The rain in Spain

MADRID, Spain – Okay. For almost half a year, Spain suffered from a terrible drought – a sort of El Niño with a vengeance.

There were wildfires aplenty. In the capital of Madrid, with potable water levels running low, there was even an ordnance prohibiting people from wasting water, such as by watering their lawns. Masses were held to pray for rain. When it came last weekend – it poured.

The hardest hit of all was Cataluña – were the famed city of Barcelona is located. Four drowned in Girona in the raging floods which followed torrential downpour, 20 highways were cut off, 12 schools had to be closed, the Barcelona Metro turned into an underground "river," with Line 5 literally deluged out of service. Bomberos, firemen in boats, had to sally forth to effect 900 rescues.

Madrid and the surrounding La Mancha were much luckier. After a day and night of rain, the sun came out in time to allow Madrileños and arriving visitors like us to come out in droves to watch a glorious National Day parade last Wednesday morning – I rushed from the airport to my hotel, dumped my bags, and went out to past Neptuno to enjoy the show, accompanied by EFE’s Jose "Pepe" Rodriguez.

As my earlier column reported, the Paseo de la Castellana shook to the tread of marching boots, and shuddered as the tanks rolled by, ranging from "Centauro" vehicles of the Brigada de Cabellerio along Plaza Colon, to huge missile launchers.

Overhead, 90 aircraft roared, the Mirage squadrons trailing celebratory orange smoke, the Phantoms sleekly cutting through the air, swarms of attack-helicopters sputtering along.

More than 3,700 servicemen marched past, from white-clad skytroops, to Marines, to the Royal Guardsmen, etc. The Guardia Civil snappily marched by, or zoomed past on their vehicles. The mechanized mountaineer brigade in their tattered white camouflage uniforms thundered down the boulevard.

The most applauded, of course – as usual – were the olive-uniformed brigadistas of La Legion (the Spanish Foreign Legion). Like the French Foreign Legion, the Legionarios are the gung-ho guys sent to quell any trouble, zap any foe, "solve" every problem with extreme force. The Legion had roared in from the Sahara and North Africa with Generalissimo Francisco Franco to fight the Leftwing Republican government and their "anarchist" allies, in the 1936 to 1939 Civil War which claimed millions of lives. On its banners still hang the yellow streamer (among the others which proclaim participation in other "wars" like Bosnia), specifying "La Guerra Civil." If there was a battle to be fought, the cry goes up: "Send the Legion" and the Legionarios parachute or "boat" in, raring for combat. Terming themselves "The Lovers of Death", their comradeship oath is to never leave a man behind ("no abandonar jamas un hombre en el campo hasta perecer todos.") Their spirit "es unico y sin igual" – one and without equal to dash any distance to encounter an enemy and give him "the bayonet."

There they came, in their high-swinging march, their chins traditionally stuck out, their mascot "goats" keeping step with them. The onlookers clapped wildly as their assault riflemen pirouetted and brandished their weapons, and the Legionarios, punctuated with fanfares from their buglers and drummers, belted out their fight-fight song.

Pepe Rodriguez, who had served in La Legion in the Sahara desert in his youth, found his old unit. Whipping out his I.D. card, which a Caballero Legionarios carries for life, he was greeted by the troopers.

The flag-bearer of one platoon whom we interviewed was Lt. Luis Garcia Cirugera, a bearded officer, who had served in the Legion for 20 years and now belonged to the Third Division based in Almeria in Southern Spain.

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On the reviewing stand, it was apparent that Socialist President/Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero of the Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE) is a bit at odds with His Majesty, King Juan Carlos of Spain. But co-exist they must and they met cordially enough later in the Palacio Real.

Don’t be deceived by Zapatero’s baby-blue eyes, however. He’s all leftist steel. Seven months ago, in the dead of night, he sent engineers and wrecking teams to "kidnap" the only remaining equestrian statue of the late El Caudillo Franco in the capital.

This was the one located in the Plaza de Juan de la Cruz, in front of the Ministry of the Environment building. Motorists who came by in the morning blinked. They had passed the Franco statue every day on the way to work, or school, but this time there was just a flat empty space.

Where is the "missing" statue? Concealed in some government warehouse, people tell me – but where is a state secret.

The great Franco must be turning in his grave in the Valle de los Caidos, not far from the Monasterio "Palace" of El Escorial, an hour's drive out of Madrid. Driven by our friend, Don Paco Aziz, we went out there to visit him yesterday, but the entombed Falangista leader (I still believe he saved Spain) didn’t rise from the Tomb to make any comment.

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I see from the news from home, aside from the headline that 4,500 American troops are in RP for war games, our politicians are still engaged in petty and parochial matters – like the Senate investigating all GMA projects, the militants calling for an end on CPR, i.e. tough police response to threatened marches on Malacañang, and all sorts of puerile debate.

Pakistan, having lost more than 30,000, is still in agony, with rescuers still rushing earthquake victims to hospital, and aid is pouring in to both Pakistani Kashmir and to the victims in next-door India. Chechen rebels have launched a vicious attack in Russia, and been repelled with force. Bombs continue exploding in Iraq. Spain and the rest of Europe are bracing for an attack of Avian Flu, fearing a "pandemic." The Spaniards have discovered to their horror that they don’t have any stocks of the preferred anti-bird-flu antidote "Tamiflu" or any "antiviral" drug! Horrors. Why don’t they just rush over to Manila and go to the Mercury Drug store?

With all these going on abroad, we Filipinos are still involved in our Word Wars. No wonder the rest of the human race, including foreign investors, avoid us. We’re too busy fighting each other, and even FVR is still talking about the dangers of mutinies or coups. Sanamagan.

It’s time we rejoined the rest of the world.