This is yours truly with another episode of some news from Spain !!! thanks to you all. There is lots of things going on in my beloved Spain, and we are in Spring !! I am eagerly looking forward to be back to Spain too !! Let me tell you the latest tidbits of news chosen by yours truly, By the way CXLV is old Roman for 145, Enjoy it as Spain is everything under the Sun!
In the Sacristy of the Cabezas (Heads),in the Cathedral Santa Maria is in Renaissance style, the visitor will feel observed by more than 300 highly expressive heads, whose design is due to Alonso de Covarrubias,This is a must to see in Sigüenza, province of Guadalajara in the Autonomous Community of Castilla la Mancha, webpage :https://catedralsiguenza.es/la-catedral/sacristia-de-las-cabezas/
The towns of Almedinilla, Cabra and Iznájar, in Cordoba’s Subbética, which since 2018 have been part of the ‘Magical Towns of Spain’ club , a select club of more than 100 charming towns created by the Institute for Local Development and Social Studies , are the protagonists of the new route known as the ‘Subbética Mágica’, an itinerary that brings the traveler closer to the monuments, landscapes, traditions, gastronomy, art and history of these three corners of Andalusia.
The tour begins in Almedinilla, Plaza de los Cuatro Caños, a meeting point for its neighbors, Calle Ramón y Cajal street, narrow and with a rich smell of orange blossom, or the neighborhood of Puente, the visitor can discover some of its most outstanding monuments. Among them, the Clock Tower, a building dating from the Second Republic and whose brick structure crowned by green tiles is visible from any point in the town, or the San Juan Bautista Parish Church, whose current appearance, in which a sober façade with a gabled roof, a central osculum and a belfry on the left side, with three sections and a presbytery, dates from 1978. Of the old church built in 1769, only the ashlars remain, the Historical-Archaeological Museum.
Located at the foot of the Sierra de Albayate in a natural area of environmental interest and singular beauty, and the Roman villa ‘El Ruedo’, which dates from the 1C to the 7C. and which has one of the most complete surfaces of those existing in the Iberian Peninsula is Cabra, a town with a great monumental heritage originating, for the most part, from the Baroque. Its historic center is presided over by walls and by the castle of the Counts of Cabra, a fortress of Arab origin rebuilt from the 14C on, of which crenellated walls, the parade ground and corner towers are preserved, highlighting the keep of 20 meters high. Walking through its streets allows you to discover unique corners of the Cordovan and Andalusian Baroque, such as the Convento de las Angustias founded in 1697, a sober temple with a single nave divided into four sections whose main altar is covered by a hemispherical dome on pendentives;, the church of San Juan de Dios, in which its beautiful altarpieces stand out, and that of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción y los Ángeles, which was built by the Calatrava brothers on an old Muslim mosque and in which the mayor altarpiece stands out. with the Oil Museum, the Círculo de la Amistad, a former convent-hospital of the Order of San Juan de Dios that preserves all the 19C flavor of this type of institution and one of the most beautiful courtyards in the south of Córdoba, and Cabra Jurastica or Jurassic Cabra , a museum that contains one of the best samples of ammonite fossils in all of Spain.
Iznájar, in the highest part of the town, in the neighborhood of La Villa, is the castle, a building that began to be erected in the middle of the 8C, probably by Hispano-Gothic builders, but whose current plan was configured in the 10C. Having seen this, it is time to discover its list of essentials that includes the Patio de las Comedias, where the famous Rincón del Beso is located, the Church of San José, which dates from the 17C although it has been considerably remodeled later, the Parish Church of Santiago Apóstol , developed in the Renaissance period, between 1547 and 1638, in which its great bell tower and the frescoes that decorate its walls stand out, the Casa de las Columnas, a historic house from the 18C that housed the former administration of the Counts of Albi, and the Municipal Library, a building that served as a grain store and which preserves its original structure and the arches inside.
The Andalucia region tourist office on Subbética Màgica as above: https://www.andalucia.org/en/la-subbetica
Every year, Skytrax publishes its list of the 20 best airports in the world , And at no 10 we have Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas airport !!. Others on the list that I have passed are 1 Changi (Singapore). 5 Charles de Gaulle (Paris ,and you tell me is difficult!). 6 Zurich (Switzerland). 13 Rome Fiumicino (Italy). 17 Dubai (United Arab Emirates). and 18 Seattle-Tacoma (United States). Of the twenty best airports in the world, 9 are in Europe and 8 in Asia, which shows where more investment is made in these infrastructures. Webpage: https://www.worldairportawards.com/
When the 84th anniversary of his death in exile in Collioure (France) had just passed, last February 22,2023 , the discovery of a possible unpublished poem brings Antonio Machado back to the present day. The manuscript has been found in the Zugazaga Fund, one of the archives kept by the Fernán González Institution, located in Burgos. The verification is on , but it seems like an unpublished discard from Campos de Castilla, a work published in 1912 that includes the Alexandrian verses (of 14 syllables each) of the poem, entitled Las viejas de Castilla. To set the context, Antonio Machado had arrived in Soria in 1907, where he had obtained the chair of French. There he probably wrote this poem.The writer remained in the Castilian city until the autumn of 1912, when he requested a transfer to Baeza (Jaén) after the death of his wife, Leonor, on August 1 of that year due to tuberculosis. The manuscript has been found among the documentation that was the property of José María Zugazaga Marina, who was the secretary of Manuel Machado, Antonio’s brother. Great find indeed, webpage: http://www.fernangonzalez.org/fernangonzalez/fondozugazaga.html
The MadRural project covers the most natural, green and wild face of the region through its four regions: Las Vegas and La Alcarria, Sierra Oeste, Norte and Guadarrama. The problem is that many travelers stay on the city limits of Madrid without delve into its four regions: Sierra Norte, Sierra Oeste, Sierra de Guadarrama and Las Vegas and La Alcarria. There is work as elsewhere to move visitors from City centers to these perfect rural destinations to experience slow travel, cultural activities, nature, gastronomy etc. For this reason, they have all come together under one umbrella, MadRural, a project that brings together the tourist offer in the region under Madrid that you don’t expect. The MadRural project was born as a uniter of the rural tourist offer of the Community through a tour of its four regions. The destinations of Las Vegas and Alcarria, Sierra Oeste and Sierra Norte They were the first to join the initiative, followed by the Sierra de Guadarrama. Webpage: https://www.madrural.com/
At the foot of the Sierra de Guadarrama where several cattle ranches invite the visitor to meet the fighting bull and its breeding in its privileged environment. You don’t have to be a bullfighter to enjoy it. The El Retamar cattle ranch, in Becerril de la Sierra, breeds its bulls to fight in the most regal squares. It is small, about 350 heads, but it has the singularity that in that beautiful farm called Las Tejoneras lives the fighting bull with the Iberian pig in freedom , For the experience an old convertible military truck awaits us and the company of the mayoral, Matías, who knows better than anyone the handling of these “athletes than when they go out they have to give it their all in 20 minutes”. In these 60 hectares of holm oaks and junipers, as in all fighting bull ranches, the animals are divided by age. There are 163 mother cows and their yearlings, etc one, two and three years old respectively, each in their own enclosure. The numeral, that is, the cattle year branded on the skin, tells us the year of birth. The calving begins in October and ends in May, so many six and seven month old steers are seen running around these days. The raid on the cattle ranch lasts about an hour and a half on dirt roads, dodging trees and rocks and opening and closing fences. There is no better way to learn about the breeding of this impressive animal and see how they are gaining strength until their appointment in front of the laying. A key moment of the fighting bull is the temptation and that is precisely the finishing touch of the tourist visit. In the tentadero is where all the activity of the farm converges: the corrals and the square. La tempta is the laboratory of bravery, where livestock experts test the virtues of the animal for fighting. For the most fans, El Retamar offers to attend bullfighting classes, bullfighting classes and other bullfighting activities. It is not the only Madrid farm that does so. In the region there are about 15 fighting bull farms that can be visited. A privileged window into the breeding of this unique animal and the beautiful Madrid meadow . Webpage: https://www.ganaderiaelretamar.es/
Javier Kirschner , after three years of planning, he fulfilled his dream of creating something original and nothing like what was already on the market, and in 2019, Döggo was born. and financing through a crowdfunding among 29 friends, he opened the first restaurant in Madrid specializing in hot dogs in which the sausage does not appear anywhere. Four starters, eight hot dogs, two desserts and eight cocktails make up Döggo’s small menu The sausages have been replaced by meatballs, duck, king prawns, salmon or shredded beef or pork, seasoned with spices ground by them and completely homemade and natural sauces , Branches at calle Juan de Austria, 25 (Madrid) and Atenas, 2 (Pozuelo de Alarcón) . The brand plans to open a dog stand in a few months in a market that will open soon near Plaza de Castilla, in Madrid, where delivery will work . Webpage :https://maddoggo.com/#about
There you go folks, another dandy tour of my beloved Spain ! We are in Spring !!; just enjoying our veranda and homey again. Time to enjoy my some news from Spain once again, and we are gear up for it! Hope you enjoy the post as I.
And remember ,happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 
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