Llucalcari is one of the smallest and most unknown towns in Mallorca.
The drums sound. Connections open. The Spain we missed is there, waiting for us. However, during this period of confinement you have had a lot of time to think: Again the umpteenth beach of each year? Nonstop mojitos to alleviate post-confinement? Nope! What you need are new colors, lose yourself in the unknown and, if possible, isolated enough to feel like you can reset again.
As revealed by an eDreams survey, 55% of Spaniards decide travel to a new destination discovered through Instagram, social network that has given us more than one traveling surprise in recent years.
An ally that is a window to that Spain where they fit from rainbow-haunted waterfalls to fashion-forward markets where, the least important thing is to go in to buy fruit. #TravelResponsibly and visit all those places that you will discover during the first summer of the new normality.
The new Melilla Market has brought a new ray of light to the neighborhood
MELILLA MARKET
In 2003, the Melilla Market was abandoned after years as the epicenter of a city as fascinating as it is mestizo. A focus that would be revived recently through different initiatives with the aim of turning this market into the perfect link between the Muslim, Christian and Jewish cultures of the city. Wrapped in a typical Arabic latticework design, the old market today represents a white light in the middle of a neighborhood of eroded colors where a hand is extended to education but, above all, to the future of a new Melilla.
WATERFALL OF COLORS, LA PALMA
Somewhere on the island of La Palma the rainbow made love with the mountains and never took off again. Or at least that's what it promises the Cascada de Colores, a unique attraction, almost cosmic, trapped at the end of the Barranco de las Angustias, in the famous Caldera de Taburiente. The result of iron, water and magma poured over the years by the volcanic Canary Island, this waterfall is the best reward for a trekking route through the bowels of what is known as 'La Isla Bonita'.
FORAT OF BERNIA, ALICANTE
If there is a province that Instagram loves, that is Alicante: from the Red Wall of Calpe (and its consequent ban on instagrammers) to the island of Tabarca, passing through the dreamy Altea... And it is precisely there, in the Sierra de Bernia that surrounds this town that could well pass for that of a Greek island, where hiking and nature lead to an unexpected corner: the Forat de Bernia.
The route begins in the town of Cases de Bernia and continues for two hours through the shady mountains until arriving at this grotto from which to feel like the king of the Costa Blanca.
THE LADDER OF LIFE, LION
We often discover on Instagram photos of colorful stairs in Valparaíso and Sao Paulo, in California or Malaysia, without realizing that in León we have our own ascent to the rainbow. Specifically in Álvaro López Núñez street, the one known as the Ladder of Life explodes in quotes and colors fruit of the work of the high school students of the San José Marist College, whose project was one of the winners of the ARTEspacios call of the Autonomous University of Madrid in 2018.
COMBARRO GRANES, PONTEVEDRA
Galicia has always written its own rules, those of its world, those of a universe so particular that it is sometimes diluted between fantasy and reality. And we suspect that many of these secrets are still stored in the so-called hórreos , typical wooden constructions of the Galician coast focused on the conservation of food and animals away from humidity. A local icon found in the town of Combarro, in Pontevedra, **the Galician postcard we dream of from different granaries on wooden poles interrupting the Atlantic horizon. **
ALQUEVA RESERVOIR, BADAJOZ
There are places that have not yet been discovered by the masses. That they are retained as the best secret of some locals who take advantage of these first days of freedom to bathe in silence. And one of these scenarios is the Alqueva reservoir, the largest in Europe which the province of Badajoz shares with the Portuguese Alentejo. The best excuse to take a bath and continue with a walk through the fascinating medieval town of Olivenza, at the Portuguese end.
PUERTO LAPICE, CIUDAD REAL
When we think of Don Quixote and La Mancha, the first place that comes to mind is the town of Consuegra and its iconic windmills. However, on a Cervantes route that covers up to 2,500 kilometres, there is room for other surprises such as Puerto Lápice, a small town founded by the ancient routes of the Roman Empire that today gives off places like its Plaza de la Constitución or a Posada del Quijote that smells of ratatouille and saffron. Although it was not exactly Instagram who discovered it for us, but Don Quixote himself after his battle with the wind giants: “And speaking of the past adventure They continued on their way to Puerto Lápice because there Don Quixote said that it was not possible to avoid finding many and diverse adventures, for being a very temporary place...”
CALA PRINCIPE, ALMERIA
Cabo de Gata is that little piece of the Almería desert where getting lost and disarming its mirages is part of the experience. A microcosm of white houses with aloes in the windows, dusty paths and famous enclaves such as the Playa de los Muertos or the Playa de los Genoveses that camouflage many other paradises to discover. Cala Principe is one of them, including an access that is an adventure in itself. From the Barronal beach, climbing a steep cliff (be careful with the weight of the backpack) until you reach a cove where you will only see two tourists in the middle of August. If you take advantage of its caves to deploy the tent, much better.
LLUCALCARI, MAJORCA
Seen from afar, Llucalcari might seem like an abandoned town. However, as we move between its stone stairs and fairytale streets, one of the biggest secrets of the island of Mallorca is discovered. A small town in the Sierra de Tramuntana that still preserves its old bastions of defense against the pirates and among whose remains the blue of the Deyá cove stands out, a paradise on earth where you can disconnect from the rest of the world.
COLUMN OF THE M30, MADRID
More than curious, this place could be considered an irresistible freak. In any case, when all the parks in Madrid have already been opened and the queues at the ice cream parlors are too long, Starting off in search of the Ionic column of the M-30 may be the best plan.
Located on the left side of Calle 30, towards the Valencia highway tunnel, this jewel of Madrid kitsch It was erected, according to the journalist Isabel Gea Ortigas in her book Curious Madrid, to camouflage a vent installed in the Manzanares River in 1926. Very appropriate.