One Man in Spain

Whilst living in Madrid it was explained to me that the population decamped to the coast just as residents of France depart for the south. Gandia, south of Valencia, is one such destination for both so much so that a railway line runs directly to the beach area during the summer months, a day trip from Madrid is not out of the question. This is my first visit to this part of Spain, topical at the moment because it is part of Catalan. As in Wales, signposts are in two languages and the grammar changes. There are, in effect, three versions of Spanish in Spain; South American Spanish in the Canary Islands, "King's Spanish" on the mainland and Catalonia Spanish in the North East. I digress. After a relaxing day at casa Jackson I have my first visit to Gandia on Saturday 22nd December. A reasonably warm day in the sunshine, we park on the site of the open market. As this is holiday time there is a huge funfair on the site which will spring to life later in the day. Parking i...