'Las fiestas y los rituales son la mecha que reaviva el fuego de la existencia.'
Lola Mayenco, Algo que celebrar.
Como andaluza de origen, y giennense de raíces, cada año pasaba el verano en el pueblo, con mis abuelos, mis tíos y primos. Los días de feria venían a poner la guinda a lo que solía ser la mejor época del año, justo antes de la vuelta al cole en el norte, donde vivíamos mi familia y yo.
Looking at a photograph of the imposing cathedral of Jaen in southern Spain, you might assume it to be a major historic city - a Milan, a Santiago de Compostela or Rouen.
But Jaen is one of Andalucia's forgotten treasures; a town which, despite its glory years as a strategic post during the Christian Reconquista of Spain from the Moors, has long since slipped off the tourist radar.
Jaen is the largest producer of Olive Oil in Spain and also world-wide. Just the province of Jaen produces more than the second largest producer country, Italy. With more than 550.000 hectares of olive tree fields and over 60 million trees, it produces 20% of the world’s Olive Oil. With the olive oil campaign reaching its end, it's time to take a look at this "liquid gold".
