We embarked on a journey –of height– through the best views of Spain: viewpoints, towers, battlements, mountains…. The sky is the limit!
Santa Catalina viewpoint.
1. SANTA CATALINA VIEWPOINT, CANTABRIA
The deva river gorge serves as a narrow prelude to one of the most appreciated views of northern Spain, at the gates of the evergreen Liebana Valley. An access that today we make by road, but impossible in previous centuries: the road to Potes ran along the top of the gorge of the hermida gorge, away from the dangerous waters of the river. Good proof of this Linares tower, trail watcher, and the castle of the Bolera de los Moros, on top of mount Jozarcu, where the viewpoint that watches over everything is located: Saint Catherine.
Some aerial platforms suspend the visitor at the top of the Hermida gorge, watched over by the remains of an ancient christian fortification destined to defend Liébana, nucleus of a forgotten resistance against the Muslims. The Santa Catalina viewpoint has more than just a few breathtaking views of the Picos de Europa: it also has, in its roots, centuries of history.
Very close: worth visiting Aniezo, a town with a landscape that could compete with the Santa Catalina viewpoint.
Where to eat: the venison beans and the mountain stew of the still life, in Pots, they can be smelled from the top of the lookout. It is worth going down to the valley to check it out.
Views from the Mirador de San Miguel (Granada).
2. SAN MIGUEL VIEWPOINT, GRANADA
Although it may seem strange, there are places that overlook the immemorial picture that is the Alhambra without being crowded. Many are secret and private, corners and balconies Albaicin Tall where dinners and meals are cooked before the reddish walls of the mother of palaces and lady of Granada. Others, on the other hand, are accessible to the visitor based on climb, climb and cross farms that end in inhabited caves.
The San Miguel viewpoint rises above him Sacromonte , home of traditional flamenco tradition. The brilliant strums of a rehearsing guitar reach the church that gives the place its name, built on the site occupied by an old tower of the Nasrid wall. It was the highest and most imposing watchtower in Granada, a bastion that saw everything, and that the Catholic Monarchs longed to possess for themselves. No one remembers that war in the evenings now, far from the noise of the city that can be seen from above, and one feels like a spy and a stranger in the terraces and rooftops of those who live "down there". And guarding the troupe of houses, squares, buildings and blocks, stands up Alhambra, framed by the fields of the broad plain of Granada.
Very close: The Carmen de la Victoria It is a Granada garden open to the public that will delight plant lovers. You only have to drop from San Miguel, and we will arrive at his door, in the High Albaicin.
Where to eat: the neighborhood of Saint Matthias offers the most sought-after establishments by Granadans who leave work with a broken stomach. Javi's Little Corner, in the square of Mariana Pineda, It usually has full terraces, indicating that you eat well there.
Castle of Consuegra.
3. CONSUEGRA CASTLE, TOLEDO
The manifest coincidence that we can see in many viewpoints in Spain should not seem strange to us: next to the remains, or on a castle. We have always wanted to get closer to heaven because from above we watch, and we feel able to get anywhere. It is a feeling identical to the one experienced in mother-in-law, perched on a castle surrounded by whitewashed mills like the ones that Alonso Quijano, an illustrious hidalgo from La Mancha, confused with giants with long arms. At the foot of the mountain on which stands the Castle of Consuegra it opens la Mancha, empty, flat and burning like the bottom of a paella pan after a long day at the fair.
The location of the castle on a hill with such views, as is the case with the Santa Catalina viewpoint, is by no means accidental. Consuegra began her career as Consaburum, Roman city through which ran the road that joined the valleys of the Guadalquivir and the Tagus: the via Laminium. Centuries later, the Muslims fortified the hill from which we now look, the same one that the Castilians took much later, building the current fortress of Consuegra. The castle has watched over the vastness of La Mancha since the Middle Ages, and only from its battlements can it be understood the infinite feeling of emptiness that this flat land provokes in the visitor.
Very close: another illustrious city in terms of viewpoints is Toledo, just forty minutes from Consuegra. They are worth looking for on the other side of the Tagus River, and scan the roofs of a thousand-year-old city.
4. MANOR OF SOBER, LUGO
The "magical realism" It was invented in Colombia, but it could well have been located in Galicia, where magic and reality often walk hand in hand. Few could imagine that, in the heart of an infinite forest whose trunks weep lichens, a few steps from the Sil river canyon, hidden between granite blocks and hidden from view of anyone except a kite, is a hotel that overlooks the Lemos valley from above: Golden Palace of Sober.
Golden Hotels, belonging to the Eurostars chain, has been able to convert an old house-tower of medieval origin into a place where words “rest” and “peace” reach their highest meaning. From its rooms and lounges you can see a panoramic view of forests and fields in whose geographical center stands the castle of Monforte de Lemos.
In the distance, the mountains of Galicia close the horizon of a valley worthy of other times, in which nature reigned over human desire. Having breakfast with such a panorama, while the sun warms your face and the birds sing, is an experience that will make us fly far, to the top.
Very close: the viewpoint of Or Boqueiriño It offers aerial views of the Sil river canyon that can be accompanied by a smooth wine like those produced by the Ribeira Sacra vineyards.
Where to eat: kiss, in the village of Sober, offers a menu typical of these lands, with local products cooked with extra dedication. The Galician blond meat deserves a stop and an after-meal.
Seville Tower.
5. PELLI TOWER, SEVILLE
The capital of Andalusia is a city divided by a river and by the colors of two teams, Betis and Sevilla. However, Sevillians have a common opinion when they speak of the Pelli Tower (or Torre Sevilla), and its offensive presence in the Cartuja Island: nobody should dare to dispute the roof of Seville to the Giralda. The skyscraper broke in 2015 with the centuries-old tradition of respecting the height marked by the head of the Giraldillo, and few things are more questioned on this earth than to ignore, never better said, traditions.
Ignoring the fact that its metallic silhouette distorts the silhouette of the roofs and bell towers of Seville, we must admit that the Torre Pelli has one of the most beautiful urban viewpoints in Andalusia. The top floor of the tower can be accessed from the hotel that occupies it on its lower floors, and its views are scandalous: the ovens of the Cartuja, Triana, the Maestranza, the Torre del Oro, the Cathedral, the Reales Alcázares… Nothing is hidden from the sight of those who observe from Torre Peggi, not even the gardens of Aljarafe or the neighborhoods of Camas and San Juan de Aznalfarache.
Triana neighborhood.
The sunset is a high point: the Giralda is dyed red, angry that Peggi Tower steals the spotlight from her immemorial leadership. But from the top of the offensive viewpoint, it is where it can be verified with the best of eyes that the cathedral tower she is still the prettiest.
Very close: the Salt Pier , next to the Triana bridge, offers the Sevillian version of a European custom that takes advantage of the embankments of urban rivers to have a beer, eat something quick, or socialize in front of the current. Stroll along the river and sit on the stones of the pier to gaze at the colorful facades of Triana, while the sun warms your eyes.
Where to eat: the bars that open around the Maestranza They offer an interesting combination of tradition and modernity. It is difficult to stay with one of the few that appear Arfe street: it is better to enter all of them, try their tapas and wines, and make a list as long as the Torre Pelli.
So far our journey through some of the best views in Spain. We will continue looking for more places to reach the sky!