A book about a lost way of life when Spain was still a medieval
country under the iron grip of the Franco regime.
The writer travels the country by bus accompanied by military
escort to discourage bandits. He joins in the fiestas, and
serenades the señoritas on their balconies. He is taken in by
peasants, fed and befriended, and eventually comes to live in a
village where he is the only person besides the priest who can
read and write, and so becomes the village ears and eyes on the
outside world, before the television and a less repressive
education system make him redundant.