Stop for a moment, traveler.’

 When Google plonking this from a great height I thought, rough terrain. Won’t be much we will personally stride out towards tomorrow.  How wrong I was, especially as this is a narrow pass on the east-west mule track.




We aren’t even going to bother with Cobatillas as we skimper past it.





The first suburb to Aliaga is a very compact, modern houses laid out on a tight grid. 






We are moving up the narrow road and not going to the El castillo de Aliaga o de la Encomienda but we are going to reference it because it is fab.  Built in 1118 by Alfonso I of Aragon, it fell to the Amoravids in 1134. Alfonso II took it back and gave it to the Knights of St John. It had its moment, again, during the Carlist Wars. The rebels fortified the place in 1840 and it was besieged by the forces of Isabella II.  Badly damaged, it was abandoned until the 1970s, when some consolidation work took place.



Aliaga has been occupied since Celtiberian times.  In the 19th century it was the home of around 1000 people, who grew wheat, rye and oats and produced coarse woolen cloth and line. It had a moment during the Civil War, when the Republicans used it as their HQ during the Teurel campaign.


The usual decline, to the current 344 inhabitants, was interrupted by the arrival of a power plant, pushing numbers up to 2000 in the 1950s and 60s. The rising price of transporting coal closed it down and ended the respite.


The current Mayor is Alberto Vicente Valero Martin. He represents the Aragonese Party, a centrist local group. They hold four seats on the council, to the PSOE’s 3.



Into the supermarket Mi Alcampo. It opens 9.30-1.30 and then 5-8Monday to Friday.  They knock off at 2pm on Saturday.  Fernando wrote, two weeks ago ‘Yes... Alcampo in Aliaga, on the "chopo cabecero" route. Being a franchise, it's closed Saturday afternoons. Everything is fresh and top quality, locally sourced products. It's worth stopping by... you won't find the things they sell there anywhere else. Stop for a moment, traveler.’





The town hall has some great photos on its website.  http://www.aytoaliaga.com/en/home/ Jose is here for us.  The Aliaga Town Hall is a beautiful building, located in the town's main square, next to the A-2403 road that runs through the town. The Aliaga Town Hall is notable for preserving the charm of its old market hall while adapting to the current needs of the municipality. It is a two-story building with a ground floor featuring a market hall with seven arches, a reminder of the town's commercial and civic traditions. The upper floors are distinguished by the wrought-iron balcony and the façade topped with a wooden eave, elements that lend character and a stately air to the building.  This old town hall now coexists with more modern municipal offices, built at the rear of the old building to gain space and improve comfort. A visit to the beautiful town of Aliaga and its rich natural surroundings is highly recommended.’






Out of town we go and to the end of the day.























Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A different rooster would crow

Image
  We are pottering along at 91m but will be a mere two by the day’s end.   We are heading for San Vicente de la Barquera. It is one of those places, on a hostile coast, which provided a safer shelter.  As a consequence it got a castle. The place did the usual having Bronze Age chaps loafing about. The Romans made a small port.  It really got going when Alfonso I sent peoples to populate it in the 8th century. The castle was built, the town followed.  Things really got going in 1210 when Alfonso VIII gave the place a charter.  It got the same privileges as San Sebastian. Castro Urdiales, Santander and Laredo.  Along with Laredo, it has not prospered as much.  Fate was not kind.  From the mid 15th century, fires and plagues did not help.  When Charles I visited the town a bullfight was held in his honour.  He fell it at it and had to spend the night at the Convent of San Luis.  The town has a website.  https://aytosanvicente...
Read more

It's a shame the hooligans and the weather ruined some of the views

Image
  We are heading south and cross the Mu-33 and wandering passed the Hospital Materno-Infantil Virgen de la Arrixaca.  We do not need to visit but who can resist a review?  https://www.murciasalud.es/seccion.php?idsec=347   I am always a bit wary of public institution being reviewed as people feel freer to vent.  It gets 3.4 stars.  About 45% are 5 star and 35% 1 star.  Google gives you four options - so here they are: Most relevant. 10 months ago. Mary -  Oncology department is 100% professional, kind and helpful. Pre anaesthesia clinic...receptionist needs some training in basic manners. The consultant on the other hand was 100% fantastic. Wish I'd made a note of his name to thank him. Newest. Gonzalo. A day ago. Five stars. Highest.  See Mary’s above. Lowest.  Three years ago.  Lorne  ‘Horrendous waiting times for simple things. Stay away from going here if you can!’ Time for  sit. La Taberna de la Tia Maria.  Two w...
Read more

The birth place of the long-sword, short-term.

Image
We are heading to Loja. We will edge around La Esperanza and as there is a Cafe Bar La Esperanza so let us go there first.  This one of those ones where the place gets 3.8 stars, from only fifty reviews. The mode average is 5, notably five. Four comes next, then three.  The four [8%] of one stars are very old.  Seven years ago Franqc reckons the place was dirty.  Five years ago jose complained of the covid risk of a lack of masks.  Two of the three two stars were six years ago.  Let's look at the recent ones. Nothing is more recent than a year. The most recent with comments was two years ago.  El empotrador Justiciero said ‘Good place to eat perfectly cooked roast meat, roast ham too, and especially the skewers were delicious grilled. I will go back.’ We will cross the river and enter Loja, about 21,000 people in the municipality.  Traces of everyone once lived here, even the Romans, although it wasn’t until 1991 that this was proved. It was the M...
Read more