Today I came across the Asociación Cultural “Tradición Arenense” , and discovered that at least one of the “cultural traditions” of the town of Arenas de San Pedro sounds quite bloody.
This weekend, according to a poster I saw in a bar window, they are celebrating “la matanza, dios mediante, en la plaza de las víctimas.” They could hardly have chosen a better venue, could they?
Presumably dios mediante doesn’t mean that God will be officiating at the upcoming slaughter; it must be the local equivalent of d.v. – deo volente – God willing. Personally, I’d always hoped the Spanish phrase might be con dios al volante – “with God at the steering wheel.”
don't confuse the narrator 