BSS member Dominic Begg reflects on his connection with Spain over seven decades

“All these places had their moments...”

The quotation above comes from the Beatles song “In my life”, in which John Lennon looks back at people and places that meant a lot to him. I have good memories of France, Italy, Mexico, Ireland, etc., but here I’m focusing on the role Spain has played in my life.

The one abiding memory of my first trip to Spain was looking down from a restaurant, carved into a cliff, at fishing-boats with huge, traditional glass lamps that attracted swarms of fish. This happened in August 1955 near L’Escala (Costa Brava) close to midnight, so I expect my parents had persuaded me to have a siesta that afternoon in order to stay awake for the ‘show.’

I returned to Spain three times in the mid-60s, first to the north, visiting Salamanca, Ávila and several monasteries, and then twice to the south on my own. I remember flying to Gibraltar and, on one occasion, having to walk across the runway to the customs post at the entrance to La Línea because of some sort of stand-off by Franco’s government. The two Easter holidays I spent with my Scottish godmother’s family in Ronda taught me a great deal about how the landed gentry lived. She’d married a charming marquis who owned several farms, but his breakfast was just freshly baked bread dipped in his own green olive oil.

Read the full details of Dominic's 'moments' in Spain in edition 267 of La Revista
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Note on the author:

Dominic Begg is a retired English teacher and rugby player. He lives in Sitges.