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An absent of footballers

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  Yes, there are some ancient Roman remains near the road but no details about what they are and so it is a ‘What do we know about La Mancha’ day. In terms of land, Castilla-La Mancha is the third biggest regions of Spain, accounting for 15.7% of the entire land. It is 9th in the case of population, with a little over 2 million inhabitants but on 16th in terms of the Human Development Index. Currently the Cortes of La Mancha is held by the PSOE - who have 17 seats, against the PP’s 12 and Vox’s 4. Albacete return 6 seats; Ciudad Real, 8; Cuenca, 5; Guadalajara, 5; and Toledo, 9.   Pablo Bellido is el presidente. He was born in April 1976 and was Mayor of Azuqueca de Henares from 2007 to 2015. Like many rural areas, the region grew in population till the 1950s. It fell, especially in the 60s and only began to stabilise in the late 1980s. Albacete is the greatest of its cities, Guadalajara second and Toledo third. Only 12 of the cities are above 30,000 people in number. Castilla...
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Diabetes, death and talking dogs

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  We are starting along the N-420 in the mist of November 2024. It will pass and we be in the summer sun of the same year soon.  The N-420 begins 36km east of Cordoba and runs 803km to Tarragona.  It is another Five Things sort of a day, but in honour of Cervantes I will take my inspiration from his life, albeit in a barely related sort of way. Cervantes was born in 1547.  That was the year of the Expedition to Mostaganem [me neither]. Count Martín Alonso Fernández de Córdoba Montemayor y Velasco , Viceroy of Navarra and Governor of Oran set out to take Mostaganem [NW Algerian coast]. Having fired 100 cannon shot at the place and learnt only 42 Ottoman troops were in the place he ordered a breach in the walls be assailed.  While successful at first, the defenders rallied and threw back the Spaniards. A relief force arrived and the Spanish withdrew. Cervantes died in Madrid in 1616. It only became the capital of Spain in 1561, its central position being its main ...
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Filtering out the feeders

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  It is a sparse day and so we will suck the marrow out of what is on offer. Straight away we are into the Restaurante de Marcos. This sits between the N-420 and the Rio del Pueblo, which is a bit of a dull name for a brook.   The Restaurante has but a 3.9 star gaff, which seems a bit on the low side.  The sunday menu is 20 euros.  Well, it was in October 2025 when the last post was made.   Two weeks ago Paco was impressed.  It was a great choice! 👍 I called that same morning from Albacete on May 1st (a holiday) as I was going to Cardeña. I asked for a table for 13 people and the service was excellent, even though there were only three of them to serve everyone in the restaurant: the owner, his wife in the kitchen, and the waitress.  The food was very good, as was the price. I highly recommend this place before the owner retires! 😉  A month ago Estefania was less happy.  ‘Disgusting comments as soon as I walked in the door. I wouldn't ...
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Hot springs and dangerous vapours

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  It is a day to rise up 134m [and fall nine of those very same metric units.]  Even though we as in La Mancha it is not the sort of terrain for Don Quixote reflections so let us head up the valley and gaze at Fuencaliente. Ok, confession.  We are not actually going into the town as the road now by-passes the place. It has a little over 1000 people living here in the middle of somewhere and the edge of somewhere else. The thermal springs, hence the name, have attracted people since when there were people but it was those of the Copper Age who left cave paintings.  It is thought the modern town goes back to the 13th century. During the period of Castilian expansion the Priory of Fuencaliente was founded [1369] and became a pilgrimage site. Recent History has been variable for the populace. In 1842 2444 people lived here, it sank too 1704 [in 1860], they slowly increased to 3600 in the 1940s and 50s, plummeted to 2100 in 170 and has continued to decline ever since....
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Sucking pigs and struggling knights

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  We are going for an urban wander before we go north.  The A-3200 clearly becomes the market place and we are heading for the bar at the heart of the thriving centre of commerce. Bar Hermanos Ruiz impressed Rosa ten months ago, with four stars and this…’We visited Azuel last weekend and had lunch and breakfast at this establishment. It's a village bar, and I mean that as a compliment, because of how welcoming our stay was and how delicious the food was. Suckling pig, croquettes, flamenquín (breaded and fried pork roll), and cured pork loin. I especially want to highlight Daniela's friendliness and service. If you're in the area, I highly recommend it. ‘  A week ago Carmen went the full five ‘We arrived for lunch late, and although they close at 3 pm on weekdays, the service was excellent. There wasn't much variety in the beds, but the food was quite good. Good coffee. ‘ Out of town and along the N-420 we cross the border. Goodbye Andalucía and hell Castilla- La Mancha!...
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Not much to say but a decent amount to look at.

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  Well, a quick 180o turn as we missed the track across the rolling hillsides of Andalucia. We have nice trees to look at but most of the fun is backloaded into the end of the day. Towards the end of the day we are near Castillo del Guijarro.  Acisclo gives us the account.  ‘Guijarro Castle is located on the El Castillo estate, southwest of the town of Azuel, part of the municipality of Cardeña, province of Córdoba.  This castle is of Moorish origin.  There are remains of a double tower. Among the remains of the fortification is the current chapel of the Virgin of Romero. The Treasure of Azuel was found at this site. Under the protection of the Generic Declaration of the Decree of April 22, 1949, and Law 16/1985 on Spanish Historical Heritage. ‘ Next is the white painted pueblo of Azuel.  So isolated are we that it only has a wiki page in Spanish and then, barely.  We might as well have it all: ‘ It is located in the region known as Valle de los Pedroc...
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