BUBIÓN, THE STORY OF AN ALPUJARRAN VILLAGE by Michael Tracy.

Focused in Bubión, this could be the narration of the story of any village south from Granada. Told in a quite easy-reading way this story (based on Bubión en el centro del Poqueira by Juan Pérez Ramón) take the reader in an amusing journey in time from the early inhabitant settlements to present day local customs. In order to create this work Michael Tracy has used very different sources going from the most academic research books to his own research work for what “he has talked for many hours with men and women of different generations, young people, girls and boys…” who now feel part of this book. The author complements other books on the village by relating episodes such as the revolts of the Moorish or the account of the Civil War and the rough times that followed it. These are some extracts: “The revolt got off to a bad start, due to failures of communication between the Moriscos in the Albaicín (where the Moorish population had been gathered in the years following the fall of Granada9 and those in the mountains. The Poqueira villages were among the first to rise, on 24^th December 1568: Christians there took refuge in the tower of the newly-built church, but had to give themselves up when the Moors set fire to it”. According to the Civil War and its aftermath Tracy writes: “Elsewhere in the Alpujarra, whichever party was on top sought out persons suspected of being on the other side (there were “Reds or there were “Fascists”), and they would simply disappear. So there was a constant risk of being arrested and executed, perhaps as the result of some denunciation by a neighbour. But there were also cases when neighbours protected each other, even when they were on opposing sides. […] So the Civil War left deep scars. The subject, understandably, is not discussed in the pueblos; as time goes on, fewer and fewer people have any direct knowledge of events, and memories become confused.” Tracy indeed enriches his work by quoting authors contemporary to the events related. Do not miss to read the report on local customs, some of them disappeared but others still on going. The author himself has complemented this account with some observations of his own. Some of these customs are not restricted to Bubión but they are applicable to neighbouring villages or even to close regions, but others are quite endemic, so you will learn about harvesting uses, the language of church bells, slaughtering the pig, courting or local pilgrimages. In addition the author makes an account of the situation of the Poqueira villages today approaching to their shortcomings and potential but focusing on their challenges and developments opportunities.

                                               Title: BUBIÓN, The Story of an Alpujarran village.

                                               Author: Michel Tracy

                                               Edition: Full coloured picture paperback

                                               Price: 10.00€