Spanish Travel: The 'Route of the Faces' is an artistic adventure [Video/Photos]

For those who enjoy hiking in beautiful scenery with a side of something artistic, heading to the dam at Buendía in the Cuenca province of Castilla-la Mancha offers a unique experience.

When on holiday in Spain, most people head to the coast and the beaches, or spend time in the big cities like Barcelona and Madrid. However, a Spanish holiday can be so much more than just getting the perfect suntan.

The town of Buendía is not too far from Madrid and is surrounded by dense pine forests and outcrops of sandstone rock. In this rock, several artists have collaborated over the years to create an amazing artistic walking route, with unique sculptures, ranging in size from one to eight feet in height.

Combining nature and art in a serene natural forest gives nature and art lovers alike the chance to get out of the traditional museum scene and into the fresh air.

According to the official Spanish website, this is known as the “Ruta de las Caras” or “Route of the Faces” in English. There are, in total, 18 carved faces and bas reliefs to be seen on the winding hiking route, all carved directly into the sandstone itself.

The varying scenarios give the onlooker a cultural and artistic journey of spiritual discovery along the way. There is a religious or mystical meaning behind each face and while it reminds viewers of Pharaonic Egypt, the artists themselves say they were inspired by the pre-Columbian cultures.

To see more of the sculptures, take a brief tour of the Route of the Faces in the video below.

Buendía  - a perfect travel destination

The Buendía area is worth a visit for many more reasons, however, as there are several hiking trails available, including easier and shorter routes for the children. The one hour scenic trail takes visitors through the whole area, including the “Ruta de las Caras,” while a rather more grueling route goes out past the Buendía swamps and alongside the Sierra de Altamira, with scenic views across the mountainous landscape.

For those keen on water sports, the dam itself and various waterways in the area are perfect for several water sports, including boating, sailing, jet skiing, fishing, and in some areas, bathing.

The gastronomy of the town is a pleasure, too, and typical dishes in the restaurants of Buendía include the traditional Cuenca roast lamb, pickled partridge, chicken with garlic and migas (a traditional Spanish breadcrumb dish) along with some all too tempting local desserts.

Buendía offers the perfect arty accommodation

Make a plan on your next Spanish holiday to do something a little different and visit Buendía and its amazing "Ruta de las Caras." Enjoy your stay at Hotel Rural La Casa de las Médicas, a charming hotel with a unique artistic touch of its own. Each room has been creatively decorated and every one is different, perfect for a weekend break.

Photos: Ruta de las Caras via Wikimedia Commons by Asoka / CC BY-SA 3.0

Buendía dam by Aitor Fdez-Ceballos / CC BY-SA 4.0

DNA dumps: Spanish town uses canine DNA to track owners who leave dog poop in the street

Anyone living in a Valencia town who leaves their pet’s poop on the pavement is facing heavy fines, after a DNA check system has been put into place.

Photo via Flickr by David Wormley / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

After many complaints about dog excrement on the streets of the town, dog owners in Mislata, near Valencia, have been ordered to register their dog’s DNA using mandatory blood samples, by December 31^st this year. The pets’ DNA will then be kept on a council database to be matched against samples of dog poop picked up by the city’s street cleaners.

According to The Local, the council put the following notice on their website:

"To avoid unpleasant feces that some owners forget on the street, the city has launched a DNA analysis system that identifies droppings."

Mislata street cleaners ordered to collect the poop for analysis

The notice went on to read that street cleaners will now be responsible for collecting samples, which will then be guarded by the local police and analyzed in a laboratory. When the errant dog owner is traced, they will then be fined a hefty €200 for their crime.

Desperate to clean up their streets, this is only the latest in a string of councils across Spain who have introduced the measures, including Hernani in the Basque Country and Tarragona in Catalonia. Colmenar Viejo, north of Madrid, even went so far as to hire a private detective to track down the poop culprits. Brunete, another town close by, introduced a scheme whereby they mailed the poop found in the streets directly to the dog owner’s home.

Mislata hace un censo de perros con su ADN para identificar los excrementos en la calle https://t.co/2UqCmzFu4i

— ABC Com.Valenciana (@ABC_CValenciana) October 31, 2016

Madrid city officials took a further step earlier this year by announcing a new plan to make dog owners work as street cleaners, or pay a fine of up to €1500, if they failed to pick up the dog poop.

Inflatable dog poop statue in Madrid town stolen

The Local also mentioned Torrelodones, outside Madrid, whose council positioned a giant, inflatable dog turd in front of the town hall to protest the increasing amount of dog poop found on the town’s pavements. The council reckoned that 15,000 separate poos producing some 500kg of excrement a day were being left on the streets. 

#nomascacas pic.twitter.com/5REtm4eO6R

— Luz Navarro Garcia (@luznaga) May 28, 2016

Needless to say, someone - either with a sense of humor or guilty of not picking up their pet’s piles - stole the darn thing.

Murcia police rescue homeless man from rubbish bin

A 48-year-old man in Murcia, Spain climbed into a bin to take what he thought was a bag of old clothes. He then had to call for help when he couldn’t get out again.

Photo courtesy Local Police, Murcia

Passersby called the police to the Vistabella neighborhood in Murcia recently after they heard the man yelling for help from inside the rubbish bin. He had squeezed through a small gap to get into the bin and became trapped as the bin has a tilting door mechanism, designed to prevent people from doing exactly what the man had done. This type of protection on the bins has become common practice in Spain after the country’s continuing economic crisis.

The man is reportedly of Romanian origins and survives on the streets and in homeless shelters in the city and he believed the bag in the bin contained old clothes being sent for recycling. Apparently, besides getting stuck in the bin, he was wrong in his assumptions. José Elias, a spokesman for the Murcia Local Police said on Twitter that they have no idea how he managed to get into the bin, while sharing photos of the incident. 

Ayer agentes del GESC rescatan a un hombre que quedó atrapado en el interior de un contenedor soterrado en el Bº Vistabella. pic.twitter.com/eXBx3sPpUH

— Policía Local Murcia (@MurciaPolicia) October 19, 2016

Reportedly police could not free the man and had to call council workers to open the container and get the man out. In total he spent around half an hour trapped in the rubbish bin but is believed to be unhurt by the experience.

According to The Local, the National Statistics Agency (INE) says that Murcia is one of the most poverty stricken regions in the country with 31 percent of the population at risk of poverty. Besides the tilting door mechanisms, other councils in Spain have introduced locks on the bins in an attempt to stop people from scavenging.

Source: The Local

Spain introduces ‘Napflix’ channel to aid the popular siesta

Many people have problems sleeping and even find it hard to drop off for a traditional afternoon siesta, so a new online platform, Napflix, is being launched to help out.

According to creators Francesc Bonet and Victor de Tena, Napflix will air only the most boring and dull content in the aim of making people fall asleep.

In a statement, the two creators explained, "We all know the feeling of insomnia. Your body wants to sleep but your mind is still awake and active. So how can we steady up our mind."

They went on to say that Napflix is a new video platform where you can watch silent and slow content to relax the brain and easily drop off to sleep. De Tena told Cadena Ser that they have found a lot of videos on YouTube that will really help people sleep. Among the content is a two-hour lecture by a Yale physics professor, explaining the complexities of Einstein. Alternatively, you can relax by watching a 54-minute video of chickens turning slowly on a rotisserie. De Tena added that a game of cricket can be very boring and is an ideal option.

He added that they have chosen the content based on how boring it actually is, or for the “elevator music” that plays along with it. They event found a film that was voted as being the worst film ever by IMDb users in the form of “Code Name K.O.Z.” along with an American experimental drama called “The Tree of Life.”

Besides these dull and slow options, Napflix will also air such soothing and slow content as waves lapping on a beach, a crackling fireplace or an eight-hour epic of a candle slowly burning down.

Saying they are “taking siesta to the next level," the idea is very similar to the famous Norwegian “slow TV,” so that country might call the Spanish copycats. They have already aired crackling fire footage, starting from the logger cutting the wood right through to a brightly burning fireplace as well as a complete, 7-hour train journey (see below).

Sleep well!

Source: Cadena Sur

Hotel Marqués de Riscal is a work of art in Basque Spain

There are literally thousands of hotels all over Spain, but only a few catch your eye in such a dramatic fashion as the Hotel Marqués de Riscal, brainchild of Frank O. Gehry. 

The hotel makes an incredible architectural statement as it looms in all its weirdness and wonderfulness over a traditional Basque town. As for the architect, Gehry was labeled by Vanity Fair as “the most important architect of our age,” and looking at his work it is easy to see why. The Canadian-American Pritzker Prize-winning architect, based in Los Angeles, has been responsible for some truly incredible work, like the titanium-covered Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, and other award-winning work worldwide. 

Right in the historic heart of the medieval town of Elciego in Spain’s Basque country and surrounded by older stone buildings and endless vineyards, the hotel looms with color, curves and artistic lines. However, it is not just the exterior that shows Gehry’s genius. On entering the hotel the tilted walls, cathedral-like high ceilings and zigzag-effect windows continue this trend, making the hotel into not only luxurious accommodations, but also a work of beautiful art.

The hotel has 43 rooms and suites and offers two restaurants, namely the Michelin-starred Marqués de Riscal Restaurant and the chic Bistró 1860 restaurant both of which offer a deluxe gourmet experience.

For a room with a real view, the guest lounge is on the top floor, offering comfortable leather sofas, a cozy fireplace for cold winter months and a variety of reading material. The adjoining terrace gives views across the surrounding wine-growing areas to the mountains, as well as the fascinating and medieval village of Elciego itself.

As an additional treat, Hotel Marqués de Riscal offers an exclusive spa experience at the Vinotherapie® Spa by Caudalie, an establishment offering relaxation and also health and beauty treatments relating rather appropriately to the grape. For instance, there is the hydrotherapeutic Barrel Bath, where guests can soak in an exfoliating grape marc, as well as the Winemaker’s Massage, to increase blood circulation and improve muscle tone, among many other relaxing offers. The spa has won three international awards for excellence over the years and is well worth a visit. There is also a well-equipped gym to help guests keep fit and in shape during their stay.

The surrounding area is fascinating too, with the rolling hills as a background and the expansive vineyard, which actually dates back to 1858, making Marqués de Riscal the oldest winery in the region. There is plenty to learn about the wine-making art on several tours available of the area, as well as enjoyable wine tasting events.

Guests can explore their surroundings using the complimentary bicycles offered by the hotel - visit the charming village of Elciego and its winding streets or take a picnic in the countryside close by including, naturally, a bottle of Marqués de Riscal wine.

For anyone wishing to have a rural experience in the vineyards of Spain, together with a stay in a luxurious and unique building, Hotel Marqués de Riscal in Elciego is a fascinating choice.