A very global affair
LA NUCÍA once again hosted its international day celebrations last Saturday, following a three-year hiatus due to you know what – we don’t need to mention that word… Though sometimes I wonder which one is worse – pandemic or Brexit!
Official town hall figures stated that around 4,000 people attended throughout the course of the day.
It was the seventh edition of the event and, for the first time, took place outside, in the car park of the new (ish) Muixara pavilion. There is so much building work going on I almost didn’t recognise the place, with a new road leading into the sports complex, and still a lot of work to do, but the entrance will look a lot grander.
Previously, the event was always held inside the main Camilo Cano sports hall, but it was, if truth be told, rather cramped. This year the stalls were generously spaced out, and I spent a few hours on the Costa Blanca News stand, but boy, was it chilly! During the night there was a real gale blowing and on Saturday morning the sky was very grey and overcast, almost threatening to rain, but thankfully it didn’t.
However, it was rather cool shall we say, and with no natural windbreaks a coat would most certainly have been handy. Thankfully by mid-afternoon the sun did make an appearance, but I suppose had it been really hot then there would have been complaints of about excessive temperatures with very little shade! It's a no-win situation.
This year a total of 40 countries and associations took part, and Ukraine led the ‘parade of nations’ to officially open the event. Each year a different country is invited to have that honour, with representatives wearing their national costume and carrying their country’s flag. Mayor Bernabé Cano, Alicante provincial deputy for foreign residents Juan de Dios Navarro, and La Nucía councillor for foreign residents Jessica Gommans attended, alongside the consuls from Germany, the Netherlands, Georgia, Brazil, Ecuador, Ukraine and Italy. Each year there are more nationalities.
Once they all assembled on stage a young Ukrainian refugee schoolgirl made an emotional speech about the experience of fleeing her war-torn country and how they had all been welcomed to Spain forever grateful, but yearning to go back to their applause and encouragement, followed by a full afternoon of performances from many of the other participating countries. The mayor then went on a walk about, visiting each stall and chatting to the participants. He was offered food and drink to sample from many… I didn’t see if he had a shot of Guinness on the Irish stand! I guess he must have a strong stomach mixing so many sweet and savoury dishes, washed down by a combination of beer, shots and cocktails.
La Nucía has a population of 18,600 residents, of which 40% are foreign, made up of 99 different nationalities – pretty amazing. The objective of the day is to encourage integration between all the different cultures and to learn about the traditions of others living in the same community.
I loved going around the different stalls, seeing some of the typical exhibits you’d associate with each country and, yes, trying some of the food. The German cheesecake was particularly yummy.
Sadly, the U3A ladies didn’t have their traditional ‘Old English Tea Shoppe’ this time. Initially
they were told no food would be served, then at the last minute they were informed that they could… literally the day before, but sadly too late to organise any baking. Hopefully next year - as pots of tea alongside scones with jam and clotted cream were always very popular with the crowds - Yes please!
But as it is Good Friday tomorrow, I'll have to reach for a hot cross bun instead, toasted with lots of butter…