April 27th: Espuña Natural Park

Today we have travelled further afield, to Espuña about 30 miles away. We have our Dutch friend Jan to thank for this expedition as he organises and leads most of our walks, having meticulously researched them beforehand. But first, coffee at Santa Eulalia Monastery on the edge of the Park. Parts of the monastery have been converted into a hotel and restaurant, hence our coffee stop.

The monastery church, shown above, is unusual. Inside, the walls are completely covered with paintings depicting St Eulalia. The roof is supported by carved wooden beams from which a large wooden galleon is suspended. I couldn’t find out the significance of the ship. At the altar end there is an ornate image of St Eulalia that is carried all the way down to the nearby town of Totana in December each year to celebrate the Saint’s festival. Do right by your patron saint and your patron saint will look after you, i.e. keep the tourists coming. So it’s well worth their efforts: we have been guided here by divine intervention, Jan had nothing to do with it.

A beautiful view from the café terrace, and we can also see our destination, the flat top mountain on the left-hand side horizon. The summit is 1583m high, or 5,200 ft in old money. Underneath is a closer view of the mountain taken from the start of the walk. The top is occupied by the military, hence the dome and aerials, and that part is out of bounds.

Soon we come to an unusual conical building, of which there are several within a few hundred yards of each other. These are ice-houses, in use from the 17th to 19th centuries. Snow was gathered during the winter and compacted into ice in these structures where it was stored until needed. It was then cut into blocks and taken down by mule often at night to minimise melting, even so, as much as 50% of the ice was lost because of the length of the journey, a full working day, to get it down the mountain and then to the large towns. Only the wealthy, of course, could afford this luxury. The coming of electricity finished the industry.

Moufflon goats were introduced into the park from the Atlas Mountains in North Africa. These roam wild and have large horns. The photo doesn’t do justice to their impressive appearance but you can see the size of the herd. You can apparently eat moufflon meat at local restaurants, perhaps in the form of “Desperate Dan” style pies with these big horns poking through the crust.


The mountain flowers were in full bloom. Some of these plants were unfamiliar to us, for example “nun’s cushion” as shown in the photo below. All I can say is, if nuns sat on cushions as spiky as these, they must have had very watery eyes.

As you’d expect with the air being fairly clear, there were lovely views at many places during the walk: see example below. We followed the waymarked trail in a 10 mile circuit, gently downwards at first but with a killer final ascent in the hot late-afternoon. It was a grand day out, to borrow a phrase from Wallace & Grommit.

April 22nd: Out and About

Every occupied house in the countryside has a yard full of dogs. Whereas in the UK you might see one or two dogs in a premises, here there can be half a dozen or more, all different shapes and sizes, and all barking at the same time as you walk past. These are not savage dogs and are often not fenced in but warily come en masse to check you out. The photo shows a particularly cute puppy from one of these packs.

Anything unusual in the scene below? Yes, it’s been photo enhanced by the computer, to bring out the blue spectrum, but that’s not what I’m looking at. It’s the shape on the left, half way up: a submarine. The Spanish Mediterranean fleet is based in Cartagena 15 miles away, so it’s not come far. Shortly afterwards the sub dived, then resurfaced, turned and headed back to Cartagena just in time for lunch. Spain is clearly banking on fighting only gentlemanly wars with civilised rules and proper meal breaks.

This is a pretty view from one of our walks. However, the point of interest is the white stone pillar on the left, mid-photo. These pillars are to be found around the whole coast of Spain and mark the shore limits, inside which building is not allowed. Locally there are a few places where structures have been erected within the shore limits and these may well have had local permission of sorts, but now a hard line is being taken with the object of demolition.

Mines in the Mazarron Area

The whole coastal area of the province of Murcia has been mined since Phoenician times. Lead and silver to start with and then practically every type of mineral. The photo below is of a tunnel connecting two opencast iron ore workings near the top of a mountain. Not only did the miners work up to 18 hours a day, they had to slog up and down stumbly mountain tracks to get there, often in darkness.

The largest concentration of mines borders the town of Mazarron. Most workers actually lived in the town so it was an easy commute, unlike the mountain mine. It was however just as hazardous and, in 1893, 27 miners perished from gas suffocation.
A few years before this the mine was rigged up to electric power, the first usage in the area, and was consequently visited by the Spanish Minister of the Interior. He was much impressed by the provision of singing canaries in the pithead area, and was surprised to learn that they were part of the mining operation, as gas detectors. Concentrations of gas harmless to humans are lethal to canaries, so if the canary in the cage underground keels over, get out fast!
The Minister also remarked on the number of youngsters at the mine, he presumed waiting for their fathers to finish their shift. No, Minister, they work here.

There were ultimately measures to improve air quality underground, shown by the tunnel in the photo. There are the remains of many such tunnels, all with blackened insides. A fire was kept going underground at the bottom of special shafts which connected with these tunnels, each ending in a tall chimney (which is not in the photo as it has collapsed). This created a huge updraught, drawing fresh air into the mine through other dedicated shafts.


The hole above is a section of collapsed mining galleries. They continued working on the area after the collapse, as opencast. In keeping the mines clear of water, mineral deposits were pumped out with the water into special reservoirs. These minerals settled to the bottom with a colourful effect, as can be seen below.

The mines at Mazarron closed in 1963. It was economic disaster for the immediate area and the population fell from around 40,000 to less than 6,000. It has of course since recovered due to market gardening and tourism, part of which comes from visits to the mines themselves which were designated as a historical site by the Regional Government in 2005.

The Camp Community

Being on a campsite long-term is like living in a village. Lots of people know each other as they stay during the same months each year so when you appear at your regular time, you are surrounded by faces familiar from previous years. Friendships are formed usually from taking part in activities together, for instance we are part of the walking group so most of our pals are from that set.

However, there are inevitably some folks who seek you out and you wish they wouldn’t. There’s one chap who only wants to talk politics, particularly UK immigration. He’s a great fan of Hitler’s administration; need I say more? Another will have your day organised for you. Tap,tap on the caravan side at 8.30am. "We're going to Bol Nuevo today, OK", says this voice which must be obeyed. He is actually a nice person!

There are camp ailments, too. “How’s Joan today,” you might ask, hearing someone’s wife is not well. The reply could well be, “not so good, she’s got camp cough.” Having survived “camp cough”, for some campers, is like a war wound, to be bourn with pride and recounted in detail at every opportunity. Perhaps a medal should be struck and a thanksgiving day established for these heroes.
“Well, what is camp cough”, I hear you say. It’s any condition, real or imaginary, involving a cough lasting any length of time with variable degrees of severity for which there is no known medical treatment. Fortunately, symptoms can be alleviated by frequent potions of cheap local wine and total sunbed rest.

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!