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I like to condense and update these older posts from my news from Spain series, Therefore, here is my new take on my serie some news from Spain January to June 2021 !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I.

Let’s start with some news from Spain XCVIII January 2021 !!!, The website Musement, a platform for booking activities at the destination, has extracted the five most popular galleries in each autonomous community based on the number of reviews received on Google. Thus, it can be seen that Madrid (with more than 150 thousand comments) is the region with the most popular museums, ahead of the Valencian Community (116 thousand), Catalonia (111 thousand), the Basque Country (58 thousand) and Andalusia (37 thousand). However, if we look at the average score of the five art galleries with the most comments from each community, we can see how the highest average score is achieved by Madrid and Castilla y León (4.58). Behind, Aragon, Catalonia and the Valencian Community with a 4.48. The City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia is the museum in Spain with the most reviews on Google, more than 83 thousand. Behind, the Prado Museum, in Madrid, exceeds 75 thousand. By far, in third position, is the
Guggenheim in Bilbao with more than 47 thousand comments. The ‘top 5’ are completed by the
Reina Sofía National Art Center Museum Madrid with 34 thousand comments and the Dalí Theater-Museum (Figueras, Gerona) with 26 thousand. If we look at the score obtained by the art galleries, again, the Prado Museum is among the best valued, with 4.7 out of 5. This score is also obtained by the
Sorolla Museum (Madrid), the National Museum of Roman Art (Extremadura), the National Museum of Sculpture (Valladolid), the Mining Museum (Escucha, Teruel), the Museum of Fire and Firefighters (Zaragoza) and the Museum of Manchego Cheese (Toledo ).

Next April 13 marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza, and the
museum that bears his name since 1992 commemorates him with a series of exhibitions and activities. The celebration began this past October with the opening of the exhibition “German Expressionism in the Baron Thyssen-Bornemisza’s Collection” ,which can be visited until March 14 2021.   Indeed, the baron inherited in 1947 an art collection that grew with masterpieces of classical art and, since 1961, with one of the best private painting ensembles of the 19-20C. He wanted his works to remain united and also wanted to share them, which led him to sign, in 1988, a loan agreement -which would become a definitive sale five years later- of 775 works to the Spanish State, the seed of the National Thyssen Museum –Bornemisza.

The Prado Museum is trying to regain lost normality little by little, however difficult it may seem. On the one hand, the projects that had to be postponed in 2020 and were left in the pipeline will be resumed. One of the consequences of the pandemic has been that the reorganization of the Prado collections, planned in the long term, has accelerated all the logistics and the exhibitions since during the closure of the museum.  It will begin with the 19C collection, which now looks more to the 18C than the 20C, the Prado will be more inclusive. There will be a more plural vision of the Spanish 19C, greater visibility will be given to women, social painting and that of other geographical origins, such as the Filipino one. In addition, the Prado will make an old dream come true ; that the entire Villanueva building will be exhibited . The Ionic Gallery (adjacent to the central gallery) will be recovered around October or November 2021 for the collection of classical sculpture; 51 works not exhibited until now will be exhibited. A permanent exhibition installation dedicated to the architectural and museum history of the Prado will also open in rooms 100, 101 and 102, where the Treasure of the Dolphin was formerly exhibited. It is expected to open before next Summer. The on the Salon de los Reinos or hall of kingdoms will begin in November 2021. For an inauguration scheduled for 2025.

An interesting museum seen since childhood days in my Madrid,worth the detour, the Museo Naval. Trader, navigator, pilot, diplomat, spy ; Juan de la Cosa, who participated in seven of the first trips to America, was a character with many edges. He also had a blot on his resume: he was on guard duty as master of the Santa María the night the ship sank off the Haitian coast. His captain Christopher Columbus would not forgive him for the shipwreck. The incident, however, did not bring down Juan de la Cosa, who is said to have become more familiar with America than with the rooms in his house, so much so that, as we know, he has gone down in history for drawing the famous Universal Charter from 1500, the oldest cartographic document where the American continent appears. The map of Juan de la Cosa is the most outstanding piece of the Naval Museum and one of the most important in the history of world cartography. And it is that this map was made only eight years after Columbus arrived in America. The navigator made it when he returned from his third trip to the continent, between February and October 1500, and had the detail of signing it, which is very important because it was not common at the time: Juan de la Cosa set it up in the port of Santa María in the year 1500. The map alone is reason enough to drop by this museum, recently renovated. A new high-quality steel-supported display case in the
Discovery Room now better protects and maintains this nautical gem that was missing for 300 years. Because in addition to its unusual dimensions for the time (183 cm by 96 cm high) and its very rich decoration. … oh well , I will not tell you more, go see it! Museo Naval !

And let me give a nice tour we have done by car and glad that we did in August because the area has extreme cold spells! As this year! Let me tell you about Sigüenza, Molina de Aragón and Teruel ; the charm of the Spanish ‘cold triangle’ hehehe! Let’s start with Sigüenza, a monumental town that is preparing to begin its IX centenary this year, which will be celebrated in 2024. The covid19 virus has suspended the most recommended way to reach the World Heritage city, the medieval train, a heroic journey that begins in Madrid and is accompanied by music, theater, history and the occasional sweet. The railway authorities assure to restart their transit as soon as the sanitary circumstances allow. Yes, it is open, although with the logical capacity restrictions, the National Parador, located in the magnificent 12C Arab fortress. Molina de Aragón (see post) is the next stop. As a good border town, its castle presides over the hamlet. It also stands out in some hills and fields completely covered by snow and that offer an unknown and beautiful view of the population. The Jewish quarter, the Plaza de España and, above all, the view of the Romanesque bridge over the Gallo river, with the old houses and crenulated towers in the background. In Teruel (see post) exists, no matter how much the social currents and, now, the snow and the cold make it difficult. In the main square, the Torico does not seem to be fazed by the scourge of the elements and despite its small size, it continues to control the rhythm of the Mudejar city par excellence. The Mausoleum of the Lovers of Teruel is a good place to take refuge these days. Love in difficult times. The Paleontological Museum of Dinópolis is another of the essentials of the Villa del Torito and another good place to forget the cold among precise life-size replicas of the giant saurians that lived here a few million years ago.

Within the Sierra del Rincón Biosphere Reserve, almost on the border with the province of Guadalajara,
La Hiruela, and Comunidad de Madrid;  has an idyllic and perfect environment to disconnect from the stresses of the big city at any time of the year. very close to must-see places such as the walled
Buitrago del Lozoya, the lush forests of Hayedo de Montejo or the spectacular valleys of La Puebla. To access La Hiruela, it is best to leave your car in the public car parking located on the outskirts. In its simple and charming town center, the low stone, slate, adobe and oak houses of the Dehesa have hardly undergone changes in their structure since their construction, making it one of the best-preserved towns in the Community of Madrid. It is also located within the route of the black towns of the Sierra Norte. Walking along Calle El Pilón street, the most famous in the town, you will discover many of the charms of this mountain town, such as the City/Town Hall, the Church of San Miguel Arcángel, the Old School, today transformed into a bar, the Casa del Cura (house of the priest, a restaurant now) and the Casa de la Maestra or house of the teacher. In the historic center is the Ethnological Museum, which shows the ancestral ways of life of its inhabitants with different farm implements, livestock and domestic tools and historical clothing. It recreates an old rural house from the 17C, accompanied by photographs of the time.

Some news from Spain XCVIIII February 13 2021 !!! The prettiest train stations in Spain me think are the Atocha Station of Madrid. Known as the Estacion del Mediodia ( midday station)  or Estacion del Sur (south station) in the mid-19C, as a result of a fire that ravaged the original building, the current Atocha station was built, made in 1892. It is a large 152 meter long nave with a curved roof and a glass facade. A classic see post. Estacion del Norte in Bilbao (North station).  Also known as Abando Indalecio Prieto, inside the station stands out the large window with motifs from the life and customs of the town, which summarizes the history of Bilbao: it contains references to the Basilica of Begoña, the bridge of San Antón, the hamlets, the iron and steel industry, fishing, sports etc. The Canfranc Station, Huesca. Like a gigantic Titanic stranded in the mountains, with its more than 241 meters in length, its 365 windows and its 156 double doors, the Canfranc International Station was the second largest in Europe. To build this modernist-style pharaonic work, the workers removed millions of cubic meters of earth and planted thousands of Albares pines. They also channeled the Aragón river and made a tunnel almost six km long: the Somport.(see post) It has been closed for more than half a century. Passed by it crossing into Spain see several mentions of it in my blog. The Toledo station. This beautiful monumental station built at the request of king Alfonso XIII in 1917 on the old station of the city of 1858 stands out for its neo-Mudejar architecture and elements such as the clock tower. Inside, coffered ceilings, plasterwork and baseboards and the chiselled the locksmith, lamps and wall lights. In 2005 the station was restored on the occasion of the arrival of the high-speed train. Wonderful pretty station, The Estacion del Norte, (North) Valencia Inaugurated in 1917 after ten years of work, the Valencia station is one of the best examples of our civil architecture. Modernist in style, within the current Vienna Secession. See the numerous handcrafted details: the lobby with a meticulous design of the wooden lockers and wainscoting, mosaic inlays and ceramic decorations with an abundance of Trencadís, tiles … while the roof and the delicate geometric shapes of its façade show the effort so that all objects were a work of art in themselves. Very nice station see post.

Some news from Spain XCIX February 25 2021 !!! On the occasion of the International Tourist Guide Day, They will tell us a little more about the History of Madrid to learn from it. Madrid has the largest Royal Palace in Western Europe, doubling the size of the famous Buckingham, for example. Yeah! The oldest building in the city is the Temple of Debod, brought from Egypt at the end of the 60s. The oldest indigenous building is, however, far from the tourist focus: in the heart of the Carabanchel neighborhood stands the Hermitage of Santa María La Antigua, built in the 13C. Go see it In Madrid’s Berlin Park you can admire remains of the famous wall that divided the German capital for decades. The shortest street in Madrid is perpendicular to the most famous one: its name is Rompelanzas, it is barely twenty meters long and is located halfway along Calle Preciados between Callao and Sol. Yes indeed! At the Puerta de la Torre de los Lujanes (15C), the oldest civil building in Madrid, there are stonemason marks, symbols that identified the artisans or workshops that carved the ashlars that were placed in homes or churches and that they facilitated the collection of the work carried out, in addition to publicizing them. There are rarely seen views, such as those enjoyed from the Cuña de O’Donnell park, similar to those enjoyed from the better-known Cerro del Tío Pío park or the Siete Tetas park, but with a different perspective. You can also visit housing colonies from the end of the 19C and the 20s and 30s of the 20C outside the center. For example, what remains of the Madrid Moderno neighborhood, located in La Guindalera, is an authentic and surprising marvel of style neo-Mudejar and modernism. The Cuña de O’Donnell park is a new extention very nicely done and located at Cemetery Nuestra Señora de La Almudena, bounded by the extension of Calle O’Donnell street to the north, by Calle Doctor García Tapia and Calle José Bergamín to the south, to the east by Calle Fuente Carrantona and to the west by Calle Arroyo de la Media Legua. Enjoy it!

And great news in this mess of the pandemia!  The great dream of the gallery owner Helga de Alvear is finally a reality; she opens her new museum of contemporary art in Cáceres after an investment of 10 million euros, almost half supported by institutional support from the Junta de Extremadura. Nestled in the heart of the monumental city, with an area of 5,000 m2 (8,000 with a garden and provision for storage), the first exhibition – which will be inaugurated today Thursday by the Kings of Spain. It houses 200 works selected from the nearly 3,000 that the collector of German origin (Rhineland, 1936) since she settled in Spain in 1957. A new building with wide ceilings that houses the most complete private collection of contemporary art that currently exists in Europe. The new building houses a selection of works by artists such as Olafur Eliasson, Pablo Picasso, Louise Bourgeois, Wassily Kandinsky, Helena Almeida and Ai Weiwei, among others. Another room has also been designed for Francisco de Goya, through the first edition of Sus Caprichos (whims), to disseminate his influence on modern and contemporary art. A first phase of rehabilitation of the so-called Casa Grande, of 3,000 square meters, where until now the Helga de Alvear Foundation has exhibited. The building of the Museum of Contemporary Art; subsequently, a construction of another 15,000 m2 was projected for this new one. Part of the garden has yet to be completed and a warehouse and offices have been prepared. The building will have three entrances. The idea was to join the old city of Cáceres in a corridor, from Calle Pizarro street, to the extension that represents the access through Calle Camino Llano.

Most impressive fortresses in Spain, me think are the Alcazaba of La Alhambra, (Granada) is, together with the Torres Bermejas, the oldest part of the Granada monumental site. Built in the 9C, it was dedicated to the surveillance and control of the city as well as the habitual residence of the elite army. It served not only for defence against enemies but also against internal uprisings. This great wall allowed that, even with the fall of the protected city, the citadel resisted during a long period. In the enclosure you can visit the Quebrada towers, the Homage towers and the famous Torre de la Vela. The Alcàzar de los Reyes Cristianos (Cordoba). Stands next to the impressive Mosque which Alfonso XI restored this fortress that was part of the Caliphal palace and that, after being destroyed by the troops of Fernando III el Santo, in 1328. It preserves the keep and rooms with Roman mosaics and furniture old, as well as some beautiful gardens with Mudejar pools and fountains. The Alcàzar de Jerez de la Frontera (Càdiz). Located opposite the cathedral, this 11C Arab fortification preserves seven towers (of the twelve it originally had) as well as two gates, the Ciudad (City) and the Campo (Country). Inside, the Chapel of Santa María stands out, a Christian transformation of an old mosque, as well as some Arab baths and a Renaissance palace. The Alcazaba de Màlaga.(Màlaga) This defensive citadel is the main Arab monument in Malaga. Of the three original wall canvases ordered to be built by the Abderramán de Córdoba, two remain, set with defensive towers and with several access gates. The fortress is completed with three palaces whose workmanship recalls that of the Alhambra in Granada. Inside is the Archaeological Museum of Malaga. The Alcàzar de Molina de Aragon (Guadalajara). This town with an intense border history between Castile and Aragon, and sensational natural landscapes preserves as its most representative monument a fortress with a castle, walls and the so-called Tower of Aragon. A spacious and elegant complex built by the Andalusians on an old Celtiberian fort between the 10C and 11C and which served as a bastion for the important Señorío de Molina, almost an independent nation of Castile and Aragon- in the 14C. The Alcàzar de Segovia (Segovia). Between the Eresma and Clamores rivers, this imposing fortress dates back to pre-Roman times. It was rebuilt in the 13C as a royal palace, expanded in a Gothic style and endowed with a Herrerian air with Central European touches by king Felipe II. Completely restored in 1951 after the fire that ravaged it at the end of the 19C, its imposing location is joined by a spectacular interior: the Patio de Armas, the Throne Room, the Galera room or the Kings room, adorned with a luxurious frieze that recreates the original. The Alcàzar de Toledo (Toledo). Erected at the wish of king Carlos V on the remains of previous fortresses, it was the architect Alonso de Covarrubias who gave the fortress its current plan in 1537. A quadrangular shape with four powerful towers. Successive fires and an underground charge of dynamite during the Spanish Civil War almost led to its destruction. After successive interventions it regained its splendor and in recent decades it has hosted the Army Museum and, more recently, the Library of Castilla-La Mancha, considered the second most important in the country behind the National Library!

You might have read heard or visit them and should know , Spain has one of the richest palace heritages in Europe some of my favorites are: The Royal Palace of Aranjuez (Madrid). It was practically destroyed after being destroyed by fire in 1748, but this residence of the Spanish royalty remains so spectacular that many guides refer to it as “the Spanish Versailles”. It was king Felipe II who entrusted the task of building the palace (as he did with the El Escorial Monastery) to his trusted architect, Juan Bautista de Toledo. He devised a beautiful French-style complex where its dazzling gardens and fountains stand out. The
Nazari palaces of Granada (Granada). In the list of the most beautiful palaces in Spain, the Nasrid Palaces (Comares and Los Leones) located inside the Alhambra in Granada, one of the wonders not only of Spain but of the whole world, could not be missing. These two Andalusian complexes with patios and gardens so impressed the Catholic Monarchs that they established their residence here after the conquest of the Nasrid kingdom. The Granja de San Ildefonso of Segovia (Segovia). About 13 km from Segovia is the Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso, a majestic residence.

Some news from Spain C April 2 2021 !!! The Italian architect Francesco Sabatini (Palermo, 1721-Madrid, 1797), who spent most of his professional career in Spain at the service of the Crown and which this year marks the tricentennial of his birth, planned in 1771 the extension of the Royal Palace of Aranjuez with two wings attached to the towers of the main facade, due to the large family of
Carlos III. At the western end of the south wing the new chapel would be built. On the main floor of the north wing, the new theater or coliseum was arranged. The National Heritage of Spain shows until April 4,2021 the campaign ‘Extraordinary National Heritage’: an opportunity to visit the Carlos III theater in the Royal Palace of Aranjuez. It has a tempera painted vault, which Mengs left unfinished!! It was the first opera known in the Spanish language. The libretto was written by Lope de Vega. And the play papers burned forever among the embers of the fire that struck down the Real Alcázar of Madrid in 1732. But the opera has just been resurrected at the initiative of the singing and composition students of the
Madrid Conservatory to bring back to life ‘La selva sin amor’ the jungle without love. Lope de Vega theatrical proposal explored all the possibilities of machinery and special effects. The cannon salutes and the fireworks shook the aristocracy as much as did the simulation of the waves, the beehives of the castles, the lighting devices and the liturgical apparatus that transported Venus aboard a carriage drawn by a pair of swans (fictitious). We know all these details from the documents that survived the fire and even from specific references to which Lope de Vega alludes. The play was reborn last March 24 and 25 at the Theater of the Higher School of Singing in Madrid. Now looking to expand it to other mediums and countries when possible.

They find in Toledo a section of wall from the Umayyad Caliphate from the first third of the 10C. There is evidence that this set of structures, a total of three new towers and a section of wall of about 30 meters, are from Al-Hizan, that Abderramán III built.  The restoration works of a section of the medieval wall of
Paseo de Cabestreros, which is being carried out by the Ministry of Culture and Sports, have allowed the discovery of an Umayyad wall from the 10C. From this first discovery and incorporating the studies of archeology of architecture and archeometric analysis, it has been possible to detect how, embedded in later phases, there are two more towers that were amortized by modern constructions, mainly by the construction of the Hospital de Santiago!

When was the last time you dropped by Alcalá de Henares? This UNESCO World Heritage gem often goes unnoticed, even by locals themselves, despite being a stone’s throw from Madrid, yes indeed. You can explore all the essential places, such as the university of 1499, the birthplace of Cervantes or the Jewish quarter. There is no lack of a walk through Calle Mayor and Calle del Imagen, always with a lot of atmosphere. You can go to the Roman city of Complutum, origin of the current Alcalá de Henares , you will discover one of the most important archaeological sites in the Community of Madrid. The imperial forum, the market, the hot springs, and the famous fish mosaic in the House of Hippolytuslos. That explains the enormous relevance that Alcalá had in the times of the Old Roman Empire thanks to its strategic location between Mérida and Zaragoza. Starting with the story of the legendary witches of the city accused of causing misfortunes and incomprehensible events. From the Plaza del Padre Lecanda to the Archbishop’s Palace to remember what the inquisitorial processes were like passing through the Jewish quarter and the Antezana Hospital, this route is full of disturbing moments. In addition to the Cervantes’ s birthplace or the Chapel of the Oidor, among other stops linked to the biography of the writer, you will also visit places of the time, such as the Old Prison or the Hospital de Santa María la Rica. In the Plaza de San Diego, in front of the beautiful Plateresque façade of the University in whose auditorium the Cervantes Prize is awarded each year. You will see /notice know how the coexistence between Muslims, Christians and Jews in the city of Alcala was centuries ago. The walk takes you to the old walls and the Puerta de Madrid, which in the 18C allowed access to the historic center. You also discover the courtyard of the Museum of the Society of Condueños, the old Hospedería de Pobres Estudiantes. A way to explore the old town in a surprising way. Lovely Alcalà de Henares , a must to visit while in Spain.

For the outdoor lover and daring, I have only done parts of the first one below for the historical value. The Sierra de Madrid has many challenges and one I know a bit this one. The route of the Spanish Civil War of the Frente del Agua or water front is an itinerary to discover the different fortifications used by the Republican side and the Nationalists side in the Sierra Norte. The old Paredes de Buitrago washhouse serves as the starting point of a path where milestones and explanatory panels allow a visitor who will need about four hours to travel its 12 km. From the beginning of the war, the defense of the El Villar and Puentes Viejas reservoirs was vital to control the water supply to Madrid. This caused this front to remain in permanent tension, which can be verified by making a route in which more than twenty elements of defensive architecture can be identified between trenches, bunkers, shelters and machine gun nests. Another one that begins in the Las Lagunillas recreational area, located about 400 meters before reaching the port of Navafría, on the M-637 road that connects the Segovian town of the same name and the Madrid town of Lozoya. The objective is to crown the Nevero peak, one of the most important and highest mountains in the Sierra de Guadarrama, with a height of 2,209 meters. It is located on the border between both regions and, before reaching it, the path offers places of great beauty, such as the Peña Cuervo. This is an outstanding rocky tusk that rises in the middle of the slope with a beautiful viewpoint or the Hoyos de Pinilla lagoons; vestige of the glacial past of the Carpetanos Mountains. And the one, also, known as the Bosque de Finlandia or the Finnish forest (its original name is El Potario), it receives its name from its great resemblance to the forests of the Nordic country. Located on the outskirts of Rascafría, the Monastery of Santa María de El Paular, the first Cartuja of Castile, serves as the gateway to this 13-km, four-hour route, which continues through the Puente del Perdón until entering an area rich in poplars, firs and birches. All this until reaching a beautiful jetty, next to which stands out a small wooden hut with red windows that, according to what is said, was used at the time as a sauna, thus increasing the Finnish reminiscences of the place. In addition, to get to this point you have to go through the Camino de Papel or paper road, baptized in this way because it leads to an old paper mill, today in ruins, from where it is said that the first printed edition of Don Quijote came out in 1605, thanks to the paper that the monks of the monastery produced.

Some news from Spain CI April 20 2021 !!! Ten Spanish towns aspire to become, on May 18, 2021 the Rural Capital 2021, within the initiative that for the fifth year organizes the Escapada Rural website specialized in rural accommodation (my rental home place in Spain!).Of those mentioned my favorites are: Daroca (province of Zaragoza , Aragón region).  Induces a journey through time through the Lower Gate, escorted by high towers, but also through the old wall to the Mayor Castle, erected on top of what was an Arab fortress where remains have been found of Muslim plasterwork from the 11C, or visiting the Palacio de los Luna, a noble residence around the 15C that preserves its wooden roofs. The Casa del Diablo, dating from the 15C, also deserves a stop in Daroca, so named because in the mid-19C it welcomed an anticlerical revolutionary nicknamed “El Diablo Rojo.”(red devil), Ortigueira (province of A Coruña , Galicia region). In walking its streets should lead to a visit to the Barrio do Ponto, in the old town; the conventual complex, which houses the City/Town Hall, the Benefit Theater and the parish church; the food market, from the early 20C, and a walk through its port. Ortigueira is famous among Celtic music lovers, since the Ortigueira Celtic World Festival has been held here since 1978. Since 2000 its name is the Ortigueira Festival, and every second weekend in July hundreds of fans of folk music camp on Morouzos beach to attend the event. One of the most attractive options is to discover the Loiba cliffs about 10 km away by car. There is a signposted route that allows you to cross it from Esteiro beach (Mañón) to the Ribeira do Carro beach (Ortigueira). A stretch of coastline that is, for many, the best bank in the world. Sepúlveda (province of Segovia, Castilla y León region).  This town founded in the Iron Age of just over 1,000 inhabitants is part of the association The Most Beautiful Towns of Spain. Some of the unavoidable visits go through its Plaza Mayor, its nerve center and partially arcaded; the Church of El Salvador, one of the paradigms of Castilian Romanesque; the Lope Tablada de Diego Museum; the sanctuary of the Virgen de la Peña; or the Puerta del Azogue or Arco del Ecce Homo, one of the seven gates that the Sepúlveda wall had. In addition, it is the perfect base camp to enter the Hoces del Duratón natural park, where the main protagonist is the griffon vulture. To its imposing scenic beauty are added historical attractions, such as the Romanesque hermitage of San Frutos 12C and the cave of the Seven Altars, whose interior houses a Visigoth religious monument from the 7C. And Yeste ( province of Albacete, Castilla-La Mancha region. The silhouette of its castle, from the 13C in Gothic-Renaissance style, dominates the panoramic view of Yeste. Located in the middle of the Segura mountains, within the urban complex of this Albacete town, the Renaissance City/Town Hall stands out. And outside the town, the fortified towers of Islamic origin and Christian use during the Reconquest are worth a visit. On the last weekend of October, the entire town throws itself into the celebration of its Fair of Popular Traditions, with samples of artisan trades, a traditional market and the celebration of a traditional slaughter.

The Thyssen Museum presents Georgia O’Keeffe’s first retrospective. From April 20 to August 8 2021, the museum will show a selection of 90 works, considered one of the greatest representatives of North American art  by this pioneer of abstraction, five of which were already in the Thyssen, which is the museum with the most works by the artist outside the United States. O’Keeffe was a traveler who used colors and shapes “to express what she could not with words.” Flowers, barns, religious crosses or landscapes are some of the themes that captured the author’s attention over six decades. The retrospective begins with watercolors and drawings in which she renounces color to capture personal experiences in an abstract way. Almost a hundred works that are burning different stages, such as ‘Gray, blue, black, pink, circle’, an abstract representation to represent the dances of the Native Americans or ‘New York Street with the moon’, a mixture of modern architecture related to the sky and nature. O’Keeffe did not leave the United States until she was over 60 years old, and her first trip outside of it was precisely to Spain in 1953!

It is 50 years since the birth of the association that rescued 18 unique temples from the 10C and 11C from ruin and which can be visited on a route distinguished with the Seal of Excellence in Tourism in Aragon. Fifty years ago, in 1971, the Amigos de Serrablo Cultural Association was born, based in the province of Huesca town of Sabiñánigo, in the Alto Gállego region, the gateway to the Pyrenees and the Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park. The association, in addition to recovering popular architecture and intangible heritage (stories, legends, toponymy, gastronomy and customs) and contributing various publications, has created the Ángel Orensanz Museum of Popular Arts and Traditions of Serrablo. Located in Casa Batanero, the museum is an example of the popular architecture of the area and is considered one of the best in Spain of its kind.The Church of San Pedro de Lárrede is considered the prototype of the complex and is the first of the route . Located in the urban area of the town, it has a Latin cross plan, formed by a rectangular nave and two arms as a transept and a semicircular apse. The bell tower enhances the complex due to its slenderness and sobriety. In addition, on the way we find the churches of Arto, Basarán (which was taken to Formigal), Busa, Espierre, Gavín, San Bartolomé de Gavín, San Pelay, Isún, Ordovés, Lárrede, Lasieso, Oliván, Orós Bajo, Otal, Rasal , Satué and Susín. The castle of Larrés, a district of Sabiñánigo, has housed the National Drawing Museum since 1986. It is named after Julio Gavín, draftsman and ethnographer, his mentor and founder of the Association. It is a square-angular building with two opposite towers, consolidated in its current format at the beginning of the 16C. In 17 rooms, 350 works of the more than 4,000 that currently make up its collections are exhibited. Rooms 1 and 2, located on the ground floor, are reserved for temporary exhibitions, such as one dedicated to graphic humor with originals by Mingote, Forges, Gallego and Rey, Ricardo and Nacho, López Maturana, Serafín, Peridis, Chumy Chúmez, Oli, El Roto or Cano, among others.  The rest of the ground floor is dedicated to Aragonese drawing from the end of the 19C to the present, and the rest of the building is devoted to contemporary Spanish drawing, both figurative and avant-garde, graphic humor and comic, in various techniques, from pencil to ink. , watercolors, washes, waxes, graphite powder to collage.

A wonderful nostalgic area for me is the Albufera. There thousands of birds and fans of them meet at the Albufera lake, one of the most important wetlands in Europe and a pure Mediterranean landscape just a few minutes from Valencia. Among the star stops is the island of Palmar, which condenses the fishing essence of the landscape. It is there where you can enjoy a boat trip to watch the birds and the rice fields originals of the paella dish). Then you can continue to El Saler (visited as child home of late aunt Maria Elena) to admire its virgin dunes and marvel at the native flora, as well as the views of its beach and the Mediterranean Sea.

Las Ventas Monumental bullring prepares a festival for Dos de Mayo with Ponce, El Juli and Manzanares as performers (and how would I pay to be there!).The Las Ventas bullring will open its doors again on Dos de Mayo if the weather and, above all, the pandemic do not prevent it. The Center for Bullfighting Affairs of the Community of Madrid, in collaboration with Plaza 1, wants to open its doors closed from October 12, 2019 on May 2, a bullfighting date par excellence linked to the traditional Goyesca, according to the news advanced by Mundotoro. Yes Dos de Mayo is portrait by Goya on an event of Spain independence war so call from France’s Napoleonn dictatorship.

La Biblioteca General Histórica de la Universidad de Salamanca or the General Historical Library of the University of Salamanca was created in 1254 and currently has 2,774 manuscripts, 483 incunabula and some 62,000 volumes printed between the 16C and 18C. The General Historical Library of Salamanca is the oldest university library in Spain. The Salamanca University was founded in 1218 by the will of King Alfonso IX of León, although it was in 1254 when Alfonso X ‘El Sabio’ granted it its first constitutional charter, and in 1255 when Pope Alexander IV granted universal validity to the titles imparted. by the new University. The oldest inventory of the Library, with a nominal list of authors and titles, dates from the early 17C or about 1611 and it contains 879 works, between manuscripts and printed matter. Amongt them, these little treasures are exceptional. The manuscript ‘De materia medica’, popularly known by the name of its author, Pedanius Dioscorides, was the botanical work with the greatest diffusion during the Middle Ages and collects extensive knowledge of medicine, botany and pharmacology that lasts over time as axes of traditional medicine. The one preserved here is a copy written in Greek sometime in the 15C in Italy. It also guards the codex ‘Armorial’ by Steve Tamborino, which was owned by Agustín de Torres, King of Arms of the Catholic Monarchs, and considered as the jewel of the Spanish armories of the 16C by collecting a multitude of coats of arms of different people or lineages, mainly from the Aragonese area. The Terrestrial Globe , it is made of paper and plaster and rests in a wooden cradle formed by a circular bowl for the compass in which the months and the zodiacal signs are outlined. Made in London in 1757 by Johan Senex and Benjamin Hardon, it presents, surrounded by floral motifs and angels, the same legend in Latin and English. The translation reads “Globe of all parts and regions explored, according to the latest astronomical navigational observations and reliable inventories.” Awesome!!

After more than five months closed to tourism due to the health crisis, the Cathedral of El Salvador of Avila has just announced the opening of its doors to visitors who want to know the wonders of the first Gothic cathedral in Spain. The tourist visit to the Cathedral can be done in full, except for the climb to the bell ringer’s house, which will remain temporarily closed. At the moment, conservation works are being carried out in the antechrist, which is about to be completed. Until then, you can visit the entire Cathedral and, through the cloister, access the museum and the Chapel of San Bernabé (Sacristy of the Cathedral).  Next to the cathedral, the Basilica of San Vicente will also open to tourists this past Friday. As with the wall, the Cathedral of Ávila has a confusing start date of construction. There are those who point to the year 1091 and those who place it in the twelfth century. Even so, enough is known about this temple to be considered the first of the Gothic style built in Spain, in dispute with that of Burgos. It has French features, with similarities to that of the Basilica Saint-Denis France. “The interior of the temple is overwhelming for its past shadow embedded in its walls and for its quiet darkness, which invites meditation on the supreme,” wrote Federico García Lorca.(see post). Its famous Portal de los Apóstoles, bas-reliefs in which the Apostles guard the Pantocrator under whose watchful gaze the faithful enter the interior, on the north portal of the seo, is striking.

I am going to give you an imaginary trip of my beloved Segovia. We start from my beloved port of Navacerrada (first and last tried of skiing! see post). The road descends unruly through the forest to the beautiful palace and the Versailles gardens of La Granja de San Ildefonso, (see post) refuge of the first Spanish Bourbon, Felipe V (born in Versailles and grandson of Louis XIV). From Madrid through the
Alto del León or the Guadarrama tunnel, the road soon leaves the pine forests behind to run through a wonderful  landscape, all heavenly yours. To the left of the road you can see the pink palace of Riofrío, an old royal hunting lodge that stands alone in the middle of an old forest of ash, oak and holm oaks limited by a stone wall and populated by herds of deers. The city of Segovia is immediately visible!!! About Segovia they have written from Cervantes and Quevedo to the American Nobel Prize winner Saul Bellow (The Gonzaga manuscripts). Beyond the inns, the aqueduct, the cathedral and the fortress, there are many other places that the fast or voracious tourist will miss. The Castilian city has more than 20 Romanesque churches, (see posts on many) all of them built in a period of only 70 years, between 1180 and 1250. Among the most beautiful are that of San Martín, in the Caballeros neighborhood, and that of
San Millán, in the district of the witches. Among the less known, that of San Justo, in the old suburb of El Cerrillo, with a unique set of 12C wall paintings discovered by chance after some works. Outside the walls is that of Vera Cruz, the most eastern and enigmatic of the Segovian churches, built on a dodecagonal plan and attributed to the Templars. You will see the most Saracenic style reflected in the beautiful alfarjes of the Monastery of El Parral, the fortress or the Monastery of San Antonio el Real (now converted into a hotel) in which the Moorish masons, master builders and carpenters who lived in the neighborhood worked, considered the best in Castilla. Last Friday, April 23, it was 500 years since the battle of Villalar (Valladolid), which ended the autonomy of the Castilian towns and cities represented by the town and court councils, against the imperial and absolute power of Carlos V.  In the most beautiful of the Segovian squares, that of the Sirenas, next to the Romanesque atrium of San Martín, stands the statue of the Segovian community member Juan Bravo, beheaded the next day along with his brothers in arms
Juan de Padilla and Francisco Maldonado (also  many others). The memory of Sefarad survives in the main old Synagogue (today Corpus Christi Church) and the seven streets of the old Aljama, between the cathedral and the wall.

The exhibition ‘‘Pasiones mitológicas’  or Mythological Passions brings together works by Tiziano, Veronese, Allori, Rubens, Ribera, Poussin, Van Dyck and Velázquez in the Prado Museum. In room C of the Jéronimos Building until July 2 2021.

Some news from Spain CIIII May 20 2021 !!! The Abbey of the Valley of the Fallen (Valle de los Caidos see post) returns 477 books withdrawn during the Franco dictatorship to the National Library in Madrid. Its about time as they were catalog since 1961 and were to be given much earlier. Now maybe a chance for us to see at the National Library by plaza Colon (see post).

The new presentation of the permanent collection of the Reina Sofía National Museum, the great project of the center in the last 10 years, and the great legacy of its director, Manuel Borja-Villel (who will leave office in 2023), is already on the walls of the fourth floor of the Sabatini Building, its original headquarters. The first episode of the new Reina Sofía is called Nos Ven: From Modernity to developmentalism, it occupies about 2,000 square meters and includes pieces of architecture, design and art. They see us: from modernity to developmentalism begins as a cosmopolitan story and, room by room, it focuses on Spain: on the Spanish artists who have appeared in the world since the 1960s, but also on the sociological changes that the world experienced. country during the dictatorship.
Latin America and exile will be the next extensions to the permanent collection. The first case will be one of those “looks to the south” that have become common in cultural criticism in recent years and it will gravitate around the coups d’état in Brazil and Chile and the triumph of the Chicago Boys. The only thing that will remain unaltered will be the central place of Guernica in the museum. Picasso’s great work will thus be a kind of Aleph, a place where all stories fit. It will be the Reina Sofía of the new generation.

The most important paintings in Spain that you cannot stop by without seeing them and have posts on the museums. Las Meninas (Velázquez). It is the masterpiece of the painter belonging to the Spanish Golden Age, which ended in 1656. Large (over 3 meters high), it is one of the most visited paintings in the El Prado Museum (Madrid). The central theme is the portrait of the Infanta Margarita of Austria, placed in the foreground, surrounded by her servants, “las meninas”. Guernica (Picasso). The Spanish master painted this oil on canvas over seven meters long in 1937 in Paris, during the Spanish Civil War. It is one of the author’s most recognized paintings and one of the most important works of art of the 20C. It alludes to the bombing of the Basque city of Guernica, which occurred on April 26, 1937. It is on permanent display at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, The executions of May 3 (Goya). Francisco de Goya painted this painting in 1814 and it is exhibited in the Museo Nacional del Prado (Madrid). Represents the May 2 uprising of the Spanish population against French rule, at the beginning of the War of Independence against dictator Napoléon’s France. Walk on the seafront (Sorolla) It is one of the most famous paintings by the Valencian painter, completed in 1909. Post-impressionist in style, it depicts his wife and his eldest daughter on the beach in Valencia at sunset. It is kept in the Sorolla Museum (Madrid). The musician’s table (Juan Gris). Considered one of the masters of Cubism, José Victoriano González-Pérez, better known as Juan Gris, completed this painting in 1926, a year before dying in France. It shows his enormous fondness for music. At the Reina Sofía (Madrid), The burial of the Lord of Orgaz (El Greco). It is considered one of the best and most admired works by the late Renaissance Greek author. Painted in 1588 for the parish of Santo Tomé de Toledo (where it still remains), it represents the miracle in which, according to tradition, Saint Stephen and Saint Augustine came down from Heaven to personally bury Gonzalo Ruiz de Toledo, lord of the town of Orgaz, as a reward for an exemplary life of devotion to the saints, their humility and the works of charity carried out. Soft Self-Portrait with Grilled Bacon (Dalí). This oil on canvas by the Catalan master of Surrealism, made in 1941, represents a soft, amorphous face, supported by crutches, which Dalí considered to be his self-portrait. It is in the Dalí Theater-Museum (Figueres, Girona), El aquelarre or coven (Goya). This oil on canvas from a fresco was commissioned for the recreation palace of the Dukes of Osuna, on the estate they owned in the Alameda de Osuna (today the Capricho park see post). Painted in 1798, it represents a coven ritual presided over by the Great Goat, one of the forms taken by the devil. It was acquired in 1928 by José Lázaro Galdiano for his private collection. It can be seen at the Lázaro Galdiano Foundation museum(Madrid).

Did you know, iIn Europe there are a total of 35 historical gardens that have been listed as World Heritage by Unesco. Germany and Italy, with six sites each lead the list by country, closely followed by Spain, which has five: the works of Antoni Gaudí (Park Güell); The Alhambra, Generalife and Albaicín de Granada (Generalife Gardens); the cathedral, fortress and Archive of the Indies of Seville (Reales Alcázares); the cultural landscape of Aranjuez (Gardens of the Royal Palace); and the Palmeral de Elche.

An icon of Madrid! El Rastro To begin with, the sales area is delimited (the stalls can only be located in the squares of Cascorro, General Vara del Rey and Campillo del Nuevo Mundo or in the streets
Ribera de Curtidores, Carlos Arniches and Mira el Río Baja) and , therefore, also the movement of pedestrians. There is no visit to the Rastro without a good snack or a couple of them before lunch. The
Bar Cruz (also known as La Casa de las Navajas; Calle Maldonadas, 1). It opened its doors in 1970 and is named after the family’s grandmother, María Cruz Calvo. The Casa Amadeo (Plaza de Cascorro, 18), the most traditional snail bar in Madrid. They are served in a clay pot, in a stew with chorizo ​​and its spicy touch. Today this tavern is run by one of Amadeo’s grandsons, but the patriarch stops by from time to time to chat with the patrons. For lovers of natural wines, Cascorro Bistrot (Plaza de Cascorro, 21), a bar with French wines that mixes restaurant, tavern and winery. Already on the corner with Calle Toledo, it is worth stopping at Los Tiernos (Calle Toledo, 73), the conversion into a modern bar of the mythical Onis cafeteria. Its owners are the same who run the Pavón Bar (Embajadores, 9) and its name is a tribute to one of Madrid’s most beloved mayors, Enrique Tierno-Galván.

Some news from Spain CV June 13 2021 !!! Las Chorreras del Cabriel  , wonderful memories as we stayed nearby couple of summers, this is near Las Majadas (see posts). They are waterfalls, and pools of crystalline water, declared a Reserve of the Biosphere of Valle del Cabriel. This incredible natural setting is similar to what we can find on paradisiacal islands, so it is well worth a visit in summer. Of course, it must be borne in mind that it is only allowed to bathe in the pools and it is totally forbidden to step on the tuff formations and slide down the stromatolite ramps since they are very valuable as they are considered one of the best representations of these geomorphological elements of  the Iberian Peninsula

Some news from Spain CVI June 25 2021 !!! A brief getaway through Castilian lands to visit jewels such as the beautiful Cloister of Santa María la Real de Nieva, in the province of Segovia; the incredible Monastery of Santa Clara, in Tordesillas province of Valladolid, and the unique charm of the Basilica of San Juan de Baños, in Palencia. The first stop is in Santa María la Real de Nieva, a peaceful town half an hour from Segovia. The construction of the Gothic church began in 1393 and, once completed, it was handed over to the Dominicans. Shortly after the monastery began to rise and in the following years the church would be expanded, demolishing the apses of the original head.  About 80 km from Santa María la Real, in the direction of Valladolid, awaits Tordesillas, which owes part of its fame to the treaty signed on June 7, 1494 between the representatives of the Catholic Monarchs (Fernando and Isabel) and those of John II of Portugal, for the one that both crowns divided the territories of the New World. In addition, Juana I of Castile, nicknamed La Loca (crazy) and mother of Emperor Carlos V, was locked up in this town for more than 40 years. The Royal Convent of Santa Clara, which hosted the body of Felipe el Hermoso from 1509 to 1525, has been six centuries watching the waters of the Duero flow at its feet. It was originally a Mudejar palace that King Alfonso XI ordered to be built around 1340, as evidenced by the lace decoration and Arabic inscriptions, as well as a charming courtyard with lobed and horseshoe arches reminiscent of the Alhambra in Granada. At  70 km north of Tordesillas is the third architectural landmark of this route: a stone diamond erected by the Visigoth king Recesvinto in the Palencia plain of Venta de Baños. The secluded Basilica of San Juan de Baños, one of the few buildings of this type in Spain, resembles a small chest whose dating is not the slightest doubt as in the front there is a Latin inscription that cites the year 699 , and that corresponds to 661 of our era. Built with large ashlars joined together with little mortar, the temple measures 20 meters long by 13 meters wide. Wonderful!

Medina Azahara, the great scene of the Umayyad power that succumbed in 73 years. In the year 1000, there was no more dazzling city in Europe than Madinat al Zahra, 8 km west of Córdoba, the capital of al-Andalus and the royal home of the self-proclaimed Caliph Abd al-Rahman III. Madinat al Zahra, Castilianized as Medina Aza .A must to see in my Spain.

Madrid wants to open the Retiro park bomb shelter to the public in 2022. The construction of this building began in 1936, in the context of the Spanish Civil War. A document certifies that the work was completed in 1938 and, after the war, it was used for mushroom cultivation due to the little light and humidity it offered. Subsequently, it remained closed for more than thirty years. It had three entrances , two in the park and one in Calle Menéndez Pelayo. In addition, it lacked weapons to defend itself, which indicates that it was intended for the use of the civilian population shelter with an approximate capacity of 275 people. The dimensions of its corridors were from 1.10 to 1.15 meters wide and 1.60 to 2.48 meters high, the galleries were straight and every 25 meters they broke at a 90º angle to avoid for the shock waves to reach more people. To be follow as would be very interesting to go under; to be continue….

La Barraca will be portable. A wandering and free theater that will travel the torrid roads of Castile, the dusty roads of Andalusia, all the roads that cross the Spanish countryside.  It will penetrate into the villages, towns and villages, and will set up in the squares his tablados and guignol huts. Resurrection of the traveling entertainment of the past times. These are the words of Federico García Lorca about the mythical university theater company that he himself directed together with Eduardo Ugarte between 1932 and 1936.  The last trip of ‘La Barraca’ was on June 14 1936, just two months before his murdered. -He had the support of the then Minister of Public Instruction, Fernando de los Ríos, and intended to take classical theater throughout Spain. The Madrid Theater Institute, dependent on the Complutense University will carry on , bravo chapeau !!!

There go folks , gladly reporting from my beloved Spain. This is Spain, everything under the Sun ! Again, hope you enjoy this post on my serie some news from Spain, January to June 2021 as I

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!