A story guarded by a river | Paradores territory

Autumn has its own things: the poplars lose their yellow leaves on the banks of the Duero, near the Tordesillas pier (Valladolid). The horseback rides organized by the equestrian center wind along the small flowerbed that forms. In the distance, but clearly, you can see the royal monastery of Santa Clara, exceptional Hispanic-Muslim art. The low November sun enters cautiously through the star-shaped skylights that break the vault of its Arab baths. The Treaty Chambers, where Spain and Portugal diplomatically divided the world between themselves in 1494 to avoid war, are visited alone. The Muelas underground cellar shows its caves up to 13 meters deep filled with Rueda wine after a generous harvest. The Parador’s sauna and steam room, located on the outskirts due to its former status as a roadside hostel, attract attention in the dark hours before dinner. Castilian soup (i.e.: bread, garlic, eggs, ham) gives a good body before going to sleep. This is what Tordesillas offers at this time of year.

Inside the hostel

A pit stop near the Douro

The Parador is located in a Castilian mansion in the middle of a pine forest, on the outskirts of Tordesillas, the most visited town of Valladolid. It opened in 1958 as a roadside hostel. It had garages, a workshop, a petrol station and even a chapel to provide a complete service to motorists. It continues to work as a perfect resting place during a long trip.
PHOTO: Emilio Fraile

A house open to the public

The parador has just acquired a collection of 24 photographs signed by artists such as Joan Fontcuberta, Alberto García-Alix, Chema Madoz, Isabel Muñoz, Pilar Pequeno and Javier Vallhonrat, which show a different perspective of the Prado museum, now that it celebrates its bicentenary. The new artistic project also incorporates a suggestive work by Cecilia Paredes into the reception, which pays homage to Joanna I of Castile.

A circuit to lower the voltage

Half of the 68 rooms overlook the summer swimming pool, surrounded by a pine forest. The hostel has spa with sauna and Turkish bath, heated swimming pool and gym. It has three rooms for parties or business meetings, the largest can accommodate up to 200 guests. The hotel, which closed last year for renovations, has improved its energy efficiency and modernized its facilities.

Columbus and his people preside over the dining room

The restaurant, like all those in the Paradores network, specializes in regional dishes. The Turresilano Rooster is the best seller. Lamb and suckling pig also triumph. Cañarejal cheese is very suitable for sharing, between an Extremaduran cake and a brie. They also look to neighboring provinces: chacinas from Guijuelo, black pudding from Burgos. For dessert, iced milk. All in the company of a Discovery tapestry.

The house recommends

The Turresilano free-range rooster is a dish created at the Parador in 1994 to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the Treaty of Tordesillas. It was a bird, recalls Ana García, the director, which in ancient times was served to the nobility. The animal weighs between six and seven kilos before being slaughtered. The meat is more fibrous than chicken, darker. It is cooked with white wine and almonds.

Former

Following

The English’s love for inns is well known. Many come in ferry at the port of Santander with his car, says Ana García, director of the Tordesillas parador. On the way to Andalusia or the Algarve they spend a night in this city where history was made, where they will get to know the Spain of the empire, as it was in the 16th century. Castile and Portugal drew a line in 1494 from one pole to the other and agreed that everything on the left could be conquered by the former and everything on the right could be conquered by the latter. This is how peace is achieved. The pact was signed in the Treaty Houses, which have been transformed into a free museum where you can stop and look at various maps from the era. “Cultural visits,” says García, are what Parador customers are looking for.

“Even rest and gastronomy,” he adds. The hotel cafeteria mixes chairs and sofas, long and low tables, paintings. There’s a living room with a fireplace, there’s furniture, there’s wood, carpets, it’s a place to be, it gets dark before 6. The common areas have atmosphere, the English start talking to each other, they drink a beer at the bar, they’ve learned the word, they dare with Spanish, they order piglet for dinner, you can even see the piglet in the carts that come out of the kitchen. Of course you see national customers, business customers, holiday customers, weekend customers, many from Madrid, says García. Everyone walks in their bathrobes towards the spa center, at the shower of sensations, the temperature of the water varies, now it falls in a waterfall, now in a spray, now in a circle, the lights change, a game that is not found at home.

Another previous Spain also prevails in Tordesillas, that of the 13th and 14th centuries. The Royal Monastery of Santa Clara, splendid Hispano-Muslim architecture, is preserved in excellent condition. With the help of Leticia García de Ceca, conservator of the building, you learn restoration techniques such as rigatina used in the barrel vaults of the three rooms that make up the Arab baths. The paintings with geometric shapes that disappeared over time have been replicated using thin vertical lines that imitate the original colors. The line helps to distinguish the intervened part from the one that has existed since the 13th century. “We must always establish a difference between the new and the old,” says García de Ceca.

The convent’s Gothic church – where seven Poor Clare nuns live (three are Indian) – houses a 14th-century stone sculpture of St Peter. The work weighing 200 kilos and 1.80 meters high has just been restored, when at first glance it seems that it really needs to be restored. It appears incomplete, with unlined white spaces. The parts where the paint had disappeared were respected and left uncoloured. The areas with original polychromy have been cleaned. García de Ceca explains that this restoration allows researchers to work on the original paint layers in the future.

Always a meeting point

Another good agreement was achieved in 1494, with the signing of the aforementioned Treaty of Tordesillas. Ana Triguero, Tourism technician, recalls the fame of the diplomats who have always accompanied the Portuguese. “Many tourists come from Portugal. They tell me they are good at reaching an agreement,” he says in front of the reconstruction of the first world map containing a representation of America, that of Juan de la Cosa from 1500. Tordesillas was an important place between the 14th and 16th centuries, which explains why it was chosen to agree on the division of the world, Triguero says. It belonged to Castile, it was close to Portugal.

This town overlooking the Douro and where several highways intersect, underlines García, the manager of the inn, continues to be a place of passage and meeting. It is an hour from Salamanca, Zamora, Palencia, Ávila… “All the capitals are close”, he summarizes. On a Wednesday at the end of October, the Parador cafeteria served as a meeting point between some Basque entrepreneurs and some Portuguese leather manufacturers.

Veronica, Ruth and Marta recommend it

“There is a cycling route of about 20 kilometers that reaches the town of Serrada. It is circular, flat, very comfortable, suitable for amateurs. You cross an area of ​​DO Rueda vineyards, you see the typical landscape of the area. You go around the Duero”

Veronica Mateo

Waitress 22 years at Paradores

“I am part of a dance and percussion group called Juana I de Castilla. In December we performed in the houses of the Treaty. The members of the group hand-embroider the costumes, they are spectacular, we use Béjar fabric, we wear beads”

Ruth Gavilanes

Cleaner 30 years at Paradores

“I really like reading, I recommend you go to Urueña, the city of books. It has small bookshops, specialized in themes. There is one that is located on the wall itself. And another specialized in journalism. On the way back I recommend you stop at the Cistercian monastery of Santa Espina”

Marta Sanchez

Reception manager 27 years at Paradores

For the inhabitants of Tordesillas, the Queen, as a unique and recognizable figure, is not Letizia, but Joanna I of Castile, known as Juana La Loca, lucky she had that nickname, they think of the Center for Tourist Initiatives (CIT) of Tordesillas, because it helps to remember her even if it is unfair and wrong. Accused of suffering from a mental illness, the daughter of the Catholic Kings lived for 46 years (1509-1555) locked up in the now defunct Royal Palace of Tordesillas following her father’s decision to depose her from the throne. Every first Saturday in March they organize a historical re-enactment of their arrival in the village.

A horseback ride or a walk along the river

Outside there is the Duero, always in sight, the water flows in front of the inn and all the monuments, passing through the ten eyes of the medieval bridge. Parallel to the river bed is the GR14 path, also known as the Duero path. The city’s travelers walk briskly across the leaf-covered pavement. The path is narrow, waving is mandatory when overtaking even if you are wearing a helmet. The horses of the Tordesillas equestrian center also make the route their own.

Rider and instructor Javier Muelas rides first. The rest of the animals, ridden by amateurs or curious tourists, form a queue as they pass. These horses also trot and gallop and, in particular, compete in TREC (Competition Equestrian Route Techniques) trials. Muelas trains them to short gallop, as you know, in this way of moving (in this air, in equine jargon) the animal sometimes keeps its four legs off the ground. The short canter implies advancing less, galloping less quickly, the animal is more collected, the momentum is more vertical, “but without falling at the trot”, explains Muelas. With the tourists he goes at a good pace and for an hour alone. You train, contract your adductors and abdominals, you have to measure the excursion so as not to find yourself sore the next morning at the Treaty Houses. The route ends at the pier at sunset, Santa Clara is illuminated, the town can be seen in the river, the canoeists come out of the water, they have finished training; There must already be an atmosphere in the parador cafeteria, maybe tonight you will have to order a plate of ham, something that is never lacking in paradors, and a Cañarejal cheese.