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Authentic Spanish products on offer at the Global Village Lily B. Libo-on / 4 February 2014 The Spain Pavilion, now in its third year at the Global Village, features charging bulls, camels, falcons, horses and lions in taxidermy for curious visitors and shoppers. An intriguing sight of ‘toros’ (bulls) charging to gorge out its ‘matador’ (bullfighter) beckons visitors to the Spain Pavilion at the Global Village, the Ultimate Family Entertainment Destination. Bullfighting, known globally as ‘corrida de toros’, has always been a popular source of entertainment in Spain, Portugal, southern France and some Hispanic American countries, but never in the Arab world. Spanish hats in the Spain Pavilion at the Global Village. — KT photo by M. Sajjad The Spain Pavilion, now in its third year at the Global Village, features charging bulls, camels, falcons, horses and lions in taxidermy for curious visitors and shoppers — real animals stuffed by taxidermists to be used as home and garden decors. Veronica, one of the exhibitors at the pavilion, says her company, Toro Toro Coe, has been in the taxidermy business for three years. “We have stuffed exotic and wild animals like puma, jaguar, hyenas, zebras, bears, black Bengali tigers, lions and camels. We sell them for as low as Dh15,000 and as high as Dh135,000, depending on the pose of the animals. Charging bulls, which are based on photos of the actual corrida de toros, are more expensive and command prices over Dh100,000.” She says her company has received orders from Emiratis and Arab families for flying falcons and running camels. “Feline animals like wild cats in taxidermy are more expensive.” ‘Abarcas’, Spain’s traditional shoes from Menorca, is a crowd-puller at the pavilion. Saffron from Lamancha, popularly known as Spain’s red gold and hand-made ‘Damascene’ decorative designs, is another popular product. A Swiss couple, Nico and Alina Brust, say they are glad that they can find the products they bought in Spain on a holiday there. “It is amazing. Right here at the Global Village, we can buy the textile and the decors we need. I love the ‘Mojitos’ and again, this refreshing drink is here at the Global Village,” Alina says. Leila Jandali, an exhibitor at the pavilion, says her company, D & D Toledo, has been practicing the Damascene process of designing decors, which originated in Damascus centuries ago, for 200 years. “An expert worker treats nickel with artificial oxidation in 48 hours, then covers the decor with pure gold, inscribe Arabic writings and make them ready for the market.” Elias Vizcaino, from Relaciones Comerciales, who is the organiser of the Spain Pavilion, says that everything Spain has on offer has been brought to the Global Village. “Most of these products are from Madrid, Andalucia, Cataluna, Costa La Mancha, Toledo, Menorca, Granada and Extremadura. From the amazing animal taxidermy and the country’s best olive oil to preserved foods and saffron to the Damascene decors, hand-made wood products, aluminium and silver souvenir items, textiles, scarves, jewellery, football articles…The list is endless,” he says. Football souvenirs from Barcelona are aplenty — scarves, bags, T-shirts, footballs, key chains and mugs. “People like them. They have come over and again to buy our products every edition since 2011-2012, when we first joined the Global Village. Now, they know Spanish products. They shop for our paprika and Spanish cheese. We have good products at affordable prices. We are also glad that we have made a difference to the lives of the residents and tourists in Dubai through our product offerings,” Vizcaino adds. “Tourists from the Middle East are increasingly coming on holidays to the shores of Spain, as one of the biggest mosques in Europe is in the capital city of Madrid. They come and shop. Yet, here in Global Village, they can buy the same genuine, good quality products without flying to Spain. Everything is here in this pavilion,” he says. Spain, which is the second most visited country in the world with more than 50 million tourists annually, has also opened holiday homes for sale to tourists. At the Global Village, real estate developers are offering beach and high-end properties in Cordova, Granada, Andalucia and other cities of Spain as holiday homes. A dream holiday home is just a visit away! lily@khaleejtimes.com Free entry for children on Mondays  The Global Village will allow children under the age of 12 to enter for free every Monday during February. The promotion also includes an offer for visitors to redeem Dh10 vouchers for every Dh60 they spend at a selection of popular Global Village’s restaurants. The funfair discount vouchers have been replaced to allow visitors to enjoy the diverse cuisine that is on offer at the Global Village. Participating restaurants will be mentioned on all vouchers. news@khaleejtimes.com For more news from Khaleej Times, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/khaleejtimes , and on Twitter at @khaleejtimes Continue reading →