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Hi guys and gays of Apricity, I have been on vacation the last week in Andalusia and these are my impressions, specially for those who any day think to travel there:
In first place I have to say I did not want to go there but to Galicia since the north is always my preference. I have not been in Andalusia since I was 15 years old but it is too far for a travel in car and we are in a full heat wave and Andalusia would not seem the better place to pass a holidays. How much wrong I was
We crossed half of Spain and finally arrived to Sevilla. What an impressive city... FANTASTIC. I only had vague memories and it has impacted me. It is a super beautiful city. Its historic centre is huge and really wonderful. Its architecture, squares, monuments are marvellous. It is a really special and majestic city. I only can tell good words.
Moved on stereotypes, I expected to find lot of Gypsies and MENA immigrants since Sevilla is one of the cities with the biggest Gypsy community (probably the biggest) but thanks God I could count with the fingers of the hands the number of them I see. MENA population is absolutely residual, or at least I did not see many of them (and we covered gooood part of the city, walking and in the car...).
Super clean city, ultra oriented toward tourism (millions of guiris aka North European tourists, I was shocked for the amount of them ), I found lot of similar things with Oporto. Both are super pintoresque cities with a great river crossing it and colorful districts along the riversides, espectacular monuments, etc. Differences are that Oporto has beach, less sun and more immigrants.
We visited the cathedral which is the biggest Gothic cathedral in the world
and where the tomb of Almirant Cristóbal Colón is located
annexed to the cathedral and part of it is the tower la Giralda, the most famous monument of the city. Formerly a Moorish building, was restored and increased when Sevilla was reconquered to emphasize the Christian victory on Islam. The views from the tower are amazing, you can watch all the city and damn, we were shocked when we could notice how big Sevilla is...
The guiris went crazy with la Giralda
We also visited the Reales Alcázares, a serie of palaces which same than la Giralda were (some of them) Moorish in origin but reformed and expanded after the Reconquista, some in Mudéjar, others in Gothic, others in Renacentist style, until the point that the original Moorish architecture from Almohads were almost entirely demolished and its presence became residual (the naive, and illiterate, of Nassbean believed it is really a Moorish site, building by Moors and such ). In the Reales Alcázares have been recorded many chapters of Game of Thrones
The place I more enjoyed was the Plaza de España, where all the Spanish provinces are represented through ceramic tiles, a typical element of the Sevilla architecture (which can be found ieverywhere, in bars, houses, hotels, the street, etc) showing some historical event of their history, many about the Reconquista.
It is located in the biggest park of the city. STUNNING SQUARE. Just for this site the visit to Sevilla is worthy. For sure the prettiest square in Spain
Of course we visited many more places, the Torre del Oro along the Guadalquivir river, the bullring of la Maestranza (along that of Madrid the most famous one in Spain and where we coincided with five German girls which seemed quite enthusiastic), the famous neighborhood of Triana where we saw people playing the guitar and singing like crazies in a bar terrace , etc etc... and enjoyed the IMPRESSIVELY RICH ANDALUSIAN GASTRONOMY (pescaíto frito, montaditos de pringá, espinacas con garbanzos, chocos fritos, ensaladilla de gambas, etc, dishes many of whom we not even knew )
The weather has been the worst of all, with one day reaching 42º, I thought I died. Another new thing for us was watching in the terraces a method to refresh the clients via vaporized water, hilarious
Then we moved to Málaga, in the coast of Andalusia. Sincerely Málaga city has been a deception for me. Although its historical centre and architecture are quite decent, nothing to do with Sevilla, to start because it is much smaller. Its port also was a deception even if the environment was fantastic (bars, terraces, restaurants, cocktail bars etc) since we did not see many ships and cruises.
Lot of immigrants, many many many more than in Sevilla and of course muuuuch more than the national average. Specially Moroccans, whom are easily distinguishable from miles away. They give to the city an incredible feeling of insecurity, and you can see them everywhere, such disgrace.
And if the amount of North European tourists in Sevilla was immense, in Málaga reached biblical proportions... and according a waiter British tourists would started to arrive this week because the pandemia...
Northern tourists (guiris, as I have said we call them in Spain) are equally easy to recognize since they go in group and most of them were from blonde to platinum blonde. Also quite tall, specially the women. Germans and Scandos the most. French tourists (looooooot of them both in Sevilla and Málaga, plus Marbella and Puerto Banús), as expected, looked infinitely more Med than Germanic, some of them even quite swarthy. And I am not referring to black or Moorish French, whom I also saw. No comment about some Italian tourists, dark as fuck... Also some Portuguese tourists here and there.
We were in the most famous beach, the so called la Malagueta. Not the best beach in Spain, that is for sure. The gastronomy, same than in Sevilla, and the weather, infinitely better, due the sea, I guess.
At least we got these views of the city, the bahia, the port etc from the main viewpoint of Málaga...
Málaga city has not the charm of Sevilla but the province, their landscapes, beats that of Sevilla by far. All the province of Málaga is a serie of mountain chains, which go along all the coast. We took a cruise in Marbella to move to Puerto Banús (the Spanish Saint Tropez or Monaco) and oh man, it is simply FANTASTIC contemplating the coast, the beaches, the yachts, people practicing aquatic sports, and all the mountains just at the back... what a marvel...
Marbella is another world. Chill and luxurious city and place, expensive as fuck, incredible beaches and super touristic destiny
And if Marbella is another world, Puerto Banús is another galaxy. Millionaries everywhere, a Ferrari here, a Lamborghini there, a Bentley in other corner, Porsches everywhere, super luxury yachts, people dancing and drinking in the ships..., people making shopping in the most known brands of the world (Bulgari, Carolina Herrera, Dolce&Gavanna, Christian Dior, Guess, Michael Kors, Pinko, Valentino, Louis Vuitton, Gucci and many many more, all concrentrated in just two or three strees), women 10/10 to every step, a Moroccan driving a Ferrari I already have seen all, I can die in peace
The last day we went to Ronda, a pintoresque and romanticist village in the interior of the province of Málaga, famous for its impressive canyon that divides the town. This village inspired many romantic travellers and celebrities who felt in love such as Ernest Hemingway, Lord Byron, Washington Irving, etc. Orson Welles is buried there.
Ronda is also the craddle of the bandolerismo (brigandage) against Napoleon since the bandoleros could hide easily in the large mountains and sierras of the territory
Andalusians were SUPER FRIENDLY, you asked them whatever they always answered you with a smile. They have that fame in Spain and it is deserved. Phenotypically they are like the rest of Spaniards, as I expected. Exactly the same. So I can laugh very hard when experts claim they are darker or look like Moors.
DEFINITIVELY I LIKED ANDALUSIA A LOT, it seemed a paradise to me (except Málaga city), I WILL RETURN
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