3.8.13 Eno-gastro Fair in Sanlucar; Osborne Crystal Bull; New Book on El Puerto

A festival of culture, gastronomy and tourism in Andalucia opened yesterday in Sanlucar. It is sponsored by (among others) Manzanilla La Guita, the Society of Horse Racing and the Tourism department of Sanlucar, and organised by Celebraciones Alianzza. There are gastronomy, culture and tourism stands covering all of Andalucia, as well as concerts and various other activities.The venue is at the entrance to the Horse Racing Society at Las Piletas beach and is open from 19.00 daily till the 7^th August.

 Swarovski, the crystal producers, have recreated the legendary Osborne bull in crystalline form, and the result can be seen at Osborne’s bodega La Mora in el Puerto. It is 4 metres high, weighs 500 kilos and has 2,000 crystals. The bodega is open from 10.00 – 15.00 and 19.00 – 22.00 every day, except Sunday evening, admission is free to see the bull, which will be on display till October. A bodega visit costs 8 euros, but is well worth it.

The bull was designed and built by local craftsman Willie Marquez, and the crystals were applied in the Swarovski workshops. The piece was first displayed a month ago in the Plaza de Cibeles, Madrid. After its display in El Puerto, the bull will go on a world tour, ending up as the centrepiece of the Osborne Bull Museum which will open at the bodega in the first half of 2014.

A new book about the grand houses in El Puerto will be introduced by its author, Fatima Ruiz de Lassaletta at Osborne’s bodega La Mora on Wednesday 7^th August at 21.00. Known as the “city of a hundred palaces”, El Puerto has seen some decline over some decades, but interest in its preservation has grown since the 1980’s. The book covers 50 houses or “casas palacios” which once belonged to wealthy bodega families or those who were involved with the import and export trade to the Americas. The author says that this book is the second part of her previous work “Seigneurial houses, bodegas and flavours of Jerez”, and she hopes to complete a trilogy with a similar work on Sanlucar.