Rain in Spain doesn't always fall on the plain

RAIN in the mountains of Andalucia while it was glorious weather in Ireland.

“The loveliest day of the year!” the voice sang at the end of the telephone on March 24. And there were more lovely Irish spring days to follow. Meanwhile, here, it rained, lightly but steadily, and there was a cold wind even when, for intervals, the sun shone.

It was quite different down on the plains. In Seville, daytime temperatures were 23 degrees. A common perception is that all of Spain is warm all year. Not so. An hour out of sweltering Seville, driving back, via Granada, to our mountain retreat, I pulled in at a restaurant and, on the TV news, saw cars engulfed in raging blizzards in Navarre. This, on “the loveliest day of the year” in Ireland.