Is it Tuscany? Is it Provence? No, it's the Alcarria
It was not Cela's fault, but Sergio del Molino . To this Trip to La Alcarria XXI century version was not pushed by a travel book but an essay. It was Empty Spain , that book that thousands of people have read, the one that encouraged us to grab a car and head towards this country , as Don Camilo called him, who, by the way, would have grumbled for having inspired him. The times change. Let's travel to the exotic Alcarria.
The adjective 'exotic' is not a literary device. Yes the exotic is what is different to what is taken as a reference, this region of Guadalajara is. And it is because it is empty . According to del Molino's book, Empty Spain is the Inland Spain, depopulated and discreet.
This covers the two Castillas, Extremadura, Aragón and La Rioja.; Madrid does not count. They live there, we live, very crowded, as in the rest of Western Europe. Therefore, this " country within a country ”, as del Molino calls it, is something very strange. For those of us who are surrounded by people and noise, it is more exotic than a palm tree and a white sand beach.
The name 'Alcarria' sounds like beige tones and plains
La Alcarria is part of this Empty Spain . We have great news: is full . In this region there are well-kept villages, spectacular Romanesque churches, tasty food, stone houses with Tuscan cypress trees and lavender fields.
the name sounds to beige and to plains , but the reality is different: it is an area with varied landscapes and many shades of green; the roads full of ferns, always so Jurassic Park.
Empty Spain will not have people but Art and Nature. Cela traveled through it in nine days and it is said that he wrote his Trip to the Alcarria , who will turn 60 next year. We propose a weekend with a somewhat quiet and very free tour . We will give names, but not orders or times of when to go to each one. If we have reached La Alcarria it is to let ourselves go.
the nothing
IS IT TUSCANY? IS IT PROVENCE? NO, IT'S THE ALCARRIA
The first stop will be alocen . We chose this town because yes, because we liked it, because it concentrates very well the essence of this area . Already the name, with that Arabic sound, reminds us of its historical character. yes
f they told us to paint a village (this one has less than 100 inhabitants in winter , two or three thousand in summer) we would use it as a model. Deliver what we expect: a church, a square and stone houses surrounding it . It's neat, clean and dead silent. The bells of the 16th century church are the only thing that breaks this peace. Here it is Place du Port .
dead silent
This house is the project of John and Olga ; after living in Los Angeles, where he was working at Walt Disney Animation Studios on Frozen and Olga was doing a research project with the University of UCLA, they decided go back to guadalajara.
There they raised their project: a six-bedroom house-hotel. Place du Port is rented as a whole (or from three rooms) and has areas that you would not want to move from, such as the glazed patio, the living room with Chester and the terrace with hanging chairs from which you can almost touch the church. Sometimes it feels like you're in the Luberon , others in Val d'Orcia in Tuscany, and as soon as you look out the window and look out at the Entrepenas Reservoir , you know you are in La Alcarria. From this house, which in two minutes we will feel like our own, we will tour the place.
Garden of the Place du Port
THE RESERVOIR
Let's talk about him. Alocén belongs to the Entrepeñas reservoir culture. At this point we get a little serious, because it has only 10% water . This generates a huge economic, environmental and social disruption. Less water, less life.
However, the view from Alocén is beautiful even with the swamp empty; also from the road that surrounds it and from which you can access the different ports. In times when it is full of its characteristic turquoise water everything wakes up
Those who come here from the city do so attracted by its "silence". This was what encouraged Josephine Douet , a Parisian photographer and her family to have a house “without a soul hundreds of meters away” on the banks of the reservoir. She, after living in Scandinavia for many years, "was looking for a place to disconnect and be able to prepare her artistic projects without hassles." She confesses her from Paris, where she now resides: “I fell in love with the light of the place”. We, at this point, are also already seduced. And we are not easy, no.
In Alocén there are no shops and there is only one bar in the square. Here you don't come to do, you come to be. In the house there is good wine, a fireplace for cold evenings, comfortable beds and powerful Wi-Fi. The first night we will sleep like blessed and when we wake up something unusual will happen: We will breathe fresh air. what an extravagance.
Entrepeñas Reservoir
ROAD TRIP EXPRESS: FROM VILLAGE TO VILLAGE
The next day we will dedicate it to jumping from town to town. They are all small and very close to each other. The level of historical heritage is high : there are no mediocre churches. Throughout the day we will prove it by visiting places like Budia, Durón or Sacedón.
Budia is confusing because it does not seem like a quiet town; the bars in the square are full and the people are friendly. Right in the square there are some rural apartments called in an epic way The Condor . Notice to navigators: in La Alcarria there are few hotels.
Very close (everything is close here) we find duron . In this town there are noble mansions from the 16th and 17th centuries that tell us that there was a brilliant past here.
Sacedon It is one of the towns that the locals mention the most and one of the most repeated signs. Very attached, like Alocén, to the life of the reservoir, it has a spectacular monastery nearby. Is about Saint Mary of Monsalud , one of the best examples of medieval architecture in the Iberian Peninsula.
There is more: we can visit Pastrana , one of the towns with the greatest density of monuments, or Pareja, on the other shore, a beautiful town with including renaissance church and swamp views . It depends on how we want to organize the day, if we want it fuller or emptier, worth the joke, we will stop at one or the other. Part of the charm of La Alcarria is to visit and gloat in these places without anyone getting in the way, without queues, without rushing.
Pastrana
STONE HOUSES AND FOOD UNDER A VINE
We only have one thing clear: **we will eat at El Olivar**. This is one of the most beautiful places in La Alcarria, but we write it in a low voice because l Locals comment that it is filling up with people from Madrid . That is, of people like us who seek peace, stones and emptiness.
People from Empty Spain: we come in peace, we do not want to invade or objectify. After several days touring and observing it, we are in a position to affirm that the Spain that El Molino speaks of in his book it is not dark nor does it look askance at the visitor . La Alcarria, at least, is bright and full of affable people eager to chat. And what would a trip be without conversations.
In El Olivar we will buy olives a man with a bohemian appearance who settles in the square on Saturday; that will be the gift that we will take to our friends and for which they will love us a little more. We will fantasize about having a stone house here, if possible with crypté at the door ; we know who did it and ended up having it.
Next to the white-haired lord of the olives another stall is placed. This is from Elizabeth and Almudena , who sell organic vegetables from their garden in Alocén. Those who know the place well warn us that we cannot leave without buying Torronteras honey which they call " the best of La Alcarria ”. And they warn that this year's "good" is rosemary. Noted.
Honey is bought in moranchel . Everybody calls this place "Eulalio" and on this trip several people mentioned it. In La Alcarria someone in a town suggests that you eat in the next town and ask for it. That such encourages you to visit which in the next town. Who needs Tripadvisor. In "Eulalio" you eat a scandalous grilled meat and, if the weather is good, it is done under the vine, which is always balsamic. Eye: let's not forget the honey.
At dusk we will return to our house in Alocén. At this point we already feel somewhat alcarreños.
Honey from La Alcarria
MASSAGES, ROMANESQUE AND LAVENDER
The next morning we will go to the area of ** Brihuega .** There it is Torija , where Cela began her journey and where there is a Museum dedicated to Trip to La Alcarria and one thinks how nice one would be about Empty Spain.
This whole area is related to lavender , one of the bases of the economy of the area. In Brihuega it is everywhere: in the souvenir shops and in the conversations of the residents of the town . To see the fields in bloom, you have to wait until July because it is on that date that activities and routes are organized, taking advantage of the fact that the fields are dyed purple.
Brihuega
The simile is easy, but the tint is that real. Also at that time, on July 15, the ** Lavender Festival ** takes place, which every year celebrates a concert in the middle of the field. The past the protagonist was Star Morente . We will be patient and wait for next summer. Lavender is also present at ** Niwa Hotel&Spa **, a rarity.
This place offers oriental massages in the heart of Alcarria . It has been doing it for years and has a loyal clientele. Let's do something: before returning to Madrid, let's enjoy a massage with hot pindas of native lavender but let's not forget Reserve . They are usually full.
Before or after the massage we will tour the town which, like all of the towns in the area, has an excellent historical heritage; the city was declared 1973 Historic-Artistic Ensemble . We come across the church of Santa María de la Peña and San Felipe, both from the 13th century.
It's not the only thing : Brihuega has a wall, a castle, Arab caves and even galleries and tunnels. Very interesting is the cloth factory , an industrial complex from the 18th century with gardens from the period, which have been reopened after years of neglect. Fountains, with water from underground springs, dot the town. Don't forget to drink where you can . When are you going to do it again?
Eat at ** El Tolmo ** any of its high-calorie dishes; everyone will recommend it to you. We have already talked about how information circulates through these lands.
Between fountains, Romanesque churches and lavender, it's time to return to Madrid. We have left many places behind: Hita, Cifuentes, Horche… We will return because we feel like it.
Cela wrote (this quote is very hackneyed) that "La Alcarria is a country that people don't feel like going to" . He gave us and will give us. We have been in Empty Spain and we have understood why Poblada Spain needs it. Of course, we are afraid that it will be full.
Church of San Felipe in Brihuega