The Road from Santiago

  We have a town. A town on a hill.  A place with winding streets and narrow bits. It is called Benalup-Casas Viejas. Let us find out about it. 7236 people live in Benalup-Casas Viejas - well, they did on 1st January 2025 - I think it was jolly decent of someone to get around and about and count everyone that day.  There are a large amount of megaliths and rock art but the town website and wiki pages make light of this.  Mostly they move on to the tragic events of 1933. The events at Casas Viejas were an episode in the long history of conflict between absentee landlords - and their unholy trinity, the land agent, the priest and the corporal of the Guardia Civil - and the landless labourers in a place where employment was scarce.  On 11th January 1933 a group of Anarchists deposed the mayor and attempted to seize the Guardia barracks.  The Republican authorities sent Guardia and Assaultos sent in, people were killed and Captain Rojas opted for a little extra...

  We are passing another reservoir today - the Embalse del Celemin. There are slim pickings on today's walk.  Apparently  the Conjunto dolménico de El Celemín are nearby. It gets 3.3 stars, from six people. Four months ago Azrael summed it up thusly ‘The dolmens are supposedly in the sand you can see, but they're not there… What's worthwhile is the lake, which smells like rusty metal. The forest is nice for family walks and/or bike rides… It's not well signposted.’ ATCAT is a little more generous, but only a little. ‘The location on Google Maps is incorrect; they are indicated on the path leading to the wooden bridge inside the fence. It is true that they are almost invisible, firstly because of the weeds that have grown and are not cleared, and secondly because they are at ground level and look like a simple stone. Next we get to Wakana.   https://wakana.es/   At the time of writing it is temporarily closed.  Four months ago Lourdes was very one star. ‘I w...

  It is another day where we will wander through the countryside and, other than a place to eat, we will have little to review. I thought about looking up some rabbit hole - Spaniards who have played international cricket [ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain_national_cricket_team ] or Spanish relationships with San Marino [ https://bilateralnavigator.com/SanMarino-Spain ] but I think we will keep them for another day. Time to get reflective. So, this all began in August 2023 with the radical idea of going somewhere by walking from your front door. The facts we have now got over 900 posts - this one was written in March 26, shows my inability to let go of a project when started and a need to plan ahead. The first one was mildly disappointing in that we hardly got beyond the village. The thing with all of this is, like most things, you remember the first and the most recent of any series but struggle to pinpoint the intermediate. I think it is the obscure discoveries that I have r...

  Another day of cracked roads and beautiful greenery and the thought of a little bar somewhere in the future. What rabbit hole can we go down.  How about invasive species. I know, you are saying, what about Homo Sapiens? Wouldn’t the Neanderthals have a thing to say about that? Maybe, but they haven’t got some copy to fill so, sod ‘em. There are 26 recognised invasive species. Let us do five of them. The Hottentot fig.  This is a coastal warrior, found on the Med, Atlantic, Balearic and Canary coasts. They come from the coasts of South Africa and the black rat has been blamed for helping them spread through its feces - which feed this creeping mat forming succulent.  The fruit is edible, but, as its other name is the sour fig its jam is a little tart.  The Silver Wattle. Northern Spain is the new home of the Silver Wattle, with occasional visits to the Med. It is endemic to south-eastern Australia and grows to about 30m high. It is not beloved in South Africa’s...