An old Spanish proverb says "spring alters the blood." However, not only does it alter the blood, but also our diet. Spring is full of fruit and vegetables that give their best with the first rays of sun. One is the modest 'calçot', a type of fine onion with a delicate flavour. Eating it is a kind of ritual to start the spring in the warm areas surrounding the Ebro River as it passes through Catalonia. Beware, like every initiatory ritual, it has its rules: of course you can eat it in private but it certainly does not taste the same. Tradition has it that calçots should be eaten in the town square at a table with one’s neighbo

  Do witches exist? What about their magic powers and their spells?    The truth is only known to history, but there is a place in Spain that sheds some light on the mystery. Virtually on the border with France, the village of Zugarramurdi in Navarre (in the north of the peninsula) has been witness to one of the most enigmatic chapters of the past.    The story says that the enormous caves around the village were the scene of witchcraft meetings during the 17th century. People talk of rituals in which men and women lit bonfires, danced and drank drinks with hallucinogenic effects. These meetings took the name of Akelarres (‘aker’ =