Calzadilla de los Barros – Badajoz.

Calzadilla de los Barros lies on the Via de La Plata, the Roman road running  from the South of Spain, North to Asturias.  It now is used by pilgrims as part of the Camino de Santiago and several thousand pass through Calzadilla each year.  There is a municipal hostel at 2 km from the town and also a Bar/Restaurant with rooms which are good value for pilgrims.

The Hostal must have seen better times since it was on the main road from Seville to Salamanca.  Now, however, with the motorway nearby, people whizz by Calzadilla and it might risk being completely unknown were it not for its Mayor, Antonio Galván Porras, who keeps it firmly on the map.

Antonio Galván Porras, Mayor fo Calzadilla de los Barros.

 

Every village has its dissidents, of course, and political life in Spain is not a sleepy affair.  However, the Mayor’s projects make a long and impressive list of public works and networking.  Antonio Galván is a man of action.  He even proposed that we might have a photo taken together, but, in the end, he was busy with arangements for a plaque, another of many, commemorating his works within the village.

A village with beautiful palm trees.

The Ayuntamiento is in the Plaza Mayor and has two very tall palms right outside, like guards of honour.

In the same square is the office of the political opposition who have been mounting a campaign against plans to renovate the village bull-ring.

The Plaza Mayor is, however, a peaceful spot and I sat contentedly there in the sun waiting for the shop to open at 6pm, after a duly lengthy siesta.  This is the centre of the villages life with the medical center under the arches and the tobacconist opposite.

The Church of the Divine Saviour.

The Church in Calzadilla is in the same square as the bakers.

This church is the most prominent building in Calzadilla and, unusually, the Camino de Santiago misses it out of its route.

The retablo behind the altar is a fine legacy of the days when many young men from Extremadura went off to discover the New World and returned with wealth.  This retablo was constructed in honour of  Captain Juan Navarro who died while on Service in Mexico.

Around the same time, in the 16thC the hermitage of the Incarnation was built on the hill overlooking the town and it has a lovely courtyard.

Street names.

The streets in the village are named after local people, a primary school teacher, a postman and a footballer.  This felt very homely and gave me a sense of the importance of everyone in this village.

A Poem to Calzadilla de los Barros.

 

by Rufino Sanchez Lozano

A CALZADILLA DE LOS BARROS
(El pueblo de mis padres)

Es en medio de mis sueños,
sueños alegres y extraños,
cuando recuerdo tus calles
siendo tan solo un “chiquillo”
con menos de los diez años.

Pisaba alegre tu suelo,
pisaba alegre tus calles,
corriendo por tus callejas,
por la Plaza, por tus lares,
y por cualquier callejuela
con ortigas ó zarzales.

Desde el “Legío” a la Ermita
del Pilar hasta la Fuente,
de casa de mi Tia Aurora
a casa de mi Tio Pepe,
visitaba a mi tia Carmen
y también a Tia Regina
y sin pensar tan si quiera
que mi abuela la “ Tia Gloria”
me echaría la “regañina”.

Eres pueblo de mis padres
y también de mis abuelos.
Tú me acogiste de niño
y en ti nacieron mis sueños
y aunque sueño con volver
sé que volveré de nuevo,
aunque sea solamente
solo a darte las gracias,
y se, que yo debo hacerlo.

Mientras me conformaré
con recorrerte en mis sueños
con remontarme al pasado
y atesorar tus recuerdos.

Rufino Sánchez Lozano
El Serrano Enmascarado
17 de Enero de 2015

That sums it up.  Thanks, Rufino.