31st March: The Guns

The guns have been blogged in previous years. What’s different this year is that the Spanish Government is doing them up with a euro grant, so we paid the site another visit to see how wisely they are spending our money. The photo below shows how smart the biggest of the guns looks, newly painted, having been plastered with graffiti previously.

As a recap, the artillery complex was built in 1929/30 to guard the entrance to Cartagena harbour. It was closed in 1993. The guns and mechanisms were supplied by Vickers UK; much of the supporting machinery, i.e. compressors and the like, by other British companies.

The name on the machine says Reavell & Co Engineers, Ipswich, England. It’s interesting to compare a photo from the time of the original installation showing the same equipment.

How to deal with items of historic value is a debatable issue: should they be “done up” to original condition as far as is possible, carefully preserved in their current state, or simply be left to naturally decay (but not hastened by vandalism etc.). The next photo shows a bit of everything! These silhouettes can be seen in the range-spotting tower and are of British naval warship classes. Those on the left have been completely repainted but on the right hand side only the front half of each ship has been touched up. The much paler faded original silhouette is clearly seen completing the outline. The graffiti, from 1993 to date, is still everywhere but will presumably be whitened out at some stage.
I would prefer the original faded silhouettes to be left: that is the item of historical significance, not the overpainting. Also, any restoration work should be carried out meticulously, and this wasn’t. However, no problem getting rid of the graffiti.

Lorca: Semana Santa , Palm Sunday 28th March

We’ve arrived at our favourite site, Los Madriles, near Cartagena in the province of Murcia, just at the start of Semana Santa (Holy Week).
The religious celebrations go from 26th March to Easter Sunday 4th April, so Holy week really lasts for 10 days! It’s a huge festival in Spain, and Lorca, 30 miles from Los Madriles, is reputedly one of the most memorable. We went there with several car-loads of friends to check out the Palm Sunday procession.

Before the big parade assembles, the main sections hold mini parades in different areas of the town where spectators march along with the participants, giving everyone a great sense of being part of the experience. We fell in with the Roman legions at first, and then with the common Hebrews, which is what the photo shows against the backdrop of a suitably ancient building. It doesn’t look quite the same going past a mobile phone shop.

The costumes were magnificent and the Roman centurion on horseback was only one of many hundreds taking part.

Not forgetting the main object of the procession, this float depicts Jesus surrounded by palm inspired decorations. It was carried by 100 porters, both men and women, identically and beautifully dressed. A great spectacle, but what happened to the donkey?

Back to the assembly area, earlier. We’ve got an Egyptian here, looking puzzled. The way to King Tut’s palace, mate? First left, past the triangular thing, the pyramid, then right at Ali-Baba’s bazaar.
The parade contained a large contingent of Egyptians and also other magnificently attired parties, some with Klu-Klux-Klan style hoods, whose relevance to Palm Sunday was unfathomable. Yes, the spectacle was certainly going some way down the Disney road, but the lasting impression was one of immensely enthusiastic local involvement, particularly of the youngsters, within a sincere religious framework.

March 22nd: The Alhambra

The Alhambra Palace is part of a huge walled complex that was started in the 9th century with the building of a defensive fort, the Alcazaba, that occupies a commanding position on a rocky headland directly overlooking the city of Granada. Jane, on the bench, is playing the part of the weary and confused American tourist. "I'm real sure it's Edinburgh castle...."

The bell on the highest tower in the Alcazaba was used to signal the market gardens below when it was time to change the water flow in the irrigation channels. The Moors had sophisticated water management systems that continued after they were deposed, in some cases right up to modern times.

The Alhambra palace was built by the Nasrids, the ruling dynasty,in the 13th century as a massive castle, close to the Alcazaba fort but separated by a deep ravine that has now been filled in. The palace was repeatedly improved and refined right up to the end of the Moors’ occupation in 1492. The lion courtyard below shows the typical quality and harmony of the buildings.

A close-up of some carving demonstrates the overall superb workmanship.

Water was used extensively in Moorish design to promote peace and relaxation, and the photo below shows one of many examples of its’ use. The water was green and murky but did support goldfish so you would probably survive if you fell in.

As large as the palace is today, only a part of it is left. Carlos V, the grandson of Ferdinand and Isabella who ousted the Moors, demolished large areas of it to build his own palace. He no doubt felt that he needed to make his own statement. The photo shows the circular interior courtyard looking very much like a bullring. Actually for many years it was used as a bullring. Carlos’ palace is solid and imposing but looks crude in comparison with the design and decoration of the Alhambra.

The remaining area of the walled perimeter is now filled with gardens and a 5* hotel, but at its peak it housed a town of some 40,000 inhabitants. There are a few foundations left of the dwellings but it’s difficult to imagine where they would all have fitted in.

The Generalife
We’re not finished yet! The Nasrids also built a summer palace called the Generalife on an adjoining rocky outcrop. I can’t quite see why the Caliph built his summer palace just round the corner as the climate is hardly going to be any different, but maybe he liked to wave to the folks left behind. Anyway you didn’t question the Caliph’s decisions. The end result, though, is very beautiful, and the gardens and water features emanate peace and tranquillity.

Unfortunately, at the time we were there, the gardens were overrun by a party of unruly French school children and a large Japanese guided tour, so peace and tranquillity was not the association we were left with!

March 22nd: Granada 2

Granada has a large Gitano, or gypsy, population many of whom still live in caves in the hillside on the eastern edge of town. It isn’t quite as Flintstone as you might imagine because the caves mostly have a house type frontage with rooms quarried out of the rock behind, as per the photo above. The Gitanos have a strong flamenco tradition and have produced some world-class performers in guitar and dance. Capitalising on their reputation, some of the caves have been converted into flamenco clubs but tourists are warned to beware of being fleeced for a second-rate performance at inflated prices.

There also appear to be a number of alternative lifestyle folks around so we were not surprised to see someone taking their pig for a walk. The pig was clearly keen for some petting and rolled over for a passer-by to scratch its’ head.

This attractive cobbled walk along the river leads out of town towards the Gypsies’ caves with the old Moorish quarter on the hill to the left and the steep crag of the Alhambra on the right. The Moorish quarter doesn’t contain many original arab-style buildings but is a maze of narrow alleys, and as it climbs up presents great views of the city, the Alhambra and the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

March 18th: Granada 1

Granada was the last stronghold of the Moors and held out until 1492 when King Fernando and Queen Isabella of Spain expelled them. Apparently Fernando was the handsome part of the duo and Isabella did the thinking. The picture shows the outside of their tomb: we went inside but there are no photos allowed. It is very grand and impressive with a massive carved marble tomb, intricate gilded altar and wrought iron altar screen, but lacks the beauty and harmony of similar tombs we saw in Italy last autumn.
Isabella died in 1505 and left instructions that a candle should be left burning for her in perpetuity. Being the acclaimed heroine of all Spain, this wish was followed to the letter- that is, until some time in the 1980s, when an electric light bulb replaced the candle! Despite numerous protests, it took 10 years before the candle was restored.

This is Convento de San Jeronimo, a beautiful building surrounded by orange trees. It was founded by Fernando and Isabella but not built until after their deaths. It is still an operating convent today. But hang on, I’m puzzled here, and I know the spelling is slightly different, but wasn’t Geronimo an Apache Indian chief?

This is one of the many guitar shops in Cuesta de Gomerez, or “Guitar Street” as it is known. They are not just shops but workshops and make the guitars on the premises. They have a reputation for high quality. The shops were closed as it was early afternoon (i.e. siesta) so I couldn’t go in for a closer look, but the lack of price tickets in any of the shop windows indicated premium prices.

March 16th: Arrival at Granada

The site is 10 miles from Granada and fairly new. It is terraced and has stunning views over the Sierra Nevada, Spain’s highest mainland mountain range. Although the camp is at an altitude of about 3,500 feet, as you can see it was warm enough to sit out in summer gear and admire the view. That’s a sapling, by the way, not a fishing rod at the side of Jane.

The site organises a free trip into the local Natural Park once a week in 4 X 4’s. This was the day after we arrived, so we went. The 4X4 took us along some dirt roads with sheer drops but lovely views over the mountains and ended at an abandoned quarry. The rock mined was stark white as the photo shows and was turned into gravel chips for a multitude of uses including road building. The whole area underfoot comprised these gravel chips making it look like a pure white beach.

March 16th: Portugese Odds and Ends

Here are the few odd items that didn’t fit into the other blogs.

Chapel of Bones

In the town of Alcantarilha was a chapel with walls, floor and ceiling made of human bones. These were dug up from the church graveyard several hundred years ago when it became full. As far as I could discover there was no more to it than that. It made a gruesome sight, but the occupants all looked happy enough and I did check the photos afterwards for “red-eye” in case one of them gave me a cheeky wink.

Cork Harvesting

The last inland walk took us past lots of stripped cork oaks. The number 8 in white indicates that these trees were de-barked in 2008 so the grower knows they need doing again in 2017, i.e. every 9th year. It seems that, despite the plastic revolution, the market for cork is as strong as ever and we saw in the local shops cork wallets, shoes, handbags, skirts even. It’s obviously a more robust material than you think. The heap below is a typical pile of cork bark.


Ajulejos

This is an example of Portuguese blue tile panels found everywhere, azul being the Portuguese word for blue. You may recall the photo from the disused nunnery in an earlier blog. The tiles are still being produced in a great variety and most houses seem to have at least one feature block of them, usually quite a classy enhancement. They also appear in volume in souvenir shops where the artistic value is more questionable.

Portuguese Language
In written form the vocabulary is similar to Spanish so you can make a fair stab at the meaning if you know some Spanish. There, the similarity ends: the pronunciation is nothing like, and sounds more like Russian to me than Spanish. The main sound effect is caused by the letter “s” being mainly pronounced as “sh”, for example 6 coffees= seis galaus, pronounced “saysh galawsh”. Fit your teeth with anti-spray guards before attempting!

On the whole Portugal was very interesting, especially the walking where we were lucky enough to be included in an experienced group. Parts of the coast are like Spain, very touristy. We could have been luckier with the weather but I think that would have applied to most of Europe. And now back to España.