Eldership 2025 Spain - Isla de Tabarca

Think of what Venice would be like if it was 100th the size, was an island, lacked all the history, but was still overrun by tourists. The promotional material on the island talks about it being the smallest inhabited island in Spain, and how it is an example of how the coast of Spain used to be before all the mass development in the 60's and 70's. Here is some history and facts via Wikipedia. Quite a bit is written about the protected marine environment. Supposedly fishing is the main occupation, with tourism big in the season - July and August. Being here in late October, tourism still seems to be a big thing. 

We actually had not intended to go to Tabarca. We were going to the port of Santa Palo and were going to check how frequently the boats left and what they cost so we could plan a trip their later. But we parked right by all the ticket offices.

 

 Wife went to the first one and found the boat would be leaving in minutes. We decided to jump on. This was a mistake. I had totally failed to account for the time each direction and the limited frequency of boats. I had to be back for a meeting. It was a later meeting and would have been fine under our normal day trip timing. As soon as I got on the boat and started looking at the above mentioned details I knew we would only be able to stay for a short time. This led to frustration for both Wife and I.

 Leaving Santa Palo harbor I noted the strict segregation of the 'working/fishing' side and the 'play' side.

 

 Leaving the harbor with company and going by a small lighthouse.

 

The trip across was uneventful and lacking in photo opportunities. But we arrive and see the primary landmark the Church of Peter and Paul

 

As a former fortified town, city gates

 

 The combination of strong sunlight, bright white buildings, and deep shade made for a challenging shooting environment.

 

 

Do you remember these wooden door and window coverings from Pinoso?

 

 

 Around the Island and Town

 

 

 

 

 

Who knew wife had a commercial empire in the Spanish Mediterranean?

 

 

 

 

 

For my friend The Count

 

 

 

 

 

 What are these?

 

Signs of the World

F@#%ing Rock!

According the translate app

 

 

Don't Get Wet

Seems like sound advice 

Eldership 2025 Spain - Mellowing with 2.2

After the excitement of the Moors and Christians Festival. Things mellowed out. Then on Friday we had more relatives visiting, 2.2 from Madrid. She is studying to become a physical therapist. A lot of the initial courses concerning anatomy are the same as would be required of a biology or pre-med major. So she was studying hard while here. But we still had a lot of quality time to talk. 

When your family is as far flung around the world as ours is, it takes a special effort to stay connected with your various grandchildren. We are lucky to have these opportunities to spend serious time with them. 

 Unlike the prior two years, the sunrises and sunsets have not been quite so spectacular. This week though we had a pretty good one.

 

 

 

 Mystery of the 13th floor. The elevator in our building has no 13th floor. That is not so unusual. One sees it a lot on buildings and with airplane row numbering. But walking home recently, I noticed there is a whole level of our building that is not built out. And it is at the 13th level!

 

 The 2.2 has arrived. And wants to know if she can practice her anatomy identification on me!

 

Wife somehow gets a pass on this. 

 

 

 

2.2 wanted home cooking. And wanted some ideas on how to make her student budget stretch. So I made fried rice with leftovers and showed her how to doctor up canned beans for a complete protein meal.

 

 

 

But balance is required. So Wife and 2.2 wanted to get Helado (Spanish Gelato).

However, I'm not a big sweets person. So I had a Cojortilla, an espresso with a shot of brandy in it. The 'Adult' dessert.

 

 

You know you are in Spain when you drop your granddaughter at the train station and stop at...

 

 

The Canadian Coffee Shop

Eldership 2025 Spain - Moors And Christians Festival Wrap-up

On Wednesday the multi-day festival concluded. There were numerous events we did not attend. However, our apartment is ideally located to view  the concluding fireworks. I promised in my last festival post to give some additional detail on how the things are organized. Here is what I got from my research.

In the Moors and Christians festival of El Campello, the different groupings of participants are organized into self-contained clubs or associations known as comparsas. These are social and fraternal organizations that operate year-round, preparing for the annual celebration. 

 

Comparsas are the organizing unit: Rather than being based on geography like neighborhoods, participation is defined by membership in a specific comparsa. There are separate comparsas for the Moorish side and the Christian side. In 2025, for example, El Campello featured 17 comparsas.

 

Voluntary membership: The festival brings together local residents and visitors who voluntarily join a comparsa. This creates a sense of community and allows participation to span multiple generations within families.

 

Social and fraternal structure: Members of a comparsa are called festeros and work together throughout the year. They hold social events, make costumes, and organize the details for the parade and festival. Each comparsa typically has its own headquarters (cuartelillos) where they gather.

 

Leadership roles: Within each comparsa, specific leadership roles are filled, particularly the "captain" and "standard-bearer" (banderera). These roles are handed down from one year's festival to the next.

 

Distinct identities: Each comparsa has its own name and identity. For instance, some of

El Campello's comparsas include:

• Christian: Cavallers de Conquesta, Cristians del Campello, Jaume I, and Cavallers de Montesa.
• Moorish: Marrocs, Meixemet, and Zaidies.

 

External participants: While the comparsas are local groups, other organizations are often invited to participate in the festival. For example, music bands (bandas de música) from throughout the region often travel to El Campello to accompany the parades, contributing to the spectacle. 

So we will conclude our Festival Coverage with a fireworks video spectacular.

 

 

Until 2026 

Eldership 2025 Spain - Pinoso Pines For You

Our guide to obscure towns in the Alicante region continues with the ever popular Pinoso. Pinoso means 'Pine' and in Pine Tree in Valencian. Pinoso was settled back in the Bronze Age and like most places here became Carthaginian, Roman, Visigothic, and Moorish. But after the Reconquista, it became mostly abandoned. Agriculture came back in the late 17th and early 18th century. In the 19th century wine grapes began to grown in the area. They also started mining marble and the town became quite prosperous. Today, the area around the town is the major wine growing area in the Alicante region. It has a church that dates to the early 18th century and a unique clock tower with a HUGE manual clock that has to be wound every day.

And yes I did get all of this from the official Valencian Communidad website.

 I am sure that there is some kind of regulation that requires superhighway builders to insert a minimum number of curves per kilometer, because you rarely find straight roads (say like you do in Italy). Add to this a lot of traffic, some drivers going well below the speed limit, and some drivers going well above the speed limit, and you have the equivalent being on a race course with many decisions related to speeding up, changing lanes, slowing down, all while going around curvy roads at high speed. Add not a quite great night of sleep and it was a stressful drive. 

On top of this, these small towns frequently are lacking in parking facilities, add that the tourist information offices are usually in the narrow street part of old town, and the driving experience can be less than optimum.

However, as this picture shows, we were able to find a place not far from the Centro. Yay de-I Euro driver.

 

 One of the fore mentioned pine trees in the very square we parked.

 

 LIke many such towns there are hills and lots of steps and inclines

 

 

As we approached the center of town, I noticed all of the wrought iron railings on the balconies. And they were all different!

 

 

 

 

 

 Another design feature we saw were these wooden curtains in front of the doors.

 

They were everywhere. I'd not seen these before.

The city has a nice mural painted in its Centro.

 

 The 18th century church with the obligatory blue tile on the dome and Baroque interior

 

 

 

 

 Some nice lamps

 

 

 The Clock Tower which has a unique iron roof

 

 

 

 Stop Gender Violence - a sign on a square in the Centro. The only one of its type we saw.

 

 For the many cat lovers among my readers (and there are many), this town had a ton of cats and they all looked quite well fed and content.

 

 

 

 A unique looking house

 

 A photographer shooting the unique looking house

 

 The Santa Catalina Hermitage

 

 

Photographer shooting the Hermitage

 

 Gastronomy

This was the first time Wife has really done what I would call a 'normal' walk around since her foot injury. There were a lot of hills and steps. I was fortunate to find a restaurant on the way from the Hermitage to where the car was parked that was a gem.

Grilled Scallops Appetizer

 

 A really nice Bacalao with a sauce of garlic and parsley

 

 Grilled Chicken

 

 This place was serving up a lot of rice dishes. There was this show on a TV screen.

 After a while I realized it was a live shot in the kitchen showing the rice dishes being cooked the traditional way over open fire. I even saw Wife's chicken being cooked. Too bad it is so far away. I would love to come back.