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Cómpeta will be showing off its abundant visual art again this Easter week. From Wednesday 12th, until Sunday 16th (with the exception of Good Friday, 14th) the annual Art Walk will be taking place.

Nearly 40 new and ArtWalk regulars will be displaying their work in different galleries and houses around the town.

This year’s exhibiting artists include: Jaime Anden, Alberto Tarcicio and Beatriz Constan from Spain.

 
Information
When:12-16 April (closed on Good Friday, 14)

Contact:www.artcompeta.com/Facebook: artcompeta
Anna Barbara Lenzin from Switzerland will be making a mosaic on the wall of the ‘Luz de la Vida’ gallery and Dutch artist Merel Holleboom is also returning. Merel calls her often-very-large works in metal ‘poetic machines,’ as she says, “they invite you to take part in their movement or to experience them.”

A number of workshops will be on offer; in Galeria Centro de Bellas Artes you can attend the workshop ‘Monoprint with Gelli and Acryl’ given by Sally Hirst, while Daan van Neervenwill be holding a course in bronze casting. Children are also encouraged to take part in a colouring workshop with German artist, Eva Maria Bochmeyer.

There will be live music starting with a performance by singer-song writer Keith James, who is back in Cómpeta for a second year to perform songs by Leonard Cohen.source surinenglish

World-class art exhibitions, spectacular Easter parades, and favourable weather make April and May the ideal time of year to enjoy a city break in the Spanish capital

A British mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter has taken the coveted Spanish featherweight title during the recent Ansgar Fighting League championships.

Jay Cucciniello reached the finals, which were held in Las Palmas last Saturday 25 March, after triumphing in a fight in Barcelona last year.

His victory in the Canary Islands has made him the first British fighter to take a major trophy on Spanish soil.

 
Originally from Peterborough, the 30-year-old has long had an interest in MMA, formerly known as NHB (no holds barred), an aggressive combat sport whose rules allow just about anything in the ring - or the cage.

Jay’s interest in the sport began as a child, weaned on a diet of Jean-Claude Van Damme and Steven Segal movies.

However, his father died while he was still a child and this affected him considerably and he began to “wander off the tracks a little”.

He eventually joined the army and this helped channel his energy and install some discipline into his life. However, two tours of Iraq and Afghanistan left their mark on Jay and he struggled when trying to return to civilian life on leaving the army.

Jay became attracted to the huge MMA scene that had evolved in the UK and he was soon training in karate, judo, kick boxing and wrestling, but after several fights, he basically threw in the towel.

“When I was a kid I loved watching martial arts movies with my dad and I would practise what I saw on television, but his death affected me badly. I also lost six friends during tours in the Middle East and so when I came out of the army I was bumping off walls,” Jay told SUR in English.

He eventually came to Spain to try to sort out his life, but at first, this did not work either.

He settled in Fuengirola, which he now considers home, but he still had a void in his life and he quickly realised it needed filling.

One of the turning points for Jay was when he met his girlfriend, Taylor, for it was she who helped the unstable fighter get back into the ring.

He began a strict six-days-a-week, four-hours-a-day fitness schedule and set his sights high, for he knew that if he focused and pushed himself enough, he could enter one of the major MMA competitions.

The champion with his belt. / Tony Bryant
A short while later, with three successful fights under his belt, Jay wanted a chance to compete in the Ansgar Fighting League, Spain’s premier MMA league.

He wanted to dive in head first and have a crack at the title, which was held by three-time champion, Daniel Requeijo, and so he contacted the promoters.

“I didn’t want to tiptoe about; I wanted to make some noise and create a name for myself here in Spain, and that’s exactly what I did,” the politely-spoken fighter declared.

His gentle nature has earned him the nickname, ‘Jay the Mellow Fellow Cucciniello’, although the new Ansgar champion is anything but gentle in the ring.

Even though this is an aggressive sport, Jay has never been badly hurt.

“I have never been seriously damaged in the ring, certainly nothing worse than what Afghanistan did to me,” Jay says with conviction.

He was eventually given the chance to perform in the AFL, but he would first need to fight Kiko Marinho, ranked third in Europe.

Jay believes the promoter intended this contest to be a warm-up for Marinho to have a shot at the title.

His big chance came from a comment made by the promoter, who, believing Jay stood no chance, claimed he would put him up for a title shot if he knocked his opponent out in the first round. Jay did just that.

“The fight was insane. This guy is a good component who has fought all over the world; it was one of the craziest fights I’ve ever had,” Jay says with excitement in his eyes.

Jay was awarded the title of ‘Knockout of the Year’ for this fight, but his heart was still firmly set on the title shot, and this came in March of this year.

He spent the next twelve weeks training for the title fight, drinking five litres of water a day and sticking to a healthy Mediterranean diet.

He was confident that he could take the title, although he did not realise that the championship was to be held on the anniversary of his brother’s death.

Jay’s sibling, who had died tragically young, was also a big fan of the MMA, so this gave Jay an added incentive to win.

His determination and dedication paid off, because Jay knocked Daniel Requeijo out in the third round; taking the belt from the local boy in front of 4,000 people.

He is the featherweight champion of Spain and he now has his sights set on Japan; although for now, he can sit back and wait to see what the promoters send his way.

“I dream deep, my goal now is to fight in Japan. It would be awesome if I could end my career in Japan,” the mellow fellow concluded. source surinenglish

The average cost to a religious brotherhood of running its annual procession in Malaga city during Holy Week is around 25,000 euros. As there are 41 brotherhoods and two other groups that parade on the official route in the city each year, the total expenditure on processions is over one million euros. And this excludes communal expenditure on policing, crowd control and temporary grandstands.

In the most part, the money spent by each brotherhood goes towards musical accompaniment, buying flowers to decorate the thrones of Jesus and the Virgin Mary and ordering candles to light the procession and the thrones. Other key expenses include cleaning the penitents’ robes at the dry cleaners, security personnel and other support staff. Some brotherhoods also have to pay members of the armed forces.

 
The total spent can vary by brotherhood, number of thrones and participants and choice of flowers. One brotherhood, Fusionadas, has six thrones taken out over three different days. Total cost per brotherhood can be between about 10,000 and 70,000; the average is 25,000 euros.

Music can cost a lot

Payment of the ceremonial bands is one of the most important costs. Usually there is a band at the head of the procession, one after the throne of Christ and another after the throne of Mary. Depending on whether the band is cornet or trumpet led, how many members it has and the day of the week, each band could charge from 1,500 to 10,000 euros. Maundy Thursday and Good Friday are the days when music costs the most.

The amount spent on candles carried by the hooded penitents and adorning the thrones of Christ and Mary range from 2,000 to 6,000 euros. As for flowers, orchids and camellias are the most expensive. There are brotherhoods that pay 6,000 to 7,000 euros for the decoration.

In terms of cleaning robes, the most expensive are the velvet ones, followed by those made of damask.

The brotherhoods that invite military to take part, such as Thursday night’s ‘Cristo de la Mena’, have to pay hotel and travel expenses.

Abig part of the cost is paid for from subsidies from the centralised association of brotherhoods (Agrupación de Cofradías). A standardbrotherhood with two thrones receives 19,300 euros in subsidies. Another important source of income is donations from participants that typically range from 20 to 50 euros.source surinenglish

There’s no other time of year when visitors and foreign residents have their eyes opened as much to the pomp and ceremony of religious tradition in Spain than Semana Santa (Holy Week). Across the country finishing touches are being made to this year’s events.

From Palm Sunday through to Easter Sunday traffic through major towns and cities will be cut off to allow the solemn processions to pass through, sometimes up to seven times a day. The pungent aroma of incense and hot wax, the mournful melody of the trumpets and the spectacle of the swaying ‘tronos’, icons of tearful virgins and hooded brotherhoods are all part of the unique experience that is Semana Santa.

All small towns and villages have scaled-down versions of the bigger processions. However these still manage to demonstrate the strong religious convictions that are present throughout Spain but not always on view.

 
What is on view, besides the processions, is the increased security presence over Easter. As Spain is currently on level four alert for a terrorist attack, many towns and cities have had to bring in more officers to work alongside the Local and National Police and civil protection teams to ensure that everything goes smoothly over the Easter period. Marbella alone will have 250 officers on duty to cope with the influx of visitors to the town and is coordinating with taxis and bus companies to ensure minimum disruption. The police are also operating a campaign to monitor cars and their drivers during the processions.

Hotel owners are expecting a good Semana Santa with around 90 per cent room occupancy, up on last year, providing the weather forecast stays sunny. The weather is a big concern not only the hotels, but also for other tourist businesses such as the restaurants and bars. The beach bars along the coast are in preparation for a bumper Easter as is Estepona council which has rushed to top up the sand on the beaches that were eroded in the recent storms.

This year there are 1,000 more flights due to come and go from Malaga airport during the holiday week than last year. A total of 718,542 passengers are expected to use the airport this week.

Around 35,000 cruise passengers will also stop off in Malaga during Easter week on 15 ships.source surinenglish