Still Discovering Spain...

Asturias has areas of incredible beauty, such as this virgin white sand beach, surrounded by rocky cliffs shaped by the sea and the wind, and by green meadows that contrast wonderfully with the blue of its waters. These are some of the reasons why it has been chosen as the best beach in Spain by the readers of Condé Nast Traveler 2020.

The beach of San Antonio de Mar, in the municipality of Llanes, is a privileged location of the Asturian Costa Verde, which invites you to take a break and relax in an impressive and mesmerising setting. During the summer, as you would expect, there is more influx of visitors, but it is still a peaceful place.

It is separated from the well-known Cuevas de Mar beach by Punta San Antonio, here you can see marine geysers when there are high tide and rough seas. The water enters with force through rock galleries and caves and exits under pressure through wells dug out of the rock formation forming pressure jets of seawater.

San Antonio beach is shell-shaped and is 70 m long and 50 m wide. It is protected from the wind but there are strong currents. Access is not easy, it can only be reached from the town of Picones or from Cuevas del Mar beach, always on foot. But the reward for such effort is a refreshing bath in a charming place.

From above, on the cliffs, the views are quite spectacular, and several trails lead to the hermitage of San Antonio where you can see the beautiful coast of Llanes and the Picos de Europa.

Not far away, there are some small towns where you can still eat good traditional dishes and where you can enjoy a few days of rest next to the Cantabrian Sea. And only a few kilometres away you can visit the towns of Llanes and Ribadesella.

The Courtyards festival of Cordoba is normally held every year from 1st to 13th May. But given the current pandemic, it was postponed.  This year it will now be held from the 8th to the 18th  October so you still have time to enjoy this wonderful festival.

The "Festival de Patios" has been included in the list of intangible Heritage of Humanity of Unesco since 2012 and is really worth a visit so make sure you note it down in your diary. So, what does this festival entail?

Due to the hot, dry Cordoban climate, the city's inhabitants, first the Romans and later the Muslims, adapted the typical design of the popular house to their needs, making the home centre around an inner courtyard or patio, normally with a fountain in the middle and often a well to collect rainwater. The Muslims made further adjustments, giving the house an entrance from the street which passed through a porch, and filling the courtyard with plants to give the sensation of freshness.

There are clearly two types of courtyards. The first type is in a one-family home in which the rooms are arranged around the courtyard - it usually has arches and either a clay tiled or decorative pebbled floor. The second type is called a neighbours house (casa de vecinos). Here the individual homes look out onto the courtyard - however, these are much less common nowadays. It usually has two floors and the courtyard is made all the more attractive by the long balconies, staircases and baked clay roof tiles. The floors usually have decorative pebbles and there is often a well instead of a fountain, as well as a communal washing room.

The most characteristic district is the Alcázar Viejo district, between the Alcázar and the parish of San Basilio, although there are also many in the districts of Santa Marina, around the church of San Lorenzo and near la Magdalena. Just around the Mosque-Cathedral, there are also very beautiful old examples of courtyards in the old Jewish quarter. The most beautiful courtyards of all are to be found in the Palacio de Viana, with twelve different courtyards.

Since 1921, the Town Hall has organised a competition of Courtyards and Crosses in the first week of May - this year exceptionally in October, and the owners decorate their houses with great care to try and win the prestigious award offered by the authorities. A festival runs in parallel with a number of performances by the best singers and dancers on the scene, while the local fino wine flows freely and delicious tapas are served. Naturally this year, it will be conditioned by the coronavirus health restrictions.

Last weekend took us to Javea, a coastal town an hour or so south of Valencia. It wasn’t the first time I had been to Javea but it was the first time in summer, funnily enough. Although we avoided the summer crowds, which were much less than I had anticipated, most probably due to the Covid-19 impact, we were still able to have a wonderful weekend. I managed to get in a quick round of golf and also visit a fantastic beach which I had never seen before and also enjoyed a wonderful meal in a restaurant with privileged views of the Mediterranean sea. All in all a great weekend away, and a place I would highly recommend for those who haven’t visited before.

We went to the Granadella beach, which is a rural cove with a shingle beach, boulders and pebbles with crystalline water. It is located in the most southern zone of Javea. This is certainly one of Javea’s little treasures and has been awarded the blue flag since 1987. It reminded me of the coves in the Balearic Islands which I enjoyed so much in the past. Although it’s not something that I practice, it is highly recommended for scuba diving. The waters are simply crystalline and just perfect. 

If this hadn’t been enough we were fortunate to get a table at the Restaurant Cabo La Nao (Carretera Cabo la Nao 154), which serves typical local Mediterranean food, mainly rice dishes. The value for money was surprisingly good given the location and the quality of the food.  The restaurant sits on top of a cliff next to the Cabo la Nao lighthouse and the terrace literally hangs over the edge enabling you to see at least 100m down a sheer rock face all the way to the sea below, quite a view. It was really a wonderful meal and a great day out with the family.