A goal scored against historical Philistinism. As a result of pressure from the public, the archaeological remains corresponding to a part of Muslim mediaeval Murcia are to be conserved in situ. The extraordinary find emerged during preparatory excavations for a car park in the Jardín de San Esteban, next to the seat of Murcia's regional government. The authorities had wanted to press on with the car park anyway, but civic protest, orchestrated by the Plataforma Ciudadana para la Conservación del Patrimonio Arqueológico de San Esteban and culminating in a human chain around the site, has forced them to back down. The 13th century streets discovered include the remains of 50 houses, seven mansions and a mosque.

 

UNESCO has added the Silbo Gomero, the whistled language of La Gomera in the Canary Islands, to its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The Silbo is ancient, having been used since before the days of the Spanish conquest to communicate across the island's extremely rugged terrain. It is said that it enables "conversations" to be held between whistlers over three kilometres apart.

Corunna's ancient lighthouse, the Torre de Hércules, has been inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List. Built by the Romans in the 1st century, it is the oldest lighthouse still in use in the world. Legend says that it marks the spot where Hercules buried the head and weapons of the slain giant Geryon.

A new book claims that Francisco Franco, Spain's dictator from 1936 until his death in 1975, was monorchid, having lost a testicle in a battle in North Africa. The BBC, Telegraph and other normally serious organs of journalism are finding the parallel with the war-time lyrics* to the Colonel Bogey March irresistible (and, to be honest, I think it's pretty damn funny myself. Was it in the Mel Brooks version of "The Great Dictator" that the tune is heard being whistled outside, prompting Hitler to screech, "Don't listen to zem, zey're whistling lies?"). Read on for more of this story (and more poor taste).

The richness of Spain and Portugal's cultural and natural patrimony is reflected in the fact that they have 53 World Heritage sites between them, 40 in Spain and 13 in Portugal, which puts them near the top of the ranking (not that this is a competition, but Spain alone is second only to Italy, with 43 sites). And I have marked them all on a Google Map - see it here, or read on for more about the UNESCO World Heritage list.