Twins

As we dance, prance and totter around Mojácar during the magnificent Moors and Christians festival, which began thirty years ago in 1988 to remember the Fall of Mojácar ('peaceful transfer of power') from one régime to another, a second important anniversary is upon us.
Twenty five years ago this week, the Elders of the town decided it was time to 'twin' with another city elsewhere. Perhaps, back in 1993, with the first flush of international tourism upon us, the swollen population of Britons living locally and the opportunity to travel abroad at a reduced and subsidised rate, they might have gone for Henley-on-Thames, or maybe Southend or perhaps Brighton.
The children could have perfected their English, as the Good People of Brighton swapped their brood with their Mojaquero colleagues for a fortnight. The wealthy Henlyans might have bought some decent houses here (in those days, unfortunately, we were only building small apartments - there's more profit in them, even if the dwellers are poorer and short-term).
At any rate, and no doubt after much Discussion, we chose to twin with a town in Andorra called Encamps ('Encamp' in Catalán). Andorra is a fascinating place, in many ways, it's a sort of Spanish Gibraltar. Encamps itself is a charming resort with good skiing, lots of shops,a population of
13,000 souls and fourteen banks. Not much to do with Mojácar you might think, but did I mention the banks?
Every year a bus-load of visitors head north, their bank-books firmly held, to enjoy the attractions of the local restaurant and hostal. It's all quite convivial and works both ways as look, in our photo, there's some of the Encamps people here in Mojácar to enjoy the Moors and Christians festival. We hope they can stay for the parade on Sunday night (is that a mannequin standing next to our tourist councillor?).
The story goes that Turre was highly impressed by our choice of twinned town. They famously had a plenary meeting on the subject of finding something suitable for them. 'We don't want anything too foreign', they thought, driving a pencil line through most of Europe, 'or really anywhere that is different in their values from ourselves' (Catalonia fell from the list with a quiet thud). 'No one who might swamp us with different ideas, and anyway, we don't want to subsidise expensive bus tickets for our inhabitants...', they agreed. In the end, so goes the story, they chose to twin with Mojácar.
I like the Andorran flag which can be seen in the Plenary Room at the Mojácar town hall. There's the Spanish one, the Andalusian one and the Andorran one all in a row.
And if the Andorran ensign is the same as the Romanian flag, who are we to quibble?