A fantastic example of integration

Last Sunday Alfaz celebrated International Day and what a spectacular afternoon it was! This year, due to construction works taking place at the sports centre (the regular location), it was moved to the plaza outside the Casa de Cultura and personally I think it was so much better.

There was certainly more room, not so claustrophobic and great to have tables and chairs for people to sit. But who’d have thought it would have been an issue not having enough umbrellas, especially as it was virtually the end of October! With the exception of last year, I do believe that it has always been an incredibly warm and sunny day for this annual event. People were walking around in short sleeves and shorts as if it was still summer, it was unreal. The only negative would be parking. With the fiestas about to start, a giant tent had already been erected in the carpark, taking up about half of the available spaces and with the influx of people was a real problem, with many driving around in circles… yes me being one of those!

This year Bolivia was chosen to open proceedings, with a group in rather bright and eyecatching costumes dancing their way from the old school building to the periphery of the Casa de Cultura, followed by the mayor, councillors, invited foreign consuls and even an ambassador amongst them. They were then joined by representatives of all participating countries and associations, wearing national costumes and carrying their flags to create a truly wonderful and colourful sight, who then all headed towards the steps where they posed for photographs.

Following a few speeches and introductions a French choir – here on an exchange trip, sang and then the afternoon agenda of entertainment began. There was singing and dancing from many different cultures and the raised platform at the top of the stairs created a natural stage which everyone could clearly see. I’m just not sure whether the marble was the best surface for some of the dancers – but they all appeared to manage perfectly well.

Many of the stall holders had evidently spent hours preparing food from their countries and it was a culinary adventure going around trying them. I did observe that the drinks on offer – in particular any alcoholic ones went down a storm and the Ukrainian stand at the back with beer on tap had a permanent queue. However, not being a beer drinker I didn’t sample that particular one.

There were certainly numerous East European and South American stands but the Brits were also represented – the Companians Social Club very patriotic with bunting and selling toffee apples, the U3A with their traditional English Teas Shop and the RBL with what else but poppies.

Over half of the registered population of Alfaz is made up of foreigners. The largest percentage are Norwegian and Alfaz has the biggest Norwegian population outside of Norway! They have a church, schools and social club in Alfaz and Albir in addition to many businesses, much like the Brits do. Norwegian Day – which falls on May 17 is a massive event here in Alfaz with a parade and big celebration. However, speaking to many of my Norwegian neighbours when it comes to pensions, they are in a different league to us for they tell me that the average monthly pension is the equivalent of €1,700! That is certainly over double the Spanish rate too so no wonder they find everything so cheap here and can afford to live like kings and also eat out regularly. As the cost of living is so high there, many pensioners move abroad and Spain, in particular Alfaz has become a mini Norway. Here they can afford a much higher standard of living, probably in much the same way that the British could…. once upon a time. But with the falling rate and even more uncertainty due to Brexit, many are now unsurprisingly struggling to manage. But seeing so many different nationalities opting to live here rather than their own countries obviously proves it continues to be an attractive choice.

Well we’ve definitely had a very good run this year – and it’s now just over 7 weeks till Christmas, although certain British supermarkets here have had crackers, selection boxes and other festive treats out for weeks already. It seems like only yesterday we were all complaining about the heat, now it’ll be how cold it is… us Brits are never happier than complaining about the weather are we, regardless of where we live.

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