How can I justify a post that is solely about walking the dog? Well, we are not talking about any old dog here, we are talking about Lisa, who is probably the most famous dog in Jumilla. Every time we take her out for a walk, somebody will call out “¡Hola, Lisa!” Do they say “Hola, John” or “Hola, Sue”? No! Not only that, but if they spot us without Lisa they ask us where she is! Walking the dog, therefore, is an important part of our life in Jumilla. It is a bit like moving to a new town when you have young children: they are natural ice breakers and it’s a good way to get to know people.
Similarly, having Lisa beside us means that her many friends are now our friends. A group of us were enjoying the fiesta in Fuente del Pino last year, about 15 minutes outside Jumilla, when a young man we had never seen before asked us how Lisa was – in no time at all, we were all socialising.
I think it’s a fallacy that only the British love animals. Before Lisa adopted us, she lived on the streets. We used to see her around when we first moved to the area, however because she was wearing a collar, and because the neighbours used to call her “Lisa”, we assumed that she had a home. She also looked well-fed, unlike most strays, but we later discovered that was because so many of our Spanish neighbours were feeding her.
Lisa has her own dog-blog, as part of my blog on AngloINFO. I have been told that she has fans throughout Spain as well as in the UK, and from comments received it appears that she is far more popular than me. I have to admit that I am a bit miffed about this! You can read Lisa’s account of how she came to adopt us, plus her many other posts, here : http://blogs.angloinfo.com/jumilla-journal/
Now temperatures have risen to over 30 degrees, we tend to take her for shorter walks during the middle of the day, and where possible we stick to the shade or “sombra” as our Spanish neighbours would say. Her longer walks are early in the morning and later at night, and it is then that she bumps into her many friends, both canine and human. Other dog owners, when spotting her for the first time, ask us whether she is “macho” or “hembra”. Or sometimes they just ask “perro?”, which means “male dog?”, to which we reply “no, perra!” (obviously, female dog). I can’t remember being questioned about this when I owned dogs in the UK!
Lisa enjoys socialising, and on a nice day we will sit outside one of the local bars with her, having a coffee or glass of wine, depending on the time of day. It can be disconcerting though when Lisa heads for one of our favourite watering holes at other times, expecting us to stop there! Only last week she stopped outside Cerveceria Borneo, which happened to be shut, looking slightly put out because there weren’t any tables or chairs outside…..!
PS Lisa would like you to know that she now has her own page on facebook. Please take a look and “Like” it! https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lisa/160754743994818
Hola Sue,
We are interested in a walking tour of the old town and if possible the castle of Jumilla.
Could you give me details of any tours that would fit this criteria please,
Best Wishes,Susan Ring