Annie Bennett

I love unfashionable, uncool places like León.

Oh my god. The number of people who died in the train crash has risen to 64.

At least 10 people have died and dozens are injured in a terrible crash south of Toledo on the Sevilla-Madrid line. Renfe Ave went into the back of an Iryo and several carriages derailed.

This new book on the menú del día by @lakshmiaguirre.bsky.social sounds brilliant: “a chalkboard free of words such as avocado, burrata, tartare, truffle or sourdough bread…bonus points are awarded if the child of the owners is doing their homework on a table down the end.” @swajones.bsky.social

This new electoral vídeo from Pedro Sánchez is quite something. Standing in front of Guernica defending the anti-war stance of his government, limiting military expenditure, denouncing the atrocity of Gaza. English subtitles.

He: do you want this lovely dead bird? I shot it just for you. She: please go away but you can leave the dog. By Gabriel Metsu. It’s his day.

Friday morning mood…

Couldn’t agree more…

This is brilliant. Choirs from all over Asturias surprised Patti Smith by singing People Have the Power at one of her performances in Oviedo, where she is being awarded the prestigious Princesa de Asturias prize for the arts.

What a life. Marcos Rodríguez Pantoja obituary: man who claimed he was raised by wolves in the Sierra Morena in southern Spain. www.thetimes.com/article/cd0a...

Oh Madrid…

Enormous pomegranates in the swish Mercado de la Paz in Madrid.

The Mariacarmen protest camp. Sunday night, Puerta del Sol, Madrid

All go on the Gran Via in Madrid, as always.

Spain had its hottest September on record, with the average temperature 3.4 °C above normal. For the first time, the average temp in September was hotter than the "normal" (1991-2020) average temp for summer.

Press release of the day already won by “TikTok’s poopmaxxing trend”. Apparently there is a “growing obsession with achieving the perfect poop.”

Coast at Santa Cristina https://www.wikiart.org/en/joaqu-n-sorolla/coast-at-santa-cristina-1914

Mood…

Note to fellow travel journalists. Just because you hadn’t heard of somewhere/something before, doesn’t mean it’s underrated, secret, hidden or undiscovered. Harrumph.

‘Sherry is having a moment’ apparently. Again. ‘Don’t leave it all to Granny.’ FFS. Nice article by Will Lyons, just a shame about the clichéd headline, added by someone who’s probably never even tried it.

This squid ink fideuà was the highlight of a ‘light’ dinner at Come Bebe Ama in Carabanchel in Madrid. Melting slivers of papada ibérica were draped over Huelva red prawn tartare and the little blobs were black garlic alioli.

La Chulapa by Jorge Rodriguez Gerada on an old water tower in Carabanchel in Madrid. She’s clearly taking a dim view of how the traditional neighbourhood is changing.

“Maricarmen has died today at the age of 87. She had been in hospital for a week after being evicted from the home where she had lived for the last six decades.”

The housing protest camp has completely taken over the Puerta del Sol in Madrid. Just amazing.

Sherry Week is coming up! With hundreds of sherry events being held worldwide 🥂 Here is mine in Sevilla… #winesky www.sherry.wine/sherryweek/e...

Bit of a surprise to find myself in Malaga this morning…

Hefty delay at Bristol airport for stormy Madrid. Ordered “Cambodian style vegetable curry” - potato and green beans, bit of carrot. Waitress can’t be more precise as they “just chuck anything in the pot”. £17.95.

Pedro Sánchez calls election for November 29.

Lovely piece by Stephen Phelan…

‘Mini-Mediterranean hurricane’ approaching Cataluña tonight…

Sad news that Zara, the Cuban restaurant in Chueca in Madrid, which opened in 1964 and was always packed, is closing in a couple of weeks. Loved their avocado salad - very exotic back in the 1980s.

1914 photo of Federico García Lorca teaching his sister Isabel to read music... He'd be about 16 here in their Granada home.

Thousands took to the streets in Madrid this evening to protest against the eviction of 87-year-old Maricarmen, who had lived in her flat for 70 years. She is now in hospital.

The space next to me in Tesco car park this afternoon was taken up by a gloriously fluffy and enormous Maremma sheepdog who weighed 10 stone and refused to budge despite his owner’s cajoling. Fabulous.

Not a fan of the Spectator at all, but this article (free) is spot on. Don’t get me started on Italy snobs either … spectator.com/article/give...

“We never valued produce in terms of what it cost; a lentil was worth the same as caviar” Ferran Adrià talks to @stephenburgen.bsky.social

Ingredients for a meal, including heaps of lovely asparagus & some vile dead things, as cataloged in 1652 by Ignacio Arias. Another Spanish still-life painter elbowing in on Alejandro de Loarte's day.

I hope you’ll be wearing a different Larissa shirt with your t-shirt on each walk…

Fancy giving my book #IntoTheGroove a try-out if you haven't yet had the pleasure? It's currently reduced to just £3.89 for its Kindle format - and is perhaps as a consequence now #2 in the Music History and Criticism chart. YES. www.amazon.co.uk/Into-Groove-...

A man driving erratically near Seville was four times over the limit but blamed it on the vinegar in his gazpacho.

Madrid sunrise

A bit of gorgeously melty wagyu at the just-opened Nobu hotel in Madrid.

Anchovies on sobao sponge with crumbled blue cheese and something mayonnaisey. All very Cantabrian (in Madrid) and a surprisingly successful combo.

I’ve worked out how to turn the shower on and conquered the coffee machine in this hotel and that’s quite enough achievements for a Monday morning.

Truly spectacular collection of shells, carefully arranged around blood-red coral by 17th-century French painter Jacques Linard in 1640. Today is his day.

“We recreated them and shared them with friends and family..Some dishes, although they were prepared from scraps, surprised us as they were real gems, others were not so great.” @stephenburgen.bsky.social

Sixty years ago this month, all this happened. #WhenWasThings #Sept1966 #Monkees

La Reforma https://www.wikiart.org/en/joan-miro/not_detected_227961

Astounding that in a museum with the size and importance of the Reina Sofia in Madrid there is no normal café, just two rather fancy and spendy places - very good, but still. Cocktails and ceviche? Certainly. Sandwich and a beer? No chance.

Beer break at Hermanos Vinagre in Lavapiés in the dense Madrid heat.