The Road from Santiago

  We need a term for it.  Glitch? No, because that suggests something is wrong. Easter Egg? Perhaps it has the gift quality but I don’t know if it is been out there on purpose.  Candlemas Buns? Well, they are unexpected treats and illuminate the darkness.  So, we have a Candlemas Bun at the start of today. Hidden among all the views of August 2022 is a vision of June 2008. Stand in the centre of the crossroads and see the before and after of it all. Canet de Berenguer is one of those villages, set a little away from the sea, which was a walled settlement, housing a company of the knights who guarded the coast from diverse raiders.  By 1797 100 people lived and cultivated silk, olives, carob beans, grapes, wheat and barley.  It got a lighthouse in 1904.  The place grew massively after 1970, as cars and tourists flocked to the place, turning a population of a little over 1000 to almost 8000. Canet is one of those places which has a gap between the old to...

  It is another day of wandering around the coastal strip. We are approaching Corinto. It is a suburb without the row of shops that got included in British builds of the 50s and 60s.   The villas are variable from two bedroomed casitas, to much grander affairs.  This a collection of holiday homes, lets and distant suburbs.  The beach is a bit gritty. It has occasional play equipment and Vlaic thinks ‘Pleasant in any season either to swim or walk and enjoy the sea, not a sandy beach but the pebbles are a marvel in themselves if you take a moment to admire their forms and smoothness you will be enchanted by how wonderful the mother nature is and what something as smooth and soft as water can do to a material as strong and hard as the rock are.’ The place has a wellness centre.  Yoga y Terapia Personal. https://tomasribes.es/ was highly rated by Pila two days ago.  ‘Participating in the "Be Happy" workshop was a transformative experience. During those days, I...

Casablanca Beach is what we are walking alongside today.  It is 2.6km long and has a website.  https://www.comunitatvalenciana.com/en/castello-castellon/almenara/beaches/casablanca-beach   I mention this because today we will be running along the back of somewhere with a great name but is really only a place that exists to be near a salty water experience. Inland is well watered and we will cross several canalised rivers.  Near one is a bird watching observatory which gets a 4,7,  Writercas said ‘Careful and organized... One of the few places that is worth it is this area that I have visited.   As we run along the back of the development we will pass the Camping site.  Two months ago Teresa said ‘Private campsite. Very organized and clean.’  I have to say, when two people gave one star reviews they really went for it.  Lourdes wrote ‘A place where I left full of mosquito bites, there are mice and decorated rats  It's not just any campsit...

  We are going to Xilxes, which exists to confuse English speakers and confound Scrabble players.  Xilxes is old, but you feel it shouldn’t, as it appears to be all samey apartments by the sea.   This is one of those twins that were about 3-4km from the beach that then developed a maritime suburb when the hand full of fishermen were pushed out by tourists and retirees. Oh, what the Hell, lets mention inland Chilches.  It was on a Roman road and a bronze statuette of Mercury was found nearby. At some point after 711 my unreferenced source says it has 4 farmsteads.  Rebellious folk burnt in 1265 and the Barbary pirates did for it in 1583.Today it has about 3000 inhabitants. We start the day by the Camping Los Naranjos campsite.  Two months ago Ken wrote ‘Came as the site was having a new swimming pool built (due to open summer) so it's difficult to judge it with contractors working on site. What I can say is that the staff were very friendly, toilet and showe...

We are entering Moncofar. It is one of those places that has and inland existence, a coastal existence, and today they are joining together. The evidence is vague so a lot of statements of its history are of the ‘well this happened in this region so count us in.’  A wall was erected in the 1330s to defend against bandits and piracy.   In 1423 things changed.  Bernardo de Centelles and his son Francisco Gilabert de Centelles arrived by ship, from Marseilles, bearing an image of Mary Magalena. Things got miraculous, a hermitage was formed and the saint is celebrated on 23rd July - when the image is taken on a walk to the sea. The economy was transformed when orange cultivation began in the region.   The beach has witnessed several tragedies.  5600 Moriscos were exiled from it. After the Civil War the Fasc set up a concentration camp, which  held about 3500 people.  A mass grave exists but is yet to be excavated.   The Twentieth centur...