Childhood Spain – more oddities.
One year I remember the hotel advertising that one night they would be showing an English film in one of the bars. Rumours abounded about what it may be but a Bond film was the clear favourite. We all settled down to watch, too many people packed into room so it was hot. A Tom and Jerry cartoon came on and we laughed at the antics of the feuding friends. A nice touch for the children before the film, so we thought. Then another Tom and Jerry, then a third and even a fourth. It was getting a little boring, we had seen them all before! Eventually, Tom and Jerry-ed out, we welcomed the interlude. My sister and I, along with most of the other children, were packed off to bed while our parents settled down to watch the much publicised film. In the morning we were told that our poor parents had had to endure another hour of Tom and Jerry cartoons! I have no idea why the Spanish hoteliers thought a couple of American speechless drawings represented the best of the British film industry but, being British, no-one had any intention of complaining!
Until recent years there were no UK daily papers available on the actual day, you could buy them at an extortionate price the day after they were published. Hence we would never really know what was happening back in old Blighty while we were on holiday.
It strange to today’s youngsters to think that we didn’t have any contact with our friends or family for an entire fortnight. No English TV, no internet, no mobile phones, no emails. How did we survive?! Each year Dad would ensure my grandparents and a friend knew the name of our hotel, its location and through which travel agent in town we had booked our holiday so if we needed to be contacted we could be. I don’t ever remember any emergency requiring Dad to be called so maybe, just maybe, we did ok surviving without today’s technology.
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