More than Santiago de Compostella, Finisterre or Muxia the little village of San Andrés de Teixido holds together in its legends Greek myths, Celtic tradition, magic and the belief that Saint Andrew arrived here by boat from Greece, just as that of St. James arived in Padrón, another village in A Coruña, the most north-westerly province in Spain.
A village on a cliff.
The best known doctrine of San Andrés is that each person has to pass by this spot before death or else is condemned to returning incarnated as a reptile to do so. It is a place between this world and the next. In this silent and remote spot it is easy to allow the imagination to travel out to sea with the setting sun to bow down into the Island of Eternal youth.
Galician leprechauns
It is a place to drink in Celtic tradition and local orujo which is a herb flavoured liquor. The 16th C church has a privileged view out over the highest cliffs in Europe. Breathe deeply the Atlantic from on high and feel connected to the great mysteries of Life itself.
Votive statues and relics, photos, toys and bits of clothing in the church.
I suppose that death, young death and sudden death, sharpen instantly our awareness of how short and fragile life can be. People bring life and after-life together in symbols which transcend the finality of life in this world.
St. Andrew – we should have a pilgrimage route here from Scotland
There are few tourists and those who do visit don’t stay long, just enough to ensure they don’t have to return (as a lizard or a snake). If any pilgrim to Santiago wishes to continue after Santiago this is a great spot to replace Finisterre. The atmosphere is thick and heavy with Celtic spirit- quite the opposite of Iona which is often described as a thin place, a place where, in life, you can feel in heaven.
Magic groves on the way down to the sea.
Also it is quite easy to reach being a couple of days walking from Ferrol, the starting point of the Camino Ingles, with a well signposted path.
The route from the beginning of the Camino Inglés. It is a lot of ups and downs. About 38Km and hard going in one day.
Calle San Andrés de Teixido, Teixido, Spain (Directions)
San Andrès de Teixido 43.708973, -7.983915The route from the beginning of the Camino Inglés. It is a lot of ups and downs. About 38Km and hard going in one day.Calle San Andrés de Teixido, Teixido, Spain (Directions)
It is in the North of the Province of Caceres which is in the top of the Southern half of Spain with Portugal to the West and is the last village in the Sierra de Gata, lying right to its western flank and so neatly tucked under the meseta of Salamanca to the North that its inhabitants speak more like the folk in Castilla&Leon than Extremadurans (Extremeños, really), which they are. Here is a map to make it easier:
Robledillo de Gata, Caceres, Extremadura, Spain40.322419, -6.470992Robledillo de Gata, Spain (Directions)
An Olive Oil Museum, Honey and steep streets.
Sign to the Olive Oil Museum
I visited the Olive Oil Museum several years ago and I learned a lot but have forgotten all of it now but it is well worth a visit. The purpose of my trip was to buy honey and pollen for which the Sierra is famous.
Honey, nobody is at home.
Unfortunately the house was empty but I tracked down the woman who sells the honey coming out of evening Mass and heading for the bar with her friends.
The honey lady in green chatting with the priest.
I caught up with her in the bar which is right at the top of the village. Since her house is at the bottom and the roads are very steep I agreed to return another day for the honey.
The bar Barrero.
The Church of Our Lady of the Assumption.
The 16th C Church of Our Lady.
The Church had emptied and had been well locked up by the time I arrived. It was formerly a palace of the Monroy family and then passed on to some dukes from Benavente, up North in Castilla. They however, lost it in a dispute with the villagers and it was converted into the Church of today.
The Church pillars have interesting carvings and all in all remains palatial.
Today is the feat of St. George who is a big saint in Cataluña – and also celebrated in Salamanca. In Extremadura it is not a holiday but some other villages have processions.
Coming downhill to the Church.
April 23rd, feast of St. George.
It was appropriate, therefore, that hanging from a window was a boy named George.
George on his feast day.
The women who had just come out from the Church were congratulating him on his feast day but George was much more interested in discussing the Champions League semi final draw possiblilities. George is 18, according to the women and hangs out of a beautifully flowered balcony.
A meadow, a black dog and narrow streets.
Springtime in Robledillo.
The apple trees had already lost their blossom and this meadow was overgrown. By July it will be baked dry, although the village has a small river running through it and several fountains with good untreated water.
The black dog.
This little black dog was suitably inoffensive in this very peaceful town which has a good offering of well-restored traditional houses for visitors who come to enjoy the peace.
The former main road into Robledilla.
And finally,
Just as I am recovering from my worst cold for many years I thought I would take a photo of these two lovely children holding hands when one of them sneezed. Very politely she sneezed onto the pavement, evidence of the village’s aristocratic past.
One of the fountains in Calzadilla, a spectacular drinking font used by both people and animals.
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.
Hostal los Rodriguez. They wash pilgrims clothes free of charge. Very welcoming.
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.
Calzadilla de los Barros
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Calzadilla de los Barros, Badajoz, Spain (Directions)
Calzadilla de los Barros38.300457, -6.317465Calzadilla de los Barros, Badajoz, Spain (Directions)
Antonio Galván Porras, Mayor fo Calzadilla de los Barros.
The Mayor of Calzadilla de los Barros and Senator of the Kingdom of Spain, Señor Antonio Galván Porras
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.
There are plaques like this all over Calzadilla inaugurating parks, plazas, works of restoration and other municipal initiatives.
A village with beautiful palm trees.
The plaque above commemorates the opening of this park, one of several with fine palm trees.
The Ayuntamiento is in the Plaza Mayor and has two very tall palms right outside, like guards of honour.
Ayuntamiento de Calzadilla de los Barros.
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.
Protests platered on the wall of the local PSOE headquarters.
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 archways in the Plaza Mayor, Calzadilla de los Barros.
The Church of the Divine Saviour.
Church of the Divine Saviour, Calzadilla de los Barros.
The Church in Calzadilla is in the same square as the bakers.
The same church.
This church is the most prominent building in Calzadilla and, unusually, the Camino de Santiago misses it out of its route.
San Salvador, Calzadilla de los Barros.
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.
The hermitage of the Incarnation.
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.
Lemons blend with mimosa in a fragrant courtyard at the hemitage, Calzadilla de los Barros.
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.
Not just famous footballers, but many ordinary folk are remembered in the street names.
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
Looking back on Cuevas Bajas from the Camino Mozarabe.
A Library, an albergue and a purple carrot.
Cuevas Bajas is on the Camino Mozarabe to Santiago and so many people will be learning about the purple carrot which comes from here. I expect the Caminos in Andalucia will become popular because they have a good infrastructure of albergues and markers. The village has a fine albergue with air-conditioning, although the night I stayed I used it as heating until there was a power cut.
Cuevas Bajas, Malaga, Spain.
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: 37.234499, -4.487058
Cuevas Bajas
Cuevas Bajas, Spain
It was in the Library, run by a charming local man, Jesus, that I learned about the carrot. As a child he didn’t know other, yellowy orange, indeed carrot-coloured carrots, existed.
I bought one out of curiosity.
Zanahoria Morá
In the end I neither tasted it nor took it with me since I didn’t want to carry extra weight on a very long leg of this Camino. It is, however, impressive and there is an annual carrot festival held on the first Sunday of December.
There are local archaeological sites where there is evidence of a population 40,000 years ago, but the village has a modern enough feel and an elegant statue of a girl in the middle of a fountain.
A girl sits contentedly in a fountain, even in winter.
Rivers are important to Cuevas Bajas not only for taking away the occasionally torrential rain waters but also because they mark the boundaries, established since Roman times between Provinces. The major river is the Rio Genil which I followed down its twisting valley for much of the day.
Rio Genil which wraps itself around Cuevas Bajas (in the distance).
Leaving the village at daybreak, children were on their way to school and the older ones had already left on a 7 am bus for Antequera, the local big City.
Dawn, Cuevea Bajas, Malaga.
Ahead of me was 27km of mountain and olive groves. I was well insulated with gloves, a scarf and five layers of shirts and jerseys which I would soon be pulling off because of the climbs and also because the sun, once it reached mid-morning, was fairly hot.
Main road into Cuevas Bajas.
This is probably not a place many will be passing by, unless on the Camino. Maybe though some may be drawn, on the first Sunday of December, to make the journey and find the fiesta of the purple carrot.
Azofra, La Rioja – 900 years of welcoming pilgrims.
Entering Azofra on the Camino de Santiago.
Azofra – wines and cereals
Azofra had suffered a decline in populations over recent years but not as drastic as in many parts of Spain. La Rioja is an important producer of grapes for the famous Rioja wines and cereals which put bread on the tables throughout Northern Spain.
A farmer at grape harvest, Azofra
The Camino de Santiago.
Azofra was one of the first “towns” in La Rioja, accredited with the title “Villa” in 1168 AD., the year in which it opened a “Hospital” for pilgrims. A “Hospital” was to offer hospitality and today they have a Pilgrims’ Hostal with 100 beds which are in great demand throughout the year, but especially in summer.
Tha ancient, original place of welcome for pilgrims.
The impressive church, dedicated to Our Lady of the Angels is more recent, having been built in the 17th and 18th centuries. It has some impressive bells.
The bells of Nueatra Señora de los Angeles, Azofra
The village has some good bars which fill up with pilgrims in the afternoon and early evening and two shops which are open all day. This is unusual in Spain where the shops usually shut at 2pm for a lengthy siesta.
The Town Hall. The bars and shops are near this central square.
1360 AD The burning of the priest.
In 1360 AD, by order of King Pedro the cruel, a priest who had prophesied that the King would die at the hands of his brother, Henry. On hearing this Santo Domingo de la Calzada told the priest to go and forewarn the king, which he did, only to be burned alive for his effort. The older people of the village still remember the responsorial verse which they say at mass for this clergyman, remembered every year in the village.
The Pillar, just outside the village, at which the priest may well have been burned.
A walk around the village centre reveals some other older houses and one has a fine coat of arms on it. I suspect, however, that this is much more recent than the house.
A crest in the village on the wall of one of the older houses.
Azofra, a village in a beautiful setting.
Set among the vineyards on a small hill, Azofra has some wonderful views over the Riojan planes to the mountains which separate it from the Basque country.
The undulating lands of Azofra with the mountains of the Basque country in the distance.
An Azofran sunrise.
Dawn on an October morning.
A notice taped onto the walls in the central streets, signed by the Rector of the harvest gave strict instructions on which day the different varieties of grapes were to be collected. This dawn saw the beginning of the day on which the white grapes were to be picked.
This village in Zamora, on the border with Portugal, still has a renowned production of ceramica. It is typical of the villages in this area in that there are many fincas, or fields, dotted right in between the houses which give an expansive sensation of space and sky.
Everywhere, even in the village centre, there are fields.
Gardens are used to grow vegetables and fruit. No space is wasted, especially now that each house has a water supply. Every village in Spain has drinkable water and mains sewage.
In his garden, a man uses long sticks of a black poplar tree to support his beans.
Until Spain entered the European Community it was common in most villages to share a common water supply, usually a spring or a well.
disused spring in Moveros
The Church is the centre of village life. We came across a group of women preparing the Church for the annual visit by the Bishop of Zamora. The were cleaning everything and arranging gladioli and other flowers for the altar.
Women arranging flowers for the Mass and the Bishop’s visit.
Houses of Granite.
The town is built on granite and the houses have thick walls of granite blocks which keep them cool in summer. The summer months are hot and the winters cold with frosts mainly in January through to April.
Granite walls everywhere.
Apples, pears and plums.
In July the trees are bearing ripening fruit. Here apples and pears abound and many trees are bowing low with plums. Often local people will offer visitors fruit as a gift and the hedgerows, too, are dotted with bushes and trees from which fruit can be eaten in passing.
This couple were picking huge green plums which they insisted we try.
Ceramica
The two remaining pottery ovens are still worked by women who turn the clay manually. The men fire up the ovens and collect the wood. Until recently this local skill was the livelihood for the villagers, but the skills have died out, and the demand for ceramic goods had fallen with mass-production.
One of the remaining pottery outlets in Moveros.
That’s about it about Moveros.
It looks as if this blog will be more about a few photos than about much real news, but you never know.
The Raft of Corks offers some reflections and photos on an unplanned selection Spanish villages. I hope this will give a flavour of the beautiful diversity of lifestyles to be found in the regions of Spain away from the tourist routes.
Simplicity and plenty of time.
Most young people have moved from the villages to the city where work is easier to find. However in the past few years many have returned to live with their parents, especially as the economic crisis has taken hold and the abundant construction work has disappeared.
The village population is usually elderly with few families and young children. Many of the villagers continue working for as long as they are able, sometimes into their nineties and many villages boast of neighbours who are over 100 years old.
Miguel, who hosts pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago in his village, Alatoz, Albacete.
Life is traditional and simple based on agriculture and basic farming. The pace of life is unrushed with plenty of time for conversation and patience. People are usually delighted to tell you about their lives and their families, show you their gardens and ask you many personal questions because, above all, the Spanish want to know everything about a visitor. They are open and friendly people who accept everyone. Even if you don’t speak Spanish they will talk to you at length and try to make sense of what you are trying to say.
Click on the names in the archive list on the left. There will be a map to show you where the village is.
