Spring… at last! (Primavera…¡por fin!)…

Just south of Barcelona’s El Prat airport, there is a little sea-side town called Gavá. It’s home to an impressively wide, kilometres-long beach, a fair few footballers’ villas and one of my favourite chiringuitos (beach-side restaurants), perhaps somewhat wishfully-named Kuwai.

We were there not long ago, tucking into a scrumptious lunch of grilled cuttlefish, ham croquetas and patatas bravas, while simultaneously scanning the sky to for a glimpse of the A380 due to take off any moment and carrying Mum back to Australia, when suddenly a familiar though long-absent excitement struck me: I could feel spring in the air.

What is it about the arrival of spring in the northern hemisphere that gets the juices flowing so? I don’t remember it being quite so captivating back in Australia – although having said that, I do remember a lot of relationship break-ups around this time of year, as “winter warmers” were shed for new springtime dalliances. I guess that’s biology.

Up here in colder climes, I imagine it also has a lot to do with the leaving behind of those long, dark, “dead” months. I remember in London how the first sighting of sprouting daffodils made my heart leap and the first sunny days of Spring saw the pubs empty as the punters crowded onto the footpath outside, wearing t-shirts (and sometimes even shorts) to enjoy their pints basking in the sunshine (even if it was only 12 degrees).

Of course here in Barcelona it’s not that extreme. Even in Madrid, where winter may not be as long as in London but is still pretty brutal, the only ones in t-shirts and shorts at this time of year are visiting guiris (foreigners) – and the more… er… excitable queens.

But still, the thrill is palatable.

I’m writing this post sitting in the terraza (terrace) of a local bar, not really caring that the sun is somewhat scalding my winter-bleached, follicular-challenged head.

In the park just across the road, pink and purple blossoms are filling the spaces where soon new leaves will be and on the faces of the people walking by, smiles have replaced the frowns of just a few weeks ago.

This excitement is a wonderful thing; a true recognition of and enjoyment in the change of the seasons - in nature I suppose. I’ll miss it when I finally head “home”.