Millions of Muslims in Spain begin Ramadan tomorrow

Main Mosque, Granada

SPAIN Over two million people living in Spain are Muslim, according to the Islamic community. All of them are called to start Ramadan tomorrow evening (as soon as they can see the new moon in Spain), a period of fasting that begins on the ninth lunar month and will last for the next thirty days. However, children, the elderly, pregnant or menstruating women are exempt, according to Ahmed Bermejo, who heads the Main Mosque in Granada. "If fasting is bad for your health, for whatever reason, then it is suggested you don't fast," says Bermejo. "We judge ourselves, and answer to ourselves. Each of us runs our relationship with Allah as best we can." The fact that Ramadan comes in the summer this year, worries some Muslims because most tend to be strict about it, and the intense heat can cause health problems. About two people a month convert to Islam in Spain, says the head of the Granada Mosque. "The way the world is these days, people are seeking help, and religion offers a different viewpoint," he says.

Who was Luis Ortega Brú and why should we care?

Luis Ortega Bru
(1916 - 1982)

SAN ROQUE Luis Ortega Brú was renown as the sculptor of those figures we see at Holy Week processions and lining the walls of churches. He was an imaginero - he imagined images, in other words. The new exhibition hall at the Palace of Governors is named after him, and his son, Ángel Ortega, plays a crucial part in setting the space up, according to town hall sources. Ángel has sourced 24 masterpieces off his father's work from the private collection of Enrique Hernández Luike, which would have been impossible without the cooperation and backing of th Council, says the son. The 24 sculptures and paintings are "fundamental" to putting together a comprehensive collection of Luis Ortega Brú's work, including that influenced by European and even Cubist art the artist brought with him from extensive journeys, all of which will be on public display as soon as the work on the exhibition space is finished.

What's a Cruz de Mayo, and why?

Cruz de Mayo in Jaén

You will see these all over Spain during May. They're called Cruces de Mayo, or May Crosses.They have a very long tradition in the Roman Catholic Church and come straight down from Byzantium. In fact, it is said that they are a celebration of the time when Saint Helena, mother of Roman Emperor Constantine I, who supposedly found a piece of the original Cross. However, it is also accepted, more realistically, that the May celebrations originated as pagan festivities that the Church so cleverly adapted its Christian benefit, not unlike the May pole in Britain. Okay, but why a cross? Aside from the symbolism of the Cross to early Christians (who, incidentally, almost adopted a fish as its symbol instead), there is also a legend involving Emperor Constantine.PLEASE BE AWARE THAT ITEMS SUCH AS THIS MAY BE SUBJECT TO SUBSCRIPTION IN THE FUTURE but you can make a donation NOW, too! Please click here for more information on how to help us continue. (This article took two hours and seventeen minutes to research, write, illustrate and present to you.)>>>

Bishops choose teachers and taxpayer pays for them

SPAIN One of the more curious things about the relationship between Church and State is the agreement signed in 1979 between the Vatican and Madrid, whereby teachers of religion at all schools are chosen -presumably for their 'religious correctness'- by the local Archbishop, but are paid for by the Education Departments of each region, that is, by the taxpayer. They now receive an average net salary of €2,000 per month, which is established at the same level as their 'normal' colleagues. At present there are some 13,000 such teachers, very few of whom want to be catechists (teachers of the Catholic Church doctrine). Their job security depends on their 'correctness', as is shown by the case of María del Carmen Galayo, who lost her job (later recovered but rejected on principle) because she was 'living in sin'>>>

Semi-nude protest in church

MADRID (Agencies) Police arrested and questioned four student activists from Madrid's Complutense University on Friday over an anti-church protest at the institution's chapel. Demonstrators burst into the chapel on March 10, shouting slogans and stripping off down to the waist, in protest against the "Catholic Church's oppression of women and the lesbian, gay, transgender and bisexual community." The archbishop's office in Madrid described the protest as "an act of profanity" against the chapel and held a "healing mass" for 1,000 worshippers there on Sunday.>

800 Jehova's Witnesses congregate at convention centre

LA LÍNEA (EuropaSur) A provincial convention of Jehova's Witnesses gathered together at the Palacio de Congresos (Convention Centre) in La Línea. Some 800 members of this congregation came in from all over the province of Cádiz (Arcos, Bornos, Villamartín, Espera, Ubrique, Benahocaz and Medina Sidonia, as well as San Fernando, Chiclana y Puerto Real) to stay over last weekend for a convention that was aimed at discussing a number of subjects of interest to the community under the generic title 'You are not part of this world'.