The Road from Santiago

We are off on the road to Medina Sidonia. If you have any decency about you you will be thinking of the Duke.  We’ll do him tomorrow. Today we are heading for a hill top village. I expect, if you were that near to a somewhat tetchy coast you would wish to be on a hill top as well. Currently 11.838 people live here.  The Romans had been here since the 3rd century BC and around the 1st AD they rebuilt the urban centre. The Visigoths made it a provincial capital and built a cathedral. The Moors continued the whole capital bit and the Normans sacked it. I have been trying to find out about this Norman thing. I have not been successful - however I now know about the Norman involvement in Crusading activity in Catalonia in 1064. The Dukes of Medina Sidonia got the place in 1440. Population wise 10,000-12,000 seems to be where the place is comfortable. The 10,534 of 1 842 rose to around 12000 in the 1850s, dipped a little till the 1920s, dipped again then rose to almost 17000 in 1960...

  Today we are by passing things.  We are bypassing San Jose de Malcocinado. We are by-passing Los Badalejos. We are also by-passing streetview and going cross country. But first, the Venta El Negro. This looks like so many roadside eateries and, with 4.2 stars, it sits in that zone. A month ago Fran was not happy.  They wrote ‘There needs to be more variety, and there was only one menu available at my table and one other table at 2:30 pm.’  At the same time juan was very happy. ‘I've only gone for breakfast and they serve you everything: lard, pork rinds, pâté and more’ San Jose de Malcocinado is a new town. During the Second Republic 40 settlers arrived to work the communal lands. It was subsequently known as ‘La Yeguada’ - the Stud Farm - because the military stabled mares here.  Alas we are late. The patronal feast was on 15th May, in honour of San Isidro Labrador, who has a chapel here. On to Los Badalejos.  Here is a 4.8 starred bakery - Panaderia pas...

  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...