Show s As th ax M eulf bullfighters Bull fighters haift SN SM ifer tl i W ax NS 7 I 1 A 7 malaga BI lara spain before shot hot and nd shell liall marred its iti beauty civil bivil war makes world conscious of modern mo Changes Felt in spain by national Roe lety washington D C 0 C CIVIL IVIL war in spain signalizes the startling changes which havo have swept that ancient land in recent years in the swift rush of daily news more is said of military loaders leaders and their campaigns of statesmen n and changing governments than of the deep social and economic transformations behind the news or the character of this land and its people long before king alfonso fled these changes were of course under way and because of them his monarchy failed these transitions have gathered momentum until today this once romantic land of duennas duennes du ennas monasteries bullfights bull fights and leisurely pastoral life has fias written a new and dramatic chapter in its long history where centuries old country lanes lanea and mountain trails used to wind win d fine now new concrete roads now streak over the hills to a large degree men have exchanged their saddle mules for elwers flivvers and the high wheeled clumsy oxcart yields to the tha whizzing motor truck Seno senoritas ritas bob their hair from the bay of biscay down to the blue mediterranean traditional peasant costumes are being discarded and men are dressing in plain blue overalls black eyed sen orlias today lay away theotime the time hon ored mantilla get their hair bobbed and hunt city jobs as typists telephone girls and shop clerks as do their sisters in many lands now new thinking as well as new machines changes the way of spanish life bullfighting still goes on but now the intrepid toreadors tore adors belong to a labor you may still find guitars and fandangos fan dangos for span lards fords sire are ever a music loving people and possibly you may fand here and there a lovesick couple mooning nt at each other through an old iron barred window more and more however the radio supersedes the guitar and the girl has come out from behind the historic grillwork and pone gone to the movies with her sweetheart or to the street barricades to fight with himl him one fact to grasp in understanding the social muddle here Is that spain la Is divided into 50 provinces and not so many years ago it was commonly said that it also had 50 60 different national dances and costumes together with almost as many dialects comparatively sudden advent of now new high speed roads faster vehicles speeches and news broadcast by air and the breakdown of church influence all combine now to dissipate this old conservative provincial spirit thus has spain been turned into a milling restless land for the first time country and town life are freely blended and the peasant can hear the exciting talk of city radicals and revolutionaries that yesteryear came only as a remote murmur spain Is now becoming so modernized that busses of every kind and color race along from village ailing to village from town to city till a few years ago many country people p le never journeyed more than beom 20 miles ilas from home in their lives now by cheap or even free rides in war times they travel all over the coun country tryl I 1 political parties are many blany with the riso rise of the republic came of course mora liberty of speech and action but born of the 50 provinces and their 50 different ways of thinking camu also wide division of opinion and action political parties of all shades sprong sprang up in great variety and number certain factions held that progress should be attained gea gradually dually through education of the masses masses as yet untrained in tho the art of government this is obviously a slow process and one would suppose that in a romantic land of manana a slow process would be acceptable but the tha manana idea is another of those old spanish customs so rapidly disappearing many now demand a quicker approach a faster progress thus a peek at spain of today reveals a startling modernity of thought civilization and up to the minute comforts and contrivances cupert i imposed upon 0 icv o tiac rn survival of many local ways and prejudices that bend or break but slowly irresistibly however tho the cities put on a more modern dress and quicken their pace consider hastily somo some of the cities and towns that have hava figured in recent war news tho the new york of spain take a look at barcelona tho the new mew york of spain it Is the tha largest city in tile country tho the most important financial and industrial center and by far tho the busiest seaport the sun shines in air crisp and exhilarating as you stroll down tho the pasco maseo do gracca Barce lonas most important thoroughfare and indeed one of the most interesting and modernistic streets in the world fine motorcars no trucks allowed on this wide avenue stop and go at modern american traffic signals at the foot of the pasco is the very heart of barcelona the plaza do de cataluna a large open space filled with statues fountains flower beds paved paths and benches always animated human streams flow in and out of its subway entrances the plaza too Is the center of fierce turmoil in every political upheaval it Is surrounded by large ornate structures banks hotels and new telephone office building with copper green tower a yankee skyscraper indeed ina in a spanish metropolis I 1 flying at another corner Is a welcome sight for american eyes the stars and stripes indicating the splendid offices of the united states consulate general use american cash registers big signs advertise american automobiles to indeed three fourths of all cars in the plaza are of familiar make there micro Is a large larg e american bank a few doors up the street in bookstores are displays of ar american erlean fountain pens and in the tobacco shops even chewing auml gum I 1 all these business houses use american adding machines and cash registers and the offices hum with american typewriters many of tile the one fine new apartment buildings are equipped with american doors and electric refrigerators here foreign trade Is a pulsing thing far removed from the dry statistics of our commerce rambla really means a dry ravine but in barcelona the word is used to designate a wider street or bouley boulevard a rd the original fas fascinating clAt rambla of barcelona Is like no other thoroughfare in the world I 1 it 11 Is a long straight avenue with a wide promenade tor for pedestrians in the center and is lined with tall piano trees busy stores flank the rambla from end to end interspersed with th theaters caters cinemas on an ancient church or two and a large number of cafes under bright wide awnings that canopy the sidewalks and shade the little tables idlers sit and watch the lifeblood of the metropolis stream up and down its main artery streaming at a much quicker tempo since recent shooting start edl like the paris boulevards each section of the rambla bears a different name first come ornamental kiosks displaying a an amazing amalin variety of newspapers and magazines in every european language then comes the bird market arranged in cages of all sizes along the promenade is a bewildering show of yel low and brown canaries gray parrots from western africa green ones from brazil tiny liny parakeets all setting up a lively chatter new world gives way the next section is the brightest of all the rambla de las flores here open air flower stalls stall bossed by black haired peasant women ofer flowers of every color and shade love of flowers Is one point at least upon which all divergent political parties can agreed following the flower stalls come com e more kiosks where one may procure ice cream or soft drinks buildings begin to look older lowthe new world gives way to the old ond finally we come out into the wide water front with its ornate custom shouse the tall statue to columbus and the palm lined vasco do df colon to the right in t the he shadow of the huge homberstone somber stone barracks is a long double line of secondhand second s hand is a long double line of bookstalls book stalls sloping up 0 on n the right of the harbor Is the high hill of Mont julch with a sinister old fort upon its crest in turbulent days of riots ri I 1 ants and strikes executions of 0 take place here |