A tourist in Granada

Granada is Spain's top tourist spot at all times of year. The glamorous beauty of the snow-capped Sierra Nevada which rises above the ancient city with its world-famous Moorish palace and Renaissance cathedral gives it instant appeal. The Alhambra palace used to be one of the seven wonders of the world, and countless coachloads of visitors arrive week after week to be beguiled by its enchanting architecture and gardens. But if you go off the beaten track and wander up the steep and winding road through the gypsy quarter known as the Sacromonte, up the hillside along the river Darro, you will come to one of Granada's best kept secrets and treasures, the abbey of the Sacromonte. Perched on the hill overlooking both the Alhambra and the city with the dual domes of the cathedral and the new mosque, the abbey was founded in 1610 by the Archbishop of Granada, Don Pedro de Castro, to house the priceless relics of Christian martyrs found in old Torre Turpiana, and to guard the mysterious Lead Books, strange archaelogical artefacts discovered buried on the hill where the abbey stands. The abbey has been uppermost in my mind this week as I revise my new book which tells the story of these relics and lead texts, to be published later this year.
On a dark, wild, cold night in December in England, I am remembering with pleasure the tranquil beauty of Granadan abbey, and my kind and lovely friends who work there, former abbot Don Juan Sanchez and Dr Marisa Garcia Valverde, who helped me in my researches. !Feliz Navidad!

Medieval witch cures November blues

Cambridge has become damp and dismal in the last week of the university term. November has suddenly closed in on tired students and lecturers as they summon the last dregs of energy in lectures, classes and supervisions, and as a Hispanist, my thoughts have started to turn from translating Castilian into English and the finer points of Cervantes' prose to the golden beaches and gentle seas of the warmer regions of the Spanish peninsula. But reading my students' essays on Fernando de Rojas' great late fifteenth-century masterpiece 'La Celestina' has unexpectedly revived me! Their lively, refreshing takes on the evil old bawd who gave her name to the work has reinforced my sense of the power and importance of studying not only literature, but in particular the literature of earlier periods. This vibrant tale of tragic love and prostitution where aristocrats and whores rub shoulders not only gives us an insight into the class and gender struggles of their time, but offers us a subversive glimpse of a topsy-turvy world in which social and religious prejudice destroys both rich and poor. It is a window onto a forgotten world of witchcraft and chivalry, but it is also a tale for our time, and reminds us of the vital ways in which literature can show us our humanity.  So thank you to my students and to the wily Celestina for perking up the end of the Michaelmas term!