Walls In Avila Spain

Deluxe way to see the real Spain

Some of the best views in Spain are to be had from its paradors, distinctive buildings turned into reasonably priced hotels run by the State, writes GAVIIN CORBETT  

YOU COULD safely say there are more swallows than people in Sigüenza, which has a population of 5,000, but both they and its animal residents seem equally at home in its crumbly, decorative streets.

Everywhere you turn there is ornament and colour; everywhere the mantle of history forces itself through the thin crust of modernity. You get the sense that, although the people take it all in their stride as part of the backdrop to daily life, such detail seeps its way into and enriches their souls.

Sadly I didn’t hang around long enough to discover such effects for myself, although my choice of accommodation for my short stay certainly did give me a flavour of the town’s past.

I stayed in a rebuilt Moorish castle that traces its origins back to Roman times. It was my first stop on a tour of paradors in central Spain – all within a 150km radius of Madrid – which took me across the burning summertime plains of Castile and La Mancha.

Before setting off on my trip what I thought I knew about paradors amounted to this: they are a range of historic buildings converted to hotels and run by the Spanish state. I was expecting top-end hospitality, for sure, but I feared these would be stuffy, even spooky, places, filled with cobwebbed suits of armour and paintings of tragic infantas whose eyes would follow you around the room. They didn’t turn out to be so.

By the end of the trip, any preconceptions I had about this type of accommodation were laid to rest. While the founding principle of paradors was the protection and regeneration of old and important buildings, two of the paradors I visited – in Toledo and Segovia – were modern structures. The older buildings I stayed in, far from creaking with the clutter of the past or being tackily “Bunratty-fied”, are very much in the modern world. Important historic details have been maintained but are sometimes presented in a tongue-in-cheek way, the décor on the whole is sensitive but up-to-date, and the layout where possible follows logical lines.

In short, I didn’t ever feel I was on a Scooby Doo set, and the clientele ranged across all ages, from singles to young couples, and families with children to older folk.

A defining feature of the paradors is that they occupy some of the best locations. Sigüenza’s, housed as it is in a citadel, is on high ground overlooking the town, and has a view of the giant cathedral and the hills beyond.

ILC - International Lodging Corporation: Next Stop...Avila (Spain)

Be sure to visit the Cathedral, which is built into part of Avila’s walls. It was begun in 1099, but most of what is seen today was built between the 12th and 14th centuries. Avila is also known for being the birthplace of St. Teresa. You can visit the Convento de Santa Teresa, which was founded in the 17th C. and was built on the site of her birthplace.

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