标签西班牙下的文章

西班牙里奥哈区克拉维霍镇附近的秋日景色 Autumnal landscape near the town of Clavijo in Spain's Rioja district (© Olimpio Fantuz/eStock Photo)

Falling for Rioja

While today's image of beautiful fall colors in Rioja is serene and peaceful, the people of this area are hard at work harvesting grapes at 14,800 different vineyards across the region. And soon the 600 wineries in this smallest Spanish province will begin the lengthy process to turn this year's grape harvest into its world-famous Rioja wines. (To get an idea of how tiny the Rioja province is, it makes up just 1 percent of Spain's land area and only about 0.67 percent of Spain's population lives here.) While winemaking techniques have evolved and improved over the thousands of years that wine has been made here, each year around this time locals and visitors gather in the region's capital of Logroño to celebrate the wine harvest and see a traditional example of the first, uh, step of this process—crushing newly harvested grapes by stomping them with bare feet.

德纳斯雷亚尔斯自然公园Castildetierra上空绚丽的日落，西班牙纳瓦拉 (© Inigofotografia/iStock/Getty Images Plus)

Fireworks during La Merce Festival in Barcelona, Spain (© Lucas Vallecillos/age fotostock)

Barcelona bids farewell to summer

Every year, for four days in September, locals and tourists flock to one of Barcelona’s biggest events, La Mercè Festival. It got its beginnings in 1687 when Barcelona was suffering from a plague of locusts. In desperation, city officials voted to ask for the assistance of the Virgin of Grace (Mare de Déu de la Mercè). Delivered from the pestilence, the officials named her patroness of Barcelona, and an annual festival has been celebrated in her honor in the city ever since.

These days, the multiday celebration is considered a farewell bid to the warmer days of summer. Attracting nearly 2 million people, the event is known for its street theatre, castells (human towers), dancing, musical performances, light projection show, and daily street parades with mythical characters and traditional drumming. At the end of the festival, attendees come out in droves for the pièce de résistance—a musical fireworks display known as ‘piromusical.’

洛斯巴鲁埃科斯自然纪念碑上的白鹳，西班牙卡塞雷斯 White storks at Los Barruecos Natural Monument, Caceres, Spain (© Wild Wonders of Europe/Widstrand/Minden Pictures)

Storks ready for take-off

It's migration season for white storks, shown here tending to a nest at Los Barruecos Natural Monument in Central Spain. This destination is known for large, granite boulders intermixed with sculptures created by local artists—and it's a favorite stork nesting spot. In August and September, white storks depart their nests for a 25-day trip south to their African wintering grounds, where they gather in large flocks. The species returns to Europe again nine months later—hence its unique role in folklore, giving parents a low-stress way to answer the question ‘where do babies come from?'

"国王的小路"上的游客，西班牙马拉加 Visitors on El Caminito del Rey in the province of Málaga, Spain (© Ken Welsh/Alamy)

Put your helmet on, we're going on a hike

You'll need to wear a safety helmet before stepping onto the cliff-hanging path that passes above the Gorge of Gaitanes. Look around, but don't forget to look down whenever the floors are replaced with thick glass. This is your opportunity to fully appreciate the 325-foot drop below and consider what life must be like as a mountain goat. The renovated path is far less dangerous than the original which, for many years, had no guard rails. Made for workers back in 1905, the first walkway provided access between the Chorro and Gaitanejo hydroelectric power plants. After King Alfonso XIII visited in 1921, the walkway was given its nickname, ‘The King's Little Pathway.' But after years of use and lack of upkeep, the nickname was updated to ‘The world's most dangerous walkway.' By 2001, the trail was closed, riddled with gaping holes, crumbling cement, and missing entire sections. Luckily for thrill seekers, El Caminito del Rey is no longer off limits. In 2015, after extensive renovations, o

Sandcastle on Malvarrosa Beach in Valencia, Spain © Tony French/Alamy

Not your average sandcastle

Memorial Day is the unofficial start of summer, so of course we're heading to the beach - the city beaches of Valencia, Spain. Valencia is famous for its beautiful, golden sand beaches, as well as their incredible sand sculptures, like this one on Malvarrosa Beach. An elaborate sand sculpture like this could take over a week and multiple people to build. In fact, the world's tallest sandcastle reached over 50 feet into the sky. But if you’ve got the time, sand, and water, you too can build a cool sandcastle.

A ‘city’ within Valencia

Inspired by the City of Science and Industry in Paris, the Valencian Autonomous Government created the City of Arts and Sciences, enlisting the talents of architects Santiago Calatrava and Félix Candela to give the Spanish city a modern cultural attraction. Built on a sunken park in the drained riverbed of the Turia River, the first portions of the multi-building attraction opened in 1998, with an opera house completing the complex in 2005.

Today, we’re showing this futuristic-looking center for education and entertainment to celebrate International Museum Day. The observance began in 1977, with participating museums, galleries, and similar institutions offering free or reduced admission, as well as programs to highlight the work they do. Saturday is a great day for wandering around an old favorite museum or exploring a new one.

通往圣胡安·加兹特鲁加特的道路，西班牙巴斯克 Path to San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, Basque Country, Spain, for the 'Game of Thrones' premiere (© Anton Petrus/Moment/Getty Images)

市政厅广场上庆祝圣何塞节的烟花，西班牙巴伦西亚 Fireworks at the Plaza del Ayuntamiento for las Fallas festival in Valencia, Spain (© Helena G.H/Shutterstock)

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