Spain has a deep history and landscapes with so many contrasts that it is normal that they are ideal scenarios to develop, rather than the best literary routes, their stories. And it is that, What would our lives be without books?
Reading provides us with knowledge, culture and also imagination. An imagination that allows us transport us to unknown places and times, molding the scenes helped by the chisel of a writer in whose pen resides the heavy commitment to make us feel alive while reading his work.
The fields, mountains, forests, beaches, lakes, rivers... The traditions and varied historical events that our country offers to anyone who wants –or knows– to admire it with a certain artistic sensibility, converts Spain in an ideal muse for any writer.
Thus, many renowned authors fell in love with our country, making it the scene of their stories. Following the best literary routes through Spain in which they were inspired is a beautiful and magnificent way to explore our land. Here are some of them.
Courtyard of the house of Miguel Hernández, in Orihuela.
PATH OF THE POET MIGUEL HERNÁNDEZ
little more than three decades life had the poet from Orihuela Miguel Hernandez when he died, prey to illness, in a cold and gloomy Alicante dungeon. It was March 1942, and through the bars of his cell tried to inhale the scent of citrus and orange blossoms that the incipient spring pulled from the fields of his dear homeland of his.
His death was mourned by all the intellectuals of the time and his name remains for the memory on the street signs of towns and cities throughout the province of Alicante.
The Path of the Poet was inaugurated in 1998, also giving it the name of Camino Hernandiano. It is a route (signposted as the GR-125) of just over 70km which starts in his hometown, Orihuela, and ends in Alicante, passing through towns related to episodes from the life of the poet.
In Orihuela you visit the Miguel Hernandez House Museum. In his patio still stands the fig tree under whose shade the author sat to compose his verses. Fields of lemon and orange trees precede to towns like Redovan -hometown of the poet's father-, Callosa de Segura, Granja de Rocamora or Cox, where Hernández lived for a few years with his family.
Albatera, Crevillente and Elche (His manuscripts are kept at the Miguel Hernández University) are the stops before Alicante, whose cemetery houses his tomb, in which you can read: “Even if my loving body is underground, write to me on earth and I will write to you”.
Although the Path of the Poet can be done at any time of the year, the best is the weekend closest to March 28, when, commemorating the author's death, a tour full of cultural events related to his figure is organized.
Following the path of Don Quixote.
DON QUIXOTE ROUTE
'Don Quixote de la Mancha' is, without a doubt, the most universal work in Spanish. Written by Cervantes in two parts –published in 1605 and 1615, respectively–, it portrays the figure of a sad hidalgo in whose spirit the honorable times of the heroes still endure of chivalric novels. An ingenious, critical and lively portrait of the society of the time that today can be remembered by tour part of the vast territory through which he moved the protagonist of Cervantine history.
And it is that, despite the fact that Don Quixote and his inseparable Sancho come to visit cities like Barcelona, the Don Quixote Route covers a more limited route, passing through places such as Campo de Criptana –with its famous windmills–, Consuegra, Tomelloso or the imperial Toledo, where the mixture of the three cultures still permeates its winding streets.
Of course, the route also visits El Toboso, where the Cervantes Museum presents an opportunity incomparable to feel a total immersion in the quixotic world.
Burgos.
THE ROUTE OF THE SONG OF MÍO CID
The Cid Champion is another of the icons of our history that deserves its space in this selection of the best literary routes. The royal figure - according to the chronicles - fought and rode through fields scattered throughout Castilla y León, La Rioja, Aragón and the Valencian Community.
The current route is titanic, with a distance of 1,400 km if it is done on trails, and about 2,000 km if we want to complete it by road.
An adventure that takes us to visit, between verses and battles, places as beautiful and historic as Burgos, Covarrubias, Medinaceli, Morella, Albarracin, Teruel, Sagunto and Valencia . The landscapes are not left behind in this experience for which we will need at least month and a half Travel.
Hemingway in Pamplona.
THE HEMINGWAY ROUTE
Ernest Hemingway internationalized the San Fermín festivities with his novel 'Fiesta' (whose original title in English, 'The Sun Also Rises', shows that destroying the original language when translating titles of American movies or books goes back a long way), falling madly in love with Pamplona, city that he visited nine times.
There he found what he asked of life: party, joy, good food and a beautiful environment. In Pamplona, the Hemingway Route runs through places like the emblematic Plaza del Castillo, where there are some cafes and bars where the man of letters had his drinks (highlighting the mythical Café Iruña , founded in 1888 and which preserves a corner dedicated to Hemingway), the Plaza de Toros, the Paseo Sarasate and Eslava street, where the boarding house was located that housed, in 1923, the first dream of the writer in Pamplona.
Leaving the city, the beautiful town of Burguete is one of the places where Hemingway retired to rest and breathe fresh air. The same happened with Lekunberri and Aribe, in the banks of the beautiful river Irati, whose waters enraptured our friend.
The ways of Miguel Delibes.
THE VALLADOLID OF MIGUEL DELIBES
Miguel Delibes is one of those writers who spread the name of his land thanks to his literary works.
The Miguel Delibes Foundation has taken the trouble to design six different routes, each one based on a work by the author, so that travelers can tour the province of Valladolid admiring the same landscapes and towns that inspired him.
Thus, you can discover places like Valladolid, San Miguel del Pino, Tordesillas or Villanueva del Duero, town in which part of the action of his novel 'With the shotgun on his shoulder' takes place, written in 1970.
A perfect route to discover landscapes, cultural traditions and, of course, to taste the good wines from the Ribera del Duero.
Sheriff's Palace, in Ecija.
THE WASHINGTON IRVING ROUTE
This route reminds the trip he made, in the 19th century, American writer and diplomat Washington Irving.
Is about a journey that begins in La Rábida (Huelva) , passes through Seville and ends in Granada, playing in towns such as Palos de la Frontera, Moguer, Carmona, Écija, Marchena, Montefrío or Alhama de Granada.
Irving was fascinated for the impressive Hispano-Arabic legacy of this part of Andalusia, as well as for the history of the discovery of Christopher Columbus and the union links between America and the south of Spain. Countrysides, towns, legends, landscapes and literature in a magnificent route.
Trip to the Alcarria, a tribute to the work of Camilo José Cela.
THE ROUTE OF TRIP TO THE ALCARRIA BY CAMILO JOSE CELA
A young Camilo José Cela toured, in the harsh post-war period, a bit of the rural spain located in the province of Guadalajara.
With him he carried a notepad and a pencil. to write down what he saw, what the countrymen told him he found along the way and, above all, everything what inspired you and made him feel. The result of his notes was reflected in his iconic work 'Viaje a la Alcarria', published in 1948. A deep and truthful account of that rural Spain that tried to heal its wounds based on humility, effort and sweat.
The route passes through towns like Torija (where we will find the Museo del Viaje a la Alcarria housed in a beautiful castle), Brihuega (with the beautiful Royal Cloth Factory), Cifuentes, Trillo and Sacedón. While we go through them, those masterful words of the master do not cease to resonate in our memory: 'La Alcarria is that beautiful country that people don't feel like going to'.