From Moraira to Santander via Rioja and Picos de Europa

Before taking the car ferry from Santander to Portsmouth, we had a half way stop in Spain in this ultra modern, perhaps over modern, hotel in Rioja, the Hotel Viura .


The hotel sits oddly in the village of Villabuena de Álava in the Rioja Alavesa. The hotel describes itself, quite correctly as "Composed of whimsically superimposed cubes that seem to surge forcefully from the centre of the earth; punctuated by French windows that flood the rooms with views of the relaxing scenery." Anyway, having pondered on the morals of putting a building like this in a village like this, I think I reached the conclusion that it worked architecturally.

They had a (unfurnished and a little inhospitable) terrace on the top floor with views over the San Andrés Church, built between 1538 and 1728, and the mountains of the Sierra de Cantabria beyond. The village was pleasant to stroll around and the vineyards ran right up to the houses. We were able to purchase a mixed case of Riojas from one of them. The wines were gifts for friends in England, with whom we would be staying, and so that I could bore our friends with the tale of the wines provenance.

Dinner was in the hotel restaurant, but nearly was not there. The pompous head waiter - god how I do hate pompous head waiters - refused our request for a table in the window. The restaurant was empty, so I informed him we would find another hotel - there was nowhere else to eat in the village. At that point pompous one decided we could have a table in the window, so we were able to enjoy the piece de la resistance of the dining room, the scores of barrels hanging from the ceiling. The boys certainly enjoyed the experience


From Rioja, it was on to the Cantabrian coast. Tinas de Pechon, Barrio Quintana, Pechon is a new hotel a couple of hours drive west of Santander and half an hour from the Picos de Europa National Park. We had booked an apartment in the hotel. There were a few logistical problems with the kitchenette - not enough of any implements or utensils - although it was otherwise well done

The village had two or three restaurants and was about a mile from the sea, to which we walked a couple of times, not withstanding the wet weather. How one forgets that Cantabria and Galicia are much closer to Cornish weather than the Mediterranean climate of southern Spain that we have become used to. Chris did manage a swim though. We also visited a "resistance to Franco" exhibit in a local Torre - interesting, but difficult to see how big (or small) the resistance actually was.


So to the object of our pilgrimage to this part of Spain, the Picos de Europa. Here again the weather dictated what we could do or see. In the end only one day of our 4 here was good enough to make a visit to the mountains worthwhile. Even then the clouds hung over the mountain tops, and only cleared spasmodically. But when they did, the views were superb. There are remarkably few roads through ..

..the mountains, and very little habitation, just the odd small village where a few hardy shepherds and their families live. I think we both were impressed with the scenery, and the proximity of the area to the UK ferry makes it a candidate for a future visit.