1. Camino del Cid: The Cemeteries of Empty Spain

It is no secret that one of the virtues of The Way of El Cid It's about exploring very little-known corners of Spain. So unprecedented that many of them are located in what, for some time now, has been dubbed the "Empty Spain," very palpable in rural areas of Soria, Guadalajara, or Teruel.

More than an Empty Spain, it's an underpopulated Spain. This is also perceived in its cemeteries, in dozens of burial grounds in villages with beautiful names that, unlike those in big cities, can be walked around in a few minutes and they always have their doors open.

There are hardly any recent deaths in them; graves are more common than niches. (a lack of space isn't an issue here), The gravestone designs span several decades and are, for the most part, the work of artisans who carved or drew the inscriptions by hand.

Recommendations? Plenty: stop in all the villages with ‘duende’, seek out their cemetery and wander through it with curiosity; look for the best photograph and let yourself be overcome by the silence of the Spanish countryside. A specific example: the solitary cemetery of Zayas de Báscones in Soria, next to the Romanesque hermitage of Santiago.

2. Emperor Charles V's Routes: The German Cemetery of the World Wars

There is a place in Extremadura where an emperor born in Flanders died. There is a place in Extremadura inhabited by the tombs of 180 German soldiers. Neither one nor the others had any connection in life (the emperor lived in the 16th century and the Germans in the 20th) but all of them have a common thread.

Flamenco is, you've guessed it, Emperor Charles V and the place where he died, the Monastery of Yuste, one of the epicentres of the Routes of Emperor Charles V. That said, he is not buried there, but in the monastery of El Escorial.

The matter of the two hundred Germans buried on a natural terrace overlooking the valley, halfway between the monastery and Cuacos de Yuste, is not so simple to guess. It is the German Cemetery of Cuacos de Yuste, inaugurated in 1983 to accommodate in the same enclosure 180 soldiers died during the First and Second World Wars in Spain or near its coasts. It is the only one of its kind (in Spain there are numerous English cemeteries but only one German one) and it was the initiative of the German Cemeteries Commission created in 1919 to promote and conserve the graves of soldiers who died outside the country's borders.

The cemetery at Yuste evokes the rhythmic, martial order of the military stone gardens of Arlington (USA) or Normandy (France). with dozens of graves lined up and a uniform design, as if the soldiers continued to parade after death.

3. Vía de la Plata Route: The Neo-Mudéjar necropolis next to the Roman road

There is no better way to get to know a city or town than by visiting its cemetery. There, within those four walls, their story is often carved in stone. And it's not a cliché. In cemeteries, achievements, victories, and miseries surface. Through their monuments and mausoleums, you'll learn the financial history of the town, the surnames of its most illustrious inhabitants, and its periods of greatest splendour.

In La Bañeza cemetery, of course, both happen. Situated at the southern edge of the town and bordering the Vía de la Plata Route, The cemetery is the work of architect Juan Bautista Lázaro, who was responsible for the restoration of some of the most significant medieval monuments in the province, such as León Cathedral, the Basilica of San Isidoro, and the Monastery of San Miguel de Escalada. The cemetery in La Bañeza incorporates many of these influences and recycles them, creating a Neo-Mudéjar facade with the distinctive brickwork associated with this style.

Paradoxically, the other attraction of the Leonese city of the dead is not the work of the architect, but of the stonemasons and marble workers who, at the end of the 19th century, the pantheons and mausoleums in the most noble area, near the entrance, were erected.

4. Prehistoric Rock Art Trails: Guardian of the Neolithic

When it comes to prehistory, it's complicated, not to say impossible, to collect certainties. The idol of Peña Tú is one of these ‘things of interest’. It is located on a height within the municipal district of the Asturian town of Puertas de Vidiago, near Llanes, and is one of the must-see stops in the northern part of Prehistoric Rock Art Trails.

The ‘idol’ is a drawing made on natural rock in the Sierra Plana de la Borbolla: an anthropomorphic form holding a Bronze Age dagger and it is accompanied by other schematic drawings which are also difficult to interpret.

What is its connection, then, to the All Saints' Day (or Halloween) festival and visits to cemeteries?

For years, it was believed that the idol and the rock on which it is located marked the burial place of an important historical figure, a hypothesis that has long been discarded. Nevertheless, Peña Tú maintains a close relationship with death, as It is located next to a large necropolis, formed by groups of megalithic barrows which house collective tombs. closed in the Neolithic and Copper Age.

5. Paths of Passion: fantastic theatre in the castle courtyard

As Halloween night approaches, nocturnal plans with a ‘fantastic’ touch tend to proliferate.

One of them takes place in the parade ground of the Castle of Moral de Lucena, a fortress whose foundations sink into the Middle Ages and a mandatory stop on the route Paths of Passion. At the site, there are no graves or cemeteries (nor spirits) around, but rather The outdoor performance of one of the masterpieces of 16th-century Spanish theatre: ‘Don Juan Tenorio’ by José Zorrilla.  

Thus, the parade ground, the architectural heart of the fortress, hosts the performance with a Minimalist stage in the middle, with the audience welcoming the actors and enjoying live music.

The choice of the play (which is originally set in Seville) is not accidental, as Zorrilla introduced a series of fantastic elements (the presence of spectres, for example) which fit perfectly with the medieval setting and the atmosphere of the nights before All Saints' Day.

The adaptation of Zorrilla's work in the fortress's parade ground will be held at sunset on 19 October and heads Lucena's tourism offerings for the All Saints‘ Day 2022 bank holiday, alongside a visit to the Jewish necropolis under the format of ’Death in Sepharad’. All necessary information and seat reservations can be found at Turismo de Lucena.