kilts in Spain?

[Martin S]

As usual, I seem to be the only man in a kilt in this part of the world, in spite of being completely surrounded by Brits taking life easy in the sun of southern Spain (the Spanish must feel their country has been colonized by fat pink northerners).

The expats seem to be just as surprised as the locals to see a man in a kilt.

Nonetheless, on New year's Eve, I saw 4 others in the huge crowd on the main square. Since the crowd was quite impenetrable, there must have been others hidden fromm view.

Bealted good wishes to all kiolters for the coming year,

Martin
usually of Grenoble,
now of Andalucia

[Bob C]

We used to have a Spanish kiltie on this board. I wonder what ever happened to him.

[Colin]

Northern Spain has a lot of Celtic history. I am not suprised there were no daily kilters in the south though.

[Hamish]

Goodness, Martin! Some chaps cannot sit still for a single moment!!!! Is this another of your SCD trips?

Well, you did better with your kilt-spotting in Spain than I did in the UK, where I did not see a single one** on New Year's Eve, not even on TV.

According to the BBC, there is absolutely no call for Scottish-themed TV shows in the UK in this day and age (not even in Scotland itself!). It is reported (also by the BBC) that modern-day Scots are fed up with the tartan/heather/shortbread image of their part of the United Kingdom that is presented to the world, and that BBC Scotland might drop the traditional Hogmanay TV show they have up there, within a year or two!!

** Not quite true! My good friend Jim, who came to stay for a couple of days over Hogmanay, was also kilted throughout (of course!).

[cessna152towser]

It is reported (also by the BBC) that modern-day Scots are fed up with the tartan/heather/shortbread image of their part of the United Kingdom that is presented to the world

Its sad that officials at the English BBC are so out of touch with Scottish public opinion. Most of us love the tartan heather and shortbread image and indeed as we have gone from an industrial to a service economy a great many Scots' livelihoods will depend on preserving this image. You only need to look at Pour1Malt's Hogmanay thread to see how popular kilt-wearing is becoming in Scotland. The fact that my next door neighbour has just bought himself an extra kilt and intends to be kilted more often is another small sign that kilts are gradually becoming more commonplace for everyday wear. I always see plenty of kilted men out and about in Glasgow when I visit back home, yet kilts were rarely seen on the street when I lived there twenty years ago.
Its good to hear that there were a few kilts in evidence in Andalucia too at Hogmanay.

[Hamish]

Its sad that officials at the English BBC are so out of touch with Scottish public opinion.

Ah, but Alex, that report originated at BBC Scotland apparently! ITV also failed to give us even a glimpse of tartan at Hogmanay as far as I could ascertain. I have written to both the BBC and ITV asking why, with all the new digital channels they both have, we cannot be given just one hour of good, Scottish revelry at Hogmanay - for the thousands of Scots now living south of the border, if not for the general populace?

Most of us love the tartan heather and shortbread image and indeed as we have gone from an industrial to a service economy a great many Scots' livelihoods will depend on preserving this image. You only need to look at Pour1Malt's Hogmanay thread to see how popular kilt-wearing is becoming in Scotland. The fact that my next door neighbour has just bought himself an extra kilt and intends to be kilted more often is another small sign that kilts are gradually becoming more commonplace for everyday wear. I always see plenty of kilted men out and about in Glasgow when I visit back home, yet kilts were rarely seen on the street when I lived there twenty years ago.
Its good to hear that there were a few kilts in evidence in Andalucia too at Hogmanay.

Well, one thing I have noticed down here, and not only at Hogmanay, is that tartan kilts no longer seem to turn heads as they did not so long ago! In general, people just seem to accept them without making a fuss. I guess everyone is better educated thesedays! On the other hand, non-tartan kilts (Utilikilts, FreedomKilts, etc) DO occasionally turn heads as they are not perceived as 'kilts' by Joe Public.

As I am in danger of wandering off-thread (if not off-topic!), I'll crawl back into my corner.......

[McMurdo]

Its good to hear that at least there were a few kilted gents in Spain no less on Hogmanay. Sorry to hear about Hamish's kiltless (almost) night.

Here in Canada the only kilted gent I saw was me when I stopped to admire the handsome kilted fellow in the mirror.

Ah well our numbers are growing gents
I have no fear that 2007 will see growth in the popularity of kilts as
everyday wear.

[McClef]

Maybe it should be a new thread regarding BBC and Hogmanay?

But as it's been mentioned...

There was a programme on BBC 3 last week about the complaints people made about the "fixed formula" when BBC Scotland dominated the national network at New Year, with nostalgic looks at Andy Stewart and The White Heather Club.

The broadcast from Gleneagles in the early 1980s was an almighty cockup and disaster and after that England and Wales had a London based programme.

Only once since then was a national network New Year programme given to BBC Scotland and it had to be much more general with hardly a kilt a sight and a jazzed up gospel choir version of Flower of Scotland.

The only completely Scottish element remaining is that Auld Lang Syne is still a universal component.

I believe that Scots get a choice of either BBC Scotland coverage on one channel and National UK coverage on the other? Alas that is not afforded to the rest of us.