February opened with five days in Benidorm for the annual District Grand Assembly of the District Grand Lodge of Spain of Mark Master Masons. The venue was the Gran Hotel Bali, which at 186 metres and 52 floors is the tallest hotel in Europe, and for a few years after it opened was the tallest building of any kind in Spain. There is something pleasingly improbable about several hundred Mark Masons assembling in full regalia in the Crystal Auditorium of a Benidorm skyscraper, and I mean that as a compliment to everyone concerned.
The Assembly itself took up Saturday morning, with the Festive Board following at two o’clock. I had the good fortune to be seated at the secretaries’ table, which those in the know will recognise as the finest table in any Masonic dining room, since custom obliges the incumbent secretary to fund the bottles of port that stand upon it, primed and ready, before anyone has so much as unfolded a napkin. Some traditions exist to teach, some to inspire, and some to keep the secretaries’ table well lubricated. I approve of all three. The meal itself was a proper Spanish effort, a parade of tapas, a lemon sorbet with cava to reset the palate, sirloin steak, and a three chocolate torte, with the wine included as a matter of course.
I attended as a guest of the District, which meant my total outlay for the weekend’s formalities came to a voluntary five pounds to their Benevolent Fund. I consider it the bargain of the season and thank my hosts for a welcome that was warm in every sense.
Honesty compels me to admit that the balance of the trip was rather less ceremonial. Benidorm in February is all quiet high rises and determined winter sunshine, and it turns out to be a very agreeable place to do not very much in good company. The one excursion of note was lunch up the coast in Altea, the prettiest town in reach, all whitewashed lanes and a blue domed church above a long seafront promenade, the sort of place that makes you wonder why anyone builds skyscrapers at all. Then back to Benidorm, where the answer is self evident.
I came home with new friendships, a standing invitation to return, and a firm conviction that Benidorm is at its best when the beaches are empty.
Charlton Krentz 