

Friday, March 21, 2008
A report by Tanaka Tomiko, a journalist living in Seville, southern Spain.
The Spanish general election is over.
"The Socialist Workers' Party won the general election on March 9th, and Prime Minister Zapatero is back for a second term.
As for the current Spanish economy, the economic growth rate, which had been steady due to the construction boom, is slowing down with the end of the construction boom.
This has led to increased unemployment and rising prices.
The new government's challenges are to stop rising prices and secure new jobs.
Also, he pledged to eliminate the wage gap between men and women in his election campaign, so we will have to wait and see how he achieves that goal."
○Spain.
"Spain has 17 autonomous regions, each of which has its own official language: Basque, Catalan, Galician, and Valencian.
In particular, the Basque Country and Catalonia are considered to be ethnically distinct from the Spanish, and so are facing the issue of independence.
What kind of place is Seville?
"Seville is the capital of Andalusia, the southernmost region of Spain, and is a city with thriving tourism and agriculture. Although it is not well known in Japan, Spain is the world's number one producer of olives, and is second only to France in tourism.
The Andalusia region, where Seville is located, is ethnically moderate and has no connection to the ethnic problems occurring in the north.
The official language is, of course, Spanish, but many people speak an Andalusian dialect, similar to the Osaka dialect in Japan, and are into the arts, known as "arte." Think of the many Osaka comedians walking the streets.
It's Easter now, and the festivals are in full swing. After this festival, in early April, there's the Feria de Abril, a festival of drinking, singing, and dancing. After that, there's the Rocío pilgrimage, a festival of drinking, singing, and dancing, and then the summer vacations.
In other words, it feels like you don't know when you're working. Time passes so slowly that many people don't even know what they'll be doing tomorrow.
In the summer, there are many days when the temperature exceeds 45 degrees, and many people take a month off from July to September to go to the beach.
However, there are also more and more people who are working hard these days.
In the northern Andalusian city of Jaén, olive oil producers are working to produce virgin extra olive oil using the techniques of Olibicultura and Elaiotecuia.
Orbicultura is the scientific and technical cultivation of olive groves, the study of plantations, the different types of olive trees and their cultivation processes according to the region in which they grow, the types of soil and their nutritional requirements.
Elaiotechnia is the technique of producing high quality oil, which involves studying the harvesting method, the type of olive tree, the manufacturing process, the machines used to squeeze the oil, the extraction method, the storage of the oil, the quality of the oil, the tasting of the oil, etc.
They are also conducting research into olive oil in collaboration with a doctor of agriculture who is famous in the olive oil world. There is no doubt that he will be a key figure in the future of Spanish olive oil.
What to see in Seville?
Seville has three World Heritage Sites.
Check out the Cathedral, Royal Palace and Archive of the Indies first.
We also recommend a stroll along the Guadalquivir River.