This will be the Fiesta de los Patios de Córdoba this October
The Festival of the Courtyards of Córdoba celebrates 100 years, and will be held from May 3 to 16 if the sanitary circumstances allow it: if the number of infections continues to drop and the number of vaccinated increases. A ray of hope for the commerce and hospitality of a city, Córdoba, which lives practically from tourism and has seen how it was postponed again Holy Week, the Cordoba Fair or the May Crosses a year in which the city was on all the lists of the most desired cities to visit in the world.
"We have to learn to live with the virus and continue working," says the Cordoba Tourism Delegate, Isabel Albas who explains to Traveler.es that "the good thing about this festival (and what sets it apart from other events) is that the patios are outdoors . And, although with masks, social distances and controlling the capacity very well as we did at the Puente del Pilar, in October, the Festival de los Patios de Córdoba, they continue to be an experience that does not exist anywhere else in the world where sensations are perceived , colors, aromas... which are a real wonder. That is why the Patios of Córdoba are Intangible Heritage of Humanity ”, she explained.
A COMMITMENT TO THE NATIONAL TRAVELER
Despite the fact that the foreign traveler represented a high percentage of the visits to Córdoba during the last editions of the Festival de los Patios – in 2019 visits reached almost one million visitors , according to data offered by the City Council– this May the Festival of the Courtyards of Córdoba will bet heavily on national travelers.
A commitment to the national traveler
“We find ourselves in a situation in which we all have to address the visitor to our autonomous community and also the traveler at a national level, especially promoting networks such as the Network of AVE Cities or the Network of World Heritage Cities Albas pointed out. “But we must also put the accent on the health guarantee because today people who are willing to travel do so with a very special regard for the safety of the destination they are going to choose. In Córdoba it is possible to enjoy the Festival of Patios in May in the open air and with total guarantee as we already demonstrated in the edition of the Patios de Córdoba last October”.
CONTROLLED SANITARY MEASURES TO CELEBRATE THE CENTENARY OF THE COURTS OF CÓRDOBA
This year will celebrate the hundred years of a festival that rewards the ritual of spring in the courtyards of Cordoba , whose origin dates back to the Roman domus around an atrium , and the tradition of aromatic and medicinal plants in Arab patios.
In total, they usually participate each year about 50 patios in the contest and the budget allocated for its organization exceeds 200,000 euros s – all participants receive a second prize for participation according to the size of the patio that ranges from more than 4,000 euros for patios of more than 100 meters, up to 3,000 euros for patios between 40 and 60 square meters).
So that everything goes perfectly, the sanitary measures that were already put into practice in the last Fiesta de los Patios de Córdoba, held on October 12, 2020, during the Hispanic bridge, will be resumed, as explained to traveler. is the Tourism Delegate: “ mandatory and correct use of the mask (included in taking photos and/or videos, if allowed by the property); mandatory control of temperature, which may not exceed 37.5 ºC : the mandatory use of hydroalcoholic gel at the entrance of the enclosures , which will be activated with a pedal; the prohibition to touch anything during the visit ; the scrupulous safety distance of two meters and access as "coexistence groups" (with maximums that will be established according to the current health situation), in addition to visits to the patios that will be carried out as quickly as possible.
VERY WELL DEFINED OPENING HOURS AND CONTROLLED CAPACITY
The Patios de Córdoba will also have a strict schedule and They will open to visitors from Monday to Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., except on the last Sunday, when they will close at 8:30 p.m. . And besides the staff for the capacity control and for taking the temperature of visitors, there will be sanitary devices located in the center of the city, in several specific areas, and the cleaning company Sadeco will reinforce, as it already did, the disinfection of the areas with the highest influx of visitors twice a day. day and will provide disinfectant solution to the caregivers of the patios for the daily disinfection of each enclosure.
“The issue of capacity will depend on each patio” Isabel Albas explained. “There are some patios that fit 20 people and other larger ones in those who can enter up to 80 , but the visit will always be made respecting the security measures, the distances and the capacity as appropriate.
In addition, the owners of the patios, helped by the Local Police, will ensure the coordination of the queues at the doors of the patios -which were a classic of the festival- although in recent years the Courtyards of Córdoba have been gaining in harmony and in order thanks to the reduction of large groups that used to come in buses, to the control of the guided tours of patios that used to distort the festival a bit, and to the redistribution of visitors who accumulated in the most typical areas of Cordovan patios such as the Old Alcazar.
DRONES AND SENSORS TO DISTRIBUTE VISITORS BY ZONES
Monitoring the routes followed by travelers visiting a city in order to be able to work on possible accumulations of people was one of them. to the extent that the great world capitals of tourism (Venice, New York, Paris, Rome, Barcelona, Lisbon…) pre-pandemic. Above all, to later evaluate the results and create alternative routes that could redistribute visitors to other neighborhoods in the city and avoid the effects of overtourism in some areas.
Let's not deny typicality; Andalusian typicality is beautiful!
Is " sensorized mobility ” consists of the installation of sensors and drones, which were already used during the Festival de los Patios de Córdoba in 2020 as Pilot project , with the aim of c Control the capacity, mobility and distance between visitors to the festival , and as a future application to other events in the capital and other editions of the patios.
The data collected by these sensors, which incorporate Wi-Fi and Bluetooth technology as well as cameras (images are protected by the Data Protection Law), are transferred to software that measures the degree of occupation, the time people spend in a courtyard and tracks which routes are followed during the festival . Also, several drones , as they did in the last edition, they will fly over the Alcázar Viejo area with the same purpose.
All this information in real time is published in the Courtyards website so that users know in real time the movement of visitors between patios and the capacity in each of them. This page also offers interactive maps of the festival patios, recommended routes, accessible routes for people with mobility problems, tips, and the possibility, if necessary, of "Enjoy the Festival de los Patios de Córdoba online if we couldn't do it in person, which is the goal" , explained the Tourism Delegate for Traveler.es.
Map of the Courtyards of Cordoba
THE PATIO WINNERS OF THE PENULTIMATE, ARE THEY THE ONES THAT WE DON'T HAVE TO MISS THIS YEAR?
Although in the last edition the capacity of the patios was reduced by half and there was no competition, this edition will resume the competition to see which of the Cordovan patios are the most spectacular . The contest will continue to count, as usual, with two modalities: Ancient Architecture and Modern Architecture, among which eight prizes plus one of honor will be distributed.
The starting signal for patio caretakers begins now, because setting up the patio requires an extra effort in this final stretch: whitewashing walls, painting flower pots, transplanting pots, fertilizers... without forgetting that the maintenance of these patios is carried out throughout the year and that this dedication must be understood more as a lifestyle: the care of Cordovan patios is a legacy that passes in Córdoba (also in the province) from mothers to daughters (and some sons).
and although there are mythical patios like that of San Basilio, 44 , which is one of those alma mater of the Patios festival every year, the winners of the contest in the 2019 edition give a clue of those that you cannot miss (although their thing is to visit them all by following the routes proposed by the interactive map ). In Ancient Architecture they won the prizes for the street Moroccans, 6; Tint 9; Saint Basil, 14; Maese Luis 22 and Postrera 28 and Calle Parras 6 . And in Modern Architecture the winners were:** Chaparro 3, Parras 5, Duartas 2; San Juan de Palomares 8; Pedro Fernandez 6; San Basilio 20 and Gutiérrez de los Ríos 33**.