Bikes, Dentists and Immigration

Of course, after the post about the metro a couple of weeks ago, I have been, or very nearly been, late several times... although I am definately to blame and not the metro.

I've been looking for a second hand racing bike (bicicleta carretera), which you can easily pick up for £50-£60 in the UK on ebay. After searching ebay.es and various other sites and looking for second hand shops, things weren't looking so easy here. The few that there were were very expensive (or in Bilbao). I was beginning to think that I'd have to get a cheap one from Decathlon or something. Bikes are pretty expensive over here and in the shops I went to there was nothing for under €250 at the very lowest. A man in the shop also told me that it was very difficult to get second hand bikes in Madrid, let alone second hand racing bikes. I couldn't really believe this, as I've seen lots of people (although not nearly as many as in the UK) cycling around on knackered old bikes. They must be coming from somewhere! Finally though, someone pointed me in the direction of segundomano.es (secondhand.es) where there are absolutely loads, although still slightly pricier than expected. In the end I picked up a 90's Peugeot racer (without pedals) for €90.

€90 - pedals not included

I also had a friend over from England last weekend which was a lot of fun, one night going out to Pacha in Tribunal (fun, young crowd, but very expensive drinks) and playing a 'what's behind this door?' kind of game round bars in Malasana the next, during which we found a great little 70s funk/blaxploitation themed bar tucked away on Calle Vincente San Ferrer (I think). My friend is of Chinese ethnicity and he was quite shocked at the difference in social background of the immigrant population here. I say immigrant, because that is one big difference, most people of other ethnic backgrounds in Spain are first generation immigrants (Spain's immigrant population went from 2.28% in 2000 to 12.2% in 2009), and unlike Britain and other countries, most didn't come for, or haven't found, training or job opportunities. They make up a large part of the 20% unemployment rate at the moment, with 67%) unemployed. As my friend noted he was the only Chinese person on the street not trying to (illegally) sell us cans of beer. Similarly, I think I'm yet to see a non-white person in a suit in Madrid. This is quite shocking, but you've got to remember that Spain's modern history is quite different from the rest of western Europe, and that it only came out of a facist dictatorship in 1976, a fact that leaves a major underlying cultural mark on the country today, in many different ways. If Angela Merkel and David Cameron think that multiculturalism has failed in Germany and the UK, it doesn't even feel like it's arrived as a concept yet in Spain.

Annoyingly, I've developed a problem with a tooth and am currently looking for an English speaking dentist (I've had to go to a French dentist before and it is not a nice feeling when you can't understand what's going on/what they're about to do to your mouth). There are some about but I think they may be pricier (you pay for the full cost of dental care here, social security or no) than non-anglophone ones. I've found this website quite handy for finding them though. This problem actually stems from a bike accident when I was 17. Let's hope cycling on the right hand side isn't too hard to get used to...

Felizes Tres Reyes

...Or Happy Three Kings to you. Today is (another) national holiday here in Spain for Three Kings, which many people, particularly Catholics, take much more seriously than Christmas itself. This is when children recieve their presents, instead of christmas day, delivered by the three wise men that bothered Jesus when he was born (or, 12 days after as it is here - the Bible doesn't actually mention them being there on the night), one from the Orient, one from Europe and one from Africa, who magically fly around the world by camel... sound familiar? All this must be a bit confusing for kids. Are they competing with Santa or what?

Umbrellas out in Plaza de Ciebeles

Anyway, there's a huge parade through every town in Spain on Reyes Eve as I'm gonna call it, and the one in Madrid is pretty huge and broadcast live on TV so we went down and joined the crowds in Plaza de Ciebeles to check it out. It started off with some light drizzle and an odd musical interlude telling the story of the Kings featuring a man playing an upended piano suspended above the stage with projections on it, before the parade started coming down the Paseo Castellano. Its very much a kids event, with loads of toddlers hoisted on there parents shoulders and even up step ladders waiting to catch the sweets thrown from the floats, but it was pretty full of adults too who were clearly loving it (and also trying to catch sweets).

 

Balthazar, all the way from Africa, apparently

It's quite a surreal procession really, giant birds, the smurfs, the Royal Guards on horseback, a pirate ship, mildly terrifying giant fish, flag waving cheerleaders, a gigantic samaurai who looked like he was muttering silently to himself and much more, followed at the end by the Three Kings themselves. Now, one of the Kings, Balthazar, from Africa, is usually black. However, this is Spain, not a country known for its political correctness (see also the national basketball team narrowing their eyes for a photo at the Beijing olympics). Did they have a black person filling this role? Of course not, they had someone blacked up. Oh dear.

Fireworks, as seen from Gran Via

This aside, the event was great fun. It's nice to have a big communal celebration like that at this time of year, and this one brings out the wide eyed kid in everyone. You've got to be pretty sharp to catch any sweets though, or up-end an umbrella as many people did. Some pretty impressive fireworks afterwards too.

Seeing as today was a national holiday, it was high time for a drink afterward, and we headed over to Malasana for a couple at a little cafe whos name I always forget that plays bossa nova non stop. Then to circus themed Malabar on Plaza Dos de Mayo with its very friendly staff before venturing into Chueca to a bar that serves huge plates of tapas (see below) with a decent sized beer for 4 Euros a pop while huge animal heads stare at you from the wall, and then on to a Olivers, an ordinary looking bar with an unexpected cellar club with neon lights stretching from end to end (also see below) and a very hit and miss music policy. All that, and I didn't see one person breaking the smoking ban. In fact, people looked quite happy standing outside.

Needless to say, I'm quite hungover. But hey, what are public holidays for eh?