Tag Archives: Spain

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8 April 2014: Porto Mahon, Menorca

April 8, 2014 Corey Sandler

By Corey Sandler, Silversea Destination Consultant

For geographers and travelers, here’s one of those relatively unusual cases where a place name has some logic:

Grand Canyon I get.

Long Island I get.

Nova Scotia is New Scotland. Understood.

Puntarenas means Sandy Point—Gotcha.

Los Angeles: I sorta understand the concept.

In the Balearic Islands we have Mallorca—the major island. Good name.

And so we also have Menorca, from the Latin phrase Insula Minor, the minor island. Menorca is smaller than Mallorca.

So far so good, except that Menorca is not the smallest of the Balearic islands. Ibiza is in second place, ahead of Menorca. But Menorca lies near Mallorca, and therefore it is the minor of the two islands.

As Holy Week approaches, cathedrals and churches throughout Menorca were bringing out icons to be paraded through the streets and in a circuit of the island, Photos by Corey Sandler

Porto Mahon’s name is believed to come from the Carthaginian general Mago Barca, brother to Hannibal, thought to have taken refuge here in 205 BC.

Menorca is known for its megalithic stone monuments: navetes, taulas, and talaiots, which speak of a very early prehistoric human activity.

They were built by what is known as the Talayotic culture between about 1800 and 1000 BC. There are at least 274 talaiots, or talayots in or near the sites of ancient settlements.

A naveta is a chamber tomb unique to Menorca. It has two vertical and two corbelled walls giving it the form of an upturned boat, the source of its name. While some certainly had a defensive purpose, others may have served as lookout or signaling towers.

And then there are the taulas, which are usually found nearby. A taula (the word means ‘table’ in Catalan) is a T-shaped stone monument. Taulas can be as much as 3.7 meters or 12 feet in height. They consist of a vertical pillar (a monolith or several smaller stones on top of each other) with a horizontal stone lying on it. A U-shaped wall often encloses the structure.

Similar but not necessarily related are the “nuraghes” of Sardinia, the “torre” of Corsica, and the “sesi” of Pantelleria, an island off Sicily.

It is, though, believed there was a connection—or at least an influence—on Menorca from other Mediterranean cultures, including the Minoans of ancient Crete. Some of the same features found at Knossos on Crete are seen on Menorca.

The Carmelite Church, from about 1770, is still in use. Alongside it, the former cloister has been converted into the municipal market. Photos by Corey Sandler

The two official languages are Catalan (including a dialect called Menorqui), and Spanish. Without getting too deep into the weeds here, Menorqui has some unusual components that are closer to Sardinian than Spanish or Italian.

Many civilizations have been through the Balearic Islands. Some left bad tastes, some good ones.

Lingering British influence is seen in the Menorcan taste for gin. At most of the many festes held on the island, gin is mixed with bitter lemon to make a drink known as a Pomada. Actually, it usually does not require a festival for a bit of Pomada.

And here is more important news for gourmands: it appears that a celebrated recipe was brought back to France from Mahon, Menorca, after Louis-François-Armand du Plessis de Richelieu’s victory over the British at the city’s port in 1756.

The sauce was originally known as “salsa mahonesa” in Spanish and “maonesa” in Catalan (as it is still known in Menorca), later becoming mayonnaise as it was popularized by the French.

Did anyone happen to pack a tin of tuna in their suitcase?

Sausages at the Mercat, and an oasis of a courtyard in the heart of Mahon. Photos by Corey Sandler

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Now available, the revised Second Edition of “Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession” by Corey Sandler, for the Amazon Kindle. You can read the book on a Kindle device, or in a Kindle App on your computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

Here’s where to order a copy for immediate delivery:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IA9QTBM

Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession: The Tragic Legacy of the New World’s Least Understood Explorer (Kindle Edition)

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7 April 2014: Palma de Mallorca

April 7, 2014 Corey Sandler

By Corey Sandler, Silversea Destination Consultant

Mallorca is Spain’s largest island possession, and its second-most populated island (after Tenerife in the Canary Islands.) Palma is the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands.

On the streets of Mallorca. Photos by Corey Sandler

Spain was officially non-belligerent during World War II; in reality General Francisco Franco leaned heavily toward the Axis powers. In any case, Mallorca was a backwater through the war.

Since the 1950s, tourism has transformed the island.

In 1960, Majorca received 500,000 visitors; today about 10 million tourists come to Majorca or the other Balearic islands each per year. Most come by air, but about 1.5 million come in by cruise ship or ferry.

The Cathedral of Santa Maria of Palma, more commonly referred to as La Seu, is a Gothic Roman Catholic cathedral built on the site of a pre-existing Islamic mosque…atop the former citadel of the Roman city.

Palma below and above ground. Photos by Corey Sandler

Just to boot, it overlooks the Mediterranean sea. You can’t miss the Cathedral; it dominates the waterfront.

The Cathedral of Palma de Mallorca. Photos by Corey Sandler

Begun by King James I of Aragon in 1229, it was not finished until 1601. It was designed in the Catalan Gothic style with Northern European influences.

In 1901, fifty years after a restoration of the Cathedral had started, the great Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí was invited to take over the project.

While some of Gaudí’s ideas were adopted, he abandoned his work in 1914 after an argument with the contractor. The planned changes were essentially cosmetic rather than structural, and the project was cancelled soon after.

Es una lástima. That’s a shame.

Not by Gaudi. but the Catalan’s influence is everywhere in Mallorca. Photo by Corey Sandler

Sóller is one of the most beautiful towns on the island, thick with palatial homes built in the 19th and early 20th centuries by the owners of agricultural estates and the merchants who thrived on the export of oranges, lemons, and almonds.

Some of the buildings were designed by associates and students of Antoni Gaudí.

The focus of the town is the Plaça Constitució which is surrounded by cafés and has plane trees and a fountain in its centre.

You can drive to Sóller from Palma by car, taxi, or bus, passing through the hills and a long tunnel.

But my favorite way to get across the island is a ride on the historic railway, the Ferrocarril de Sóller. The Ferrocaril was completed in 1911 with profits from the orange and lemon trade.

The narrow-gauge train is an attraction of its own, passing through some beautiful countryside and towns, through a dozen or so tunnels and several significant bridges including a spectacular viaduct in the mountains.

Street artists hanging around and ready to pose (for a tip). Photos by Corey Sandler

And finally, a bit of Chopin.

The great Polish composer, who spent much of his time in France, also dallied—and composed—for a short while in Mallorca.

In Valldemossa, the Reial Cartuja (Royal Carthusian Monastery) was founded in 1339, but when the monks were expelled in 1835, it was privatized, and the cells became apartments for travelers.

Food for thought. Photos by Corey Sandler

Undoubtedly the most famous lodgers were Frédéric Chopin and his lover, the Baroness Amandine Dupin—better known by her nom de plume, George Sand—who spent three difficult months here in the winter of 1838-39.

Chopin and Sand were not very happy here, for different reasons.

Sand, well, she was just unhappy.

Chopin had to rent a not-very-good local piano. Still he managed to compose the memorable “Raindrop” prelude.

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6 April 2014: Ibiza, Spain

April 6, 2014 Corey Sandler

By Corey Sandler, Silversea Destination Consultant

Silversea Silver Wind is making a grand tour of the Balearics: three of the five major islands. We start with Ibiza, the principal town on the island of the same name.

Approaching Ibiza at sunrise. Photos by Corey Sandler

The Balearic Islands sit offshore of Spain, very attractive in many ways:

Rich and fertile land.[whohit]-6APR2014 IBIZA-[/whohit]

Safe harbors, on the ancient trading routes for long-vanished peoples, as well as for wave upon wave of empire builders including the Carthaginians, the Romans, the Byzantines, the Vikings, the Spanish, and the English.

And then right along the watery highway for incoming Islamic tribes, and then for outgoing Crusaders.

And today, close enough for invading holiday makers to hop on a ferry or a flight from the mainland to the beach.

They party hearty in Ibiza, deep into the night. We arrived on Sunday, the morning after the night before. Photo by Corey Sandler

In the 16th and 17th centuries—under the Habsburg Dynasty—the Spanish Empire was the world’s greatest power. It held dominion over Spain, the Low Countries of Europe, as well as parts of France, Germany, and Italy.

In Northern Africa, Spain held Morocco and the surrounding area. In the New World, Spain held Louisiana. The Viceroyalty of New Spain included Alta California and all of Mexico and Central America. Plus South America from Venezuela to Peru on the western half of the continent and the Falkland Islands on the eastern side.

In the Caribbean it held the significant islands of Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, and Cuba.

Oh, and Florida.

Fortifications of Ibiza. Photo by Corey Sandler

From 1580 to 1640, in dynastic union with Portugal, it included territories in Malta, Africa, India, the Middle East, Ceylon, and Brazil. A bit later on, the Spanish were as far north as Vancouver and the panhandle of Alaska.

To modern Spain, the Balaeric islands today new gold: from tourists.

From the mainland of Spain at Porto Denia to Ibiza, it is about 75 miles or 120km. On some summer weekends the Balearics seem like a suburb of Valencia…mixed in with jet-setters from around the world.

Ibiza is one of the two western “Pityuses” or “Pine Islands”, along with Formentera. The island’s largest cities are Ibiza Town; in Catalan called Vila d’Eivissa, or simply Vila, as well as Santa Eulària des Riu and Sant Antoni de Portmany.

The morning light casts a shadow just outside the city walls. Photo by Corey Sandler

Modern Ibiza is very much a party town for the young. But it does have an ancient past.

In 654 BC, Phoenician settlers founded a port they called Ibossim. The Phoenicians—great traders and travelers—had adopted an Egyptian deity, the god of music and dance Bes. The Romans later adjusted the name to “Ebusus.” Ibiza next came under control of Carthage. By 400 BC, Ibiza was a major trader in the Mediterranean with outposts on the nearby, larger Balearic island of Majorca.

Ibiza produced dye, salt, wool, and the very popular fermented fish sauce known as garum, a very, very distant relative of Worcestershire Sauce.

It also supplied some fierce mercenaries who fought for Carthage. Ibiza became part of the Roman Empire but was far enough away from Rome that it was mostly left alone. But after the fall of the Roman empire—and brief rule by the Vandals and then the Byzantines, the island was conquered by the oncoming Islamic tide.

The view from above, with the walls. Silver Wind was at the dock at lower right. Photos by Corey Sandler

The Moors were on their way to taking Andalusia and much of the Iberian peninsula.

The pushback against the Muslims occurred in many places in many forms. Ibiza, Formentera, and Menorca were invaded by Norwegian king Sigurd I in the spring of 1110 on his crusade to Jerusalem.

Sigurd I was not a minor player: before clearing Ibiza he had conquered Lisbon and returned it to Christian rule.

The island was next conquered by the Roman Catholic King James I of Aragon in 1235.

This was still two-and-a-half centuries before the rise of Spain as a global power in 1492.

Ibiza has been a Spanish possession ever since.

Within the Museum collection of artist Narcissa Puget Viñas in the old city. Born in Ibiza in 1874, he was an important though lesser-known impressionist. Among his favorite subjects the ancient alleys of the old city of Ibiza. Photos by Corey Sandler

As I said, today Ibiza is party central for many Spaniards and Europeans. The Spanish have been trying for years to make the claim that Ibiza is not just beaches, bars, and bikinis.

Not very successfully. Some call the place, “Gomorrah of the Med.”

If you ask someone about the principal attractions of Ibiza, you’re not likely to hear about great museums, cathedrals, and historical sites.

You are much more likely to hear about Paradis, Amnesia, Privilege, DC-10 and other clubs presenting live acts or DJs featuring techno or dance music.

The peak Gomorrah season runs from about June through September, so we’re a bit early.

In the late 1960s and 70s, Ibiza was considered at the forefront of high fashion.

Today, not so much, although shopping is still a major sporting activity.

Looming over the old city are the massive medieval stone walls of Dalt Vila—a UNESCO World Heritage site—and its Gothic cathedral.

Inside the Cathedral of Ibiza. Photo by Corey Sandler

In Sant Antoni de Portmany on the Western coast you can visit a monument called “The Egg.” It was erected in the 1990s in honor of Christopher Columbus.

And thus Ibiza joins the non-exclusive club of places purporting to be his birthplace: Genoa, Corsica, and Sant Antoni among them.

But if he did come here, I’m sure there would be a party in his honor.

Silver Wind at the dock in Ibiza. Photo by Corey Sandler.

ALL TEXT AND PHOTOS COPYRIGHT BY COREY SANDLER AND MAY NOT BE COPIED OR OTHERWISE USED WITHOUT PERMISSION. If you would like to purchase a copy of a photo, please contact the author.

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3 April 2014: Cartagena and Murcia, Spain

April 3, 2014 Corey Sandler

By Corey Sandler, Silversea Destination Consultant

Cartagena is on the Costa Cálida, the Warm Coast of Spain’s Murcia region.

Cartagena is one of Spain’s more historically significant places because of its superb and easily defended naval port.

But Cartagena is less-known than many other coastal cities of Spain. In fact, its distant namesake, Cartagena de Indias, in Colombia, may be much better known.[whohit]-3APR2014 CARTAGENA SPAIN-[/whohit]

Cartagena, Colombia grew as one of the principal Spanish fortresses to hold the treasure taken from South America, the Caribbean, and Asia.

I spent the day about 50 kilometers or 30 miles inland, in the much larger and historically wealthier city of Murcia.

The Fuensanta Monastery is on a hill overlooking the city of Murcia. Photos by Corey Sandler

Fuensanta (Holy Spring or Holy Fountain) today serves mostly as the home of the icon of the Virgin Mary that is the patroness of Murcia. As Holy Week approaches, the icon is moved to the Cathedral of Murcia, where we saw it. Photos by Corey Sandler

The Cathedral of Murcia holds pride of place in this city of 450,000. In the principal chapel, we found the icon from the Monastery, preparing for Holy Week. Photos by Corey Sandler

Near the Cathedral is the Murcia Casino. No slot machines or games of chance: this is an opulent men’s club from the 19th century whose rooms offer a tour around the world. Women have been allowed to join since the 1920s. Photos by Corey Sandler

If you’re looking to join the Casino, you’ll have to pay an initiation fee and a monthly membership but you won’t get into the club with the recommendation of two elder members–and that is the most difficult credential to obtain. Photos by Corey Sandler

Cartagena, Spain has long been a crossroads of civilizations and navies. It has a fine collection of early 20^th century Art Nouveau buildings, intermixed with a spectacular Roman Theatre and remains of Phoenician, Byzantine and Moorish structures.

As far back as the 16^th century Cartagena was one of Spain’s most important naval ports. Today it has a contingent of minesweepers and submarines, and a large naval shipyard. The original settlement was called Mastia. About 227 BC, Hasdrubal the Fair established a town at the great harbor. Hasdrubal used the port as launching point for the conquest of Spain.

Roman general Scipio Africanus conquered it in 209 BC. The Romans, from Julius Caesar to Octavian and beyond used Carthago in their conquest of the Iberian Peninsula. When the first wave of Islamic tribes came to Hispania—the Umayyad invasion—the port was one of the landing places they used, along with Gibraltar.

With the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the city went into decline.

All the usual suspects tried their hand here. The Vandals (409–425), the Visigoths (425–551 and 624–714), and then the Eastern Romans (551–624), who made it the capital of Spania, the Byzantine Empire’s westernmost province.

The Visigoths returned, but they were displaced by the Muslims in 714. Various Caliphates and Taifas held Cartagena from then until 1245.

It was in that year that King Alfonso X of Castile (Alfonso the Wise) conquered Cartagena, re-establishing Christian rule. In 1296 Cartagena was annexed to the Kingdom of Aragon as the Reconquista focused on the remaining Muslim kingdom, Granada, which fell in 1492.

Cartagena entered a period of decay, because Spain’s colonial activities used ports to the west. It did not fully recover until the 18th century. The Spanish began to use Cartagena as the home of their navy. That also made it a target. In September 1643 the French defeated most of the Spain’s fleet here.

Although there are some ruins from the Carthaginian ages, like the remains of the Punic rampart (built in 227 BC with the foundation of the city) and visible at the Muralla Púnica or Punic Wall museum in town, most of its oldest monuments date from the Roman Empire.

The restored Roman theatre of Carthago Nova was built about 1 BC, and was in use for more than four centuries before being abandoned. The remains were rediscovered in 1988 during a construction project, and in 2008 reopened as a museum.

Other Roman remains include a colonnade, the House of Fortune, the decumanus and the Augusteum. Not far from the Roman Theater are the ruins of the Santa María la Vieja Cathedral, built sometime after the Reconquista—the expulsion of the Muslims, which took place here about 1243.

The cathedral had been built over the upper part of the Roman theatre, recyclying some materials. A decorated floor of a Roman house of the 1st century BC was found in the crypt of the Cathedral.

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2 April 2014: Melilla, Spain

April 2, 2014 Corey Sandler

By Corey Sandler, Silversea Destination Consultant

We jump now across the Strait of Gibraltar from the Kingdom of Spain to the Kingdom of Morocco.

From Europe to North Africa.

And there we find not one but two pieces of Spain hanging on—against logic and against protest—to the bottom of Morocco. Ceuta and Melilla are the last vestiges of Spanish Colonial rule in northern Morocco.

The winding alleys of the old city above modern Melilla. At right, Silver Wind can be seen at the dock below. Photos by Corey Sandler

Melilla is on the north coast of Morocco, about twice the size of Gibraltar but still a very small place: about 12 square kilometers or 5 square miles. Ceuta, closer to Casablanca and to Gibraltar on the other side of the strait, is slightly larger. Between them they are home to about 120,000 people.

They have been exclaves of Spain for more than 500 years.

And Madrid insists it will not relinquish control of either.

Gibraltar and Spain’s Ceuta and Melilla are not exactly mirrors of each other, but they are in some ways similar.

Centuries of colonial rule has resulted in communities that are markedly different from the countries to which they are attached.

And in both place politics and nationalism long ago trumped any attempt at logic and diplomacy.

Melilla has a population of nearly 79,000 people, a mix of Christians, Hindus, and Muslims with a small Jewish population.

The symbol of Melilla is the letter “M” in Hindi, Arabic, Hebrew, and Roman characters. Photo by Corey Sandler

This is Spain, so Spanish is the official language.

But many also speak Tarifit or Rifeño, a Berber dialect of the Riffians.

There’s a bit of French, too, that has leaked across the border from Morocco.

Riffian is a Northern Berber language, spoken by about 4 million mostly Muslim people in North Morocco and nearby Algeria as well as a few tens of thousands in Melilla.

Old Melilla is on the high ground, overlooking the modern city and port. Photos by Corey Sandler

Northern Morocco and Melilla includes an unusual mix of DNA, including Viking or Nordic lineage. Many Riffians have lighter skin, lighter colored eyes, and other traits that are not common in Africa and different from Sicily, Sardinia, and other parts of southern Europe. Blond hair is relatively common, and red hair also found in higher numbers than might be expected.

Melilla has a history of its own, somewhat different from Morocco and Spain.

It was a Phoenician and later Punic settlement under the name of Rusadir.

From the Greeks it passed to the Romans as a part of the Roman province of Mauretania Tingitana.

Successive rulers included the Vandals, the Byzantines, and the Visigoths.

As Muslim tribes came to the area and then crossed over to Andalucia in Europe, Melilla became part of the Kingdom of Fez.

Which brings us to the 1490s, when the Catholic Monarchs Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon sought to take the city. In 1497, a few years after Spain had ousted the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada—the last Muslim stronghold of Al-Andalus—an invasion force conquered Melilla with little resistance.

But the Muslims in Africa sought to take back the lands they had held in the Magrehb. Melilla was under siege from 1694 to 1696 and again from 1774 to 1775. But Spain held on. The current limits of the Spanish territory around the fortress were fixed by a series of treaties with Morocco in the second half of the 19th century.

Modernism on the street and as reflected in the windows of the Spanish Ministry of Defense. Photos by Corey Sandler

Melilla and other parts of Spanish Morocco were used by General Francisco Franco as staging grounds for the Nationalist rebellion in 1936, starting the Spanish Civil War. A statue of Franco—said to be last like it in Spain—is still prominent in Melilla.

Since Melilla is part of Spain, emigrants regularly try crossing the border to stake a claim in the European Union.

Spain has spent a huge amount of money for border fences, crosspoints, and patrols. The Melilla double border fences are six-meters or 20 feet tall. Yet refugees frequently manage to cross it illegally.

Detection wires, tear gas dispensers, radar, and night vision cameras are planned to increase security and prevent illegal immigration.On the day of our visit, we heard warning gunfire and saw low-flying fighter jets above the border.

A section of the border fence is visible from the ramparts below the old city. Photo by Corey Sandler

There is a similar border fence between Morocco and the other Spanish city at Ceuta.

With the land side now sealed off more securely, refugees have instead been crossing the Mediterranean in ramshackle boats.

They originally started going via the Canary Islands, but patrols increased there too and now they end up landing primarily in Italy—including Lampedusa Island—and Malta.

Although we certainly are welcome in Melilla, tourism is not the heart of the economy. The principal industry is fishing.

We have our sea legs. Elsewise the tile pavement at Parque Hernandez could have caused a problem. At right, the grand Ministry of Defense. Photos by Corey Sandler

As a prosperous port with a lot of interaction with the mother country, Melilla was built up in the first part of the 20^th century with many Modernist structures, the Catalan version of Art Nouveau.

The small exclave is said to have the highest concentration of Modernist works in Spain after Barcelona. Architect Enrique Nieto designed the main Synagogue, the Central Mosque, and various Catholic Churches.

Some of the Modernist architecture of Melilla. Photos by Corey Sandler

Some of the best Modermismo architecture can be found on calle López Moreno and calle del Rey Juan Carlos.

Melilla has been spoken of as a multicultural exemplar, a small city in Africa with three major religions represented. However, the Christian majority of the past—about 65 percent at one point, has been shrinking—while the number of Muslims has steadily increased to about 45 percent.

Jews, who had lived in Melilla for centuries, were about 20 percent of the population before World War II. Now Jews are less than 5 percent, departed for Israel, South America, and elsewhere. There is also a small, commercially important Hindu community.

Cross-border trade is an important part of the economy of Melilla, even though the border is tightly guarded. Nearly every day, dozens of women pass through the pedestrian-only border crossing at Barrio Chino.

They are known as the Mule Women of Melilla, or more kindly as porteadoras.

As long as a porteadora can physically carry her load, it is classed as personal luggage, so Morocco lets it in duty-free.

The women have the right to visit Melilla because they live in the Moroccan province of Nador. But they are not allowed to reside in the Spanish territory.

Traders in Melilla prepare huge bundles to go to North Africa: second-hand clothing, bolts of fabric, toiletries, and household items. The bales are wrapped in cardboard, cloth and sacking and fastened with tape and rope. A typical load might be 60 kilograms or 132 pounds; some as much as 80 kilos or 172 pounds.

For carrying the bundle across the border, a porteadora might be paid 3 Euros; some make three or four trips before the gates close at midday. This is not small business; one estimate is that the trade is worth about 300 million euros to Melilla.

And now the tradition of women as mules is under threat from unemployed Moroccan men. The women are objecting, but losing that battle.

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Here’s where to order a copy for immediate delivery:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IA9QTBM

Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession: The Tragic Legacy of the New World’s Least Understood Explorer (Kindle Edition)

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1 April 2014: Malaga, Spain

April 1, 2014 Corey Sandler

By Corey Sandler, Silversea Destination Consultant

Málaga: its very name brings to mind sweet repose, and sweet wine.

Both are conducive, I suppose, to great art, and it was here that Pablo Picasso was born and it is here that members of his family contributed pieces—some well-known and others quite obscure—to a museum.[whohit]-1APR2014 MALAGA-[/whohit]

Málaga is the capital of the Costa del Sol, the Sun Coast.

The modern terminal at Malaga frames the handsome city on the hill. Photos by Corey Sandler

Siesta time along the promenade in Malaga. Photo by Corey Sandler

That seems to be a well-deserved nickname: the coast averages about 324 days of sunshine each year, which means we have about a 90 percent chance of sol.

The Costa del Sol is more or less a linear town, stretching from Málaga to Cadiz.

A few blocks inland from the beach is Málaga’s bullring, La Malagueta, built in 1874. It’s a hexa-dec-agon, a building with sixteen sides.

The bull ring in Malaga, in preparation for a major contest during Holy Week. Photos by Corey Sandler

Some of Spain’s most famous bullfighters have appeared here, including El Cordobés and Manolete. Spanish-style bullfighting usually ends with the killing of the bull in the ring.

Above the bullring in Malaga is the Alcazaba, a Moorish fortification from the 8^th to the 11^th century. Alcazaba comes from the Arabic al-qasbah, meaning the citadel, and this is the best-preserved example in Spain.

The Alcazaba of Malaga. Photo by Corey Sandler

Next to the entrance to the Alcazaba are the partially restored ruins of a 2^nd century Roman theater. Some of the Roman materials were used in the construction of the Alcazaba. There are two walled enclosures, originally connected to the city’s ramparts, creating a third defensive wall.

The Roman amphitheatre of Malaga. Photo by Corey Sandler

I mentioned Málaga was the birthplace of Pablo Picasso in 1881, and he is much celebrated here, even though he left town at the age of ten.

The Museo Picasso Málaga is in the old quarter at the foot of Gibralfaro hill, near the Alcazaba and the Roman Theatre.

Picasso once said that he was the world’s greatest collector of Picassos. His family had a few, as well, forming the original core of the museum.

The collection ranges from early academic studies to cubism to his late re-workings of Old Masters.

The museum is in the Palacio de Buenavista, originally built in the 16th century incorporating the remains of a palace from the Nasrid dynasty, the last Arab and Muslim dynasty in Spain.

Silver Wind seen from above in Malaga. Photo by Corey Sandler

About an hour west of Málaga in the inland hills is Ronda. Ronda was first settled by the early Celts, but what you see today is the result of later Roman and Moorish rulers. Catholic Spain took control of the town in 1485, during the Reconquista.

Ronda is in a very mountainous area about 2,500 feet above sea level (750 meters) (2,500 feet).

The Guadalevín River bisects the city with the steep El Tajo gorge. Three bridges cross El Tajo: the Roman, the Old, and the New.

All of them are old.

The Arab baths at Ronda. Photo by Corey Sandler

The Puente Romano (the Roman Bridge, also known as the Puente San Miguel), dates from Roman times at least one thousand years ago. The Puente Viejo (“Old Bridge”, also known as the Puente Arabe or “Arab Bridge”) is a mere four centuries old, built in 1616. The Puente Nuevo (New Bridge) was begun in 1751 and took until 1793 to complete. This is the tallest of the bridges, towering 390 feet or 120 meters above the canyon floor.

A chamber beneath the central arch was used as a prison. During the Spanish Civil War of 1936 to 1939, both sides were alleged to have used the chamber to torture prisoners, killing some by throwing them to the rocks below.

Ernest Hemingway spent many summers in Ronda’s old town quarter, La Ciudad. Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls describes the murder of Nationalist sympathizers early in the Spanish Civil War. Some say Hemingway based the account on killings that took place at the cliffs of El Tajo.

Another frequent visitor was actor and director Orson Welles. About Ronda, Welles said, “A man is not from where he is born, but where he chooses to die.” Welles’ ashes were scattered in the Ronda bull-ring in 1985.

One of Spain’s most spectacular and famous cities is Granada, just under two hours to the northeast of Málaga.

Granada sits at the base of Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of three rivers. The city has been inhabited for thousands of years. The original settlers were perhaps Ibero-Celtics. Then came Phoenicians, Carthagenians, and Greeks.

The heraldic symbol of Granada is the pomegranate: Granada in Spanish.

The city became the capital of a province of the Caliphate of Cordoba.

By the 16^th century, Granada took on a Christian and Castilian character, as immigrants came from other parts of the Iberian Peninsula.

Many of the city’s mosques, some of which had been established on the sites of former Christian churches, were converted to Christian uses.

Although many Muslim buildings were destroyed by the Catholics, those that remain represent the most complete group of Moorish domestic architecture in Europe.

The Alhambra in Granada. Photo by Corey Sandler

The Alhambra, Arabic for “the red one”, or the red fortress, was built in the mid-14^th century.

It originally was the residence of the Muslim rulers of Granada and their court.

With the reconquest by the Spaniards, it became a Christian palace. Within the Alhambra, a new palace was erected in 1527 by Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor.

After falling into disrepair, the Alhambra was “rediscovered” in the 19th century. It is now one of Spain’s major tourist attractions.

It exhibits the country’s most famous Islamic architecture, together with Christian 16th-century and later improvements.

Like a house that has been built, rebuilt, and expanded dozens of times over centuries, the Alhambra is a bit of an architectural mess.

That’s actually one of its charms.

The overall design is chaotic, with some rooms at odd angles to each other and styles abruptly changing at every turn.

Because the Muslims in the original settlement were isolated, the Islamic art here is classical

It does not include more recent styles that arose in the middle east and Africa.

The Alhambra’s westernmost feature is the alcazaba (the citadel).

The rest of the plateau is enclosed by a fortified wall, with thirteen towers, some defensive and some providing vistas for the inhabitants.

After the Christian conquest of the city in 1492, some of the art was covered with whitewash.

The Palacio de Generalife gets its unusual name from the Arabic: Jannat al-’Arif‎, meaning Architect’s Garden.

This was the summer palace and country estate of the Nasrid sultans of Granada. The palace and gardens were built between 1302 and 1324.

Within is the famous Court of Myrtles and the Patio of the Lions, like something out of Ali Baba.

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25 March 2014: Arecife, Lanzarote in the Canary Islands, Spain

March 25, 2014 Corey Sandler

By Corey Sandler, Silversea Destination Consultant

We’re on the first day of a voyage that will visit some of the more intriguing remnants of the great Colonial empires of modern times.

Here where the Mediterranean narrows to meet the Atlantic, nearly every island or port got caught up in war, intrigue, religion, and politics: an unfortunate quartet that often travel together.

Our scheduled itinerary from Las Palmas to Barcelona

Among the more interesting places on our schedule are a pair of political thumbs-in-the-eye established by and held on to former colonial powers: Gibraltar, a tiny finger of land on the mainland of Spain stubbornly held by Great Britain, and across the strait in Africa, Melilla one of two tiny exclaves of Spain that sit on the coast of Morocco.

The Greek writers and philosophers Herodotus, Plato, and Plutarch described the garden of the Hesperides, a mythic orchard at the far West of the world; that might refer to the Canaries.

Pliny the Elder later wrote of an expedition to the Canary Islands, including reference to an island called Canaria.

The Fire Mountains in Timanfaya Nationa Park on Lanzarote. Photo by Corey Sandler

The bus driver’s view climbing the volcanoes of Timanfaya. Photo by Corey Sandler

The taxi squad for guests seeking even more thrills in the mountains. Photo by Corey Sandler

My friend Blanco, before we headed into the hills. Photos by Corey Sandler

In 2007, a team from the Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and a team from the Universidad de Zaragoza, Spain uncovered a prehistoric settlement at El Bebedero that included Roman pottery shards, some pieces of metal, and glass. The artifacts were dated between the first and 4th centuries.

After the fall of the Roman Empire, the Canary islands were ignored until 999 when Arab tribes came from Africa to an island they called al-Djezir al-Khalida. The Spanish took control of the Canaries in 1479, and very quickly it became a link in the chain from Europe to the New World settlements.

The modern city, with a population of about 142,000, gets its name from the black volcanic reefs near the port and beaches; Arrecife is Spanish for “reef.” Those reefs provided some shelter from rough seas, but equally important some hiding places from pirate attacks at the time the city was founded in the fifteenth century.

Perhaps the most notable Lanzarotean was artist and architect César Manrique, born in 1919 in Arrecife.

In addition to his sometimes playful and colorful modern art, Manrique also had a major influence on planning regulations in Lanzarote.

He worked to limit the size and especially the height of hotels on the island.

Manrique died in a car accident near his home in 1992. The César Manrique Foundation manages his home and raises funds for art on Lanzarote and promotes environmental and civic planning causes including ongoing efforts to block over-development of the island.

At the Manrique home is a collection of work by the artist as well as others, including original sketches by Pablo Picasso and Joan Miró. Manrique also designed a Cactus Garden on the island, integrating volcanic structures with plantings. The garden also includes an old whitewashed mill once used for the processing of “millo” flour, made from maize or wheat.

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24 March 2014 Another Voyage Begins: Canary Islands to Barcelona

March 23, 2014 Corey Sandler

By Corey Sandler, SIlversea Destination Consultant

We wish safe travels to most of our guests, debarking in Las Palmas, Canary Islands after a trip up the western coast of Africa.

And we say hello to new friends, as we head to Barcelona by way of Gibraltar, Moroccco, Melilla, and the Balearic Islands of Mallorca, Menorca, and Ibiza.

The port at Las Palmas, with Silver Wind reflected in the glass. Photo by Corey Sandler

A typically quirky bit of Spanish architecture in Las Palmas, and a quixotic name for a coast guard rescue vessel in port. Photos by Corey Sandler

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23 March 2014: Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands

March 23, 2014 Corey Sandler

By Corey Sandler, Silversea Destination Consultant

From Cape Verde, we headed north-northeast along the coast of Africa for two days.

Our destination: a service station outside the Pillars of Hercules.

Tenerife is in Las Canarias, the Canary Islands, an autonomous community of Spain and the outermost region of the European Union.

The island is about 300 kilometers or 186 miles off the African coast, and about 1,000 kilometers or 621 miles from Spain’s Iberian Peninsula.

The Auditorio, a modern landmark of Tenerife. Photos by Corey Sandler

Tenerife made its fortune as a rest stop, a service station in the Atlantic for explorers, conquistadors, and traders headed to the bottom of Africa and around to Asia, or across the Atlantic to the New World.

Tenerife is the largest and most populous of the seven Canary Islands, with about 900,000 inhabitants.

That makes it the most populated island in all of Spain. To that, add about five million visitors per year.

And, though you might think otherwise, Tenerife also has the highest mountain in Spain.

El Teide is taller than any point in the Sierra Nevadas, about 3,718 meters or 12,198 feet above sea level.

Actually, considering that it stands on an island; El Teide is about 7,500 meters or 24,600 feet above the sea floor.

That makes it the third largest volcano in the world, measured from its base.

The only larger volcanoes are far away, on the island of Hawaii: Mauna Kea and the champion Mauna Loa.

Oh, and did I mention it is still active?

To be more precise, dormant. Not dead, just sleeping.

Teide is on the short list of 16 volcanoes that are under special scrutiny because of their history of large, destructive explosions and proximity to large populations.

Also on that list are well-known ticking time bombs like Mount Vesuvius, Etna, Santorini, Mauna Loa, and Rainier and ten others, mostly along the Pacific Rim.

Tenerife Espacio de Las Artes. Photo by Corey Sandler

Christopher Columbus reported seeing a “great fire in the Orotava Valley” as he sailed past Tenerife on his voyage to discover the New World in 1492.

Skipping past many other conflicts, in the late 18^th century Britain and Spain had been fighting each other all around the world as each country’s colonial possessions grew.

War reached the Canary Islands in July of 1797.

On July 25, 1797, Admiral Horatio Nelson launched an attack at Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

After a ferocious fight, the Spanish defenders repelled the invaders.

It was in this battle that Horatio Nelson lost his right arm to cannon fire as he was trying to disembark.

He had lost an eye the year before in a battle in Corsica at Calvi.

And in 1805, at the Battle of Trafalgar, Nelson would lose his life.

Before his rise to power, Francisco Franco—who had begun to attract unappreciative notice from the Republican government back in Spain—was posted to Tenerife in March 1936.

It was while he was in the islands that Franco agreed to collaborate in the military coup that would result in the Spanish Civil War, and it was launched in the Canaries in July of 1936.

Everything but the fleas at a Sunday market. Photo by Corey Sandler

Around the World with Corey Sandler

Tag Archives: Spain

8 April 2014: Porto Mahon, Menorca

7 April 2014: Palma de Mallorca

6 April 2014: Ibiza, Spain

3 April 2014: Cartagena and Murcia, Spain

2 April 2014: Melilla, Spain

1 April 2014: Malaga, Spain

25 March 2014: Arecife, Lanzarote in the Canary Islands, Spain

24 March 2014 Another Voyage Begins: Canary Islands to Barcelona

23 March 2014: Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands

Cruise Photos and Stories by Corey Sandler