SPAIN THE BEAUTIFUL

EL PRADO MUSEUM, ONE OF THE LARGEST
AND RICHEST OF THE WORLD

On my first full day in Madrid I decided to visit the Prado Museum, a jewel of art and history of the Spanish world and European culture. This Museum is renowned as being the largest art gallery in the world. It houses more than 8,600 paintings, of which they exhibit only about 2,000 because of the lack of space. It is said that many important museums throughout the world have less artistic riches in their halls than the Prado Museum has in storage. During the bloody Spanish Civil War (1936-39), many of this works of art were transferred to Geneva, but were returned home after WWII. In this way these treasures of human kind were preserved for the posterity, from the barbarities committed by both sides during the Spanish Civil War.
Among the most famous works of art displayed in this museum are those of Velazquez
(1599-1660), Goya (1746-1848) and El Greco (1541-1614). I was advised by one of the guides to visit these three artists’ galleries, which I did, and doing so took 70% of the time I spent in the museum, which was one full day from 9:00 AM to 6:00PM. I confess not knowing at the time much about paintings and famous painters, but that didn’t prevent me from enjoying every minute of my visit,which has helped me since, in the endless process of learning about art throughout the history of human kind.
On my second day in Madrid, I decided to do what most Madridians do at least four times a year, that is, go watch a bull fight at the "Las Ventas" bull fighting ring, the most famous in the world. Though I was almost a complete neophyte about the so called "art" of bullfighting, I was curious to see a “corrida” or a show of this controversial art, at which the Spaniards have excelle at, and love so much. I was impressed more than anything else by the surroundings, by the holiday spirit of the attendants, by the colorful clothing of the women, by the excitement provoked in the whole audience, by the "pasodoble" music (which I've heard since I was a child) than by the bullfighting itself, which I though was very cruel. I didn’t think of it as a one on one, leveled field fighting between to equals, on the contrary, I thought of it as a completely unfair, bloody and
unjust fight. The bull had everything to lose while the bullfighter had everything to win. In many ways it reminded me about the gladiators’ fights in the Roman Coliseum. I thought it was an absolutely unequal fight of a noble animal against many cruel people bunching up against the animal whose destiny appeared to have been determined much before the fight started. With all due respect to the Spanish culture and customs,which in many ways we inherited here in Latin America, I thought then, as I think today, that the bullfighting is a remainder of barbarous times which should not have a place in a civilized world. I had mixed feelings afterwards, I had satisfied my curiosity, but I did not like much of what I had seen. It reminded me much also of the cockfighting in my home village when I was a child, however, cruel as it also was, it was a one on one fight, where the winner was the bravest or the best trained of the two contestant birds, not a group of intelligent well armed people against one sole animal whose only fault was to have been born a bull instead of a cat.



THE "ESCORIAL", THE PALACE AND MONASTERY, RESIDENCE OF THE SPANISH KINGS FOR SEVERAL CENTURIES

In my third day in Madrid I took a bus tour to what is called the “Valley of the Fallen Ones”. This is a monument built by the Franco autocratic regime to pay homage to those men and women who gave away their lives during the cruelest of all civil wars in the Spanish world’s history, and it is believed that at least a part of the carvings in the solid rock of the hill, were made manually by forced labor from many prisoners taken by the Franco military forces before and after the war was ended. Nearby this monument is the "Escorial", a monumental palace and Monastery complex, located about 25 miles to the northwest of Madrid, in the way to Avila and Segovia, two very interesting historical places I was able to visit the following day. The palace, which for centuries became home of the Spanish Kings, was built by Philip the II, the son of Charles The First of Spain, better known as Charles the Fifth of Germany, and its construction started the day of St Lawrence, on August 10, 1557 and was completed more than twenty years later.

AVILA NEAR MADRID -THE FORTIFIED MEDIEVAL CITY-
A WORLD'S HERITAGE MONUMENT WHICH INSPIRED WALT DISNEY
On my fourth day in Madrid, I went to Avila and Segovia, two towns in the region of Castille and Leon, not very far from Madrid, which are famous for their impressive historical constructions. The town of Avila is famous for its medieval fortifications. The city was founded in the 11th century and to protect itself from its enemies, namely the Moors, they built an impressive wall with 82 towers that continues to enclose the town in such a way that one has the impression of returning to the middle ages when looking at the wall and the towers from the distance. This must have been, indeed, an impenetrable city. Avila continues to preserve its medieval look today and is well-known for its continued-nearly complete- preservation.

Segovia is located in a relatively barren area, contains three UNESCO world heritage sites including the extraordinary Roman aqueduct built nearly 2000 years ago to transport water from a distant river to the city, and which remains structurally intact. Segovia is famous for the “cochinillo” (roasted piglet) served at many of its restaurants. Cochinillo is an open defiance to the “healthy food” concept but, it is nevertheless, munched away by 99% of Segovia visitors, including myself, of course.

SEGOVIA- THE ROMAN AQUEDUCT BUILT 2000 YEARS AGO AND WHICH REMAINS INTACT TODAY

My next visit was to Toledo, the site of the famous Alcazar of Toledo (Castle). It is a small and very old city located about one hour from Madrid, it sits on a large hill and retains its old medieval road plan. Toledo is the capital of the province of the same name and was recently declared a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO.



TOLEDO, ONCE THE CAPITAL OF THE ALMIGHTY SPANISH EMPIRE

It was one of the capitals of the Spanish Empire when at the top of its glory, and is historically of monumental importance because it was a place of peaceful and creative coexistence of Christian, Muslim and Jewish cultures in medieval times. The famous Spanish painter El Greco was born here and a large museum in his honor is part of the places I visited. Sitting on a large hill, "Old Toledo" is encircled on three sides by the Tagus River.

In my next posting: A SAD PART OF SPAIN