The week before Easter, also known as the Holy Week or Semana Santa, is a week filled with religious events. Some of the events organized in Spain during this week are well known and attract large crowds. The the Easter processions in Seville or Zamora. But processions like these are held in cities all over Spain. Also in the city we currently live in, Vinaròs. This year the Holy Week in the southern and eastern parts of Spain, normally the sunniest parts of the country, had to deal with strong winds and hard rains. This Easter storm brought was so bad that several Spanish cities had to deal with floods.…

The last weeks we experienced our first ever carnival! The carnival of Vinaros is one of the biggest events of the year in our region. It has a different main theme every year. This year the theme was China. The carnival started on the 16th of February and lasted until the 4th of March. During these weeks there are concerts, displays of fireworks and other events held throughout the city. Queens of the Carnival of Vinaros One of the main events is the Gala de Reinas, the Gala of the Queens. At this event every comparsa, a carnival troupe, shows their Reina. A person in an extravagant, Rio de Janeiro-like…

The wetlands of the Ebro Delta are home to large colonies of flamingos. So spotting flamingos often tops the wishlist of people that visit the area for birding. On the picture you can see the Fat Flamingo, phoenicopterus fatuosis. A very rare specimen of which, despite its size, little is known. Sadly, humanity is still in the dark when it comes to this species.  And that is literally where we will have to be in order to learn more about it. Because unlike other flamingos, this particular kind seems to be nocturnal. For some reason it is most commonly seen in the night of Fat Thursday, during the pyjama night…