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NYT: Spain’s Building Spree Leaves Some Airports and Roads Begging to Be Used  

MADRID – In March, local officials inaugurated a new airport in Castellón, a small city on Spain’s Mediterranean coast. They are still waiting for the first scheduled flight. To justify the grand opening, Carlos Fabra, the head of Castellón’s provincial government, argued that it was a unique opportunity to turn an airport into a tourist attraction, giving visitors full access to the runway and other areas normally off-limits. This Sunday, it will be used as the starting point for part of Spain’s national cycling championships, featuring the three-time Tour de France champion Alberto Contador. http://mobile.nytimes.com/article?a=808391&f=111 Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

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The Beaches of Cabo de Gata  

Tuesday’s Frugal Traveler column in the New York Times covers the undeveloped and (so far) undiscovered beaches of Cabo de Gata in Almeria, Spain. In fact, author Seth Kugel describes his ideal beach as: one that you come upon after a hilly, rocky hike over scrub-covered hills. It’s a half-moon cove of ashen sand flanked at either end by rock formations that look like giant Impressionistic sand castles. Instead of palms, occasional yellow and purple wildflowers dot the nearby hills; instead of mojitos there are mandarin oranges and nispero fruits bought at a farmer’s market; instead of warm Caribbean ripples, there […]

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Satanic Messages Save a Decaying Old Church: La Iglesia de las Salinas  

The Iglesia de las Salinas has been slowly decaying since its construction in 1907. The century-old church lies the coast of Almería in the Cabo de Gata natural park. A combination of ocean winds and salt in the air–the church’s name comes from the fact that it sits next to a salt processing operation–have been literally eating away at the stone construction. The process has worn down the facade, making it appear much more advanced in years. However, recently the process of decay has accelerated, hastened by neglect and periodic vandalism. A faded billboard from 2007, the 100th anniversary of […]

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Events
Oct 11, 2009

Spanish Ghosts opening  

Thanks to all who came out for the opening of Spanish Ghosts: Spain’s Abandoned Architecture last thursday. The event was a great success — a couple hundred people turned up throughout the evening to view the photos and taste spanish wines and chocolates. The event was also a great start to the SpainDC month-long celebration of spanish culture. The exhibit will remain up at Studio B at Biagio Fine Chocolate throughout the end of October. Feel free to drop by for another look and to read about the stories behind the buildings and locations in Spain where the photographs were […]

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Events
Oct 4, 2009

Spanish Ghosts: Spain’s Abandoned Architecture  

Photographs by Mark Parascandola   Opening Reception: Thursday, October 8, 6:00-8:30 Free Spanish chocolate and wine tasting! Studio B at Biagio Fine Chocolate 1904 18th Street NW (between T Street and Florida Avenue)Washington DC Chocolate samples from Biagio Fine Chocolate Spanish wine tasting by Tradewinds Specialty Imports The landscape of Spain is dotted with abandoned structures, ghosts of a multi-layered history. Preserved in the arid climate, these architectural remains reveal the impact of time, weather, and transient visitors who have left their own mark. The subjects in this series of photographs include the Carabanchel prison in Madrid, a salt-eroded church […]

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Travels
Mar 28, 2009

ARCO  

In February I had the opportunity to attend ARCO, the international contemporary art fair that occurs every year in Madrid. I’d been curious to attend the fair, which has strong representation from galleries in Spain and Latin America, but I had no idea beforehand of the size and national prominence of the event. ARCO takes place in an enormous convention center (the entire complex has over 200,000 square meters of exhibition space) near the airport. The metro train from central Madrid was packed — at first I thought there was a soccer game on, but everyone was heading to ARCO, […]

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Travels
Nov 19, 2008

Cárcel de Carabanchel  

The Carabanchel prison in Madrid is one of the most infamous architectural landmarks from Spain’s decades of dictatorship. General Francisco Franco ordered construction of the prison in the 1940s to house the regime’s many political prisoners. The complex is designed on the panopticon model, with the cell blocks extending outwards from a round central tower. This arrangement, first proposed by 17th century philosopher Jeremy Bentham, allowed guards to easily observe all areas of the prison and was intended to amplify the prisoners’ sensations of powerlessness.   Carabanchel was finally closed in 1998 and its few remaining inhabitants moved to other […]

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Ghost Houses of Cabo de Gata  

                      The landscape of Cabo de Gata, along the coast of Almeria, is dotted with architectural remains — eighteenth century fortifications, abandoned mining operations, and empty cortijos. These vacant structures, fixed in the arid desert landscape for decades or centuries, seem timeless. They could have been abandoned fifteen years ago, or 150 years ago. It’s often hard to tell, as the stillness of the desert masks any signs of life. However, these architectural relics are, in fact, products of human history and have some intriguing stories to tell. The Cortijo […]

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