The Coolidge examiner., 1932-07-22

MI box of Spain, where it was
recently announced that
Catalonia was voted greater auton-
omy by the Spanish cortes, is one
of the newest and most modern cap
itals of western Europe.
To the traveller who spends a few
hours or a few years in the Span
ish capital. the great avenue, Gran
Avenida de Ia Libertad, is the city's
outstanding feature. II is one of
the finest boulevards in Europe.
The most irfposing of the govern
mental palaces. museums. and ho-
tells face this noble boulevard,
which runs north TO south along
the eastern edge of the city, On its
fringe lies an exclusive residential
section and the large park known
in the old days as Buen Retro.
Were the foreign visitor TO linger
in the capital no longer than "A
hours. he could still see much Of
its throbbing life on this one great
avenue.
The Avenida's wide, tree-lined
walks for pedestrians, lying be-
tween the inner automobile and car
riage highway and the outer traffic
roads, are wildly alive by day and
literally thronged by early evening.
Rows of chairs are packed on each
side of the broad walks.
Summer Madrid makes itself COM
Portable All along the walks are
refreshment booths. Beer is pop
ular but has not replaced the many
typical soft drinks, in favor for cen
turies. AS you sit slipping your
cold, creamy, almond-flavored hor-
chata, up comes the boy known
as the barqulllero. He carries
barrel-llke metal receptacle con-
tanning the sweet, rolled waters
called barquillos. You hand out a
coin, spin the wheel on top of the
barrel, and watch for the figures
which indicates the number of
waters you will win. No ban has
yet been placed on this mild form
of gambling.
Army officers In brilliant uni
forms, men garbed in mourn
ing black even in midsummer,
pretty. graceful. dark-haired wom-
en-, sturdy, barelegged children
these and countless other types
pass Lottery sellers with strident
voices. wizened peanut venders, CO.
quettish flower sellers, cry their
wares. "All the world" as the
Spaniards express it, is out-of-
doors.
FIuttering of Fans.
Fans, not parasols, are the vogue.
The paseos are all a flutter. Ii Is
to be regretted that continental and
oriental decorations on fans are now
the style, for there is nothing pret-
tier than the old-fashioned Valencia
fan decorated with typical Spanish
scenes and figures.
These fans can still be found, If
you will search, along with painted
tiles and china with Zuloaga de-
signs from Segovia, decorated por-
celain from the ancient factory at
Talavera de la Reina, Damascene
ware from Toledo, linen drawn-work
from the Toledon village of Lagar-
terra, and handmade lace from the
south of Spain. The little dolls
wearing regional peasant costumes
are made in Madrid.
The capitals summer tempera-
ture is high, but ii is dry seat, not
moist and sticky. You broil In the
sun, but turn the corner, to the
shady side of the street, and there
is a breath of cool air from the
mountains. Madrid is elevated more
than 1000 feet above sea level.
There is an abundance of water
supply from the Guadarramas, and
in summer the streets are hosed
thoroughly from four to six times
a day. Systematic tree planting and
park development have made a re-
freshing city in the midst of a
scorched plain, long ago stripped
of its trees.
Shops close every afternoon from
one or two o'clock until four or five.
The dinner hour is late from our
standpoint, from S 80 to 1890.
Open-air band concerts continue
until two o'clock in the morning. II
you stay up TO put summer
Madrid TO bed, you will meet the
huge, creaking, two-wheeled, hood
ed carts numbering into town with
country produce in round straw
covered baskets, bound for the CEN
trail market, where a hill of water
melons will soon be in evidence.
Carts which come from beyond the
mountains put up overnight in the
old part of town, at inns for all the
world like the fondouks of Morocco,
save that jaded mules, browsing in
the courtyard, here take the place
of camels.
On the surface, Madrid is mod