Annie Bennett
@anniebennett.bsky.social
Travel writer. Spain and Wales
Pinned
Fall for Madrid: why Spain’s capital is city-break gold
The searing summer over, it’s back to business as usual in Madrid – which means dazzling blue skies and a bounty of cultural events
www.theguardian.com
Don’t just take my word for it, it’s a wonderful time for a jaunt to Madrid…
Or at least read it through carefully a few times. Then leave it and read it again the next day.
Once more I am begging those of you with Substacks to get an editor to look over your long, heartfelt screeds.
November 11, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Or at least read it through carefully a few times. Then leave it and read it again the next day.
“Between 2020 and 2025, the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment rose by 59% in Madrid and 47% in Barcelona” @brendanboyle.bsky.social
Spaniards split from their city centres
What's a city without citizens?
open.substack.com
November 8, 2025 at 9:33 AM
“Between 2020 and 2025, the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment rose by 59% in Madrid and 47% in Barcelona” @brendanboyle.bsky.social
Reposted by Annie Bennett
Still life of exquisite quietude by Francisco de Zurbarán, born this day in 1598. Meditation on vessels.
November 7, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Still life of exquisite quietude by Francisco de Zurbarán, born this day in 1598. Meditation on vessels.
Reposted by Annie Bennett
Thought this was fun. World cities on the same latitude but in Spain
Via @mam_martin on Threads
Via @mam_martin on Threads
November 7, 2025 at 7:54 AM
Thought this was fun. World cities on the same latitude but in Spain
Via @mam_martin on Threads
Via @mam_martin on Threads
Great read for Sherry Week…
My blog is out: The strange story of British sherry drinking: It's Sherry Week: a time to enjoy Spain's greatest fortified #wine - and ponder its sad decline in popularity. Plus: some of the top festive-season wine tastings
aviewfrommytable.substack.com/p/the-strang...
aviewfrommytable.substack.com/p/the-strang...
The strange story of British sherry drinking
It's Sherry Week: a time to enjoy Spain's greatest fortified wine - and ponder its sad decline in popularity in this country. Plus: some of the top festive-season wine tastings
aviewfrommytable.substack.com
November 5, 2025 at 9:44 AM
Great read for Sherry Week…
Reposted by Annie Bennett
Well done Zohran! And of course the real victor of the day - typography.
November 5, 2025 at 7:37 AM
Well done Zohran! And of course the real victor of the day - typography.
“The Spanish government has granted citizenship to 170 descendants of volunteers in the International Brigades in recognition of their fight against fascism” @stephenburgen.bsky.social
Spain grants citizenship to descendants of civil war’s International Brigades
About 32,000 volunteered to fight Franco dictatorship, including 2,500 men and women from Britain and Ireland
www.theguardian.com
November 4, 2025 at 4:02 PM
“The Spanish government has granted citizenship to 170 descendants of volunteers in the International Brigades in recognition of their fight against fascism” @stephenburgen.bsky.social
Reposted by Annie Bennett
This week’s Guest Recipe from the #CookbookCorner archive is this gorgeous Creamy Milk and Roast Garlic Soup with Manchego and Green Olive Toast from The Spanish Home Kitchen by José Pizarro!
www.nigella.com/recipes/gues...
www.nigella.com/recipes/gues...
November 4, 2025 at 3:19 PM
This week’s Guest Recipe from the #CookbookCorner archive is this gorgeous Creamy Milk and Roast Garlic Soup with Manchego and Green Olive Toast from The Spanish Home Kitchen by José Pizarro!
www.nigella.com/recipes/gues...
www.nigella.com/recipes/gues...
In case you’re wondering what the hoohah over Yasmin Khan’s wonderful book Sabzi is about, Hannah Twiggs explains it all very clearly here…
The fight over Yasmin Khan’s ‘Sabzi’ and the woman who wants to trademark the word for ‘vegetable’
A Cornish deli trademarked a word for vegetables – and all hell broke loose
www.independent.co.uk
November 4, 2025 at 3:19 PM
In case you’re wondering what the hoohah over Yasmin Khan’s wonderful book Sabzi is about, Hannah Twiggs explains it all very clearly here…
“It was a place to while the afternoon drinking coffee and brandy” Oh the entire days we lost in the Gijón…
Last orders at Café Gijón as Madrid loses part of its literary soul
The favourite haunt of writers and spies where gossip was the currency that infused the intellectual lifeblood of the Spanish capital for 137 years
www.thetimes.com
November 3, 2025 at 12:19 PM
“It was a place to while the afternoon drinking coffee and brandy” Oh the entire days we lost in the Gijón…
Reposted by Annie Bennett
@madridlitmag.bsky.social
Thank you for including my poem ‘the parable of the jehovah’s witness man’ in the November issue of The Madrid Review’ ~ Jim Young
Thank you for including my poem ‘the parable of the jehovah’s witness man’ in the November issue of The Madrid Review’ ~ Jim Young
November 3, 2025 at 7:57 AM
@madridlitmag.bsky.social
Thank you for including my poem ‘the parable of the jehovah’s witness man’ in the November issue of The Madrid Review’ ~ Jim Young
Thank you for including my poem ‘the parable of the jehovah’s witness man’ in the November issue of The Madrid Review’ ~ Jim Young
Reposted by Annie Bennett
Cotton harvest, 1963, Jerez de la Frontera by Ramón Masats. The social order of the south of Spain under Franco with "el señorito" still there, though on the verge of change as huge numbers migrated to cities and across the Pyrenees.
November 3, 2025 at 7:46 AM
Cotton harvest, 1963, Jerez de la Frontera by Ramón Masats. The social order of the south of Spain under Franco with "el señorito" still there, though on the verge of change as huge numbers migrated to cities and across the Pyrenees.
Reposted by Annie Bennett
Prunella Scales, who has died aged 93, was superb as Sybil in Fawlty Towers and in so many other roles. Here’s my musical tribute to a wonderful actress.
November 1, 2025 at 9:20 AM
Prunella Scales, who has died aged 93, was superb as Sybil in Fawlty Towers and in so many other roles. Here’s my musical tribute to a wonderful actress.
Reposted by Annie Bennett
Heard a raven hoo-hah outside, just looked out to see them ‘mobbing’ a Bonelli’s eagle in the tall pine outside my bedroom window. Drove it off successfully. Another remarkable yet commonplace sort of thing in Empty Spain.
October 31, 2025 at 8:43 AM
Heard a raven hoo-hah outside, just looked out to see them ‘mobbing’ a Bonelli’s eagle in the tall pine outside my bedroom window. Drove it off successfully. Another remarkable yet commonplace sort of thing in Empty Spain.
Reposted by Annie Bennett
If you’re daunted by the prospect of late autumn & winter & are able to get outside, here’s a film I made for @bbcspringwatch.bsky.social with 5 scientifically proven nature-based tips to alleviate anxiety & lift your mood 🌿🧠:
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p...
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p...
BBC Two - Autumnwatch, 2020, Episode 3, 5 simple ways: Nature can help your mood
Emma Mitchell guides us through a natural take on wellbeing this Autumn.
www.bbc.co.uk
October 30, 2025 at 8:09 AM
If you’re daunted by the prospect of late autumn & winter & are able to get outside, here’s a film I made for @bbcspringwatch.bsky.social with 5 scientifically proven nature-based tips to alleviate anxiety & lift your mood 🌿🧠:
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p...
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p...
Irresponsibly posting my location on social media
October 28, 2025 at 10:08 PM
Irresponsibly posting my location on social media
Reposted by Annie Bennett
Airline strands ex-BBC editor, citing Parkinson's www.bbc.com/news/article... Don’t travel with Turkish Airlines- they discriminate against people with Parkinson’s
'My sin was having Parkinson's': Presenter left stranded
Mark Mardell was left feeling 'humiliated' after he was told he could not board a flight.
www.bbc.com
October 27, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Airline strands ex-BBC editor, citing Parkinson's www.bbc.com/news/article... Don’t travel with Turkish Airlines- they discriminate against people with Parkinson’s
November isn’t very novembery at all in Tarragona - and the Romesco festival is on too.
www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/desti...
www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/desti...
October 27, 2025 at 4:05 PM
November isn’t very novembery at all in Tarragona - and the Romesco festival is on too.
www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/desti...
www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/desti...
Appalling.
www.facebook.com/share/p/19C1...
My friend Mark Mardell was chucked off his Turkish Airlines flight at the weekend because he had Parkinson’s and his son had asked for assistance for him. (He’s written about it as a public post on Facebook but the link is proving hard to share outside,)
My friend Mark Mardell was chucked off his Turkish Airlines flight at the weekend because he had Parkinson’s and his son had asked for assistance for him. (He’s written about it as a public post on Facebook but the link is proving hard to share outside,)
October 27, 2025 at 9:42 AM
Appalling.
“Suckling pig, roast lamb and scrambled eggs with asparagus are not typical Spanish dishes.. famous diners included Charles Dickens”
You what? Think the writer must have had too much wine and couldn’t read her notes.
You what? Think the writer must have had too much wine and couldn’t read her notes.
October 26, 2025 at 10:11 AM
“Suckling pig, roast lamb and scrambled eggs with asparagus are not typical Spanish dishes.. famous diners included Charles Dickens”
You what? Think the writer must have had too much wine and couldn’t read her notes.
You what? Think the writer must have had too much wine and couldn’t read her notes.
More than 50,000 protest in Valencia on first anniversary of floods
‘Still angry’: more than 50,000 protest in Valencia on first anniversary of floods
Demonstrators call on regional leader to resign over handling of one of Europe’s deadliest natural disasters in decades
www.theguardian.com
October 25, 2025 at 9:26 PM
More than 50,000 protest in Valencia on first anniversary of floods
Reposted by Annie Bennett
I've made Simon stop at little tea shops - I thought SOD it, I'll have what I want.
October 25, 2025 at 8:05 AM
I've made Simon stop at little tea shops - I thought SOD it, I'll have what I want.
Waitrose is selling Padrón peppers grown in the Isle of Wight…
Los pimientos de Padrón se han puesto tan de moda en Inglaterra que ya hay granjeros vendiendo 'british padron peppers' https://www.directoalpaladar.com/p/120744
October 23, 2025 at 7:18 AM
Waitrose is selling Padrón peppers grown in the Isle of Wight…
The fight to save the last palace of Palma from becoming yet another hotel
The fight to save the last palace of Palma from turning into a hotel
The costs of preservation and lack of funds mean many of the Mallorcan city’s palaces have been converted, but the magnificent Can Vivot is holding on
www.thetimes.com
October 21, 2025 at 11:02 AM
The fight to save the last palace of Palma from becoming yet another hotel