Archive - Letter from Hispania

Book Launch News: From Benidorm to Madrid

The non-fiction book which began as a series of online articles is now a physical reality

Jun 22 • Matthew Clapham

May 2026

Have Beret — Will Travel

The inspired headgear that took me on its own madcap journey

May 23 • Matthew Clapham

Andalucían? There Is No Such Word

The inconsistencies and pitfalls of Spanish and other foreign placenames in English

May 15 • Matthew Clapham

Does Punctuality Trump Other Professional Skills?

However good you might be at your job, if you turn up late for an interview, should that disqualify you?

May 8 • Matthew Clapham

April 2026

A Tale of Two MGs: Cars, Heritage and a Changing World

How a single badge on an SUV in Spain reflects centuries of shifting dynamics

Apr 30 • Matthew Clapham

Flags, Nationalism, Identity and Inclusion

A perspective from Spain, a country with an instructive history of tribal division and compromise

Apr 19 • Matthew Clapham

Alpargatas — the Holiday Fling I Always Go Back To

How the perfect footwear transports me to a cyclical summer idyll

Apr 7 • Matthew Clapham

America’s Dollars Are Actually Spanish*, But Spain’s Pesetas Never Were

*Well, Bohemian originally, which would make them Czech these days

Apr 2 • Matthew Clapham

December 2025

When Is a Piece of Cake Not a Piece of Cake?

When it’s Christmas. Or you’re Marie Antoinette. Or a translator.

Dec 10, 2025 • Matthew Clapham

November 2025

Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Four Cats

The meaning and origin of the Spanish expression ‘solo hay cuatro gatos’

Nov 27, 2025 • Matthew Clapham

Why Does Brazil Speak Portuguese, Not Spanish?

And what do dodgy papal bulls have to do with it all?

Nov 20, 2025 • Matthew Clapham

August 2025

Inspiration in a Yogurt Pot — the Story of La Fageda

A transformative social enterprise with lessons that cut across our society and economy

Aug 29, 2025 • Matthew Clapham