Blog

Strolling along the Paseo Colon in Santiago de la Ribera you would almost pass it unnoticed. For several months now, five models of old aircraft models have been on display on the boulevard. A nice embellishment of the street scene, like other statues in so many places brighten up a walking area somewhat. But appearances can be deceiving. Together, the models form a unique open-air museum, behind which there is much more than a fleeting glance and an admiring 'gosh how nice'. Anyone who takes a closer look at the five planes can take a deeper dive into the rich... Read more

Wandering through the hinterland of Alicante I unexpectedly ended up in Novelda. Just outside the town I saw a church on a hill. When I got close, I noticed how special and different this church is. It seemed as if Gaudi had taken some time from his work on La Sagrada Familia cathedral in Barcelona, to give his modernist ideas to the construction of the Santa Maria Magdalena church. I now know that a Gaudi admirer designed it. It took him from 1914 to 1946 to build it. The decorations with large pebbles from the Vinalopo river and all kinds of other materials give it a... Read more

Murcia is a big city, but still has a very relaxed atmosphere. This is undoubtedly due to the fact that a large part of the old city center is designed as a walking area. This makes it easier to soak up the rich historical and cultural heritage of the city in a casual way. And at the top of the list of important sights for many is the Santa Maria Cathedral. Murcia's pride has a long history. It started at the end of the 14th century when construction started on the foundation of an old mosque. The location is not accidental. It was very common at the time to... Read more

Spring is upon us. Hundreds of thousands of fruit trees in the valley around the village of Cieza, north of Murcia, are about to blossom. The website dedicated to this annual natural phenomenon leaves no doubt what awaits us: 'The greatest colorful variety of flowers in the world'. That's quite a claim. But if we put the somewhat exaggerated local pride aside for a moment, then this massive opening of new life is indeed a beautiful spectacle. Once the 13,000 hectare area of ​​almond, plum, apricot and peach trees is in full bloom, the whole valley is... Read more

Orihuela's most famous son is without a doubt the poet Miguel Hernández. During his short life (1910 - 1942), the son of a local goat dealer left behind an extensive oeuvre that would almost certainly have led to a Nobel Prize in Literature. Were it not that he died prematurely of tuberculosis. The socially engaged poet was an enemy of the Franco regime and sentenced to 30 years in prison. During the Spanish Civil War, this was the fate of many Republicans promoting social justice and democracy. But times have changed. Once maligned, but now honored. An... Read more

In Cartagena's rich history, much of which can still be found in the city, the Roman Theater is seen as the undisputed pearl. Built between 5 and 1 BC by Emperor Augustus, the theater is strangely enough a landmark that the city has only recently been able to show off. The importance of the theater from an archaeological point of view is about as great as the bizarre way in which it was discovered in 1988. During work on the ruins of the Santa Maria la Vieja church, people accidentally stumbled upon the more than 2000 year old theater. The public has only been able... Read more

My first introduction to skiing in the Sierra Nevada put me on the wrong track. Being on the wrong foot is of course not recommended for skiers, but that's another story. Seriously. It was the end of February and the day before I had enjoyed a drink and a tapa on a sunny boulevard on the Costa Blanca. After a sloppy four-hour drive, I was now suddenly on the long slats near Granada. A crazy sensation. This is a beautiful ski resort with a huge choice of slopes and all the ski lifts and other facilities that you can expect in the more traditional ski areas in Europe. I... Read more

The swarms of six small loggerhead sea turtles in the waters of the Mediterranean are closely monitored thanks to satellite tracking. The Murcia Today website regularly updates its readers about the routes the six follow. For example, we now know that in two months the little ones have visited different corners of the Med: from Sardinia to Tunisia and from Catalonia to Algeria. Some of the animals covered more than 300 kilometers in the sea for the first two days. No one could have foreseen that the arrival of a pregnant loggerhead turtle on Calblanque beach in August... Read more

The less warm months on the costas are ideally suited to go out by bike. The region offers a variety of interesting routes that are not too difficult. Beautiful views, plenty of nice 'coffee stops' and good roads are of course a bonus. For all these reasons, this time we highlight a tour along beautiful waters and quiet roads. The tour starts in La Mata where we will follow the coastal road along the beaches of Torrevieja. The Mediterranean Sea remains our travel companion at a short distance for a few kilometers. On the south side of the city we say goodbye to... Read more

Guardamar del Segura could never have existed in its current form without the protection of the Alfonso XIII park. This area, directly behind the dunes, was developed in the 19th century with an important purpose. The planting of thousands of trees and shrubs was a powerful and necessary measure against the ever-advancing sand. It is never possible to determine exactly what Guardamar would look like without that buffer, but experts suspect that large parts of what is now inhabited area would otherwise have been swallowed up by the sand. This foresight was not only wise,... Read more