Spain’s Hidden Summer Surprises
Writing in the local paper. Local issues with a global take. I never translate literally and the editor trims at will to make it fit. Here’s my version, then theirs.
As I watched my kids search for a free space in the kiddie pool so that they could practice their newly acquired skills the other day at the Ciudad Deportiva outdoor pool, wondering why the pool next to it
inexplicably sat closed off, I came to realize what an important part of life public outdoor pools play in Spain. Tourists trudging through the UNESCO cores that dot this
country under the fierce midday summer sun in search of a typically Spanish
experience that they can tell their friends back home about often wonder why the
only life they seem to come across are people trying to sell them something. Why
are the city centres only filled with tourists? Where are the people that
actually live amongst these beautiful, if terribly hot stones? What they don’t
know is that the locals lucky enough to not be working are either themselves on
holiday, in their villages…or cooling off at the closest public pool. I can’t
think of many other places in this country where you can encounter such a broad
cross section of society gathered in one place. Not even the awkwardly
segregated school system comes close to reuniting so many people from such different
backgrounds together. Families complete with picnics who come to spend the day,
teenagers being teenagers, groups of retired men and women, immigrants like myself
and even a brave few who were actually there to do sport, all trying to find a
bit of wiggle room. The local pool is the definition of summer for many that
find themselves far from the coasts and damed up rivers that flow down from the moutains during these months. I
know a few other travel writers desperate for a story that goes beyond how
beautiful Santa Maria is at sunset that would pay for this hidden insight into
Spanish society but at least until they open that third pool up again and
perhaps a few more, I think we should keep this refreshing secret to those of us who
live here.
