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Behold the land of the cucumber - well almost, more Getafe really

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  We are advancing into Madrid. I have to begin with an apology.  We are not going through Fuenlabrada and Leganes. No Leganes means no Superpepino.  This is near criminal neglect. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pgiSMfiqAQ   Football mascots come and football mascots go but only CD Leganes have a giant cucumber - Superpepino.  The club currently hang round the second division - with visits to the first - and are one of the other Madrid clubs,  The wiki pages coyly says ‘ However the club had to suspend operations in 1936 due to the Spanish civil war’ which is a bit like saying Somme FC gave up football in July 1916 because of some local difficulties.   Superpepino gets his name from the 16th century habit of growing cucumbers in this region for Phillip II. Superpepino was born into a world which desired a mascot in 2018. We are wandering through parks, flats and industrial concerns. Let us pop into Empanadas Y Productos del campo for some cake. https...
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Horses, cars and the odd train

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  We really are approaching those communities which exist in the inner orbits of Madrid - but first a restaurant. Restaurante Real Hipica de Grinon  https://www.restaurantehipica.com/ is LGBTQ friendly and is a 10am to midnight place, 1.30am on Saturday and Sunday mornings.  Nerea was happy a week ago. ‘ Yesterday we celebrated our son's christening here, and we couldn't have chosen a better place. The service was impeccable, and the food even better. It's a long-established venue for celebrations, where they provide attentive and thoughtful service. They make you feel that everything is under control, allowing you to fully enjoy yourself with your guests. Our guests were delighted and had nothing but praise for us. The children also thoroughly enjoyed the food and visiting the horses. Thank you so much for everything, and we will definitely be back! ‘ Out into the countryside and the Amigos del Caballo de Grinon. This riding school gets 4.9 stars and Rober gave them fi...
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Entering into the beating heart of Castile

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  Today is a day for bypassing the commuter communities of very outer Madrid.  For example, we won’t be going to Carranque. People have been by passing Carranque since the Romans were here, building a villa which is now an archaeological park. Samuel Lopez Iglesias, described by English wiki as a peasant, discovered mosaics in 1983. The population was about 1500 in 1857 and gently declined until, in 1970, the number of inhabitants halved.  Then… cars.  Today 5500 people dwell here. We are passing a pt shop. Ok, lets nip in.  Avicola Grau  https://www.avicolagrau.com/ Noemi thought, a month ago, ‘ Excellent service, friendly staff, and helpful with any questions. We'll be back. Thank you so much for everything.     We are going across county and then join the M-415 because we have left La Mancha and have entered the marches of the city state that is Madrid.  We will pass La esquina de los sabores - a 4.5 star sort of a bar.  Mar Arz...
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The one about the Jewish doctor, the tiny peer and the virgin

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  Cedillo del Condado is ahead of us -and why not. People debate its name.  Is Cedillo a thing that means ‘little lord.’ Is it named after an important Jewish physician at the court of Alfonso VI? Probably the first. The |Spanish wiki page is fulsome in its historical account.  Basically, the usual stuff happened. https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cedillo_del_Condado It is another of those places which bumbled along at just over 1000 people, with a slight dip in the late Twentieth century then a huge rise after 2001. Today 4525 people call it home and the PSOE hold sway. Luis Andres Martin Carrasco has been mayor since 2007; first as part of the UCIT, then Citizens and now the first PSOE mayor since 1983. https://www.cedillodelcondado.es/alcaldia   That is full PSOE, not Independent PSOE - which does make you wonder what goes on. Tomorrow is the Feast of the Virgin of the Nativity. It is fiesta time! She is the patron of the pueblo and the school is named after her but,...
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