The Famous Manilva (Sabinillas) Sunday Market

With the majority of Sabinillas' shops and businesses closed on Sundays there isn't much to do in southern Spain except walk along the beach, visit with friends or family, or visit the huge Sunday market in Sabinillas. Sadly, we have no friends or family here and we walk along the beach every day, so on Sundays we make the 20 minute walk up the road to market. Walking to the market is key as traffic queues to get into and out of the market are almost a mile long and enforced by half a dozen local police (it would seem we're not alone in the 'no-friends, no-family' category).

I meant to write about the market when we were here in March but apparently never got around to it. Basically it's a giant food and flea market that has everything you could possibly want or need,(including:

The kitchen sink

More cowbell

and most especially, the stuff you don't (see below). Items aren't always in the best or cleanest condition, but if you look hard enough, you can find it at the market.

Since we're here for another five months and our bare bones apartment is lacking in the majority of amenities that make life easier, we've been at the market the last two weekends picking up bits of stuff, particularly a variety of used electronic cables that would allow us to run our laptop through the apartment's old-school TV so we can watch the movies and TV programs we brought with us, on a larger screen. Ten Euros, three different cables and an adaptor box later and we still haven't sorted this out. We think we found what we need at a local 'China store' (oh don't worry, the 'China store' will be covered in a future blog.) but can't decide if it's worth trying and failing with yet another cable.

One of my favourite market stalls is the 'Ceramics Guy'. Because I seem to have an addiction to bright colours (also obvious with the beach glass I've been collecting) I nearly have to glue my hands into my pockets to keep from buying everything ceramics guy sells -- beautiful, handmade Spanish pottery. Last March, I bought a small version of this jug as a 'thank you' to my friend Anna for taking care of the my cat, the late (not tardy) Bumper, while we were away. This trip, we picked up a larger version for ourselves that serves as the perfect decanter for a €2.20 bottle of wine (don't judge).

Pretty ceramic jug

Cheap wine

We didn't have much of a shopping list this visit so I took the time to look more closely at the stuff being sold and less for a particular electronics cable. Of the estimated 120 or so vendors, maybe 40% (Ceramics Guy included) are selling items that are brand new. That leaves 60% of the vendors selling used, garage sale-esque items, some of which is the holy bounty of absolute crap. 

While it's been said that one man's trash is another man's treasure, in my wildest dreams, I can't imagine that any of the items pictured below could be considered anyone's idea of treasure. Though I could see them being buried in an unmapped location.

Behold, a small sampling of Sabinillas Sunday market crap:

This playful bear wants to spend its life on its back in your living room. Make a two-for offer and they'll throw in the domineering Thai elephant.

I like to think that the guy in this print never told his friends he posed for this. I also like to think that one of them will see it at the Sabinillas market and never let him live it down.

What would Spain be without its bull? And of course, the matador. Thankfully more and more people here are recognizing the cruelty of bull-fighting, but such traditions are hard to break in a country that puts the image of the black bull on everything. Imagine these museum-worthy paintings hanging in a special place on your walls.

Whoever painted this must have either really hated his mother because that is not a flattering image of her in the background.

'Don't look now Matador Michael Jackson, but there is an angry bull coming up behind you!!'

The Paper Trail

Anyone who knows me has heard me complain about the way that North American companies rip off consumers and make them think they're doing them a favour using BS marketing. One particular scam that really ticks me off is how paper products are sold and marketed. 

Boxes of facial tissue all used to have 200 sheets and every few years manufacturers have decreased the contents of the box by 20 or so sheets while maintaining the container's larger size. Tissue boxes now have either 118 or 80 sheets but the prices haven't dropped to reflect the change. Today, you'd be hard pressed to find a box with 200 sheets that isn't being marketed as a double-box with a negligible savings over the cost of two boxes. Toilet paper, paper towels, feminine hygiene products are all sold exactly the same way. And if you want to be ecologically responsible and buy recycled paper products, you'll pay a premium for the privilege, which is just beyond my comprehension. The fact that all disposable paper products aren't made from recycled content is just absurd.

Jump the Atlantic and you'll witness a more sensible approach to consumer products and waste management. Space is at a premium in most European homes -- heck, in most of Europe period. Homes just don't have massive storage closets able to stock enough items to survive that nuclear attack. When the bomb drops you'll be lucky if you last the week. But you probably won't care anyway because you'll be out at a cafe with other members of the doomed population having a drink and talking about what just happened. 

People here shop a couple of times a week for consumables and though I have seen some North American habits creep into the market here, for the most part products are ultra concentrated. I still can't get over the single 600 sheet roll of paper towels at the grocery store. It was massive. I didn't buy it because I don't have anyone who  would appreciate me willing it to them, but it just makes so much sense for anyone with a messy family who doesn't reach for a rag to clean up a spill. 

And this is how a triple roll of TP is packaged. When they say 'Mega', they mean it. At nearly 600 sheets per roll (or 2300 sheets per package), North American mega rolls look like a bad joke. 

By comparison, North American brand Cascades, sells a 'double' roll that has 225 sheets, and that's not bad by NA standards; I've seen 'double' rolls that have 180 sheets (!?) You can see why I get so angry at having manufacturers BS me with their marketing.

So, I decided to look closer at what the social, economic and environmental benefits could be for something like that 600 sheet roll of paper towels. These are just my inexperienced observations and I'd be happy to hear anyone's comments (for or against) my argument. 

For the record, many of the paper products sold in Spain (and Portugal, I know from  personal experience) are made with recycled post-consumer paper, and costs on the whole are 1/3 that of North American paper products.

Also, I also feel it necessary to mention that my product cycle example could have a negative impact on employment numbers, and welcome opinions on how that could be overcome or off-set.

Take a closer look next time you shop and analyze exactly what you're paying for. Chances are, your regular brand is ripping you off in more ways than one.

Hasta luego.

We're Back!

It has been almost exactly eight months since my last blog post about Spain and in that time I have quit my job and moved here for six months with my boyfriend and our dog, Freddie. We sublet our apartment in downtown Toronto's St. Lawrence Market neighbourhood, and what contents we didn't purge were moved to my cottage in Haliburton, Ontario.

The apartment we rented in Sabinillas, along Spain's southern coast -- the Costa del Sol or Sun Coast -- is not exactly as expected or depicted in the online listing, but we have grown into it and are fairly content here mostly due to the location. Just three blocks from the beach, it is a treat to walk out our door and take Freddie for a walk along the beach and watch him play in the surf.  He has reached a level of 'being' I don't think I've known any human to experience.

Bamboo stalks are everywhere along the beach, some still tied together with rudimentary twine and large water bottle floats. Signs of someone's battered raft that carried them the relatively short distance from the coast of North Africa across the Mediterranean Ocean and into Europe. As unbelievable a thought as that is to most people, the dog appreciates this never-ending supply of sticks.

We've been pretty lucky with the weather so far, but despite the saying, the rain in Spain does not stay mainly on the plane. In fact, over the six days that we've been here it has been a balance between cool and gray, and sparkly and sunny . Yesterday it threatened to rain in Sabinillas so we decided to take a day trip to Sevilla where it was supposed to be sunnier and warmer. It was overcast but we still enjoyed some sites like the Plaza de España and took in a little of the Festival de los Naciones on La Dia de los Muertes, commonly known as Halloween to North Americans. Kids and adults alike dress up to celebrate.

 Today back in Sabinillas, the surf is so 'angry' that we can hear it from our north-facing apartment. It's really something. I'd hate to be a refugee tempting fate in the ocean on the sunniest of days, but today's waves would be impossible to successfully navigate.

When we arrived last Tuesday we went to our local Carrefours, a Wal-mart type shop that carries food, household items, and alcohol. Everything we'd need to get set up in the apartment. Usually when I travel it's as a tourist and I bring my own supply of toiletries. Since we knew we are going to be here for a bit we had to stock up on everything: laundry and dish soap, shampoo and conditioner, paper products, human and dog food, etc. Despite spending  months trying to learn Spanish before we left Canada, I was not prepared for translating the labels of the all the products I would be purchasing. Needless to say, the shopping process was time-consuming and not altogether successful. It has taken me five days to discover that that the 'body wash' I bought is actually a moisturizer. I wondered why it wouldn't lather. On the plus side, my skin has truly never felt softer.