Man of La Mancha

Amid all the celebration of St George (patron saint of Greece, Turkey and Catalonia) and Shakespeare, let's not forget another great European writer who is celebrated on 23 April. This was the date of his burial, rather than his death which was the day before (I guess Spain in those days may have been influenced by the Muslim custom of speedy burial); and that's according to the Gregorian calendar, according to which Shakespeare died (and was born) on 3 May - but what the hell, let's not allow petty details to spoil a good story. UNESCO was happy enough with the factitious coincidence to make this International Day of the Book.

I appear to have bought this thirty years ago in Cordoba. Probably had some fantasy of reading it in the original Spanish. The saffron is an optional extra. According to this website, 'Today almost three-quarters of the world's production of saffron is grown in Spain, specifically in the region of Castilla-La Mancha.' I think that may only apply to a certain type of saffron; other sources say the overwhelming majority is grown in Iran, followed by Crete.