To give him his full name, Gabriel Miró Ferrer was born in Alicante on the 28th July 1879. It is known that, from the age of seven, he attended a Jesuit boarding school in Orihuela and graduated aged 17 in 1896. In the same year, he studied law in Valencia, graduating in 1900, aged just 21. The next year he married Clemencia Maignon, the daughter of the French consul in Alicante. They had two daughters, Olympia and Clemencia.

Where or when he became interested in writing is not clear, but his first published novel was Del Vivir (1904), in which he introduced the character of Sigüenza (supposedly a reflection of himself) and also began to develop the sensuous and impressionistic descriptions for which he will be remembered.

In literary circles, his most remembered writing is Libro de Sigüenza, (Book of Sigüenza) a continuing series of impressionistic vignettes beginning in 1907. The main character, Sigüenza, is a Franciscan monk; he is meditative, withdrawn, and, rather ironically for the Spanish, a lover of helpless animals. He is very interested in stimulating the senses, with colours, sights and sounds, but lacks moral and intellectual capacity for action.

In 1908, his first important novels were published - La Novela de Mi Amigo and Nómada (The novel of my Nomadic friend and I). Most critics believe that his literary maturity begins with Las Cerezas del Cementerio (Cemetery Cherries) (1910), whose plot revolves around the tragic love of the super-sensitive young man Félix Valdivia for an older woman named Beatriz, and presents the themes of eroticism, sickness and death.

In 1914, he moved to Barcelona to work in various journalistic ventures and in 1915 he published El Abuelo del Rey (The King's Grandfather), a novel that tells the story of three generations of a tiny Levantine town, for the sake of presenting, and not without a little irony, the struggle between tradition and progress, the pressures of one’s environment and, above all, a meditation about time.

He also returned to his early life, with the development of a religious encyclopedia. His studies, during this undertaking, led him to write Figuras de la Pasión del Señor (Characters from Our Lord Passion) (1916-17) formed by a series of scenes about the last days of Jesus. Also in 1917, Miró began his autobiographical-style works with Libro de Sigüenza (Sigüenza's book), in which Sigüenza is not only the alter-ego of the author, but the author's own lyrical self, which gives unity to the scenes which comprise the book. El Humo Dormido (The Sleeping Smoke) (1919), About Time, and Años y Leguas (Years and Leagues) (1928), which again uses the character of Sigüenza as a protagonist are of a similar nature.

In 1921 he published Nuestro Padre San Daniel, (Our Father Saint Daniel) followed in 1926 by El Obispo Leproso (The Leprous Bishop). These two novels are generally considered his finest, although what the novels lack in structure they make up for in sensitive presentation of the boy's emotional formation.

Although Miró was not an overt critic of the Roman Catholic Church, his criticism of its religious teaching is subtle but nevertheless effective. Miró continued to write and publish until almost the time of his death in Madrid on May 27, 1930.

5:TO BUY OR NOT TO BUY? (A personal view)

Putting money in the bank. Low interest rates, giving a poor return. Banks getting more and more in debt and using your money to shore up their own shaky finances and hoping that they can ride out the credit crises.

The stock market. As the credit crises bites, all companies are hit with job losses, debit write-offs, which obviously affects share values. As a smaller investor, you will be relying on the capabilities of the share trader, who is employed by the banks.  This started the whole problem in the first place.

Commodities. Again, as a smaller investor, you will be relying on the capabilities of the share trader, who is employed by the banks.  Yet the banks, to save themselves, are laying off staff in the thousands worldwide.

Property. Now is the time to buy, as in some instances prices are dropping as banks foreclose and properties have to be sold due to mortgage problems, or other personal circumstances, so one person’s loss is another person’s bargain. How far prices will fall is unclear, but the more they fall, the more opportunities will arise and thus the demand for these cheaper properties will increase.

Off-Plan. Off-plan purchases have always been a way of getting a property at a cut price. Developers are how very keen to sell where developments under construction have not yet been sold.  There are some excellent bargains to be found both for investors and those wanting a home in the sun. In some cases, purchases can be made with an existing transferable mortgage in place and, at a time where mortgages are harder to come by, this can be a major advantage.

No doubt we will return to the subject of "to buy or not to buy?” at a later date, so look out for future Newsletters.