1. The narrowest houses in Spain (and possibly in Europe)
Plasencia (Extremadura) and Valencia (Valencian Community)
It's not straightforward to figure out which house is the narrowest in Spain. How do you categorise a record like that? Are we talking about width of the facade or width of the floor plan? Whatever the criterion, two of the most claimed homes in terms of narrow records are located in two flagship locations of Spain's Cultural Routes.
One of them is located in the Plaza Mayor in Cáceres (at the junction with Calle de los Quesos) in Plasencia, villa of the Via de la Plata Route. It has three floors (plus an attic), just over a metre wide, and the fact that it's located under arcades diminishes its impact. By the way, a curious fact: the entire building (of course, each floor is too narrow to house a single dwelling) has been for sale for several years for 140,000 euros.
The other jewel is located in Valencia, a historic city in The Way of El Cid, at number 6 in the central Lope de Vega square, in the Santa Catalina neighbourhood. It's not just any narrow house: the facade is 107 centimetres wide and is considered the narrowest in Europe and one of the first on a hypothetical world ranking.
The Tazones mast, ready to welcome windswept anglerfish.
A town of emperors with fish in the wind
Tazones (Asturias)
Tazones is a tiny Asturian village with a giant history. In fact, he lived for centuries from hunting one of the planet's largest mammals, the whale.
However, Tazones entered the annals of Spanish history for being, in 1517, the first town in the country that Emperor Charles V saw (and set foot in) (hence it is a ‘hotspot on the routes of Emperor Charles V) on his first journey from Flanders. The landing had not been planned like this: the fault lay with a storm that diverted his fleet from its initial destination.
The town is also famous for having pampered and vindicated the monkfish (the ‘pixín’, as it's called in Asturian) decades ago, Few wanted a toad-looking fish on their table. Therefore, when visiting Tazones, there are usually no doubts when choosing a second course.
Anyone visiting the village will find a wooden mast at one of the entrances to the harbour. Hopefully, on the mast, there will be one or more skinned anglerfish that appear to have been abandoned. Don't take them! They have an owner! They are pieces from nearby restaurants that leave them airing and drying in the sun so they lose water, their flesh compacts, and they can be cooked better.
3. A dolmen as punctual as a clock
Trigueros (Huelva)
Do you remember that scene from ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ in which Indiana Jones waits for sunrise so that its rays point out, on a model, the exact location of the Ark of the Covenant?
Something very similar, possibly even better, happens twice a year (weather permitting) on the spring (March) and autumn (September) equinoxes at the Dolmen de Soto, in the Huelva town of Trigueros and one of the stops on Prehistoric Rock Art Trails.
The dolmen is one of Europe's most striking megalithic monuments, It is dated to between 3000 and 2500 BC and features one of the largest passages in Spain, 21 metres long and with a width of up to 3.10 metres.
The size of this corridor only enhances this solar event: in the second fortnight of September, at dawn, this phenomenon takes place whereby The sun's rays pass cleanly through the corridor and flood the chamber with light.
4. The Return of the Moss Men
Béjar (Salamanca)
Anyone who approaches Béjar, in the heart of the Vía de la Plata Route, you will discover that, at one of the western ends of the village, on Viriato's Ring Road, a sculpture, to say the least, peculiar, is erected. It is a stout and plump human figure, covered by a green suit that appears scaly. In one of its hands, it carries a truncheon (very similar to those in Spanish playing cards) which it rests on its shoulder. The figure could have come straight out of a Marvel film or comic.
Nothing could be further from the truth: although its name might sound like a creation of Stan Lee, The Moss Man is an ancestral tradition from Bejar that has its roots in the 12th century. It was then that Béjar was reconquered by the Christians after five centuries under Arab rule.
How? Thanks to some soldiers who, covered in moss for camouflage, made the Muslims believe that, with no enemies in sight, they could open the gates of the wall. The ruse worked, Béjar would become part of the reign of Alfonso VII of Castile and he would thank the heroes for their feat with this sculpture and a celebration during Corpus Christi.
Window of number 10 José Solís de Cabra Avenue, beneath which is an ammonite fossil.
5. The fossils released from Goat
Goat (Córdoba)
For the following curiosity, we have to go back to a time when the Cordobese town of Cabra did not exist. There was nothing, not even a Roman stone. It happened many, many millions of years ago, when, instead of the city, What there was was a plain at the foot of the Sierra of Cabra in Cordoba. Both places (the plain and the mountain) they were covered by a sea, that of Thetis. Yes, a sea, an ocean.
Living beings dwelled in its waters which, upon their demise, became attached and immortalised to the limestone rocks on the seabed where they slumbered for (many) millions of years.
What happened next? The time came to build Cabra (one of the stages of the route Paths of Passionand the red marbles and other stones from the nearby mountain range were extracted and worked. With them, houses and palaces were built and ornaments were sculpted with such good luck that, the creatures of the Palaeozoic were ‘unleashed’.
Therefore, nowadays It is possible to do a complete tour of more than 12 spots in Cabra in search of those fossils scattered across facades, floors, stairs, or gardens. An example? The beautiful ammonite imprisoned in the polished limestone of the house at 10 José Solis Avenue, just below one of the ground-floor windows.
How is it possible to live this experience? In the Jurassic Goat Interpretation Centre‘ One can learn all the theory and, subsequently, on the guided tours, track down the treasures.
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