James Joyce: Ronda and Malaga raisins in Ulysses

Calle James Joyce in the Teatinos district of Malaga is not so-called because he visited the city. However, thanks to the strong links between Ireland and Spain and a Spanish love affair with the writer's works, he and one of his best-known works, Ulysses, is celebrated every 16 June. Bloomsday marks the day on which everything happened in Ulysses.

So why do the novel and James Joyce have such a connection with Spain when there is no evidence of him even visiting the country? Andalucía and Gibraltar feature a lot throughout the novel in relation to the character Molly Bloom, who was born Marion Tweedy in Gibraltar in 1870. She was the daughter of an Irish officer, Major Brian Cooper Tweedy, and Lunita Laredo, a Gibraltarian of Spanish origin.

Molly grew up in Gibraltar and there are constant references to it in Ulysses. The statue of Molly Bloom stands in Gibraltar's Alameda gardens.

In chapter 16 the main character Leopold Bloom discusses the "passionate temperament" of Spaniards, attributing it to the climate, and connects this to his wife, Molly Bloom.

In chapter 18 Ronda is mentioned: "...and Ronda with the old windows...two glancing eyes a lattice hid.

Molly Bloom's upbringing in a Mediterranean climate had a big influence on the character and again in chapter 18 she remembers "Gibraltar as a girl where I was a flower of the mountain, yes when I put the rose in my hair like the Andalusian girls used..."

She talks about bullfighters: "the banderilleros with the sashes and the two things in their hats", and in chapter eight even Malaga's raisins are mentioned: "What was it she wanted? The Malaga raisins. Thinking of Spain."

Bloomsday is taking place on Sunday 15 June at Morrissey's Irish pub on Calle Méndez Nuñéz in Malaga city at 11.30am with readings and music in English and Spanish. It is also taking place in Gibraltar in the Alameda gardens next to the Molly Bloom statue on Monday 16 June at 6.30pm with poetry and live music.