A sculptor and an admiral were born on this day

BLAZ DE LEZO

British people grew up hearing stories about English naval excellence, and Spanish incompetence. Wasn’t the Armada thwarted? And Spanish treasure galleons lurk dimly in our awareness as the very definition of ‘easy pickings’.

It’s not real.

Spain was the world’s leading power from 1500 to 1650. No nation achieved that position without having political, administrative, and military prowess.

READ MOREOn this day, Messi reached a major milestone, the Vatican prohibited some abhorrent acts, and a Spanish legend passed away.

We British are guilty of ‘airbrushing’ men like Blas de Lezo out of our own history.

Admiral Blas de Lezo y Olavarrieta was born on 3 February, 1689.

You can think of him like the Spanish Nelson. He was also a naval genius with a military mind, and like Nelson he sustained multiple battle injuries. He lost an arm, a leg and was unable to move his eye.

Blas died in 1741, shortly after his greatest triumph, but unlike Nelson he didn’t fall in battle – it was typhus that killed him.

Cartagena de las Indias was the main Spanish base in South America, and it is located in Bolivia today. The Royal Navy of Britain attacked the base in a massive attack that included 196 ships.

Blas de Lezo was able to repel the attack. The British government resigned when the news reached London.

READ MORE On this day: Pep was born, Julio Iglesias had a sarcastic father, a Spanish writer was born, and a Nobel laureate passed away

EVARISTO MÁRQUEZ

Spain has a long tradition of producing great sculptors.

One such artist was Evaristo Márquez Contreras of Sevilla, born on 3 February, 1929. He died in 1996.

He grew in Huelva, and became a mining engineer. He became famous in 1974 after his sculpture “The Miner”, won a prize in Hungary.

It was impossible to make any other choice, when the Minas town council (home of Rio Tinto Zinc), decided the following years to build a memorial to the mining history of the area.

Evaristo, who had his sculpture inaugurated in 1976 by King Juan Carlos, presented him with a miniature copy.

Spain’s annual sculpting festival is called “Autumn Exposition”. Evaristo was awarded first prize for “Bust of a Boy” in 1987. Six years before, the same group had awarded him a lifetime achievement prize.

He also made his mark in intellectual circles, with his writings about fellow sculptor, Carmen Jiménez.

READ MORE On this date: America accidentally atom-bombed Andalucia

SNOW IN HUELVA

Huelva once again

Have you noticed that coastal regions never seem to receive any snow? Some people say that the salt content in the air prevents snowfall. The scientists say that this is not so – it’s all about temperature.

Seas take longer to warm up than land. However, once they do, they tend to hold onto the warmth. Consequently, when the coast itself is cold enough for snow, the nearby sea acts as a ‘hot water bottle’, keeping the snow at bay.

This January, rarely, the people of Huelva are expecting snow (according to the local newspaper, ‘Huelva Hoy’). It’s cold and there’s a lot of moisture in air.

Huelva’s elderly residents remember vividly the night of 2-3.02.1954 when the city was flooded. Huelva was snowbound for the first time ever in recent memory!

PACO RABANNE

Paco Rabanne was a Spanish fashion designer who died in 2023. He died just a few days before his 89th Birthday.

Francisco Rabaneda was his real name. He was Basque. His mother became the breadwinner for the family after his father died in the Civil War. A gifted seamstress she found employment at a fashionable house.

Paco’s very first job in Paris was to design jewellery for Givenchy and Dior.

The 1960s was the ideal era for Paco – he was 29 years old when the Mersey Beat erupted – and he had the perfect temperament for such an experimental period.

He designed outrageous clothing that he himself labeled as “unwearable”. And he used ‘space age’ materials like metal and plastic.

Paco Rabanne was hired in 1967 to design Jane Fonda’s costume for the blockbuster film, Barbarella”.

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