A GUIDEPOST REPRINT: “THE ORIGINAL TOURIST IN SPAIN”, 5 May 1967, First Installment »
George Borrow: "How the rage for scribbling tempts people to write about lands and nations of which they know nothing! Vaya! It is not from having seen a bullfight at Seville or Madrid, or having spent a handful of ounces at a posada that you are competent to write about such a people as the Spaniards, and to tell the world how they think, how they speak, and how they act." But there was one, an erudite traveler, Englishman Richard Ford, who did justice to the endeavor. Living in southern Spain for three years and traveling across the peninsula on horseback, he wrote "Handbook on Spain" in 1845 and the even more riveting and timeless "Gatherings from Spain" published the following year and proved immensely popular.
THE COAST IS CLEAR »
The pandemic in Europe is easing off satisfactorily, allowing Spain to finally open up its ports to international cruise ships. Get to know the fabulous ports that await you!
YOUR BASIC COURSE IN THE SPANISH SEMANA SANTA »
Holy Week, or Semana Santa, is a celebration of the Passion of Christ and the Sorrows of the Virgin Mary. It is a solemn occasion but it could actually be "glamorous" too. When's the Week in 2021? Sunday, 28 March - Sunday, 4 April.
A STUNNING SPANISH BEAUTY WOWS FRENCH EMPEROR & MARRIES HER »
At first the intentions of Charles Louis Napoleon (shortly to be crowned Noapoleon III) might have been less than honorable, but Eugenia, granddaughter of an American Consul, insisted that he think of her as a possible consort and not as another courtesan. Five weeks after the proclamation of the second French empire, Napoleon III proposed to Eugenia de Montijo in December of 1852, and she readily accepted becoming Empress Eugenie of France.
NEW YEAR’S EVE CELEBRATION. IN AUGUST? SURE! »
There's nothing perfunctory about the celebration of the New Year's Eve right bang in the middle of summer The hilly village, home to a scarce 800 inhabitants, sees to it that it has at least all the basic trimmings indispensable to a true Nochevieja celebration in Spain: the essential Three Kings, the grapes for the New Year's Eve, Holiday Season delicacies. And fun in huge quantities!
A TALK WITH THE YOUNG & DEDICATED MAYOR OF BÉRCHULES, DON ISMAEL PADILLA GERVILLA »
"Nochevieja en Agosto is no flash in the pan. We're now on our 25th year. Because of the proven continuity of our fiesta, we've become eligible for the dintinction of Fiesta de Interes Turistico. Not every initiative of every village gets to survive a quater of a century and generates so much interest. May our friends enjoy the fiesta immensely, the atmosphere be truly festive throughout the celebration, and cordiality and friendship reign."
ADVENTURES IN SPAIN BY CATHERINE PETIT, PART II OF A THRILLING 5-PART SERIES »
I longed to be inside the beautiful León Cathedral again. . . The Burgos Carhedral. . . The Seville Cathedral. . . The Monasterio de San Juan de los Reyes in the magical city of Toledo. . . The Capilla Real de Granada. . . The Monasterio de la Cartuja. . . To walk around the medieval walled city of Avila. . .
A GUIDEPOST REPRINT: “THE ALHAMBRA: THE MEN WHO BUILT IT, ITS GLORIOUS PAST,” 18 OCTOBER 1963 »
There exists in the landscape of the mind an ideal place where every sense is touched by velvet and time cannot intrude, the Alhambra
LORCA IN NEW YORK »
“A Poet in New York” still resonates in the Big Apple. Imagine my surprise when I got off the subway in Bushwick, a depressed Brooklyn Latino neighborhood, and discovered a mural with stanzas from “Sleepless City (Brooklyn Bridge Nocturne)." "Yerma" recently finished a sold-out run in an acclaimed contemporary adaptation at the Park Avenue Armory, 67th Street. Ballet Hispánico's New York Season honored the playwright with two World Premieres
