Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker Deep within the Cañón del Río Lobos Natural Park in Soria about two to three hours’ drive from Madrid Bartholomew’s Hermitage) is yet another sample of Spain’s rich medieval heritage and fascinating spiritual traditions this small Romanesque-almost-Gothic hermitage is a place where history and nature come together to attract travelers seeking adventure The Ermita de San Bartolomé is somewhat shrouded in mystery, especially because of its alleged connection to the Knights Templar The Templars were a powerful military order founded in the early 12th century to protect Christian pilgrims traveling to the Holy Land they played a major role in the Reconquista – the centuries-long campaign to reclaim the Iberian Peninsula from Muslim rule The Templars were granted vast lands and built numerous fortresses Some scholars claim it was precisely their wealth and influence that eventually led to their downfall the Order was dissolved and its properties confiscated or abandoned Although there is no concrete evidence linking the Ermita de San Bartolomé directly to the Templars it has long been associated with their legacy fueled by its remote and evocative setting the hermitage was once misidentified as the now-lost church of San Juan de Otero a Templar commandery that was actually located on the nearby hill of San Juan The remains of this Templar site are still visible today adding another epic layer of history to the area declared an Asset of Cultural Interest in 2015 is a unique architectural blend of Romanesque and early Gothic styles The Latin cross layout of the church is clearly visible from the outside and the relatively low transept accentuates the height of the nave the pointed barrel vault of the nave does not intersect with the transept meaning that there is no dome or lantern at the intersection – a feature that adds to the unique character of the hermitage One of the most captivating aspects of this hermitage is its two rose windows with their lacy tracery forming a five-pointed star suggest Islamic influences and are evidence of the cultural exchanges of the time The external archivolts that surround the windows are simple and elegant The surrounding Cañón del Río Lobos (the Río Lobos Canyon) enhances the spiritual atmosphere of the Ermita de San Bartolomé This natural park is a haven for hikers and nature lovers offering numerous trails that wind through the canyon’s scenery For those who venture into this hidden sanctuary where the ancient walls of the hermitage still whisper the secrets of centuries past Articles like these are sponsored free for every Catholic through the support of generous readers just like you Please make a tax-deductible donation today Help us continue to bring the Gospel to people everywhere through uplifting Catholic news A man rides a horse through a bonfire as part of a ritual in honor of Saint Anthony the Abbot Festivities started around nightfall Thursday as giant stacks of tree branches while locals mulled about sharing wine and beer and sweets Children play on top of a heap of wood to be burned before a ritual in honor of Saint Anthony the Abbot A man braids the horse’s tail before a ritual in honor of Saint Anthony the Abbot where livestock and agriculture were common traditional livelihoods locals say it all started after a mysterious illness swept through the village’s animals centuries ago It was then that people started believing that smoke could purify and heal horses as he tended to his family’s horses near a stone church with his father it’s stayed on as tradition,” Martín explained Tree branches ready to be burned are placed before a ritual in honor of Saint Anthony the Abbot A horse grazes before a ritual in honor of Saint Anthony the Abbot Las Luminarias has long attracted criticism for being brutal toward the animals involved riders wrap their horses’ tails in fire-resistant tape and braid their manes Some apply a glaze on the animals’ mane to prevent them from burning as they leap through the flames tying pink and red ribbons to their tails wrapped in tape and adorning them with decorative headpieces even though we’re from here and we see it every year,” said Ana Díaz who later rode his horse through the flames who works for a clothing company in Madrid but visits her family home in San Bartolome almost every weekend said that she wasn’t worried about potential possible risks to riders or animals “It’s not just anyone who can ride,” Díaz said who know their animal and would never want anything to happen to the horse.” some horses resist walking directly into the fires But the horses and riders that draw the loudest cheers are those that leap head-on through the flames A horse is silhouetted through a bonfire as part of a ritual in honor of Saint Anthony the Abbot People watch a ritual in honor of Saint Anthony the Abbot Animal rights groups in Spain have long opposed Las Luminarias but riders and spectators in San Bartolome insist that it doesn’t hurt the horses Others show up for the simple fact that Las Luminarias has continued almost without interruption in the village for centuries Generations of young people migrating from Spain’s hinterlands for cities have left scores of villages and towns like San Bartolome close to or entirely abandoned Age-old rituals and festivals like Las Luminarias bring people back who prepares his family’s horses every year for the festival said concerns about the animals’ welfare were misplaced let them come back and go through each of the farms where there are horses and see if any of them have burns if they see anything abnormal,” Martín said Men ride horses next to a bonfire as part of a ritual in honor of Saint Anthony San Bartolomé yesterday presented a new sculpture by artist César Corujo The work is located near the Casa Mayor Guerra the 18th century mansion that lies between San Bartolomé and the foot of Montaña Blanca and uses “traditional elements such as wrought iron and stone.” Mayor Isidro Pérez said the work “reinforces the Municipal Sculpture Plan which seeks to bring high value artistic expressions into public spaces.” and website in this browser for the next time I comment Canary Islands tourism continues to grow in 2025 as they close the busiest month and quarter in its history Lanzarote’s Chamber of Commerce of Lanzarote has presented a survey on the island’s taxi services warning that the service is “lacking and can be improved.” The Canarian Government’s law on holiday rental properties has been delayed again as the notice period for objections was granted yet another extension Need a break from the scorching hot Lanzarote sun Looking for a fun activity that is sheltered from the heat and wind Look no further than the Crazy Minigolf Lanzarote course in Puerto del Carmen First Class Villa Services is your all-in-one villa management service whose core values are excellence We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in settings Sign-up to the Gazette Newsletter to receive a weekly email including the most important news stories and upcoming events This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful Strictly necessary cookies should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings we will not be able to save your preferences This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page Duomo di Milano The statue represents the fisherman Bartholomew sent out to preach his word throughout the world and twelve entire cities to the Christian faith These conversions aroused the envy of the priests of the local divinities depicts Bartholomew skinned and with the Gospel in his hand The sculpture is characterised by the particular attention paid to the anatomy and by the emphasis on the martyr’s body At the base of the work a later epigraph celebrates the mastery of the artist making it a real “talking” sculpture – NON ME PRAXITELES SED MARC(US) FINXIT AGRATIS – PRAXITELES DID NOT SCULPT ME it was brought inside in the last quarter of the 16th century Luciano Felloni after a funeral Mass at San Bartolome Parish de Novaliches in Quezon City on Feb Father Luciano Felloni was laid to rest at a cemetery in Quezon City on Monday with calls to honor the legacy of the “very passionate” priest and his deep love for the Church and country Bishop Roberto Gaa of Novaliches led mourners and praised the Argentine priest’s dedication to ministry and to communities “He was the kind of person who was very spirited He never entered any endeavor half-heartedly,” Gaa said in his homily at San Bartolome Parish Church or in social communication… he fully committed to it,” he said His last assignment was as parish priest of Jesus Lord of the Divine Mercy Parish in Quezon City’s Mapayapa village and director of the diocese’s social communications ministry Feloni remained energetically engaged in his work “May what he started be continued… perhaps in a different manner and the same spirited engagement that we received from Father Luciano,” he said Let us not let this love and service end with him let us seek out others and work together,” Gaa added he also served as executive director of Caritas Novaliches and as coordinator of the diocese’s Social Service Development Ministry from 2013 to 2019 “His deep love for the Church and commitment to justice especially for the marginalized and victims of violence embodied the true essence of Christian service,” said Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo Saint Bartholomew is one of Sant Antoni de Portmany town's two patron saints. Every year he is celebrated by the town's residents and those who are lucky enough to be staying in the area The tradition goes back to the Middle Ages when a miracle occurred in the Bay of Portmany caught in a fierce storm that threatened their lives they would make good on their vow in the first place that welcomed them.  they arrived safely on land and went on to fulfill their promise with a mass in honour of the saint Ever since then he has occupied a special place in locals´ hearts Top family venue, Bam-Bu-Ku Ibiza - located in the heart of San Antonio Bay - is hosting an unmissable event in honour of Saint Bartholomew. For just €35 euros per person, you can enjoy a delicious barbecue, live music, children's games, not to mention awesome views of the evening´s famous firework display. Kids enter free of charge, making the day out the ideal outing for all the family. Starting at 19:00, the party at Bam-Bu-Ku will feature live music to enliven the evening, while the little ones get to take part in a variety of games specially designed for them. The barbecue will offer a sumptuous selection of dishes to delight all attendees. Besides, the deluxe tropical lagoon provides a prime spot from which to marvel at the spectacular fireworks that will light up the night sky. Don't miss this unique opportunity to celebrate San Bartholomew's Day at Bam-Bu-Ku Ibiza. Come down to revel in a magical night filled with history, music, fun, and tradition. Catch up with all the week's news and updates: Copyright © 1999 - 2025 Ibiza Spotlight S.L. All rights reserved. We are a member of the PIMEEF - the small and medium business association of Ibiza and Formentera. All prices published on the site include VAT. The latest travel advice after flooding in Costa Teguise I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice Travellers headed for Lanzarote this Easter may have their holiday plans dampened after heavy rainfall and flooding swept the island last weekend Storm Olivier struck the popular Canary Islands last Wednesday sending intense rain and thunderstorms across the Spanish archipelago well into Saturday According to the Island Emergency Consortium and Arrecife on the east coast were worst hit with emergency services being called out to more than 200 incidents Tui cancelled some Lanzarote holidays “due to the lack of alternative accommodation on the island” while Jet2holidays was also forced to cut a small number of trips as a result of “the severe weather conditions” Lanzarote Airport is now operating as usual, and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is not advising against travel to the island and what are your rights if you have a trip booked Read more: Sun-drenched hotspot hit with snow ahead of Easter in ‘danger’ warning for Canaries tourists Torrential rain drenched Lanzarote last week homes and roads in the tourist hotspot flooded Footage shows cars submerged on waterlogged roads and homeowners using buckets to remove water from their houses after as much as 60 litres of rain fell in two hours on Saturday (12 April) The latest advice from the Foreign Office (FCDO) says: “Heavy rainfall and flooding in Lanzarote occurred over the weekend If you are in Lanzarote or travelling to Lanzarote follow the advice of the local authorities and monitor local weather updates.” The FCDO warned travellers on Sunday (13 April) that flooding had impacted services on the island with some hotels without power and roads affected by mud and Arrecife had been particularly affected General FCDO flooding advice for Spain says: “Flash flooding can cause travel disruption and damage to property and infrastructure. Check weather warnings from Spain’s meteorological office (AEMET) before travel and follow the advice of the local authorities.” The Canary Islands government ended the state of emergency in Lanzarote – declared on Saturday – at 7am on Sunday “Following the end of the flooding caused by rain on April 12 in the municipalities of Arrecife and San Bartolomé on the island of Lanzarote the island emergency situation has ended,” it said in an update Authorities confirmed that there have been no reported injuries Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura seem to have been spared from the worst of the storm The State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) predicts “a low probability of light rain” on the Canary Islands today (15 April) The Foreign Office has not issued a warning against travel due to the flooding so there will be no exceptional circumstances allowing for a full refund on cancelled trips There is no obligation for companies to refund bookings if you want to cancel and you will not be able to claim travel insurance due to safety concerns unless Foreign Office advice changes The terms for cancelling your trip depend on your holiday provider so it’s best to contact them if you wish to postpone Some travel insurance policies will include natural disaster cover for an event that prevents you from reaching your holiday destination – speak to your insurer to find out your rights For more travel news and advice, listen to Simon Calder’s podcast Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies Flooding hits Canary Islands after heavy rainfall from Storm Olivier","description":"The latest travel advice after flooding in Costa Teguise Lanzarote’s Emergency Consortium believes the fire that damaged a Tesla vehicle in San Bartolomé on Sunday may have been started deliberately Their opinion is based on the fact that the battery is located underneath the vehicle but the fire appears to have started on the upper surface of the car Several Tesla vehicles have been vandalised in the USA and Europe following company CEO Elon Musk’s recent controversial involvements in US and European politics appears to be the first such incident in the Canaries The “Sentry Mode” that allows certain Tesla vehicles to film their surroundings when they are approached Paco Curbelo and Rufina Santana are Lanzarote’s leading artistic couple – and this year you’ll have a much better opportunity to get to know their work as they open their art centre in San Bartolomé to the public The Lanzarote Art Center will be open to the public from 10 am to 2 pm on Fridays and Saturdays when visitors will be greeted in the reception/shop area before being led to the permanent exhibition space You can also visit the centre at other times of the week by booking an appointment at info@lanzaroteartcenter.com Located on Calle Dos Reyes in San Bartolomé the parking area features some of Paco Curbelo’s monumental sculptures – a stack of flat stones two elegant towers of white spheres – while the garden next door is a glorious riot of natural colour like Rufina Santana’s vivid paintings Rufina explains that the Arts Center was created in conjunction with the Curbelo Santana Foundation in 2015 we were busy working on and developing our art but around ten years ago we decided to open up to other people.” The Foundation is a project that works with international artists providing residences in the very heart of Lanzarote architects and photographers have all spent time in the three residences over the last years The arts centre has also existed for several years but has only really been publicised by word of mouth up to now “The arts centre was inevitable” says Rufina – “When two artists marry and have another artist as a son you’re living in an arts centre anyway.” Rufina Santana is hugely optimistic when it comes to the possibilities of art on Lanzarote “There is everything still to do,” she says “That was true 50 years ago and it’s still true today.” She gives me an amazed look when I ask whether it’s possible to run short of inspiration on Lanzarote The changes on the island are part of that there were just a few British and German residents on the island and a mix of cultures is important for a creative person.” Can it be an obstacle to other artists on the island Rufina laughs and says “Manrique is a wonderful monster who can be a “glass ceiling” on Lanzarote There have always been plenty of other cultural things going on the island.” Paco Curbelo is one of the best-known sculptors on Lanzarote the creator of well-known public works such as the circle of dancers at Playa Honda roundabout the camels at Uga and the sailing boat at the entry to Puerto Calero he studied Fine Arts in Barcelona before returning to his native island and devoting himself to monumental sculptures in basalt Rufina Santana was born on Gran Canaria and also studied Fine Art in Barcelona before settling on Lanzarote She has exhibited her painting all over Europe Often focussing on large-scale works that transmit the vitality and rhythm of nature her paintings can be seen in some of Lanzarote’s most important hotels and public buildings who works as an illustrator and designer under the name Hugu with a youthful style influenced by surf culture The report on the implementation of the Convention, due by States Parties every 6 years, includes a section on the elements inscribed on the Representative List. Read more on periodic reports Bolivia (Plurinational State of) Inscribed in 2023 (18.COM) on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity or the Festival of San Bartolomé and San Ignacio de Loyola An integral part of the local cultural identity the festival is characterised by gastronomic fairs dance performances and a procession to the sanctuary located in the Mullu Punku gorge parishioners and musical groups take part in the Autochthonous and Folkloric Dancing Parade of Ch’utillos and are joined by rural communities wearing traditional clothing Some travel up to 200 kilometres to reach Potosí contributing their traditions and oral expressions to the dancing parade Dance groups from other Latin American countries also join the festivities transforming the streets of Potosí into a platform for cultural exchange Other bearers include the people who make the traditional musical instruments The knowledge and skills of Ch’utillos are transmitted informally through oral instruction and participation in the festivities the Ch’utillos festival is part of the cultural heritage of the indigenous Q’ara Q’aras nation marking the beginning of the preparation of the land and a new agricultural cycle with offerings to Pachamama (Mother Earth) Password forgotten? The Three Kings have already arrived on Lanzarote and are doing the rounds The biggest parade will take place in Arrecife this evening a parade will take place this morning in Puerto del Carmen’s old town while the Kings will swiftly pass through Costa Teguise at 12.35 Playa Blanca will host a full parade at 6 pm this evening is a national holiday in Spain and many shops and public buildings will be closed 11.30am: The Kings will arrive by boat at Puerto del Carmen’s harbour before parading from C/Teide to C/ Los Afrechos 6pm: Parade in Tías from roundabout at C/Perez Galdos/ Avenidad Central to Calle Libertad followed by letter collection at the football ground from Galeria de Yaiza to Plaza de los Remedios from roundabout near bus station to Plaza de Nuestra Señora de Carmen 5.30pm: Parade starts at football ground and ends at plaza de San Roque 6pm: The largest parade on the island will depart from Puerto Naos and head to the Parque Islas Canarias The process of dismantling the wind turbines on Montaña Mina The Montaña Mina wind park ceased to operate in 2017 and has suffered steady dilapidation ever since with the collapse of one of the turbines earlier this year causing a genuine risk to passers-by The task of dismantling the facility has not been announced although a quote of a million Euros has been floated.   Travellers headed for Lanzarote this Easter may have their holiday plans dampened after heavy rainfall and flooding swept the island last weekend Storm Olivier struck the popular Canary Islands last Wednesday Lanzarote Airport is now operating as usual, and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is not advising against travel to the island Read more: Sun-drenched hotspot hit with snow ahead of Easter in ‘danger’ warning for Canaries tourists Torrential rain drenched Lanzarote last week Footage shows cars submerged on waterlogged roads The FCDO warned travellers on Sunday (13 April) that flooding had impacted services on the island General FCDO flooding advice for Spain says: “Flash flooding can cause travel disruption and damage to property and infrastructure. Check weather warnings from Spain’s meteorological office (AEMET) before travel and follow the advice of the local authorities.” The State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) predicts “a low probability of light rain” on the Canary Islands today (15 April) For more travel news and advice, listen to Simon Calder’s podcast Is it safe to travel to Iceland after volcanic eruption? British tourist detained in US due to border crackdown says : ‘I was naive’ Is it safe to travel to Thailand? Advice for tourists after Myanmar earthquake Fears quaint Cotswolds village will be overrun with tourists under new plans Airlines slash flight prices to US after anti-Trump backlash What to expect from the £1bn ‘Welsh Tube’ set to open this year Ecuador (Credit: Judy Dautovich-Ralf Hunsinger/Getty Images)A remote road in the Andes has been home to some of the world's most renowned guitar-makers for more than 200 years Bracing against the cold air at an altitude of 2,650m narrow mountain road in the heart of the Ecuadorian Andes Its switchbacks were slick with moisture from the mist vegetation slowly creeping up the cracks in the pavement looming silhouette emerged from the fog – a lone cow wandering along the road in search of better pasture Other than roaming livestock and the occasional local It was hard to believe I'd only just left Cuenca I wanted to explore the more far-off routes of the Andes heading east where there are little tourist crowds – and plenty of local culture remote road with solitude and views unspoiled by human activity Via San Bartolome slowly unfurls across the eastern slopes of the Andes for 80km merging with a network of other local roads leading down into the Amazon plains Gone are Cuenca's busy streets and trendy cafes animal pastures and a mountain landscape weighed down by heavy clouds and undisturbed silence home to a little more than 4,000 inhabitants I started noticing something odd on the sides of the road it was someone's house with a guitar frame hung outside; sometimes a bigger workshop with instruments lined up on the porch or displayed on tables a makeshift wooden sign declared this was the "Ruta de las Guitarras" – the Guitar Route the tradition of guitar-making has been strong in this region Locals craft the instruments from the area's cedar as well as from more exotic materials like armadillo shells Luthiers along the Guitar Road are known for crafting guitars so exquisite that their clients include musicians across South America I stopped by one of the guitar workshops: a typical tin-roofed Andean house with wooden walls but with a guitar displayed above the entrance one of San Bartolome's most renowned guitar makers Parking my rental motorcycle on the side of the road I tentatively asked if I could visit the workshop I didn't want to intrude: the Guitar Route is far from a touristy place "Would you like to see the guitars?" the walls were lined with finished guitars five-stringed instruments loved by indigenous Andean musicians) ukuleles and cuatros (four-stringed guitars popular in Venezuela) The tables were covered in instruments in various states of finish and cow bone fragments and colourful ornaments used as adornments "Every guitar and charango are unique," Uyaguari explained but some of the guitars are made from imported pine we get things like armadillo shells from the rainforest – it's good for making smaller instruments Uyaguari told me he learned the art of guitar making from his father – who I remember some of the guitar masters were 70 and they'd tell us they learned from their fathers It's a tradition passed down from father to son," he said Although there are some women guitar makers in San Bartolome "I began learning to make guitars when I was 13 years old and I'm hoping to pass it down to my sons Three of them already make guitars and work together with me," Uyaguari said All of Uyaguari's instruments are made by hand saws and sandpaper to craft the frame and the neck of the guitar decorating the sound hole with tiny wood fragments coloured by hand Some of the ornaments are made of bovine bones From sanding and prepping the wood to a complete finish it takes Uyaguari about two weeks to make one guitar His cheaper instruments cost around $70 to $200 (£50 to £150) whereas a more exquisite guitar made from expensive wood may cost $2,000 (£1,500) and upwards Such is the reputation of San Bartolome's guitar makers that these instruments are being sought after by musicians in Europe Uyaguari fondly remembers a rosewood and pine guitar he made for Enrique Bunbury the lead singer of Spanish rock band Héroes del Silencio the guitar-making trade in San Bartolome has been slowly dwindling Due to an influx of imported guitars from China Only 10 local families now make guitars full-time "Artisanal guitar making is now valued less and less and they ask us to make guitars for $15 or $20 (£10 or £15) – the price of the Chinese ones as this wouldn't even cover the costs of the wood he and his sons would make 30 or 40 guitars a month; they'd all quickly sell out many guitar makers in San Bartolome have to supplement their income with farming making furniture or moving to the cities in search of jobs "Some of the workshops have been closed down or abandoned however – I'll take my trade to my grave," Uyaguari said But there's a potential new revenue stream for artisans like him our guitars are mostly bought either by travellers or professional musicians who value what we do," he said I jumped back on the bike and followed the Guitar Route eastward sparse Andean grasses now replaced by the lush emerald green of the Amazon rainforest The temperature and humidity rose as the ribbon of road snaked down the slopes of the Andes revealing the slow-moving waters of the Upano River and the endless green expanse below Small farms and ramshackle houses gave way to fresh fruit stands and bare-bellied kids running around the heavy clouds now broken apart by sunshine the cold Andean villages and the guitar makers of San Bartolome began to feel like a distant The Open Road is a celebration of the world's most remarkable highways and byways and a reminder that some of the greatest travel adventures happen via wheels Join more than three million BBC Travel fans by liking us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter and Instagram If you liked this story,sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter called "The Essential List". 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The Cabildo’s Heritage Department has dedicated €62,000 towards the restoration of Lanzarote’s only functioning gofio mill in San Bartolomé The José María Gil mill was built in 1870 and is currently the only place on the island that grinds gofio the toasted cereal meal that has been a traditional staple of the Canarian diet for centuries The mill operated for 50 years until 1920 before the building was abandoned businesswomen Silvia Gil and Lourdes Rodríguez relaunched the mill in 2018 and won important awards for their products in 2021 has announced this week that the San Juan festivities will be held on Playa El Curita to protect the breeding areas of Kentish plovers Pérez explained “We have moved the traditional bonfire from Playa Honda to Playa El Curita (between calle Cordel and calle Guanarame) and we will all live together in the festivities a midsummer celebration that takes place throughout Spain on the evening of 23rd June the celebrations would take place on Playa Guacimeta due to the presence of breeding Kentish plovers San Juan festivities have been cancelled in previous years The little birds can sometimes be seen rushing along the seashore They lay their eggs in shallow dents on beaches or salt flats meaning they are particularly vulnerable to disturbance As the original executive pastry chef for Sweet Arleen's in the Westlake Plaza shopping center Julia San Bartolome helped push the Thousand Oaks bakery to victory three of the four times it appeared on the Food Network show "Cupcake Wars" — a three-peat performance touted in the windows and on the food truck that was added to the business in 2011 After leaving the bakery for a new job nearly two years ago I couldn't see it going any other way," said San Bartolome who this month became co-owner of Sweet Arleen's with her parents They bought the business from founding owner Arleen Scavone who decided late last year that she wanted to move to Rhode Island with husband Joe Scavone to be closer to their first grandchild a retired peace officer who still works elsewhere on a part-time basis office manager for an urgent care center in Ventura she gave me the option of doing chores or baking stuff Guess which one I picked," San Bartolome said with a laugh Bonaventure High School in Ventura before moving on to the culinary arts program at Santa Barbara City College She focused on pastry at the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco then moved back to Ventura County to take the job at Sweet Arleen's before its debut in 2009 Her initial interview with Scavone was held at a nearby Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf because the bakery was still a florist shop at the time A mortgage services consultant and avid home cook turned bakery owner Scavone asked San Bartolome for her advice on equipment purchases and kitchen design — and then acted on it "She immediately trusted me and treated me like I was one of her banking colleagues I saw that I had an opportunity to learn from a real-life And I knew that I needed it," San Bartolome said Food Network came calling soon after they opened the doors Scavone and San Bartolome scored their first "Cupcake Wars" victory in a 2010 episode that challenged them to create a series of film festival-themed treats The results included a buttermilk pound cake cupcake flecked with peanut brittle rolled in popcorn and topped with vanilla buttercream they triumphed again with a Tony Awards-themed cupcake using raspberries San Bartolome worked solo to represent Sweet Arleen's in a battle-of-the-assistants episode that saw her take first place with four cupcakes inspired by the Blue Man Group a screen above the cupcakes display case shows the episodes on a continuous loop "It set us apart in the community and gave us the confidence to keep going," San Bartolome said of the reality-TV experience After seeing Sweet Arleen's through a franchise expansion that has since been discontinued San Bartolome left her post as the bakery's corporate pastry chef to work instead as pastry specialist in the Ventura/Santa Barbara region for The Chef's Warehouse a specialty food products distributor in the U.S She plans to keep working for the company as a sales representative in addition to her post as corporate pastry chef for Sweet Arleen's "People have asked if I'm going to change the name Not after working all these years to help get this name out there," San Bartolome said typically texting one another every few days Scavone welcomed San Bartolome back to use the bakery's kitchen for special projects including making the California Poppy-decorated cake seen on the cover of the 15th anniversary edition of Edible Ojai & Ventura County San Bartolome hopes to pay the mentorship favor forward by making the kitchen available to others looking for a place to hone their skills She also plans to make gradual additions to the shop's offerings which already include sweet and savory bread puddings She wants to bring back items like peanut brittle to expand the business to include wedding and other special-occasion cakes and to swap in some new-and-improved ingredients without changing the recipes — or the jumbo size — of the bakery's existing cupcakes ($3.50-$3.95 each) but we are improving some things," she said Sweet Arleen's is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays (960 S. Westlake Blvd., Suite 4, 805-373-7373, http://www.sweetarleens.com) My mini-staycation with family in Santa Barbara County last week gave me a chance to try some new restaurants — including one that will open to the public on Monday Named The Bear and Star after the motifs seen on the flags of California and Texas, the new restaurant at Fess Parker Wine Country Inn & Spa in Los Olivos has undergone a significant redo since it last served as the home of the Greek restaurant Petros now open in Solvang at the former Greenhouse Cafe (487 Atterdag Road) inn-adjacent space is now operated by two of Parker's children formerly of Sierra Mar at the Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur Its menu of "refined ranch cuisine" is inspired by the availability of ingredients from the 714-acre Fess Parker Home Ranch on nearby Foxen Canyon Road married with the wood-smoked culinary traditions of the Santa Ynez Valley and of Texas the home state of the late actor Fess Parker and of chef Cox whose family has been in the Lone Star state for more than six generations the results include stuffed local quail with a red-wine molasses gastrique ($22) Lompoc lima beans and charred onion dressing ($19) and a grilled Wagyu tri-tip steak with Brussels sprouts and demi glace ($32) Many of the items are prepared on a mobile 30-foot reverse-flow smoker custom built by Cox himself Look for it parked just off the back patio Adult beverages include wines from Fess Parker Winery and other area labels with selections from Third Window Brewing Co (opened at The Mill in Santa Barbara last year by grandson Kris Parker) and cocktails with local-reference names like Grand Avenue Smash (EFFEN blood orange vodka with grapefruit Pomace and spent grain from the family's winemaking and brewery operations are used to feed the ranch's 75 head of Wagyu cattle signaling efforts to create a closed-loop ecosystem that flows to the restaurant — and back again in the form of compost and repurposed cooking oil in a glass cabinet found -- along with his extensive cookbook collection and shelves of canning jars filled with pickled veggies  in the Chef's Room which also features a window that looks into the kitchen lunch and bar service will be offered on the front terrace and in the bar/lounge decorated in shades of charcoal and rust with bronze table tops and a white-and-gray tiled fireplace Dinner will be served in a 35-seat room on the other side of a sliding barn door; decor there includes stamped leather placemats antique kilim rugs and a fireplace hung with the preserved skull of a Texas Longhorn named Maggie The Bear and Star will be open daily for breakfast from 7-10:30 a.m., with lunch and dinner from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. The bar will be open from 11:30 a.m. to midnight. After May 1, brunch will be served from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays (2860 Grand Ave., 805-686-1359, https://www.thebearandstar.com) $118,000 raised to build new parish hall for historically Black Little Rock church Bartholomew Church in Little Rock is one step closer to breaking ground on a parish hall thanks to a $118,465 boost from One Church.  one of just three historically Black Catholic churches in Arkansas was chosen in the fall 2020 to be the third church to benefit from One Church a diocean initiative coordinated by Catholic Charities of Arkansas.  is meant to give Arkansans a chance to donate to the chosen mission or rural parish for 12 months to give the parish community a one-time financial boost Luke Church in Warren and Holy Spirit Church in Hamburg.  said between One Church and parishioner pledges and donations the church has about $800,000 set aside for a new parish hall.  Bartholomew was chosen,” Father Ngandu said of One Church.  parish religious education classes meet across the street in two rooms of its former high school building The remaining space is loaned to Helping Hand of Greater Little Rock “That (school) building has been in place since around the late 1940s so it’s pushing 70-plus years old,” said lifelong parishioner Phillip Gillam “It wasn’t designed to be a hall It was designed to be a series of classrooms So just having the true functionality of a hall will be a very positive step for the parish.”  another of the three Black parishes in the state “The two parishes do not have a parish hall Usually we just meet outside,” he said.  The building committee had planned on a 5,040-square-foot building that would seat 150 Father Ngandu said the lowest bid from the contractors they reached out to with the design was $1.2 million last fall with a redesigned plan to keep the cost at $800,000.  “My goal was to have a facility where the youth can attend religious education first we are going to see how we can make it possible because our youth do not … have a facility for their religious education,” Father Ngandu “My priority is catechesis first.”  Nestled within the neighborhood on Marshall Street down from Arkansas Children’s Hospital the parish hopes a hall will allow for more outreach “All the Black community around here Gillam said they’d like to do programs for the local community around St Bartholomew and the Central High district.  one of the things we've talked about is maybe having some adult education classes Things like that where we can reach out to the community at large to see what we can do to kind of help whatever the needs are — literacy or anything else that might come to our attention,” Gillam said.  The largest donor was Christ the King Church in Little Rock A collection was taken up by the parish during Advent.  “There’s groups out in the Catholic community that are willing and able to get involved in these kinds of efforts so it becomes more than just the financial aspect of it,” Gillam said explaining that CTK parishioners came to meet with them “The financial aspect of it is a blessing because that’s money we would not have otherwise been able to raise on our own.” Bartholomew can break ground on the new parish hall by the end of the year It will be built on the vacant lot next to the church office and rectory.  I keep them in my prayers,” Father Ngandu said of all those who donated to One Church this year I will consecrate the Mass for all our benefactors Aprille Hanson Spivey has contributed to Arkansas Catholic as a freelancer and associate editor since 2010 She leads the Beacon of Hope grief ministry at St President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy… Pope Francis recorded a video message in January urging young people to learn to listen to… renowned for his pastoral leadership in supporting the poor Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re presided over the funeral Mass of Pope Francis Pope Francis and Pope Benedict XVI were among 18 churchmen elected between ages 71 and 80.… From its founding on the Annunciation in 1911 to today Arkansas Catholic serves the state with weekly news in print and digital media who said the newspaper should be an “earnest champion in the cause of right justice and truth and an ardent defender of the religion which we all love so well.” Copyright 2025 Arkansas Catholic | Digital Edition | Archives 1911-2002 | Privacy & Terms | PO Box 7417 We use cookies to enhance your browsing experience We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze how you use this website and provide the content and advertisements that are relevant to you These cookies will only be stored in your 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Spanish festival of Las Luminarias has been held for the first time since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic Photograph: Manuel Balles/ZUMA Press Wire/Rex/Shutterstock Photograph: Pierre-Philippe Marcou/AFP/Getty Images festivals were held in two villages separated by language but both centered on the use of fire as a method of purification and blessing—and both were carried out with a liberal partaking in alcohol on the eve of Saint Anthony's Day—to honor Spain's patron saint of animals—people ride horses through bonfires during the “Luminarias,” a centuries-old tradition meant to to purify and protect the animals village men of the unlucky ages of 25 and 42 stage a fiery battle with one group building and protecting a wooden shrine and another trying to burn it down with bundles of flaming sticks The festival is meant to chase out evil spirits We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters@theatlantic.com A collection of winning and honored images from this year’s nature-photo competition A collection of amazing recent images made with the Hubble Space Telescope Mourners of Pope Francis gathered at the Vatican scenes from the the second weekend of Coachella 2025 and landscapes of the Earth’s arctic and subarctic regions donkeys and mules through piles of burning tree branches in a celebration called Las Luminarias The unique tradition of leaping over and through flames dates back 500 years but the men and women of San Bartolome de Pinares village still celebrate it religiously They gather all the branches they find in the days leading up to the festivities and when dusk falls on the eve of Saint Anthony’s Riders lead their mounts through the burning piles of the village accompanied by sounds of drums and Spanish bagpipes Photo: Luis Ascenso/Flickr Jumping through the flames is said to bring the animals the protection of St acknowledged as the patron of domestic animals Locals believe the fire purifies their animals and protects them against illnesses “This comes from thousands of years ago the old priests would bless them with fires so that they would jump and be purified,” one local said Animal rights activists don’t buy the whole purification deal Shearing of the Beasts or Day of the Geese they don’t have too many hopes of putting an end to it “There is no logic in forcing these animals into a stressful situation against their own nature. In the midst of the 21st century, this is something from a bygone era. There is no superstition or belief that should justify an act of such cruelty,” Juan Ignacio Codina from the Observatory of Justice and Animal Defence, said The owners say their animals remain unharmed during the procession thanks to precautions taken by riders to cut their hair to avoid burns the mayor of San Bartolome de Pinares told reporters that veterinarians checked the horses after Las Luminarias and couldn’t find a single burn mark One thing that even the more stubborn locals will agree with is that Las Luminarias has become too much of a spectacle in recent years the shrubs and pine branches used to light the fires used to be much smaller but nowadays they are brought in by trucks and the fires are much bigger to impress spectators Many would prefer to return to the old ways of animals walking over smaller fires moved with his family to the metropolis of Cuenca leaving behind the remote mountain village of San Bartolome Their tiny pueblo had a generations-long tradition of guitar making and Uyaguari’s father was one of the village’s best yet he wanted to better his family’s lot in life Julio Uyaguari Vintimilla established his new Cuenca workshop to build and repair instruments so as a youngster I did the planing and sawing,” says Uyaguari “I worked with him regularly from the age of 13 starting just before we left San Bartolome and with my father’s help built my first complete guitar at age 18.” Alongside his father the younger Uyaguari spent long hours working and learning his trade By the time he was 26 he had become a skilled luthier in his own right so the elder Uyaguari encouraged him to enter an instrument into a guitar competition in the capital city of Quito.” My guitar won first prize and my father was very proud of me,” he says adding that his father died soon afterward and he took the reins as the shop’s master luthier.  estimates he has built about 1,500 guitars in his lifetime though he has made some custom steel-strings and even seven-strings One indication of his output is the stacks of soundhole cutouts on his shelves each hand-labeled with the date and customer name He’s not sure when he began this record-keeping practice but one shelf alone contains around 600 spruce and cedar disks a striking realization is the lack of machine tools—power saws and wooden clamps—and a handmade device for bending sides consisting of an electrically heated pipe placed between the edge of a workbench and a vertical wooden brace “I learned the traditional method of guitar making from my father The style of the instruments was influenced by the Spanish masters since Ecuador was a colony of Spain for centuries My principal tools are my hands—we don’t have machines to help us build—and creativity because I don’t use standard molds for the guitars and make my own designs And I put my heart into all of these instruments.” The joinery and fine details on Uyaguari’s guitars are impeccable and the luthier explains that key to this precision is keeping his tools very sharp Prior to demonstrating how he prepares the tiny segments for rosettes he goes through a multistep process of sharpening and polishing a small knife to a surgical edge His technique with that knife shows the fluidity and assurance born of a lifetime of daily practice I test and sharpen it so that it will cut smoothly and accurately That way everything fits tightly,” he says Joints for the tops and backs are precisely hand-planed and glued are painstakingly assembled around the soundhole the mostly carved neck is joined to the soundboard to await fitting and clamping the sides with moistened wood gradually shaped to the desired curvature with two hands over a hot pipe “We’re working on at least four instruments at a time Uyaguari uses thinly sliced strips of naturally colored woods The depth of Uyaguari’s artistry is apparent in the wide variety of rosettes and multilayered strips on the backs and lower bout—each unique to the instrument “This is the elegant part of the guitar where masters demonstrate their ability and talent giving the instrument its personality,” the luthier says Once a customer has approved the custom design Guidelines and outlines are lightly penciled on the soundboard and he uses them to precisely hand-cut the hollows where the rosette will be assembled piece by piece The chosen colors and thicknesses of woods are layered and glued to create the desired patterns Uyaguari demonstrates the process by slicing off slightly angled bits of wood and putting them together in a pattern “I use my small knife to cut the tiny pieces,” he explains “It can take a full week just to make one of these rosettes.” Uyaguari sources much of his wood from vendors in the United States and Spain he prefers to use European spruce tops and rosewood backs and sides for their textural and sonic characteristics some will want the mellower sound of cedar And I occasionally use Ecuadorian teak and Peruvian walnut”—woods that look and sound good but are less costly—“for practice guitars.” Uyaguari diverges from the standard mahogany or Spanish cedar “The texture of this wood is very different from mahogany; it has very special characteristics Another deviation from tradition is his use of a strip of chonta a very dense blackwood from an Amazonian palm It runs from midway up the headstock to the heel creating a guitar begins with knowing the player—the music they favor their technique and approach to the instrument their hand size and finger length and dexterity and how they would like the guitar to look and feel “We usually talk at least two or three hours about the design It’s important to make a neck that is very comfortable for the player to use and that fits their hands and style of playing.” One of Uyaguari’s basic concert instruments and so it is difficult for local musicians to afford high-quality instruments That’s why most of Uyaguari’s client base is outside of his country and Europe value fine guitars and have the ability to pay for them,” he explains “The tourists come here to Cuenca and visit my workshop I don’t export premade instruments to stores.” Just as Uyaguari’s customers come from around the world so too do his influences in terms of lutherie Though he began his training in lutherie following local traditions he has long been an avid student of master builders in North and South America “I have learned from studying the best guitars of other makers in Mexico there are some very good luthiers and I have some close colleagues in the United States.” he cites Massachusetts luthiers William Cumpiano and Alan Chapman Uyaguari spent several months visiting them “I observed and took in all the details and quality of their work and then put it into practice with my own instruments.” He also says he reads books by the great masters such as JoséRomanillos who has written extensively about Antonio de Torres Uyaguari is passing his love and skills in guitar making to his sons Pablo Uyaguari has been apprenticing for over seven years and is now building beautiful guitars in his own right alongside his father Diego Uyaguari uses his visual arts and design skills to realize highly creative and beautiful rosette and inzlay patterns along with his photography to document their process of lutherie and his communication and customer savvy to continue the business it’s obvious that Luis respects his sons’ ideas and quality of craftsmanship as he shows me a photo album of Diego’s rosettes and points to Pablo’s most recent guitar in process the elder Uyaguari has slowed his personal output of instruments I personally build six or seven guitars a year I don’t have as much time to make new instruments.” He says that he has taken on the role of master builder and teacher as well as handling repairs and restoration “I’m so happy that Pablo and Diego are following the family tradition making beautiful Uyaguari guitars for a new generation.” This article originally appeared in the July/August 2020 issue of Acoustic Guitar magazine. Gary Parks One commentLeave a ReplyYour email address will not be published We welcome all feedback – whether positive or critical – but ask that your comments remain civil We’ll remove comments that don’t meet these criteria and reserve the right to ban frequent abusers from posting altogether Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" fue recomendado que ustedes son artistas en la fabricación de guitarras; tengo una preguntita: hacen ustedes ukuleles?; busco una de alta calidad You may unsubscribe or change which emails you receive at any time We will never share your email address with third-parties Copyright © 2025 - String Letter Publishing dozens ride their horses through the narrow cobblestone streets of the small village of San Bartolome during the "Luminarias," a tradition that dates back 500 years and is meant to purify the animals with the smoke of the bonfires and protect them for the year to come A horseman rides through a bonfire in the village of San Bartolome de Pinares in the province of Avila They annually celebrate in the early morning of Jan 16 the festivities known as the 'Luminarias' in honor of San Antonio Abad The festival consists of the spreading of about thirty bonfires throughout the town The fire is crossed by almost 300 neighbors with their donkeys or horses at full speed in order to purify their animals.. and to deprive them of diseases throughout the year A man rides a horse through the flames of a bonfire during the 'Luminarias' celebration in San Bartolome de Pinares near Avila A man rides a horse through the flames of a bonfire during the "Luminarias" celebration in San Bartolome de Pinares near Avila A man rides a horse through the flames of a bonfire A rider and his horse ride through the fire A man cleans a horse in a stable before the annual "Luminarias" celebration on the eve of Saint Anthony's day A person prepares a bonfire during the Luminarias festivities Several horses in the festivities of the Luminarias A horseman rides through a bonfire in the village of San Bartolome de Pinares in the province of Avila in central Spain during the traditional religious festival of "Las Luminarias" in honor of San Antonio Abad (Saint Anthony) A rider goes through flames during the annual "Luminarias" celebration A rider and his horse in front of the flames The horse and its rider gallop through the fire A person halts their horse after riding through the fire A person rides through the fire with their horse the horse emerges from the darkness and races through a string of bonfires in an ancient ritual to ward off sickness performed every January in a tiny Spanish village the festival takes place every January 16 in San Bartolome de Pinares a village perched high in the hills about 100km west of Madrid several local officials are sweating copiously as they pile branches onto the bonfires blazing along the main street of this village of just 600 residents As the bells ring out there’s a sudden clatter of hooves as the first horse and rider come charging out After the first horse passes another follows sparks flying from their hooves as they gallop down the street cheered on by hundreds of onlookers here to witness this mystical The tradition takes place every year on the eve of the feast of San Anton and dates back to the 18th century when an epidemic devastated the horse population “Before when animals died because of infection they had to be burned,” said Leticia Martin a 29-year-old physiotherapist riding a horse called Fiel people began to believe that the smoke protected the animals.” 17,” said Anton Erkoreka of the Museum of the History of Medicine in Spain’s Basque Country region masses are held across Spain to bless animals “Fire is always a purifying element and this festival asks the saint for his protection on animals.” bonfires are lit at different times of the year to remember earlier plagues and epidemics although the global pandemic has given the Luminarias festival a slightly new dimension But locals such as Emmanuel Martin insist the tradition has nothing to do with COVID-19 It is only about blessing the animals and keeping them “healthy all year round as the smoke from the green branches purifies them,” he says “It’s not a show to entertain people,” insists the 26-year-old who first witnessed the event when he was two one rider crosses the bonfires with his arms spread wide in a cross Although the tradition is widely criticized by animal rights groups Martin insists it doesn’t harm the horse nor the rider “You don’t even notice it,” says his cousin Andrea Lenela who compares it to brushing a finger quickly through the flame of a cigarette lighter the event is attended by vets and firefighters brought in by the local authorities “If I thought there was any risk to the horses I wouldn’t do it,” local resident Mario Candil says who has come along to enjoy the “atmosphere the smoke and the typical village tradition.” a 46-year-old pharmacist Noelia Guerra speaks animatedly about “the emotions and the adrenaline” which flood through both horse and rider they just go on their own,” she says of the festival which was celebrated this year for the first time since the pandemic began there wasn’t a single case of COVID until December 2021,” when Omicron arrived saying it was because we didn’t celebrate the Luminarias in January 2021.” No other workers were harmed by the accident Andean Precious Metals reported a fatality at its San Bartolome silver plant in Bolivia The accident happened at approximately 5 30 pm "Our thoughts are with the individual's family and coworkers during this difficult time," Andean Precious Metals chief executive Simon Griffiths said "The health and safety of our workforce remains our utmost priority." Andean Precious Metals said in April that it would delay an expansion study of the Bartolome mine due to delays in metallurgical testing. The company is planning to start tin mining at the mine complex, by mining a fines disposal facility adjacent to the tailings facility. The fines disposal facility contains indicated mineral resources of 10.5 million tonnes, with 16.2 million silver ounces and 11,930 tonnes of tin. Inferred mineral resources of the FDF are 1.51 million tonnes, with 2.3 million ounces of silver and 1,330 tonnes of tin. Komatsu unveils new hydraulic control system A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the mining sector, brought to you by the Mining Magazine Intelligence team. MMI Future Fleets Report 2025 looks at how companies are using alternative energy sources to cut greenhouse gas emmissions Exclusive research for Mining Magazine Intelligence Automation and Digitalisation Report 2024 shows mining companies are embracing cutting-edge tech The ESG Mining Company Index report provides an in-depth evaluation of ESG performance of 61 of the world's largest mining companies. Using a robust framework, it assesses each company across 9 meticulously weighted indicators within 6 essential pillars. A comprehensive review of exploration trends and technologies, highlighting the best intercepts and discoveries and the latest initial resource estimates. Copyright © 2025 Aspermont Media Ltd. All rights reserved. Aspermont Media is a company registered in England and Wales. Company No. 08096447. VAT No. 136738101. Aspermont Media, WeWork, 1 Poultry, London, England, EC2R 8EJ. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. 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Print 1 SAN BARTOLOMÉ QUIALANA Mexico — Pedro Sánchez Martínez has spent decades as a contractor building houses for his neighbors in this farm town he set out to build one for his own family The pace of construction in rural Mexico, where mortgages are hard to come by, frequently depends on how quickly relatives working in the United States send dollars Sánchez has relied on money transfers from two sons toiling as gardeners in California “I had hoped to be done in a year or so from now,” he said Contractor Pedro Sánchez Martínez started building his home in San Bartolomé Quialana but the weaker dollar has added a couple of years to the timeline But that was before the dawn of the “super-peso,” as the Mexican currency has been dubbed since steadily gaining 18% on the dollar during the last 12 months The peso’s emergence as one of the world’s mightiest currencies has prompted boasts from Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. But there has been no celebration among the millions of Mexicans who rely on remittances — including most of the 2,300 residents of San Bartolomé Quialana. Here in the southern state of Oaxaca — among Mexico’s poorest — a weaker dollar means fewer pesos to buy livestock, food and other necessities, or pay for quinceañeras, marriages and funerals. World & Nation As crime engulfs many Mexican states, immigrants who’ve saved to retire there are reevaluating ties to home — and whether returning is worth the risk. With more dollars now going toward basic expenses, home-building here has all but collapsed, leaving Sánchez, 57, with little work. He expects it could take three more years to complete his house. He and his wife and their son, 20, moved in three months ago once it had a roof, a front door and a glossy living-room floor. Concrete pillars with ornamental curlicues grace the interior. But it still lacks a kitchen, a bathroom, adequate plumbing and windows. Sánchez estimates that he could finish the kitchen and the bathroom for 500,000 pesos — which was about $26,000 back in January but is now closer to $30,000. “I don’t have that kind of money,” he said. “The dollar has lost its value.” There are few other sources of income in this sweeping valley, a rolling expanse of subsistence farms framed by the peaks of the Sierra Madre del Sur. Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum aims to succeed President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, and shares his policies, ideology and even speech patterns. Remittances paid for most of the houses in town and helped finance public works, including a basketball court and renovations for a resplendent, 17th century church constructed with stones from a pre-Columbian temple. Each August, former residents now in Southern California hold fundraisers for their hometown’s annual fiesta. San Bartolomé began dispatching migrants to the United States in the 1950s, the height of a joint government program that sent millions of Mexicans to California and elsewhere to work as farmhands known as braceros. The program shut down a decade later, but working in el norte was already becoming a rite of passage for young men. “There’s a muchacho from here who just left — he made it to Los Angeles the next day,” said Clemente Sánchez, 57, the municipal president. Marisela Morales lives at her uncle’s unfinished home in San Bartolomé Quialana. Her uncle, Maximino Morales, 70, sends money home from the U.S., where he has lived for 40 years, to build the house. He plans to retire there. “That’s my dream, to go back in a year or two and retire to my casita,” he said. (Patrick J. McDonnell / Los Angeles Times) As a teenager, he saw little future here, beyond subsistence farming and helping his father gather wood for charcoal along the slopes of the nearly 10,000-foot Cerro Picacho. “I was only able to attend school until the fourth grade,” he said. And so he too headed north, spending almost two decades in California. He only returned once he had sent back enough money to build several family houses. Now he works at the town hall, where one wall features a framed image of Benito Juárez, the iconic ex-Mexican president and a fellow Zapotec from Oaxaca. Across the Mexican hinterlands, there are hundreds of towns and villages like San Bartolomé that rely on dollars as a lifeline. Remittances to Mexico — almost all from the United States — have more than doubled during the last decade, totaling a record $58.5 billion in 2022, or 4.32% of the country’s gross national product, according to the World Bank. From her stall featuring regional delicacies — chile-infused dried grasshoppers, juicy white worms from the maguey plant and handmade chocolates, among other edible fare — 63-year-old Eufenia Hernandez issued a challenge to U.S. That was a bigger share of the economy than oil or tourism. Only India, a country with more than 10 times the population, received more remittances than Mexico. So many of the men of San Bartolomé are working in the United States that about 65% of the people who live here are women. “Everything here is done by women,” said Aurora Sánches Gómez, 42, the town síndica, or legal representative. “We clean the ditches, mind the fields, take care of the children.” On a recent morning, she was leading an animated, largely female brigade planting trees along the main road as they chatted among themselves in their Indigenous language, Zapotec. The women donned traditional woven blouses and skirts. With her four brothers having left for the United States, Sánches and her sister care for their elderly parents. For Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador appearing to stand up to the United States has proved to have political benefits at home Each Sunday outside money-exchange establishments in Tlacolula de Matamoros, the market and banking hub a few miles from San Bartolomé, villagers from throughout the region line up to collect their remittances. They never see the dollars, which are converted into pesos. Wary guards with shotguns eye the crowds as armored cars pull up and unload bundles of pesos in plastic bags to restock the bustling exchange houses. Among those in line recently was Ciria Pérez, 37, from San Bartolomé. Each month, Pérez explained, her husband, a gardener in Southern California, sends $300 or $400 for her and the couple’s three young daughters. The gruesome killing of Ariadna López shocked Mexico spurred protests in the capital and highlighted the nation’s epidemic of violence against women “The dollars used to be sufficient for us,” Pérez said as she waited outside the Elektra storefront buy them clothes and supplies for school,” she said “It seems like every week the dollar is worth less and less.” Residents of San Bartolomé are acutely aware of exactly how many pesos one dollar buys By the end of that year, the dollar fell to about 20 pesos, where it hovered until last fall before starting to slide. This July, it dipped below 17 for the first time in more than seven years. One major factor behind the peso’s rise, experts say, is escalating foreign investment as multinationals serving the U.S. market are increasingly drawn to Mexico — a strategy known as near-shoring — amid rising U.S.-China tensions and worries about interruptions in industrial supply chains. Clemente Sánchez, 57, municipal president of San Bartolomé Quialana, spent almost two decades in California. He only returned once he had sent back enough money to build several family houses. He says the increasing value of the peso has been a hardship for the town. (Patrick J. McDonnell / Los Angeles Times) Foreign investment in Mexico surged 48% in the first three months of 2023 compared with the same period last year, according to the economy ministry. Early this year Mexico became the top U.S. trading partner, surpassing Canada and China. U.S.-bound migrants are still arriving at Mexico’s southern border to travel north Another factor is Mexico’s aggressive fight against inflation The Bank of Mexico’s benchmark interest rate of 11.25% is more than double the U.S Federal Reserve target — a disparity that has drawn international investors hunting yields in pesos and peso-denominated bonds The surging tide of remittances from the United States has also played a role in driving up the peso “Wages have gone up a lot in the United States especially in the low-end sectors like food service and hotels where a lot of immigrants work,” said Connel Fullenkamp “If your family back home tells you they aren’t doing well you’ll do whatever you can to send more money.” “The peso has strengthened as never before,” López Obrador recently told reporters. “What does this mean? … That Mexico is a country with economic and financial stability.” Economists tend to agree that the peso’s current potency is a sign of a healthy economy. “Right now, Mexico is in kind of a sweet spot,” Fullenkamp said. “Most countries say they want a strong exchange rate, but they don’t want it too strong.” The danger is that the peso overheats and deters foreign tourists from visiting or dampens Mexico’s booming export market, as goods as varied as oil, tequila and cars become more expensive. And, of course, the more the peso rises the bigger the reduction in buying power of the dollars that Mexicans in the United States send back to their families. A customer leaves a bank where people receive international wire transfers in Acatlán de Osorio, Mexico, in 2020. (Fernando Llano / Associated Press) Remittances to Mexico are projected to increase 8.1% this year, according to Gabriela Siller Pagaza, chief economic analyst for Banco Base, a Mexican financial services firm. But, because of inflation and the super-peso, she recently tweeted, the purchasing power of those dollars is expected to fall 11% compared with last year. In Mexico, migrants mourn those killed in detention center fire, angry over treatment as they wait in immigration and asylum limbo at the U.S. border. The Mexican president lauds immigrants sending dollars back home as “anonymous heroes.” But some say it’s nothing to gloat about. “It’s really a tragedy that so many of the country’s best young people feel they have to leave Mexico” to support themselves and their families, said Sofía Ramírez, an economist who heads the nonprofit research group México, ¿Cómo Vamos? San Bartolomé has both simple residences and spacious, multistory homes. U.S. suburbia is the inspiration for many common touches: lustrous floors, decorative pillars, expansive lawns. Most homes are for wives and children. Others are built for aging parents or as future retirement dwellings. “That’s my dream, to go back in a year or two and retire to my casita,” Maximino Morales, 70, a native of San Bartolomé, said by phone from Washington state, where he works in agriculture. He has resided in the United States for more than 40 years. His spacious home here — featuring balconies with panoramic vistas and a winding staircase leading to an upper floor — is almost complete. His niece and her daughter live in the house now and run a ground-floor grocery. Morales anticipates that his dollars banked in the United States will someday buy pesos at a better rate, enabling him to finish the job. “Right now, the dollar gives so little,” he lamented. Pedro Sánchez, the contractor, who also holds the honorary post of mayor of San Bartolomé, likewise despairs of the weak dollar that has slowed construction. But he is proud of his work. “Our homes here are a lot more solid than those in California,” he said. “We don’t use Sheetrock.” Her sister had made the trek last year, following a familiar script: Cross into U.S. territory from Mexico with a minor child, surrender to the Border Patrol, and apply for political asylum — then get released and launch a new life in the United States. His own house still has no furniture. Blankets are piled up in the bedrooms. Running water is erratic and the bathroom is outside. Short on cash, Sánchez is contemplating a new plan: Returning to the United States, finding work and saving enough to complete his house. “God willing, maybe that’s what I’ll do — go back to California,” he said. “I know how difficult life is there — the streets aren’t paved with gold, like many people in San Bartolomé think. “One has to work very hard. And living there is expensive. Nothing is free. Here in San Bartolomé there is always enough to eat. But one can’t earn dollars like in California.” Special correspondent Cecilia Sánchez Vidal in Mexico City contributed to this report. Foreign correspondent Patrick J. McDonnell is the Los Angeles Times Mexico City bureau chief and previously headed Times bureaus in Beirut, Buenos Aires and Baghdad. A native of the Bronx, McDonnell is a graduate of Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism and was a Nieman fellow at Harvard. Travel & Experiences Climate & Environment California Subscribe for unlimited accessSite Map The San Bartolomé silver mine project is located just south of the city of Potosi Concepción and Santa Lucía cantons Ordovician to Silurian continental clastic and shallow marine sedimentary rocks and locally Cretaceous continental clastic rocks Silicified rhyodacite and quartz-tourmaline counter-current decantation and zinc precipitation and sits from 3,900m to 4,700m above sea level It is owned and operated by Empresa Minera Manquiri SA a wholly owned subsidiary of Coeur d’Alene Mines Corporation of the US is the underlying owner of all the mining rights relating to the project Coeur began introducing ore to the mill in April 2008 and when full plant capacity is reached – forecast for August 2008 – San Bartolomé will be the world’s largest pure silver mine Construction of the open-pit milling operation and processing facility has cost about $174m an estimated $18m in sustaining capital will be needed during the mine’s expected 15-year life Life-of-mine cash operating cost will be $7.31/oz Ag recovered in doré The project will exploit mineralogical resources from four deposits – Huacajchi Diablo Este and Diablo Norte – on the flanks of Cerro Rico Mountain and the surrounding areas near Potosi Basement rocks at Cerro Rico are predominantly Ordovician to Silurian continental clastic and shallow marine sedimentary rocks basement rocks are overlain to the west by intermediate volcanic rocks of the Oligocene Agua Dulce formation and to the east by a sequence of rhyolite ash-flow tuffs related to the early Miocene Kari Kari caldera basement rocks are overlain by a thick sequence of middle Miocene volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks termed the Caracoles formation Disseminated silver and tin mineralisation in silicified rhyodacite alteration is the most important ore-source rock in the project’s deposits Veins are hosted primarily in the rhyodacite intrusion Both wall-rock alteration and vein mineralisation show pronounced vertical and horizontal zoning Alteration grades upward from a high-temperature core of quartz-tourmaline at depth through quartz-sericite pyrite and quartz-dickite into pervasive silicification The project will also exploit oxide mine dumps left over from historic mining activities on Cerro Rico Indicated resources at San Bartolomé are estimated at just over 14Mt at a grade of 76.1g/t with inferred resources of 225,600t at 61g/t giving a total contained silver figure of just less than 35Moz Probable reserves are estimated at just over 38Mt giving about 153Moz contained silver ounces Mining will be straightforward due to the geological nature of the materials The general concept is to use dozers to push ore to loaders for transfer to haul trucks The primary mining equipment fleet consists of track dozers Plant throughput is designed for up to 5,600t/day and it is expected to recover 96.1 million ounces of silver in doré over the project’s life The overall silver recovery is projected to be 77.5% Three broad ore classifications have been defined for process design – screened run-of-mine ore from the lower portions of Huacajchi and Diablo Norte; whole ore from the upper portions of the Huacajchi Santa Rita and Diablo Este deposits; and the oxide waste dumps The main process facilities are relatively conventional consisting of grinding followed by agitation leaching and final metal recovery in a Merrill-Crowe zinc precipitation circuit Screened RoM ore will be passed through a grizzly with the oversize sent to a jaw crusher The undersized will be slurried in a rotary scrubber and then wet-screened before being fed to the SAG/ball mill circuit Whole ore will be fed directly to the jaw crusher then fed to the SAG/ball mill circuit The oxide-dump ore will be handled in a similar manner The grinding circuit discharge will be fed to an agitated-tank leach circuit with an average leach residence time of 60 hours Leach-tank discharge will be fed to a CCD circuit consisting of three high-rate thickeners and the extracted pregnant solutions will then be fed to a silver recovery plant where silver will be extracted in a conventional Merrill-Crowe zinc precipitation plant followed by conventional refining to produce doré Power requirements for the project will be met by purchasing power from the local power utility Water will be extracted from sources belonging to the Potosi water authority (AAPOS) all available water will be recycled during operations The main engineering contractor for the project is Fluor Corporation Give your business an edge with our leading industry insights View all newsletters from across the GlobalData Media network the International Architecture and Design Festival in Logroño arose with the intention of prompting reflection on the city through proposals in architecture and design The latest edition will be held from 27 April to 1 May 2018 This competition proposes the creation of a temporary architectural intervention at San Bartolomé Plaza This intervention will form part of other installations and the pavilion all of which will be set up in different locations throughout the city’s historic downtown The convocation encompasses both the design of the intervention and its subsequent construction and disassembly by the winning team The Festival is organised by the Cultural Foundation of Architects of La Rioja (Fundación Cultural de los Arquitectos de La Rioja in collaboration with the Logroño City Council Garnica and the Government of La Rioja’s Comprehensive Design Centre It enjoys the support of the La Rioja Superior School of Design the Goethe Institut and the Institut français Concéntrico is Logroño’s International Architecture and Design Festival and it is open to all citizens and visitors It aims to discover and rediscover spaces of interest in the city’s historic downtown The Festival invites attendees to visit these places through installations that create a connection between interior patios hidden spaces and plazas that typically go unnoticed in day-to-day life Each installation is created by a team of architects and/or designers who make proposals experiment and explore new fields of design with their environment thereby establishing a dialogue between heritage and contemporary architecture which seeks to activate citizens’ reflection on these spaces The Festival’s locations include Revellín Plaza the Calado de San Gregorio and the Plaza de Escuelas Trevijano San Bartolomé Church lends its name to this plaza which is bounded by the streets of San Bartolomé through a new open passage around the church’s tower It is one of medieval Logroño’s most noteworthy plazas it could be accessed only through Caballería and Herrerías streets This reserved area made it ideal for hosting musical shows markets* (text drawn from the article by Marcelino Izquierdo in Diario La Rioja) and the already-mentioned San Bartolomé Church The period for presentation of proposals will conclude on 27 December 2017 at 1:00 p.m Download the information related to this competition here. This competition was submitted by an ArchDaily user. If you'd like to submit a competition, call for submissions or other architectural 'opportunity' please use our "Submit a Competition" form The views expressed in announcements submitted by ArchDaily users do not necessarily reflect the views of ArchDaily You'll now receive updates based on what you follow Personalize your stream and start following your favorite authors If you have done all of this and still can't find the email the first ever Orthodox divine service was celebrated at the church of St The Catholic Archdiocese of Granada has transferred this church to the Orthodox community of the city for use after a meeting between Archbishop Nestor of Madrid and Lisbon and Archbishop Francisco Javier Martinez Fernandez of Granada The Community of the Protecting Veil was incorporated in the diocese of Spain and Portugal of the Russian Orthodox Church in 2018 The San-Bartolome church is located in the square of the same name in the Albaicín district in the center of the city the construction of which was completed in 1574 is built in the synthetic architectural Mudejar style traditional for Spain in the 12th-15th centuries as it shows in particular the characteristics of gothics With reference to the website of the Diocese of Spain and Portugal The San Bartolome Parish Church in Malabon City The National Museum of the Philippines has declared the 408-year-old San Bartolome Parish Church in Malabon City as an “Important Cultural Property” (ICP) The formal recognition was made during the unveiling of the declaration marker at the church compound on Thursday its deputy director-general for administration Atty Rosenne Flores-Avila urged the parish to take care of the “architectural wonder” “Let us be partners in preserving it for future generations,” Avila said “Let us continue to make this hallowed place a vibrant center of conversation and action for our cultural heritage especially now that we face more challenging times,” she added echoed the call for partnership to preserve the church and other heritage structures for future generations National Museum of the Philippines deputy director-general for administration Atty Rosenne Flores-Avila and Bishop Pablo Virgilio David of Kalookan lead the unveiling of the “Important Cultural Property” marker of the San Bartolome Church in Malabon City on Aug “We really must take seriously our partnership with the proper government agency for the preservation of our church cultural heritage,” Bishop Pablo Virgilio David said church heritage structures also “gives soul to our faith” the church will be soulless,” he said what gives it character really is the heritage structures like this church.” The National Heritage Act of 2009 defines ICPs as having “exceptional cultural and historical significance” to the country ICPs or National Cultural Treasures may receive government funding for its protection David also announced the diocese’s plan to petition the Vatican to designate the old church as a minor basilica San Bartolomé has launched its carnival poster for 2024 The theme of the parades will be “The Magical World of Tim Burtolomé” – a tribute to film director Tim Burton Mayor Isidro Perez and councillor for fiestas have urged locals to dress up for the celebrations Willie Wonka’s and other Burton characters especially welcome The parade in San Bartolomé is likely to take place on Tuesday 13th February in the Parque de Felíx Rodríguez de la Fuente in San Bartolomé while the Burning of the Guanchinango will be in Playa Honda on 16th February For regular updates, pictures and videos of Lanzarote be sure to like and follow our Facebook page “Gazette Life Lanzarote” Store breathes fire into the lens for this shot by Marcos del Mazo has inspired artists since time immemorial Lieve Verschuier’s depiction of 1666’s Great Fire of London The Burning of the Houses of Parliament by JMW Turner You must be logged in to post a comment by Harvey Solomon-Brady | May 01, 2025 | News by Harvey Solomon-Brady | Apr 30, 2025 | News by Harvey Solomon-Brady | Apr 29, 2025 | News we and our partners use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information Consenting to these technologies will allow us and our partners to process personal data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site and show (non-) personalized ads may adversely affect certain features and functions Click below to consent to the above or make granular choices. Your choices will be applied to this site only. You can change your settings at any time or by clicking on the manage consent button at the bottom of the screen ' + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.webview_notification_text + ' " + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_title + " " + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_text + " is celebrated by riding horses through flames in San Bartolome de Pinares Spain.• Smoke was thought to purify animals and villages from disease a tradition known as Luminarias.• People also bring their pets to church where a priest blesses them.• The ritual has garnered criticism from animal rights activists in the village of San Bartolome de Pinares Anthony comes pretty close to a barbecue.  villagers ride horses through enormous walls of fire harkening back to a time when smoke was thought to purify animals and villages from disease Despite criticism from animal rights activists (though locals say there haven't been any injuries) the festival remains a hot topic beyond the 600-person village Read her full statement here.