Westworld Alberta

Spend 20 nights in Spain's Costa Del Sol region in a one-bedroom apartment with full kitchen at the Sunset Beach Club in Malaga. From $1,249, plus $500 tax, includes air from Edmonton or Calgary. 1-866-667-4777 (clockwise from top left) Jars of honey in the window of a Lanjaron shop; Andrew's wife and kids visit Zahara de la Sierra; the hilly town of Lanjaron from a distance; Spanish gentlemen socializing. 14 W E S T W O R L D A L B E R T A | W I N T E R 2 0 1 5 AS IS MY MORNING RITUAL, I DESCEND TO THE STREET to buy fresh croissants, a new- found dietary staple. In the landing, I run into Jaume Paimes-Flack, the friendly, lanky Barce- lonan who owns the flat we're renting. Like most Catalonians, his first language is Catalan, a Latin derivative spoken on both sides of the Pyrenees Mountains, which span the northern border of Spain. e desire for sovereignty has simmered close to the surface of Catalonian consciousness since dictator Francisco Franco seized power in 1939 following the brutal Spanish Civil War, a regime that lasted until his death in 1975. Jaume tells me that the bull is the national symbol of Castilian Spain, and the donkey is the patriotic mascot of Catalonia, perhaps emblematic of a dry Catalan sense of humour necessary to endure decades of frustrated nationalist ambitions. I exit the flat and soon spot the stern-looking señor whom I see every day in the same spot, wearing the same blue slacks and brown cardigan, assuming his post on the corner of Riera and Sorrall. I offer up my daily "buenos dias," determined to extract a smile. As usual, he looks as startled as if an alien had landed at his feet. We are, to put it mildly, an anomaly on this street: a Canadian couple with two blonde kids in a neighbourhood of Catalonians and immigrants (clockwise from top left) bart nedobre/alamy/all canada photos, andrew findlay, graca victoria/alamy/all canada photos, bart pro/ alamy/all canada photos

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