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OP Columnists the olive press - April 16 - April 30 2014
What the Romans did for Spain
W
HAT did the Romans ever do for Spain? It’s not a question Franco gave much thought
to when he encouraged Cepsa to build an ugly oil refinery on top of one of Spain’s most important Roman archaeological sites:
ROMAN GLORY: How Carteia would have looked before refinery
The Mistress of Sizzle muses on Franco’s www.theolivepress.es contribution to the ruins of Carteia
SOTOGRANDE OF ITS DAY: Artist’s impression of Carteia
Carteia, a surreal juxtaposition of doric columns and petrochemical chimneys. Like Reg the Anarchist, John Cleese’s character in Monty Python’s Life of Brian who didn’t rate the Romans, Franco didn’t care about Carteia, even though it became the first Latin colony outside Italy in 171BC, making it one of the most privileged cities within the Roman Empire. Carteia, overlooking the Bay of Gibraltar/Algeciras (depending on your political viewpoint), was the Sotogrande of its day, with luxury villas, a fish-salting factory and a thermal spa. Think hot and cold plunge pools, a gymnasium, library and toilets where people literally ‘got down to business’ while seated on the pot! It’s an ancient ruin now, of course. But General Franco and the general
public ruined it some more. A lot of what hasn’t been expropriated for mantelpieces and rockeries is buried beneath a landscape of pollution-belching chimneys. Cepsa is righting Franco’s wrongs with a costly radar survey to scope out the remains of the 6,000-seater theatre, and the artefact-nicking has stopped. What’s left to see is still pretty amazing and open to visitors, free of charge.
Forget Bunnies and Hot Cross buns
E
ASTER is one of the highlights of the year in Spain, and Holy Week in Sevilla is the big one. Although with Antonio Banderas making his annual pilgrimage to take part in the processions, watched on from an upstairs balcony by la Melanie, Malaga comes a close second. Semana Santa is basically a week of elaborate processions of intricate floats. The term ‘floats’ is a little misleading as each weighs a tonne and is carried through the town by about 40 men, the costaleros, who are hidden underneath the thing. It’s not a job for the faint hearted and the costaleros wear headpieces like large inside-out
socks - thickly padded around the head and the neck - white T-shirts and dark cotton trousers, a little like a gang of devout and muscular smurfs.
Happy Clappy Christianity this is not. And then, of course, there are the Virgins. You can’t have a good procession in Andalucia without a Virgin floating by every so often. While the Whipping more cynical amongst you may deEach float depicts a biblical scene, bate the improbability of locating a usually Christ being whipped, with Virgin anywhere near the Costa del the cat-o-nine tails’ beads slapping Sol, in Seville they take them very seagainst each other as they move riously. There are the two heavyweight along. The figures on the floats them- Virgins in Sevilla, the Ali and Frasier of selves are normally rendered in what the float world if you like. The Virgin of an art critic would call Late Catholic Hope of Triana and her great rival the Renaissance Suffering Style. Plenty Virgin of Hope of the Macarena, who, of detail in the crown of thorns, beads because of the rain a few years ago, of blood, open wounds and the ago- where diverted and by chance came nised expression of Christ himself. face to face with each other in an alley for the first time ever. You can only imagine the conversation that they must have had. ‘This town is only big enough for IT was glorious weather last weekend with one Virgin etc.’ the real hint of summer in the air, so I deIt’s a moving expericided to take one of the rowing boats out for ence, with some of a spin. Having lived in Spain on and off for the processions in nearly 30 years, I reasoned that I had built complete silence up immunity to the sun’s rays, so went out while at others peowithout sunscreen. Bad move. With a cool ple cry out ‘guapa! breeze on the lake and rowing strenuously, guapa!’ or sing to I decided to take my t-shirt off. Even worse the Virgin Mary. This move. is not, I repeat NOT It wasn’t until I was in my shower, getting the time to try out ready for my radio show that the first pangs your bar room Spanof sunburn kicked in. This was followed by a ish or an impromptu frantic search at the back of the bathroom version of Una Palocabinet for anything that bore a passing rema Blanca. The losemblance to aftersun. I do have aloe vera covered myself in it. And then my lightweight cals would set upon plants but I don’t think my long suffering collarless shirt - the one that only makes an you, the streets are gardener would be too impressed if I started appearance during sunburn season - made crowded and the poits annual debut. To say that I was more than hacking away at the shrubbery. lice and ambulance Luckily, behind the gunked up bottles of a little relieved that the aircon was working services would never Factor 30 I found a bottle of aftersun, and in the studio was an understatement! make it to you in
Burn baby burn
Protected
Although you need a bit of imagination and, on days when the Levante’s blowing, a clothes peg for your nose to block out the stench of sulphurous gases. Carteia became a protected site in 1968 – too late to save the Roman necropolis buried beneath the petro-chemical plant which opened
STATUE: A Roman leader
the year before. But archaeological digs have uncovered the columns of temples, the courtyards of villas, mosaics, rings, pendants, hairpins, combs, ceramic pottery and gold coins. Carteia had its own mint! New treasures are constantly being discovered, especially when it rains, as only 7% of the site has been excavated. The Romans knew exactly what the Carteia could give to them: lControl of the strategic Mediterranean gateway lWood for boat-building and lead, iron and copper for weapons lCereals and fish to feed hungry armies on the march lSilver to embellish Pompey’s banqueting table back home lMurex sea snails which secrete a no-fade purple dye that was all the rage in Rome Over the next 580 years, Carteia grew to 25,000 citizens on the back of booming pottery and tuna fishing industries. The Visigoths came after and built a church on top time. of the gym and the Moors Perhaps the best known image of Sehad greater ambitions on mana Santa, however, are the nazareother cities. No one much nos, people cloaked in the traditional bothered with Carteia costume of repentance - which bears again until WW2 when two more than a passing resemblance bunkers were built there to the KKK. As well as this there are - one of them recently repriests swinging incense everywhere, opened by Cepsa as Anand a band in front of each float that dalucía’s first bunker muplays music. With more than 50 proseum. cessions through Sevilla during Holy Today, you can’t visit the Week, it’s a good idea to grab a guide site without a guide. You (or visit the Olive Press centre spread can’t enter with large bags this issue) to know which procession or rucksacks. You can’t eat is where and when. or drink on site or touch Of course, if the thought of standing anything. And you can’t in a crowd is all too much for you, take photographs for publithen you can also follow the examcation without prior permisple of many in Sevilla and watch the sion. whole thing on television with a bowl It smacks of dictatorof olives and fino to hand. The sacred ship but not, in this case, week over, Sevilla gets back to normal Franco’s. To him, Carteand looks forward to the more proia was just a pile of old fane celebrations of the April Feria… stones.