Loreta is a young woman with Swiss and Spanish blood in her veins. Still as a child after the divorce of her parents she went with her mother back to live in Switzerland, where she grew up, reached adolescence and frst youth. After a disappointment in love, she decided to travel to Spain to fnd her father, whom she has not seen for a long time, and with whom she has maintained only sporadic contact through the years. She packed her belongings into her small car and headed for Almeria. Upon arrival, she could not fnd her father immediately, and on a hot summer afternoon she got lost between the greenhouses of St. Augustin. Momey, who had been studying informatics in Algeria, was forced to quit his studies due to the severe illness of his mother. He thus had to look for a job to help his family, because their economic reserves were all needed for medical treatments and hospital bills. As there were no suitable jobs available, his father heeded the advice of his own brother - who later turned out to be a human tracker - and decided to send Momey along with Momey’s younger brother to Spain, to fnd success there. For this they have to cross the Mediterranean in a dilapidated boat together with 38 other men coming from Africa. A tragic accident occurs during this crossing. On that afternoon, when Loreta is lost between the greenhouses, Momey who by then heads a group of workers there, fnds her unconscious and helps her to fnd the way out of the labyrinth of plantations under plastic. Loreta fnds her father just when he is handcuffed, arrested on suspicion of murder. Father and daughter exchange some words under tears. She stays with her paternal grandmother, and despite the terrible events, begins to think that she wants to start a new life there in Andalusia. She plans to open her own business. She believes in her father ́s innocence, and provides him with support so that he can overcome the difcult moments he is going through. Te father, who for many years led a disorderly and aimless life, fnds in jail a cellmate, who motivates and initiates him in flamenco singing, as an infallible method to leave behind his bad life and depressions. Te two new friends work voluntarily in jail, and start a passionate singing project together. Loreta and Momey, who come from different cultures, begin to cultivate a beautiful friendship. Tere are obstacles that will momentarily prevent that friendship from ending in love. But as it cannot be otherwise in Andalusia, all difculties are solved, and love triumphs in the end.

In this selection of short stories, the Swiss author Dill McLain tries to convey to us, how sometimes in most critical moments, we should never stop struggling, but cling to a ope.\r Trough her simple, direct and humorous lyrics; when a great love tells us goodbye, when crises and problems of everyday life overwhelm us, when things seem absolutely lost, suddenly life can take a turn, showing us that, maybe around the next corner, a better future or real love might be waiting for us.\r Tey are fctional stories, inspired by observations and experiences of long journeys in Spain and Portugal.\r ‘At midnight in Adra’, the short story that gives the title to the book, tells us the story of Amély, a young Frenchwoman traveling with her fancé – to whom she has been engaged for six years – along the Andalusian coast. On the way to Malaga, they are stopped by the police and arrested, after discovering a considerable amount of drugs hidden away in the car. She had no idea of the secret life of her fancé as drug trafcker, and is released by the police, to find herself lost and desperate in an unknown town on the Andalusian coast. That night she sleeps on the beach. On the following day, she is woken up by a small doggie who in some way is responsible for the coming big change in her life.\r Te author offers us entertaining stories, which invite us to never give up, not to lose faith, and to always trust that tomorrow can undoubtedly be better.

The Swiss author Dill McLain surprises us once again: With a fresh, entertaining, direct narrative, she catches us and makes us part of her incredible love stories. In them, often written with an air of humour and set in very diverse places after going through periods of lack, love disappointments and broken relationships, the protagonists always end up finding happiness.

This authoritative title is the definitive avifauna covering the Iberian Peninsula. The Iberian Peninsula is one of Europe's most ornithologically varied regions offering a host of regional specialities. It includes famous birding hotspots such as the Coto Donaña wetlands, mountainous areas such as the Picos de Europa and the Pyrenees, the Mediterranean cork and holm oak forests of the southwest, the migration crossroads of the Strait of Gibraltar and the steppe-like plains of Extremadura and Alentejo. Large numbers of birders from around Europe visit the region to see this wealth of winged wildlife, but to date there has been no comprehensive regional avifauna in English. Birds of the Iberian Peninsula is a national avifauna that fills this gap in the ornithological literature. Full-colour throughout, the book begins with authoritative introductory chapters covering subjects such as geography, climate, habitats, the history of Iberian ornithology and the composition of the avifauna. The species accounts then cover every species recorded in mainland Spain, the Balearic Islands, Portugal, Gibraltar and Andorra, including the many vagrants. For each species there is detailed treatment of distribution – with maps of breeding and wintering ranges – habitat selection, population trends, historical and current status, migration and conservation.

Cambridge, UK : Cambridge University Press, 1998.