Betancuria is the oldest town on Fuerteventura, a small town in the mid- west of the island. We hired a car and drove to it, picking our way up mountain roads and through some very small towns on the way. The town was founded in 1404 by a Norman knight, Jean de Bethencourt. The central square has an old church, the church of Santa Maria de la Concepcion and a short walk away there's a new museum which houses all kinds of archaeological finds from the island's much older past- ceramics, rocks with carvings and markings, necklaces, and skeletons. It must have been a heck of place to survive in lithic times. There seems to be some question about who the first Fuerteventurans were and whether they came from Morocco or were transplanted there by the Romans.
There are several small cafes and bistros in Betancuria. The population of the town is less than a thousand, so there's no doubt that the restaurants and cafes exist mainly for the tourists. We chose one, entered and were seated in a shaded corner, cactus and plants overhanging us, a cat with kittens on top of a wall, a man setting up his guitar and microphone for some Saturday afternoon musical accompaniment.
While browsing the menu I started singing along (quietly, semi- absent mindedly) to the song being played over the cafe's sound system and realised suddenly that it was a Spanish cover version of Mazzy Star's 1993 song Fade Into You. It sounded perfect, one of those moments where time stops for a little while. Those chords, Hope's vocal phrasings, the slide guitar...
I have had a look around on YouTube and there are several Spanish language cover versions. I'm not sure if this is the one that was playing in the cafe but I like it anyway. It's by Flores De Uranio.
Sublimely cool how the song crept into you and gently announced itself.
ReplyDeleteI had to put up with bossa nova versions of Queen songs last night in a cafe. jesus wept.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds awful George, genuinely awful.
ReplyDeleteSwiss Adam