Dance classes:
Juanta Franco, a member of the House of Spain has a private dance studio, where she teaches Flamingo Dancing to the members and also non-members, children as well as adults are welcome.

Spanish Culture – Flamenco
The Flamenco or Flamingo dance is a 200 years old folk art, which originated to reflect on the suffering and tragic lyrics of the gypsy people.  Song, dance and guitar are blended into passionate rhythms.   It can portray themes of stories, politics, love, history and humor.

Three components make up the flamenco; cante - the song, baile - the dance and the guitarra - the guitar player.  There are two styles in Flamenco, “Jondo” the serious and deep meaning and “chico” the happy light and sometimes humorous.  The dance has complex patterns of rhythms and sophisticated footwork with the upper body emphasizing grace and posture.

Sister City Society
The House of Spain participates in an organization called  “Sister City Society” with the city Alcala de Henares in Spain.  About 2-3 times a year they gather either at the State University of San Diego or another designated location to read from Cervantes book “ Don Quixote” and to listen to literature experts. These readings are held in the Spanish Language.

Lawn Program:
October 12th is Columbus Day. The House of Spain is hosting their yearly Lawn Program on or around that day. A Spanish Ballet, who will dance the typical Spanish Flamingo dances in their beautiful dancing gowns, provides the Entertainment.

Foods served on the Lawn program is a” Paella” with chicken, rice and seafood, it is cooked in a huge round pan, and looks intriguingly appetizing.  Lemonade is also served.

Food Fairs:
For the Ethnic Food Fair and the December Holidays the menu is the same as it is for the Lawn Program.

Cabrillo Festival:
In commemoration of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, who explored the West Coast of the United States in 1542, San Diego hosts an annual Cabrillo Festival.  It is the oldest Festival of its kind in San Diego.  It encompasses the week of September 28, the date in history in which Cabrillo arrived in San Diego.  The members and the dancers of the House of Spain participate in the festivities, as well as Mexico and Portugal, to represent the diverse heritage and culture of Native America.  This Festival takes place at the Cabrillo National Monument in Point Loma.

Special Events:
In October the members of the House of Spain host a Dinner Dance, the location and times vary and are planned in advance.  It is usually held in one of San Diego’s hotels.

In the summer months they have a fun time event, the picnic on the Beach.

The members also hold a pot-luck about once a month (times and locations vary).

January 6th is the day of the” Three Wise Men”, the members hold a Festival for the children, and there is a gift exchange.

Running of the Bulls Fiesta:
From July 7 to 14 each year thousands of people crowd into Pamplona to participate in Spain’s most famous bull-running fiesta to honor Navarre, the capital’s patron saint “San Fermin”.

In Spain more than 3000 fiestas are staged every year, but the Running of the Bulls Fiesta is the most popular in terms of excitement and spectacle.

The Tomatina Festival:
This is the biggest food fight in the world, and it is all just for the fun of it.  When the tomatoes are ripe, on the last Wednesday in August, 30,000 people go to the town of Bunol in the Valencia region of Spain to throw 240,000 pounds of tomatoes at each other.  (I am wondering who cleans up this juicy red mess).

This tradition began in 1945 when a fight erupted at a carnival crowd and they started to throw tomatoes at each other.  This became so much fun that it is a yearly event now.

Spanish heritage in San Diego
San Diego is home to approximately 2000 Spanish-Americans, and about 200 families are members of the House of Spain.

Land Area: 504,782 sq km                                
Population:  40,448,191 (July 2007 est.)
Capital City: Madrid                                        
Language:  Castilian Spanish (official) 74%, Catalan 17%, Galician 7%, Basque 2%, are official regionally
Religion:  Roman Catholic 94%, other 6%
Form of Government: parliamentary monarchy
Economy: ccc
Export: ccc

Source: The World Factbook - Spain