing, provoke an uneasy alliance between left and right to undermine it, to capture and, as we now know, to kill its leaders. And in so doing, attempt to destroy its ideology, turning it into the sad parody it has become today. The Story of Ethel MacDonald: The Scottish Anarchist in SpainIn 1936, with the civil war about to break out, one Scottish woman from Motherwell finds a job in a workers rights centre in Glasgow, helping distribute the radical newspaper: Regeneration. As the struggle in Spain intensifies, Andre Proudhon asks for an English speaker to come to Barcelona and report on the struggle. She is sent out to cover, what appears to be an imminent outbreak of war. Against a backdrop of Mussolini in Italy and a newly elected Hitler in Germany, she makes her gradual way to Catalunya and arrives in the city 2 months before Orwell will arrive. Like him, she sees not a country in preparation for war, but a people who have at last shaken off the shackles and constraints of the past. A people that were not content to simply defend a republic but instead intent on creating a completely new order that effortlessly takes control of industry, society, government, commerce, health and education. This is not the anarchism of the popular press, but one of self-educated organisations that spring up to run a city and a country by the very people themselves, without the hierarchies and divisions that had plagued other radical movements of those times. Ethel McDonald walked into a city that had decided to move things forward themselves. Women had been promised liberation under the Spanish Republic, but were still plagued by inequality, low wages and arranged marriages, but in Barcelona they had decided not to wait any longer for the promised reforms in Madrid. Here she found in the city a deeply rooted sense of liberation: In the modes of dress, in the dignity of work, in the emphasis on schooling and social organisation - all was changing before her eyes. Even in language there were changes: the word "mujer" being replaced by "compañera" "Peasants formed communes on land confiscated from the old ruling elite. Three million men, women and children lived and worked in them. Anarchists had taken over the factories. Police were replaced with civilian self-defence forces. Three quarters of the economy was under anarchist control. Hotels, shops, barber shops and restaurants were collectivised and managed by their workers – often increasing productivity and profit. The maxim ‘from each according to his ability, to each according to his need’ was put into practice. Women won the right to divorce and abortion, and the idea of ‘free love’ became popular in the sense [of] the right to enter into a relationship without the permission of State or Church." The Russian Agenda in the Spanish Civil WarAs her reports on the Catalan Revolution are sent home, Ethel MacDonald is offered a job on Barcelona Radio to send out reports to the rest of the world in English, and to speak directly to the International troops arriving to help the Spanish cause. She takes the job, but surprisingly for those who offer her the work, she does so from the perspective of an anarchist and her reports are inspiring and motivating to her "compañeros/as at the front. However, as she reports on the revolutions successes and failures, the civil war slowly shifts ground and the relatively small Communist Party becomes an influential power. The more Spain is dependant on Russian arms and assistance, the more the nature of the struggle changes. The Russian Agenda Stalin instructs the now prominent Communist party in Spain to halt the anarchist revolution at all costs. He does this two reasons: First, because Russia fears Britain and French resistance to such a radical movement and Stalin needs their support against Hitlers threats to the USSR. Secondly, Stalin fears the ideological influence of Anarchism - with its immense influence and popularity and its close association with Trotskiest groups such as the POUM (in which Orwell is fighting). The anarchist movement represents an alternative and immediate path to social revolution, one that seems not to require the authoritarianism of Russia's own state party. The Bolsheviks had already dealt with anarchists during their own revolution, and knew what to do to stop their influence in this one. As Orwell describes in Homage to Catalonia, the Communists grew in influence each day and quickly became the persuasive force behind the Spanish Government's decisions. Arrested and ImprisonedIt does not take the Communists long before they begin to "clean-up" the anarchist revolution in Catalonia. After the death of Durruti and the Barcelona funeral procession, the Communists push forward with pressure to dismantle the anarchist movement entirely. The May 1937 attack on the Barcelona telephone exchange , and the subsequent 4 days of fighting end the independence and struggle of the anarchists. Ethel MacDonald is placed under arrest and is imprisoned by the very people she came to help. When she is finally released, she leaves Spain via a British ship ported at Barcelona. But once outside Spain, the anarchist journalist continues to travel and speak publicly to raise funds and awareness for the Spanish revolution - a revolution so recently betrayed. Sadly, in 1958, she was diagnosed with MS and loses the ability to speak. Ethel MacDonald dies in 1960. You can watch the biographical series on her extraordinary life on Youtube. Here is a link to episode 1. For more on Civil War Spanish History see: Norman Bethune the Canadian ambulance driver 1984, Orwell and the Spanish Civil War Sol Frankel: An interview with a British Volunteer READ THE OTHER SPANISH CIVIL WAR STORIESThe Ethel MacDonald TV: Part 1This week is celebrates George Orwell Day and in these times of Digital insecurity and Edward Snowdonion revelations about government espionage the words of this great writer echo with a greater ferocity each year. It is difficult to conclude that we have learnt something, if anything from the prophecies of 1984. Yet there are those that have asked "Does Orwell Still Matter" and continue asking whilst we collectively sink further into a world of digital gratification and material distraction. Remembered for his political assault on the complacency of the left and the dangers of authoritarianism, he is less remembered for his critical support for the anarchist movement in the civil war, his fighting for the POUM and the workers union, the CNT. It is in these fields that, for me at least, Orwell still matters. And, lest we forget, what happened in Barcelona in 1936 was one fo the few examples of a successful anarchist revolution in history of the world. So yes, Orwell still matters. So much so that if you haven't read it yet, Homage to Cataluña (get a free copy below) is a great eye-opener to a very Hispanic revolution. (More on anarchism in Spain coming soon). You can read the orginal post on Orwell and Spain, you can listen to the podcast on George Orwell or download a free copy of Homage to Cataluña - all from here.
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Living in an area of Spain where the tapas come free has its obvious plus points. But as someone who doesn't eat meat, I end up refusing 50% of everything offered, and this is a delicate operation. Such 'sending back' - if not done diplomatically - may cause offence and result in the denial of a substitute tapa. Such an outcome is unthinkable. Most of the time bars are happy to accommodate, though a little confused as to why anyone would prefer a slice of cheese over a dry and tired looking meatball. But its not just bar owners and waiters in Spain that raise an eyebrow to dietary preferences. Most omnivorous acquaintances - upon discovering my chosen diet - will point an accusatory finger at my plate of Pulpo a la gallego or gambas al pil pil and exclaim with a salivating and slightly crazed look: “But don’t you see! You can’t be a vegetarian and still eat fish! Thats a contradiction!” My reply, is usually two fold: First, I tell them that I thrive on contradiction. It gives moisture to an otherwise parched and bleak landscape. This generally prompts further crazed dribbling and so I am forced to point out that I am not a vegetarian, just someone who does not eat meat. “Y ya esta”. It’s not meant to be an example of philosophical logic, nor a stand on behalf of the Vegan Movement. It rarely works though. I normally have to resort to probing as to how they can be stroking the head of one animal, attached to a leash sitting under our table, whilst consuming the head of another animal on top of it - and still sleep at night. Diet, it appears, is a particularly sensitive cultural as well as gastronomic issue. THE GREAT BRITISH DIET This week, a new store opened in the industrial outskirts of town. Calling itself the British Food Store, it purports to supply all those essential british foods so difficult to track down, and that form such an essential component of the Great British Diet. Given there has been no new businesses opening in town since the collapse of the building industry back in 2008, I went to take a look. I was curious for a number of reasons. First, because the expat community had more or less dwindled to negative figures these last few years as homes were abandoned, and pool maintenance work became harder to find than a honest politician, and secondly because I was simply curious that an obscure food merchants catering for an undemanding exiled group, could be bucking the global economic downturn. (Read More.....) |