Platja d'Aro, Catalonia, Spain

Inventory the high-rises in your community: How do they add color to the palette of place? Beach communities like Platja d'Aro usually get a bit more license when it comes to being colorful. In this building, residents do it with curtains. But, how do they achieve such a high degree of monochromatic unity? [2005]

Madrid, Spain

Do outdoor misters count as fountains? Let's make the case etymologically: Fountain comes from a Proto-Indo-European root that means "to flow." A garden fountain sustains a flow of liquid; a mister sustains a flow of mist. Both use water to make us feel cooler physically (evaporative cooling) and psychologically ("blue space" to help us chill out). [2009]

Toledo, Castile-La Mancha, Spain

Successful innovations are followed by diffusion. From the Near East spread the idea of using a wheel to lift water, in this case not to the fields but to the city of Toledo. Of course, the Spanish like to think it was their idea alone, but nouria technology actually originated in Syria at least two centuries earlier. [2009]

Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain

 "Letters mingle souls, for thus, friends absent speak." That was the judgment of John Donne (a contemporary of one William Shakespeare) in the late 1500s. Today in Spain, that is the job of la oficina de correos (see it?). Or, is it the job of the teléfono móvil? Mobile phones are everywhere taking post offices out of the soul-mingling business. [2017]

Marbella, Spain

One torso.
Four feet.
Costa del Sol.
Can't be beat.
[2015]

Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

Despite its name, our commemoration of Good Friday marks the darkest day in Christian history, the day Jesus was crucified on a hill called Golgotha, the place of the skull (see it?). The event is depicted here as part of the "passion facade" of the basilica of the Holy Family in Barcelona. [2005]

Marbella, Andalucia, Spain

"The life of the creative man is lead, directed and controlled by boredom. Avoiding boredom is one of our most important purposes." So sayeth Susan Sontag. [2015]

Marbella, Andalusia, Spain

Academic field trips have been eliminated from American public schools, but not in Spain. Here, los estudiantes are using their home town to sharpen their skills of observation, to practice recording information, to develop an affinity for data-based facts, and to learn something about where they live in the process. Never happens in the United States! [2015]

Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain

King Billy rules the Canary Islands: the goat and his nanny, that is. If you look at the landscape looming over this goat farm, you will understand why. Visit the islands, and don't leave without eating some goat meat, drinking some goat milk, and downing some goat cheese. [2017]

Madrid, Spain

Madrid's Atocha Railway Station is a botanical garden unto itself. The turtle pond has provided a habitat for up to 300 turtles, but it looks like their tenure there will soon end. The stated reasons are overcrowding and sanitation, both of which are problems that could be addressed without closing down the whole exhibit. [2009]

Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain

Look up! It's International Astronomy Day. Clouds permitting, the least you can do is find the North Star (unless your're somewhere down under)! So, why would an international observatory be located in the Canary Islands? Just look at those blue skies and how far you are from any light pollution. Plus, you're 8,000 feet above sea level (less atmosphere). [2017]

Maspalomas, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain

Street sweeper or street greeter? Judging from the smile, probably the latter. Actually, he's a municipal employee who keeps the city looking good, but he also keeps pedestrians happy by offering directions, snapping digitals, and grinning out loud. [2017]

Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

There was a time when every city had a bird market. Barcelona's was large and popular, but it is no more. What did it in? Concerns about animal rights and avian flu, plus mounting regulations. The giant bureaucracy called the European Union, the source of 40,000  regulations and 62,000 international standards. That's just too much rule by bureaucrats! [2005]

Ceuta, Spain

The city of Ceuta is in the Kingdom of Spain. On what continent is it located? (a) Europe, (b) Africa, (c) Asia. The correct answer is Africa. Ceuta is one of two self-governing Spanish cities that are not in Europe. What country claims Ceuta, which they call Sebta, as their own? The country featured in tomorrow's post provides the answer. [1989]

Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain

Basalt on Tenerife tells you that volcanic Mt. Teide is a cousin of the Hawaiian volcanoes: It rises from the ocean floor. When basalt cools it often fractures, but the most common results are columnar polygons and spherical boulders. Here, the basalt has fractured into a flower: La Piedra de la Rosa. Very unique. [2017]

Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain

Mt. Teide last erupted in 1909, and everything around the peak is volcanic in origin, including the Roque Cinchado, which has become a symbol of the Canary Islands. It's actually a remnant of an old volcanic surface from which the current cone arose. The national park is one of the most visited in the world, complete with a teleferico to the top. [2017]

Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain

Given its shape, there is no doubt that Mt. Teide, now the focal point of a World Biosphere Reserve, is volcanic (active!) and high enough to rise above the tree line. The white cloud bank frequently obstructs views of the coast from the sunny interior. Do you remember the name of the cold current that chills the coast and precipitates the fog? [2017]

Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain

Not only does the cylindrical stone tower mark the southern-most point on Gran Canaria, it also adds a unique touch to the tourist amenities and dunes that sweep around it. The lighthouse of Maspalomas was illuminated for the first time in 1890. [2017]

Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain

Las Dunas de Maspalomas are huge and accessible only on foot (or by camel!). That means it is always possible to find a private pocket of drifting sand for doing what you want. On one side of the dunes are the resorts, on the other side some pretty isolated beaches. [2017]

Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain

The Canary Islands are an autonomous community of Spain (just like Catalunya or Andalusia) but located a thousand miles away. Look at the landscape: It's an extension of the Sahara. In fact, the original inhabitants were Berbers. Like most oceanic islands, though, there is also a windward side, in this case the north, which is much greener. [2017]