Author’s note:

 

Food fraud around the world is a massive issue with some reputable estimates saying it represents a cost of $13 billion to $18 billion (Cdn) a year. The fraud involves misrepresentation, substitution and dilution of food products.

Why? Since the global marketplace has expanded over the years and as people’s interest in trying different foods grows, the chance to make a great deal of money by illegal means has become attractive to many individuals and groups.

Not surprisingly, law-enforcement agencies and governments are responding, but it’s going to be a long, complicated fight. The criminal organizations are employing sophisticated systems to elude police.

This novel mentions terrorist attacks in 2017 in Cambrils and Barcelona. They did take place. Thirteen people were killed along Barcelona’s famed La Rambla (Las Ramblas to the locals) boulevard by a terrorist driving a van while five terrorists died in a gunfight with police in the seaside town of Cambrils. (The terrorists were killed within steps of my local bakery when I stayed in Cambrils.) Two more terrorists died in the village of Alcanar when the bomb they were making exploded.

As for the political unrest in Catalonia over independence, it’s been going on for many years, usually without violence but occasionally with clashes between opposing sides and involving the police. At the time of writing, the violence has diminished and one can only hope it stays that way as both sides work on a peaceful solution.

One of the communities featured in Silenced in Spain is Girona. It’s one of Europe’s most beautiful small cities with a lovely natural setting, an elegant city park and stunning structures on both sides of the river that divides the community. It’s also exceptionally popular with cyclists, both professionals and amateurs, because of the different terrain that’s within easy pedaling distance. However, if you’re a walker, you’ll find Girona equally appealing; its Old Town is one of Europe’s finest.

That brings me to the Vuelta a Espaῇa. It’s one of the three largest cycling races in the world, the others being the Tour de France and the Giro d’Italia, and lasts three weeks with the racers covering a total distance of about 3,500 kilometres. The Vuelta lacks the international appeal of the Tour and the Giro, but it’s equally as difficult and attracts the best cyclists in the world. If you get a chance to watch a stage in person, take the opportunity. You won’t forget the experience.