Casal Catala Event on December 11th

Our friends at The Casal Catala are organizing an event on Saturday, December 11th to celebrate the beginning of the Christmas holidays.

....

The Casal Català de Washington, DC invites you to join the ‘Caga Tió’ & Family Christmas gathering.

On the occasion of Christmas Holidays, the Casal Català de Washington, DC (Catalan House) organizes a family gathering open to the whole Catalan community and Catalonia’s friends in the Washington, DC area.

The event will be held on December 11th, and it will include a toast with Catalan cava, the traditional “Caga Tió” (in which children are given sweets and presents), and it will also provide with the opportunity to express our best wishes to each other for Christmas holidays.

There will be food and live music.

‘Caga Tió’ & Family Christmas gathering
Saturday, December 11th, 2010 (5:00PM-10:00PM)
Elephant & Castle

The Elephant & Castle Pub is located on the corner of 19th St., NW and I St., NW, just a block from the Farragut West Metro stop and a close walk to Dupont Circle, Georgetown and George Washington University.

On Saturdays it is easy to find parking in the area.

Please RSVP before December 7th at Catalan House’s e-mail: casalcatalawdc@gmail.com

BBVA and the NBA

Very interesting (and smart) marketing move by Spain's BBVA bank...

BBVA will serve as the Official Bank of the NBA, the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), and the NBA Development League (NBA D-League) in the United States, Spain and Puerto Rico. 

http://www.spainuscc.org/newsevents/news-detail.asp?newsID=1041

NBA Washington Wizards Basketball Games - Spanish Heritage Nights

Our good friend Alfonso Aramendia is putting together a group of Spaniards and "Friends of Spain" to attend upcoming Wizards games at Verizon Center to cheer both the Wizards and our Spanish basketball stars playing in the NBA.

The Washington Wizards will host its first Spanish Heritage Night on Friday, November 19 at 7:00 pm when the Memphis Grizzlies come to Verizon Center.  Grizzlies player and Spanish National, Marc Gasol is scheduled to play in the contest.  Throughout the game, elements recognizing Spanish culture will be featured.   

Members of the Spanish community will participate in a fan tunnel and greet players as they run to the court. Special Spanish guests will be recognized throughout the night for their contribution to Spanish Heritage Night. 

Other games include:

-Friday December 3, Wizards vs Portland Trailblazers (Rudy Fernández)

-Tuesday December 14, Wizards vs Los Angeles Lakers (Pau Gasol)

-Saturday January 15, Wizards vs Toronto Raptors (José Manuel Calderón)

For tickets and additional information please email Alfonso at alfonsoaramendia@gmail.com

AFI European Union Film Showcase

AFI presents the 23rd AFI European Union Film Showcase, a selection of new films from EU member states including film festival award winners, box office hits and U.S. premieres.

There should definitely be some worthwhile movies here.

The two from Spain are "Three Days and the Family" (Tres dies amb la família) and "Me Too" (Yo, también). The first one will air on Sunday, November 14th at 1:00 p.m. and Tuesday, November 16th at 8:00 p.m. and Me too on Friday, November 12th at 7:00 p.m. and Saturday, November 13th at 5:30 p.m.

The event runs from Nov. 4th-23rd at the AFI Silver Theater in Silver Spring, MD.

http://www.afi.com/silver/new/nowplaying/EUshowcase/default.aspx

Best of Spain by Train

We came across a good article about day train trips from Madrid. There are a lot of beautiful cities and towns not too far away, and the trains work pretty well. Locations featured include Cordoba, Zaragoza, Avila, Segovia, Aranjuez, Toledo, Cercedilla and Valdepeñas.

http://www.smh.com.au/travel/best-of-spain-by-train-20101022-16wy9.html

New Rising Star in Spanish Golf

Great win by Spain's 23-year-old Beatriz Recari of the CVS/pharmacy LPGA a few days ago. Talented and good looking! Go Spain!

Recari's $165,000 first-place check moves her to the 37th slot on the LPGA money list after she came into the tournament having won just $51,591.

Ms. Recari is from Pamplona, a city many of us at The Society of Spain love.

http://www.mercurynews.com/sports/ci_16364476

XIII International Festival of Hispanic Theater

Here is information on what is surely to be a great performance.

As part of the 13th International Festival of Hispanic Theater, Teatro de la Luna presents The Happiest Day in Our Lives, a comedy from Murcia, Spain, that captures the best of the Spanish humorous theatrical tradition. 

A beautiful and entertaining comedy.  Reminiscing about their wedding day and first communion becomes a hymn of nostalgia, humor and tenderness, an unchangeable something that already happened.

October 28th and 29th at 8 p.m. and October 30th at 3p.m. and 8p.m.

Venue: Gunston Arts Center - Theatre 2, 2700 South Lang Street, Arlington, VA 22206. Tickets: $30 (regular), $25 (students and seniors).

http://www.spainculture.us/calendar/158/

Spaniards Adjusting to New Times

It's great to see how a well-established Spanish beer company is launching an innovative new product in the U.S. market. Estrella Damm has just begun selling it's gluten-free beer in the U.S.

See http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/worlds-best-glutenfree-beer-released-in-the-us-2112567.html

Welcome to our blog.

Society of Spain welcomes our new visitors to our blog.