Mostly gin and tonic

 We are heading for Sarrion.  It is a positive metropole of a place with over 1100 people living here.  In 1930 it had 2500.  In 2001 1000.  I assume the motorway has helped make this more of a commuting settlement.  It has all the standard Roman bits and El Cid passing through.  The Carlists blew up six of the seven town gates and our favourite 1845 study mentions wheat, barley oats and several linen looms.



The Civil War made a big impact with not just one, but two battles.   In the first battle of Sarrión  took place in June 1938—, the Army Corps of Castile faced the Special Tactical Unit of the Army of Levante under the command of General Jiménez. The"Muela de Sarrión" was  and important strategic goal for the Fasc and they occupied it on 23rd June and built defensive positions. The subsequent fighting saw around 5,000 casualties. The "Barranco de la Hoz" remained as a dividing line between both armies. Counter attacks by the Republicans in late June failed to recover the position.



The Second Battle of Sarrión took place in September 1938, when the Republican Army launched an offensive against the Fasc 85th Division to relieve the pressure on the Ebro front . On 18th September 18, after an initial artillery bombardment, the Republican infantry attacked towards the Muela de Sarrión.. After suffering heavy casualties, the attackers were forced to retreat and, although the Republican attacks continued the next day, they also failed to take their objective.



The town has an interpretation centre https://www.sarrion.es/turismo/ located in the old water tank. Guided tours of the town - if you can rustle up five people - leave the Tourist information centre at 10.30 on Sundays and include a visit to the Civil War centre. There are also some preserved trench lines.



We are ending the day near the Bar Arabogue. It is, Google tells us, woman owned and gets 4.6 stars.  Of the 126 reviews the key words seem to be ‘gin and tonic’ [7], environment [6], Cup with stem [3] and letter[3]. The most wordy review came from Vanesa two months ago.  ‘Clean, pleasant, quick service and very friendly. Quality in service and products. Good music.  You can't miss trying their mojitos or their flavored gin and tonics. I will definitely return when I go to Sarrion.’

















Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Much a do about something

Image
  In North Lincolnshire there is an OS square which is all but empty,  In a single corner stretches a few metres of power cables to spoil the virgin whiteness.  Today’s walk is not so blessed with flat calm.  We will see trees.  We will see ups.  Views are compulsory.  Houses aren’t.  Let's talk about Asturias in the years from 718 to 757. In 711 the full force of the Islamic tide swept from North Africa into Visigothic Spain. At the Battle of Guadalete King Roderic and much of the nobility were killed and the Iberian Peninsula collapsed before the all conquering crescent.  The thing is, Asturias is a long way from the main body of Spain. It is a bit wet and more to the point lacking the plunder which was the way of paying the Army of the Conquest.  The Caliphate’s hold on Asturias was tenuous to say the least.  Enter  Pelagius. Pelagius has many myths swirling around him and a very butch Victorian statue in Gijon.  Accord...
Read more

In which a Roman Bridge and a Funeral Parlour are reviewed.

Image
  We are rising again. We are rising 20 of your earth metres today. We will be 818m above the level sea. We are about at the highest point in the Cheviot Hills. We cross the Rio Porma and into Villarente and Puente Villarente. Both these twin settlements, lurking along the roadside, have generally grown in size since 2000.   https://www.turismocastillayleon.com/en/art-culture-heritage/great-routes/way-saint-james/puente-villarente First we must cross the Roman Bridge. Coyotuco is back with a five star review: A beautiful BRIDGE with a lot of history but it is not PEDESTRIAN. For pedestrians they have made a PEDESTRIAN WALKWAY right next to it. We are passing by the Artesanias Luyma so let us gaze at their ceramic goodness. Let us wonder  https://www.artesaniasluyma.com/categorias/pereruela/ While we are here and we are passing the Tanatorio Camino de Santiago let us visit this 39 reviewed funeral home. It gets an average of 4.9 stars.  https://www.antamontalvo.es/esq...
Read more

Mini Pieces of Supposed tuna

Image
  Pina de Ebro has something for everyone who enjoys the architecture of Spanish pueblos.  It has the tiny lanes, on which houses have been rebuilt for generations without a care for the needs of the modern motorist.  We have the pathways which have been tiled over but once were dirt tracks.  We have the modern suburban developments of low rise houses and 80s hopefully aspiring shacks.  First all, however, we have a park. One thing we noticed, especially with a small boy in tow, was the number of parks with interesting play equipment.  This is because, in Spain, people seem to like children.  This does make them a semi-public property and people feel free to indulge them with sweetmeats and pass comments. ‘I think sucking thumbs makes children look ugly’ said one elderly woman.’ My Spanish for ‘well desiccated prune face, no one asked you’ deserted me.  The play equipment is in the Plaza Pilarin Artigas.  Honestly I’ve looked and was giving u...
Read more