Pontificado

As a cat, I am inherently superior to you humans. I'm also a neutral observer. These two important points make me well qualified to give you wisdom and guidance, and point out all your silly -- if usually entertaining -- faults. So it came as a bit of a surprise that there has been such a kerfuffle over the snap I posted at the weekend. Accusations of the photo being staged have been flying around. I was merely taking in some rays when suddenly all around me were bottles of cava.

May I suggest that the critics among you take a look at
"The Corruption of the Media"

Factoid: Some of the oldest human remains to be found in Europe were excavated in Spain. After the last Ice Age early settlers came from north Africa: Celts later migrated from the North. The Phoenicians, the Greeks and the Carthaginians set up trading posts. The Romans and the Carthaginians fought for the control of Spain.

Spain was part of the Roman Empire for around six hundred years until the invasions of the Franks, Vandals and finally, the Visigoths. The Moors overran the Visigoths in the eighth century and Spain began its Islamic period. The principal Moorish cities were Toledo, Granada, Seville and Cordoba (which became a centre of learning).

Centuries of conflict followed between the Christian and Moorish kingdoms. The final defeat of Moorish Spain came with the conquest of Granada in 1492.