U. Cronin's Blog, page 16
May 24, 2015
Rummaging For a Living
I am still shocked, even after living in Madrid for six years, at how many people live off what the rest of us throw out. I live in the north of the city — the supposedly rich part — and … Continue reading →
May 17, 2015
Short Story: I’ll Never Let You Go (Lil’ Darlin’)
Seán Duggan parked his car, turned off the lights and stopped the engine. He looked to his left at the two blocks of apartments he was going to be watching and saw that only a handful of windows were lit … Continue reading →
May 10, 2015
Mr Parking Meter
I see Mr Parking Meter every morning as I walk the kids to school. He is short and roly-poly — the predominant biotype among Spanish men of a certain age. He sports the incongruous look (for a pensioner) of tracksuit … Continue reading →
May 3, 2015
The Short and the Tall of It
Sometimes I feel like a giant even though I’m only five foot eight (or nine on a good day). The neighbourhood in which I live is one of Madrid’s greyer neighbourhoods and I tower above the señores and señoras mayors … Continue reading →
April 27, 2015
The Chinese Corner Shop in Spain
There were no convenience stores (or corner shops) in Spain until relatively recently. Retail had always been highly regimented and regulated: you bought your newspapers from the newspaper stand, your cigarettes from the tobacconist and your bread and milk in … Continue reading →
April 19, 2015
The Rain in Spain
They say the two major days for road accidents in the US are April 15 (Tax Day) and the day of the Super Bowl. In one case it’s the stress and in the other giddiness or excitement that lead to … Continue reading →
April 12, 2015
Roads, High-speed Trains, Jobs and . . . Enrique Iglesias: Pre-election Goodies, Spanish Style
2015 is the year of the election in Spain. We have municipal and federal elections on May 24 and a good possibility of a general election in November or December. There is also the small matter of the parliamentary election … Continue reading →
April 6, 2015
The Passage Tombs of the Sierra Carpurias, Zamora, Spain
If I needed proof beyond his writings of Oxford professor Barry Cunliffe’s theory that from the Neolithic onwards Europe’s Atlantic seaboard shared a common culture, I found it lately amongst the wheat fields and evergreen oaks of north-western Spain’s province of … Continue reading →
March 22, 2015
Come, Come Nuclear War
The best thing about Madrid’s Parque Europa is that it lies only a stone’s throw from one of Spain’s most important airbases. If Mr Putin or any of his equally humanity-challenged successors ever decide to drop the bomb on Torrejón … Continue reading →
March 15, 2015
Short Story: the Newly-weds (Part III of III)
She had wanted to give Gerry a surprise. After their evening meal and walk along the promenade she told him she was taking a shower but what she really did as he watched football while perched on the edge of … Continue reading →
