Spanish Swiss Roundup (2004)

Spain

The first annual La Bella Flor (Beautiful Flower) in 1997 in Cordoba, Spain was my first official marijuana cup. The festival was held at a squatted convent 100 yards from the imposing big regional police station. About 200 people attended the event. There were hemp products and foods were available at booths inside the complex. There was no shortage of marijuana and Moroccan hashish. The quality of the winning bud was fair and some were less than good.

Today great marijuana can be found at countless local marijuana celebrations. This weekend, there is a harvest celebration in Reus, Catalunya, about an hour south of Barcelona Spain. Last year 120 attended this year they expect 150 attendees that will judge 30 local samples of marijuana. Judges are given samples to try for one week before voting on the outcome at the Valencia Harvest Cup. Juan Valdez, a store owner in Hospitalet, a suburb of Barcelona is sponsoring a photo contest on his website, www.lahuertadejuanvaldes.com. Valdez will give away more than $3,000 in prizes! The number of harvest festivals and contests in Spain has grown astronomically in the past few years. There are cannabis harvest festivals in many cities including, Madrid, Bilbao, Malaga, Mallorca, Ibeza, Zaragoza, San Sebastain, and countless smaller towns.

Privacy laws allow people to legally grow cannabis for personal consumption inside their home in Spain. “Autoconsumo” means self-consumption. The average Spaniard wants to grow enough marijuana for themselves and their friends. However, if the neighbors complain the police could visit and ask you to tone down your exposure. When selling becomes the norm, the police step in.

The grow shop, L’Interior, was the first company to import Dutch marijuana seeds in 1998. The first orders were just drops in an endless sea of seed shipments to Spain. Now hundreds of companies retail marijuana seeds and grow gear. Spaniards are very individualistic and prefer to grow their own as well as smoke anything around!

Sunshine, a festive Mediterranean lifestyle and favorable laws make Spain very attractive to growers. Numerous cannabis refugees have landed here and many more are making plans to move

North American and European marijuana refugees have been trickling into the country for the last few years. They even sell copies of Indoor Marijuana Horticulture, the Indoor Bible, in English! Nol van Schaik, owner of Willie Wortel coffeeshops in Haarlem, Holland, moved to Southern Spain and grows outdoors at his remote ranch. Go to their page, www.hempcity.net, for a great photos of his growing endeavors there.

Foreigners tend to congregate near the Mediterranean where some live in colonies while others blend into the cultural fabric. Mario Belandi, a native Italian, lives and breeds sativa varieties in Southern Spain where he can grow two crops a year outdoors. Breeder Steve did a stint here before moving back to his native Canada. Most Dutch breeders have been to Spain; it is a short 2-hour flight and round trip tickets cost less than $200. Long weekends in Spain are becoming more and more common. Several seed company owners have been sniffing around Spain for years.

Ben Dronkers, owner of Sensi Seeds, is renovating a historic building near the Mediterranean in the old walled city of Barcelona. He plans to put a marijuana hemp cannabis museum there.

Cannabis consumption, growing and products have come under increasing scrutiny by the right-wing government. This is an election year in Spain and the right-wing Partido Popular, started using the same scare tactics common in the USA. They verbally attacked the grow stores that sell seeds and threatened to close down all publications that promote or teach cannabis cultivation and consumption.

More than a dozen books and several videos are published in Spanish that will tell you how to grow. Three magazines, Canamo, Yerba, and La Maria dominate the newsstands. Canamo, the oldest, has been in print for more than 7 years!

French growers are lining up to buy legal seeds at border stores up north in San Sebastain and to the south in Figueras. Hydroponic, indoor and outdoor growing are growing like a weed in France, even though cannabis is prohibited.

This year Barcelona was the host to Spanabis, www.spanabis.com, with 65 stands and very well attended. Check out www.cannabiscafe.net and www.solocannabis.com for more in depth information on the scene in Spain.

This Nevil’s Haze plant has been partially harvested. This photo was taken on January 15, 2004 just north of Barcelona, Spain.

Close up of Nevil’s Haze taken January 15, 2004.

Close up of Nevil’s Haze taken January 15, 2004.

Close up of Nevil’s Haze taken January 15, 2004.

Close up of Nevil’s Haze taken January 15, 2004.

Crop of Nevil’s Haze hanging in the closet will be dry by the middle of February.

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