Soltalk March 2018 | Page 8

Welcome to the March edition of Soltalk, what a busy month it is promising to be! Easter is also in March this year - in Spain it is called Semana Santa or Holy Week. There will be processions during the Day on Sunday March 25 and Sunday April 1, and evening processions on Wednesday March 28, Thursday March 29 and Friday March 30. If you have not seen these before they can be extremely moving and take a long time to pass around the town due to immense weight of the thrones being carried. Visit the tourist information office at Nerja The Easter poster is unveiled at Town Hall nearer the time to Nerja Town Hall obtain a program of the times and routes the processions will take. It is really well worth experiencing. In Spain Thursday 29 and Friday March 30 will be public holidays, and not Friday and Monday as in the UK. First we have St David’s Day - the feast day of the patron saint of Wales, falls on March 1, the date of his death in 589 AD. The feast has been celebrated since his canonisation in the 12th century though it’s not a national holiday in the UK. Traditional festivities include wearing daffodils and leeks, recognised symbols of Wales and St David respectively, eating traditional Welsh food and women wearing traditional Welsh dress. An increasing number of cities and towns across Wales put on parades throughout the day. Mothering Sunday, or Mother’s Day, is on March 11 this year so if you live here and have a mother in the UK you will need to get straight down to Smiffs Book and Card shop to choose a card, they have a great selection, and luckily it’s a few doors away from the Post Office! See their ad on page 49 for details. For sporting enthusiasts Six Nations Rugby continues concluding on Super Saturday - March 17 aka St Patrick’s Day - and even non-sports fans like me will probably enjoy watching the Boat Races on March 24 - go Oxford!! (Maybe that’s just because I used to live in Putney). See our Sports feature on page 34 for more details. There is a lot going on in Nerja at the moment, particularly noticeable are quite a few new businesses which are opening up and this is always a good sign for the economy. We wish them all the best of luck in their new ventures and you will see some of them in the following pages. As I mentioned of course it’s Paddy’s day on March 17 and to make life easier for you, we have a little green map of Nerja showing all the participating bars so you can plan your day’s entertainment. Most bars will be open early until late with many having live music and other treats for you to enjoy throughout the day - see page 53 for that. Finally, don’t forget to put your clocks go forward on Sunday, March 25. Lovely light evenings will start soon! Enjoy this issue of Soltalk and all that March has to offer. SARAH BROOKES 6