Category: Spain

Rick Steves’ Europe: The Camino de Santiago: A Medieval Pilgrimage in Modern Times

For over a thousand years, the cathedral towering over the main square of Santiago de Compostela in the far northwest corner of Spain has been the ritualistic last stop for pilgrims who’ve hiked here from churches in Paris and all over Europe. And for a thousand years, pilgrims — standing before this towering cathedral —…


Mask Mandates Not Linked to Lower COVID-19 Case Rate or Transmission: Study

Mask mandates for children in Spain weren’t linked to a lower rate of COVID-19 cases or transmission, researchers found. Children 6 and older in Catalonia, a region in Spain, were required to wear masks once school reopened during the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers compared the incidence of COVID-19 in older children to younger children to try…


Valencia: History at its Heart, Fire in its Soul

“In 2014, they invited the director of restoration of the Sistine Chapel. He entered here and exclaimed, ‘Why didn’t you tell me you had a Sistine Chapel in Valencia?’” our guide Konstantin, of Discovering Valencia, paused as my wife and I stared up in awe where beams of sunlight, glowing in the incense smoke, lit…


Valencia’s Proper Paella: It’s Not Just ‘Rice and Stuff’

I love when people take certain foods so seriously that a dish rises above just a recipe and becomes a sacramental meal, a ceremonial preparation that needs to be blessed by congregants and celebrated in a particular way. Such is the case with paella. On a recent trip to Valencia, Spain, I had a chance…


Hotel Fire in Barcelona Injures 9; Some Must Jump to Safety

BARCELONA, Spain—A fire in a Barcelona hotel on Saturday forced at least one person to leap to safety out of a third-floor window. Spanish emergency services said the fire injured nine people, including one in critical condition. Catalan television showed footage apparently shot on a mobile phone of one person jumping from a third-floor window…


Spain’s King Felipe Tests Positive for COVID-19

MADRID—Spain’s King Felipe tested positive for COVID-19 earlier on Wednesday after displaying mild symptoms overnight and will remain in isolation for seven days, the Royal Palace said in a statement. “His Majesty’s general state of health is good and he will keep up his institutional activities from his residence,” it said, adding that Queen Letizia…


Abandoned Spanish Ghost Town Flooded in 1992 Reemerges From Watery Grave After 30 Years Submerged

Like a wraith rising from the grave, a Spanish ghost town—intentionally flooded by the Lindoso Reservoir some 30 years ago—appeared to rise from the depths late last November amidst receding water levels. The haunting apparition of a town, called Aceredo, near Lobios, Ourense province, in northwestern Spain, which reemerges every few years from its watery…


Spain Rescues 319 Migrants at Sea, 18 More Feared Drowned

MADRID—Emergency services on Spain’s Canary Islands say 319 people, including 59 women and 24 children, were rescued from seven different boats trying to reach the archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, while activists say at least 18 migrants have died. Spanish rescue vessels reached the boats in different locations late Tuesday and early Wednesday, a Maritime…


Stargazing in La Palma, Spain


Nursing Home Fire Kills 6 in Eastern Spain

MADRID—Six residents of a nursing home in eastern Spain perished after a fire broke out in the night, authorities said Wednesday. Valencia’s regional head, Ximo Puig, said that 17 more residents were hospitalized, with three in serious condition. Firefighters said that they rescued 25 residents out of a total of 70 that were evacuated from…