The drassenes or shipyards of Barcelona
** MARITIME MUSEUM OF BARCELONA **
It is difficult to gain a foothold in the always stimulating Barcelona, and even more so when its museum name causes some laziness in the great bulk of the population.
However, the medieval royal dockyards and its reconversion into a space for culture and dissemination are quite a Gothic spectacle capable of impressing any retina eager for arches, stones and the smell of history. Its impressive size testifies to the importance that this port had as early as the 13th century, while the collection it preserves is worth visiting.
Above all, considering that this space reopened in 2013 adapted to the new interactive exhibition resources and under a permanent exhibition that goes beyond the classic display of old ships. A 2x1 of history and interpretation that make it a very attractive visit that makes the lover of the sea marvel at history and the passionate about medieval architecture to look, too, at the adventures that were lived through the Mediterranean and beyond.
The drassenes or shipyards of Barcelona
**ATARAZANAS DEL GRAO (VALENCIA) **
Until their titanic ships become one of the headquarters of the future Maritime Museum of Valencia , this imposing building serves as a wall for awe-inspiring samples of current art and contemporary creation. A dialogue between past and present that works, above all, because the continent itself is a very attractive place.
Example of more Mediterranean and industrial Gothic, It is one of the most interesting monuments in the emerging Grao neighborhood and an example of how Valencia, little by little, is recovering its relationship with the sea and with the Maritime Towns as it happens with the fascinating Cabanyal.
Atarazanas market Valencia
ROYAL ATARAZANAS OF SEVILLE
Their medieval vaults have served as location for the final season of game of thrones, which has made the old facilities of the Arenal neighborhood fully enter the tourist map of the city. Well, rather, in the atlas of wishes since until 2019 they will remain closed. a pity
This delay is not a clue about the possible filming of the eighth season of the popular series in this monument, but about the conflicts that have generated its reformulation as a tourist asset. That is to say, the tug-of-war between those who were committed to defending the historical heritage at all costs against those who had defended its modernization, with a cultural center designed by Vázquez Consuegra included. A conflict in which a limited budget was another major conditioning factor. The final project will be a hybrid of interests, with new excavated warehouses and a less ambitious dissemination space.
The best shipyards and shipyards to visit in Spain
ATARAZANAS CENTRAL MARKET, MÁLAGA
Only a memory remains Nasrid shipyards from the 14th century but for its simple contemplation it is already worth getting lost among stalls and hustle and bustle. The access arch, with a clear Andalusian aesthetic, is the only survivor of the original building. His portentous figure allows you to travel back to that time when civil architecture was not at odds with filigree and beauty.
The market built in the 19th century not only respected the original layout (which makes it possible to mentally draw its vast surface), but also reserved some nods for it, such as the metal horseshoe arches, while in the stained glass windows installed less than a decade ago, the More maritime and monumental Malaga is vindicated with scenes that share the day to day with the bustle of the stalls.
NAVANTIA AND THE NAVAL CONSTRUCTION ROUTE IN FERROL
The best way to enter the modern era of shipyards in Spain is by visiting this city in A Coruña. What was once its tourist cross (the city has been deprived of views of the estuary as a result of housing military installations) today is an opportunity given the drop in activity.
In recent years, Ferrol has endeavored to claim the most characteristic buildings from the 18th century to the present as the military armory gate wave defensive curtain that protected the entrance to the dikes through a route that follows the coastline of this town. A tour that can be finished by browsing ** Exponav, the complete museum dedicated to this industry.**
However, the biggest attraction is being able to visit the Navantia shipyards, the old Bazán, which are still in operation today. Through a hour and a half guided tour that has to be booked in advance through various tourist companies in Ferrol, it can be known from within how boats are repaired in a gigantic facility capable of astonishing the most New York retinas.
Shipyards of Navantia in Ferrol
ROYAL DIKE OF CADIZ
Another of Navantia's facilities, in this case in the Bay of Cadiz, They show the development of this industry in this place during the 19th century through a tour of its buildings and a charming museum that tells the story of this complex. A hook for lovers of the sea and nostalgic that still has many possibilities such as boat visits (today intermittent).
**ONDARTXO SHIPYARD (PASAJES DE SAN PEDRO) **
One of the good consequences of the silent European capital of culture of San Sebastián was the consolidation of the **Albaloa project,** an initiative that seeks recover and disseminate the way in which large ships were armed in the past on the Basque coast. His most ambitious goal is to rebuild a whaling ship replica of the San Juan whose remains were found in 1978 in Canadian waters.
But, in parallel, this center organizes tours to the shipyard of Ondartxo In addition to showing its great ships through lively, dynamic and very entertaining visits in which you learn a little about the past of these places and about the secrets of those ships that, centuries ago, they fished in Newfoundland in almost kamikaze expeditions.