On Friday, 26 September at 11:00 in the Municipal Library in Tavira, and on Tuesday, 30 September at 18:00 in the Municipal Library at Lagoa, I shall address the issue of Gibraltar. The Rock has been successively Roman, Umayyad, Almoravid, Almohad, Castilian, Spanish and British. It is perhaps easy to see that it should belong to the land power of the Iberian Peninsula, but how did it come to be British? As the attack was made by a join English and Dutch force in the cause of the Archduke of Austria, how was it that the British held on to it? And what efforts did Spain make to regain it?

There is some equivalence with the situation of the formerly Portuguese Olivença, and of the other scraps of territory held by the former European empires. The claims by sovereign states to former territories are diplomatic minefields. A reminder that our Association talks are free.

On Sunday 28 September at 17:00 we begin the 2025/26 series of concerts at Quintinha da Música. We shall welcome back Luisa Cordell with her harps (on her last visit, she brought two) and she will be accompanied at the piano by our hostess Irene Ainstein. Their programme will be wide ranging, as they include works from the baroque of Pachelbel and Vivaldi to Piazzolla and the even more modern, not forgetting the traditional and folk music. There will be duets as well as solos by both harp and piano.

The cost of entry is €30, which includes snacks and drinks at the interval. Reservations should be made through Peter at peterbooker1347@gmail.com