Spanish Holiday Day 9

 Day 9: El Rocio and Savilla

Today we spent the day with Jose driving south and west of Seville into the countryside to the Doñana Natural Park. Shortly after leaving Sevilla, we were in farmland.  This giant bull is the only "billboard " that was allowed on the road.

Our first stop of the morning was the Acerbon Palace, a beautiful mansion in the middle of the park.  It was built  in 1961 as the private residence of Luis Espinosa Fontdevilly. Today, the restored building houses a tourist information center .

From the visitor's center, we took a short hike around a pond, hoping to (but failing) see flamingoes.

We di see groves of cork trees.  Spain is responsible for 60% of the world's cork production.

After leaving Doñana, we continued on to the :western: town of el Rocio. The population of el Rocio is about 1700, but during the festival of the virgin, the town hosts well over 1 million visitors.  We were here on a normal Sunday while mass was going on and there were tons of people. 

The area is known for the wild horses that live in the swampy area adjacent to the town, but this year was the first year that the water has completely dried up due to drought conditions.

This is what it used to look like.

There is no pavement on the town and many people use horses only for transportation.

The church was huge  and the central icon was the Virgin statue.

We walked around the town, and felt like we were in the middle of a western.

Contemplating cowgirl boots

It was a short ride from el Rocio to the Atlantic coast. and the seaside town of Matalascañas.  Sardines are big here, and the smell was overpowering when we got out of the car. Molly , in particular, was suffering.  The sardines are grilled and give off quite a stench.  After walking far enough down the beach to avoid the smell, we were ready for an oceanside lunch.

It was great having Jose with us to order.  We again had tinto de Verona, beer, tapas, and ink paella with shrimp (which was outstanding).  We are starting to get used to a big late lunch and little or no dinner.

After lunch we drove to a boardwalk hike across sand dunes for great views of the Atlantic.

The return drive of 1 1/2 hours gave me some time to work on the blog, Jeri and Molly time to read, and Dave to sleep.  We then had to say goodbye to Jose, though he promised to keep in touch.

On Jose's recommendation, we walked from the hotel to the Plaza de España. On the way, we passed this monument to Columbus's voyage to the Americas.

The giant exhibition hall built for the 1929 World's  Fair.  It took 15 years to build and was the showcase of the fair.

Around the base of the structure there were mosaics depicting each of Spain's provinces.

While we were there, we got to see an impromptu Flamenco show.

We capped the night off with a little helado before bed.  Leaving tomorrow for Cordoba and Granada.