November 1st was a public holiday in Melbourne. But I just assumed that they would be celebrating the Day of the Dead (El Día De Los Muertos) or All Saints Day* (El Día De De Todos Los Santos), but my workmate told me that this particular public holiday was always on the first Tuesday. And after I had asked him why that was he replied “a fucking horse race”. Partly because I believed it, and partly because I had just arrived here and I thought having a debate over a local custom was not going to go over too badly, I tried to make him see that it was better to have a public holiday for a horse race rather than for the many things in Spain that are reasons for public holidays, especially given that Spain is a secular country. Besides, if this race stopped Melbourne in its tracks like it appeared to be doing and had done, it was far better to have a public holiday, then having everybody sneakily watching the race on TV while pretending to work. Furthermore, people place bets (that make sense; I don’t see the attraction in watching someone run around a track, much less horses).
The actual Melbourne Cup race is held on
the day of the public holiday, but over the course of ten days, you’ll see the
centre of Melbourne full of people coming and going from the racecourses. Sober
and drunk respectively. 90 000 spectators each day. Most of them respect the
dress code (although it’s not an enforced dress code). The girls are all
dressed up to the nines: they look as if they are going to a New Year’s Eve Cotillón ( NYE parties held in
nightclubs and bars) in Spain (cold and tottering in high heels or even
carrying these heels in their hands), but with a nest of parrots on their heads
á la the ugly stepsisters on their way to the ball below.
The men vary in their attire from the
formality of top hats and tails to a look that David Civera** (shown below)
with his winks to camera killed forever for Spain: A fedora hat and waistcoat
and comments like “Yes, classic but in my own style”.
In Spain,
horse races will never lose their allure, but I think the government could
grant us a public holiday every time Spain plays in the World or UEFA Cup. Or
when the sales start. Or if Spain ever reverts to using Western European Time (WET
or aka GMT) instead of Central European time (CET)***. Public holidays every
Equinox. I would have the time zone changed
in my electoral campaign, so that when daylight savings starts in summer, we
can all sleep better. My mother would vote for me purely for this reason alone,
she’s having a rough time with daylight saving in Spain.
Translator’s Notes
* Both the Day of the Dead and All Saints
Day are held at the very beginning of November.
** Dapper Spanish singer and one-time Eurovision contestant David Civera( he placed 6th and to date no other
Spanish contestant has surpassed this).
*** Australian (from Brisbane no less, where
there is no daylight saving) attempts to explain European Time Zones with the
help of Wikipedia: Under Franco’s Rule, Spain changed from WET (UTC +0)t o CET
(UTC+1:00) and as a result Spain is two
hours ahead of its local mean time during the summer (Central Eastern
Summer Time -UTC +2:00) making it difficult for Mudo’s poor mother to catch her
40 winks.
