• Valencia Weekend: Fiesta de la Virgen de los Desamparados
    Buen Finde! There’s plenty to fill this spring weekend. It’s the Fiesta de la Virgen de los Desamparados with fireworks, processions, and a mascletà. Valencia is also gearing up for food festival season, starting with Urbanitas del Vino and La Ruta de los Cocques. Plus, Valencia Photo launches its 2026 edition this weekend. A heads-up…
  • Valencia News: Immigration Debate, Rent Rises & Record Birds at the Albufera
    Bon dia! Spain’s immigration debate is dominating politics this week — a new poll finds the country almost evenly split on regularising undocumented migrants, while new spending figures reveal a sharp imbalance between what the government spends managing arrivals and what it spends preventing them. Also in Valencia news: housing rental costs are rising after…
  • Valencia Weekend: Kites at Cabanyal, Kiefer at CAHH & May Day Holiday
    Buen Finde! Friday is a public holiday — International Workers’ Day — so this is a long weekend, and Valencia has filled it well. The Cabanyal Kite Festival is back on Sunday, a rescheduled crowd-pleaser that’s free and as good an excuse as any to spend the afternoon on the beach. It’s a big weekend for…

Upcoming Events

  • Tranquilo, Cuando Puedas: Why Spanish People Avoid Talking About Money
    Spaniards don’t like talking about money. It is one of the subtle cultural features that you only notice if you are in close daily contact — part of those mutually agreed, non-spoken rules. Even when I’m aware of the non-practical and dire consequences of this practice, sometimes I slip into being unable to control the…
  • Gulliver Park Valencia: The Story Behind the Giant in the Turia
    Everyone who has spent time in Valencia knows Gulliver. You have probably walked past him, cycled past him, or watched children scramble over him on a Sunday afternoon. He is one of those landmarks of city life that you stop really seeing after a while. Which is a shame — because the story of how…
  • We Were There: All Over the Place Debuts in Ruzafa
    Last Friday, Atika and I were invited to the debut of All Over the Place: The Show, a live English-language show hosted by Alexey Timbul at Acting in English, right in the heart of Ruzafa. The episode featured different guests — and this first one was an entertaining, well-woven mix of stand-up comedy, Valencia history…