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The Wild Asparagus Hunters are Out and About

It´s that time of year. Cars parked in odd places, the solitary person - usually a man, popping up above a bank or from behind an olive tree. The hunters of the wild aparagus are here. The plentiful rain scattered with a day or two of sunshine has brought them out in droves. Some have their route, others instinctively know where to go. They appear, walking back to their cars, with a huge bundle of foot long green spears of asparagus. And off they go, probably not to be seen for another year - or another week if the rain continues. No matter how hard the shoots try and hide the older men hunt them down with stick in hand, to fob off the spiky old growth, and uncover the tender new stems of wild asparagus. Everyone has their favourite way of cooking them but the most common seems to be in a Tortilla - the thick Spanish potato omelette to which you can add anything that comes to hand - or is hunted down. My one or two shorter stem finds don´t come close to the experienced hunters catch. I...

Castles and Battles Route

The Castles and Battles route or Ruta de Castillos y Batallas starts with Castillo de Calatrava la Vieja in the region of Ciudad Real to the north of Andalucia and travels down through Jaen province into the province of Granada, ending with the magnificent Alhambra Palace in Granada city.

Castillo la Vieja, Ciudad Real, Castle and Battle Route
Castillo de Calatrava la Vieja, Ciudad Real

It is said that Jaen province has the most fortifications in Europe and that there isn´t one town, and there are 97, within its borders that doesn´t have some form of castle, fortress or look-out tower.

Some have been restored while others lie in ruins but the sheer number of monuments is staggering. I climb a hill, and there are many, to find a watch tower or one nearby. The sheer ingenuity of the whole system is mind boggling in its coverage of the land, wild or tame, accessible or seemingly not so.

Route of Castles and Battles Map

The Route of Castles and Battles is based on military events dating from the war between Hannibal and the Roman Empire, later the skirmishes of the Reconquest between the Muslims and Christians to the Peninsular War between Napoleon and the Spanish army. The itinerary of the route is as follows.

Castle and Battle Route in Jaen

Santa Elena
La Carolina
Vilches
Linares
Baños de la Encina
Bailen
Andujar
Arjonilla
Arjona
Lopera
Porcuna
Jaen
Torredelcampo
Torredonjimeno
Martos
Alcaudete
Alcala la Real

Castle La Mota, Alcala la Real
La Mota, Alcala la Real


Castle and Battle Route in Granada

Montefrio
Illora
Moclin
Granada and The Alhambra

The Alhambra Palace
Detail, The Alhambra



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