Alias is an American whose mid-life crisis has pushed him to travel from Portugal to Greece, making as many friends as possible along the way, something for which he evidently has an eviable knack (see photo). He submitted his blog here as a link, with the note "not sure about the category," and I'm not, either, so I haven't been able to fit it in anywhere yet, but it's a fine blog with great slideshows, so I recommend it (even though I hate it when people younger than me complain about their mid-life crises). The link is Alias Jones, or click here to read Alias's own comments.

Posted by : John Ross on Saturday, June 17, 2006 - 09:01 AM 3407 reads

Spain begins 2006 with the coming into force of the Spanish version of European Union legislation against smoking. The most immediate effect is that smoking is completely prohibited in centros de trabajo, workplaces, but within a few months the ban will be extended to bars and restaurants. Small catering establishments (less than 100 square metres) are already obliged to signal their stance - smoking or non-smoking - while larger bars and restaurants will be compelled to either provide properly closed off and independently ventilated areas for smokers or be classified as non-smoking areas. Read more.

Posted by : John Ross on Monday, January 02, 2006 - 01:05 PM 1769 reads

If proof were needed that is. The rockfall which closed the four lanes of the A-8, the Bilbao-San Sebastian highway, this afternoon (December 20, 2005), burying a lorry and two cars and writing off another, produced a casualty toll of precisely zero.

Note: Manually redated.

Posted by : John Ross on Tuesday, September 20, 2005 - 02:34 PM 369 reads

You know that nagging feeling that something you are putting together is not quite right, incomplete, and you can't quite put your finger on what is missing? But it came to me in a flash - Spain and Portugal for Visitors needed girls in bikinis, the scantier the better. And the folks at the utterly splendid Bikini Dare had just the right stuff, and to make it even better - it's on topic! Here is a slideshow of the Bikini Dare girls in Calpe, Alicante (watch out for the glorious expressions on bystanders' faces).

Posted by : John Ross on Monday, April 11, 2005 - 12:58 PM 22808 reads

As if Madrid's fabulous art galleries were not enough of a tourist draw, a new attraction is sure to bring jumbo-jet-loads of charter visitors to the capital of Spain. Madrid's Cardinal Rouco Varela has denounced that in Madrid there is "mass sinning," and to make things even juicier, further explained that "sometimes the sinning is done with daring, sometimes with offhand frivolity" (personally, I have to admit that, although sinning with daring or frivolously comes more or less naturally to me, being sinful, frivolous and offhand all at the same time is a pretty impressive trick to pull off). The cardinal threw his wobbler at a diocesan synod, a kind of ecclesiastical pep-talk, on Saturday January 22 in Madrid, and his rantings were reported by the right-wing newspaper El Mundo. Visit Madrid, virtually only I'm sure you will be disappointed to find, or read on for some slightly less flippant remarks about Catholic conservatives, if you will forgive the tautology.

Posted by : John Ross on Sunday, January 23, 2005 - 11:20 AM 1566 reads