tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-266886822007-07-05T23:28:57.400+01:00FrankoBlogger41125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26688682.post-23745531747718369052007-04-20T11:37:00.000+01:002007-04-20T11:58:51.937+01:00

Laura Wides-Munoz of the US Herald Tribune has written an article about the explosion in Spanish language social networking websites. Social networking websites (such as YouTube and MySpace) are communities or networks of websites that link or network together and have been lauded for some time now as the "next big thing" in terms of the way the Internet is set to evolve. According to the

Frankotag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26688682.post-51671860105006739762007-04-09T20:13:00.000+01:002007-04-09T20:26:58.431+01:00

Last month Spanish Parliament amended the Ley Orgánica de las Universidades de 2001 (the Organic Law of Universities 2001), which ultimately means that Spanish universities will have greater control over the selection of lecturers to fill roles. The original Ley Orgánica de las Universidades de 2001 demanded that applicants for tenured posts had to pass a nationally controlled examination in

Frankotag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26688682.post-25539688411150304102007-03-23T17:09:00.000Z2007-03-23T17:19:02.306Z

There has been an enormous amount of interest in Spanish verbs on the Spanish Talk website. Consequently I am going to completely revamp the Spanish Verbs pages. This will include additional Spanish verb tense descriptions and how to conjugate the verbs themselves. This will be a huge undertaking and so it may take me some time. I will be adding pages as and when I can rather than in one huge

Frankotag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26688682.post-41753285179003150532007-03-16T12:19:00.000Z2007-03-16T14:05:28.904Z

Spanish Newspapers I have composed a list of Spanish newspapers with links to their online presence: there is a mix of national and regional Spanish newspapers. The list should help you to keep up with news from Spain. In Spanish! Nosa Terra ABC Atlantico Canarias Avui Cinco Dias DEIA Diario Expansión Diario de Las Palmas Diario La Rioja El Comercio El Diario Montanes El Diario Vasco El Mirador

Frankotag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26688682.post-50395246592978893062007-03-05T21:29:00.000Z2007-03-06T09:23:45.414Z

The importance of Spanish verbs cannot be overestimated. There are several good reasons for this: “Verbs are 75% of language”Each sentence requires the use of at least one... but often more of themVerbs can be converted into adjectives and also used as nouns.Spanish verbs are problematic for English speakers as the Spanish verb system (unlike English) is highly inflected. Inflection is the

Frankotag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26688682.post-36138198438033684332007-02-14T23:20:00.000Z2007-02-14T23:32:45.480Z

I have just posted the third article about General Franco. This article focusses on the period of Franco's dictatorship and is the conclusion of my potted biography of Franco. As a footnote, Franco's impact on Spain to this day cannot be ignored: it will probably be many more decades before Spain is fully free of his mark.

Frankotag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26688682.post-51767982388360825212007-02-09T00:11:00.000Z2007-02-09T00:14:19.777Z

Spanish Talk has a new sitemap. Website maintenance is hard work! It has taken around 2 hours to get the Spanish Talk sitemap up to scratch... but now it's done. Time for bed. Hasta pronto. Franko Spanish Talk sitemap

Frankotag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26688682.post-13463847442618967062007-02-07T21:56:00.000Z2007-02-07T22:01:46.557Z

The sister of Princess Letizia (Prince Felipe's wife), Erika Ortiz, has been found dead in her home in Madrid. She was 31 years old. At the moment there is frenzied media speculation about her death, but the cause has not been formally announced.

Frankotag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26688682.post-66321988641793953182007-02-06T21:43:00.000Z2007-02-06T21:49:22.127Z

General Francisco Franco As promised yesterday, I have added a further piece about General Francisco Franco. It specifically discusses Franco and the Second Republic. The final installment will be here in the next few days. Anyway, here is the link to the article: General Francisco Franco

Frankotag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26688682.post-17971210949397788992007-02-05T23:53:00.000Z2007-02-06T00:00:20.032Z

Francisco Franco An earlier anonymous comment made here last year urged me to write something about the Republic. I decided to start this off by writing about a key figure in 20th Century Spain: Francisco Franco. This is an account of Franco's early years from his birth in 1892 up to 1928. I am currently working on an article about Franco and the Second Republic, with a further article planned

Frankotag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26688682.post-26787019374434315092007-01-31T12:56:00.000Z2007-01-31T20:30:00.660Z

Juan Jose Ibarretxe, the Basque prime minister (Lehendakari in the Basque language), has appeared in court in Bilbao this morning to defend himself against the charge of meeting with members of the Batasuna party in April last year. It is the first time that a Lehendakari has been indicted in this manner. Batasuna is a Basque political party that has historically acted as the voice of the illegal

Frankotag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26688682.post-1169676874117626522007-01-24T22:07:00.000Z2007-01-29T12:43:39.053Z

My first post of 2007! What could be more appropriate, after the indulgence of the Christmas/New Year period, than a food recipe? Spanish Talk now has an area devoted to Spanish Food. The first recipe listed on that page is my take on the Spanish Omelette... one of my favourite tapa bites! Please try it out and leave a comment to let me know what you think.

Frankotag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26688682.post-1165788838349377482006-12-10T22:12:00.000Z2007-01-28T23:36:13.200Z

Scientists in Madrid have made a connection between pollutant toxins and the bizarre phenomenon of transgender fish! It appears that toxins are causing male carp to develop ovaries and some female shelfish to grow male genitalia. Apparently a chemical compound called tributylin is one of the pollutants to blame. Tributylin is a chemical pollutant that has been proven to engender marine

Frankotag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26688682.post-1164725369705540312006-11-28T14:42:00.000Z2007-01-29T12:16:14.939Z

Prince Felipe and his wife Princess Letizia are are going to have a second child: a daughter. The happy couple's announced second pregnancy re-ignited and polarised opinion in Spain about succession to the Spanish throne: something that had previously happened after to the birth of their first daughter in October 2005. The Spanish Constitution of 1978 dictates that males have priority over

Frankotag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26688682.post-1164649082228325562006-11-27T17:35:00.000Z2007-01-28T23:36:48.712Z

The new, improved version of Spanish Talk has now been uploaded! This has taken weeks of effort but should mean that the site is now much easier to maintain and add to. Phew! Please let me know what you think about it.

Frankotag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26688682.post-1164579393133975022006-11-26T22:12:00.000Z2007-01-28T23:37:04.769Z

I can't believe the last time I made a post was September 5th 2006! There are a few reasons for this. I got married in mid-september and went on honeymoon to North America for several weeks (more about that later). In the last few weeks I have been updating the Spanish Talk site which has been a massive task. It should be available tomorrow so please have a look at it and leave some comments

Frankotag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26688682.post-1157492233217671212006-09-05T22:17:00.000+01:002007-01-28T23:37:32.607Z

Spanish Proverbs I was thinking about how charming we English speakers sound when we first become a little competent in speaking other languages. When we try to stretch ourselves with perhaps more sophisticated phrases the result can be highly amusing. On my first visit to Spain I was beginning to feel confident enough to try out a few english idioms by literally translating them into Spanish.

Frankotag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26688682.post-1155054598290867232006-08-08T17:21:00.000+01:002007-01-28T23:37:47.668Z

Forest Terrorism in Galicia Forest fires are always a problem during the summer months in Spain. In Galicia, at the moment there are currently around 60 "active" fires burning with a further 30 or so described as being "under control" - to read through the semantics this means that there are currently around 100 fires requiring attention from the authorities. Often these fires are started by

Frankotag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26688682.post-1153494194637598202006-07-21T15:56:00.000+01:002007-01-31T13:40:15.123Z

Here's a tip for any male having difficulty with the opposite sex... it is a quote from Luis Buñuel describing Salvador Dalí's style of seduction: "Salvador Dali seduced many ladies, particularly American ladies, but these seductions usually consisted of stripping them naked in his apartment, frying a couple of eggs, putting them on the woman's shoulders and, without a word, showing them the

Frankotag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26688682.post-1152888311738230972006-07-14T15:42:00.000+01:002006-11-27T20:38:10.766Z

Bluefish Attack at Alicante Beach San Juan Beach in Alicante is closed today following a bluefish attack on a seven year old girl earlier in the week. The girl was bitten on the hand and wrist (quite seriously it seems) and was rushed to Alicante's Hospital General, where it was thought she may have been the bitten by a shark. This theory was dismissed after doctors consulted with "marine

Frankotag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26688682.post-1152793551416066802006-07-13T13:24:00.000+01:002006-11-27T20:37:37.266Z

I had intended to make this post to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of the Spanish Civil War. For those of you that speak Spanish, there is a very interesting series of interviews on the el Mundo website highlighting the experiences of several people who lived through it. You can find the interviews here: La Guerra Civil Española. If you are interested in reading an overview of the key

Frankotag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26688682.post-1152793231571990592006-07-13T13:15:00.000+01:002006-11-27T20:37:19.290Z

The Costa Tropical, in the province of Granada, is suffering from too much construction says Greenpeace. According to the environmental group, towns and villages such as Almuñecar, Salobreña and Motril are the most worrying examples of such "urban speculation". Greenpeace cites Almuñecar as being the worst case. It currently has a population of 23,000 but plans have been approved to build a

Frankotag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26688682.post-1152609843937967532006-07-11T10:17:00.000+01:002006-11-27T20:37:01.830Z

Sex Change Operations To Be Made Free in Aragon The Aragon Health Service (Servicio Aragonés de Salud) looks set to pay for sex change operations following a ruling made by the Aragonese Parliament following a motion from the Chunta Aragonesista (a regionalist, social democratic party from Aragon). The cost of such an operation is between €12,000- €25,000: therefore out of reach for most

Frankotag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26688682.post-1152540697857542252006-07-10T15:10:00.000+01:002006-11-27T20:36:46.606Z

Flights to Spain Hit By Strike Action A strike has been called by the pilot's union SEPLA (Sindicato Español de Pilotos de Líneas Aéreas) beginning today, Monday 10th July, in protest of Iberia Airlines investment in CATair (a low cost airline), which many pilots fear will lead to job cuts. The strike action is set to last for a week, during which time 240 flights will likely be cancelled each

Frankotag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26688682.post-1152394862470710712006-07-08T22:36:00.000+01:002007-02-07T23:24:47.160Z

Juan de Ávalos Has Died A name that will probably not mean that much to many people but Juan de Ávalos was the sculptor responsible for the huge figures in the tomb of General Francisco Franco at el Valle de los Caídos (the Valley of the Fallen). Franco claimed that el Valle de los Caídos was built as a monument to all those who fell during the Spanish Civil War. The reality is that it was more

Franko