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DECEMBER 4
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Best of Spain

Best of Spain




Picasso
Pablo Picasso was a Spanish artist who revolutionized painting, drawing, sculpture, and ceramics (pottery). This exceptional artist was born in Malaga, in southern Spain.

Picasso's portrayal of the agony of Spain's struggle and suffering against fascism in Guernica is considered his strongest work. This painting was inspired by Picasso's horror at the Nazi German bombing of Gernika, Spain on April 26, 1937 during the Spanish Civil War.

Coto de Doñana
Doñana National Park (Parque Nacional de Doñana), also called Coto de Doñana, is a national park and wildlife refuge in southwestern Spain. Lying in the delta of the Guadalquivir river, between the southern Spanish city of Seville and the Atlantic Ocean, the Doñana National Park is one of the world’s most valuable wetlands.

Coto de Doñana is located in Andalusia, in the provinces of Huelva and Sevilla, and covers 543 km², of which 135 km² are a protected area. Doñana is also home to one of the last surviving populations of the world’s most endangered cat species, the Iberian lynx.

Las Alpujarras
The Sierra Nevada is a rugged and extensive mountain range, the highest in Europe after the Alps and the most significant section of the Cordillera Penibética. It was declared a Unesco Biosphere Reserve in 1986, in recognition of its exceptionally diverse plant, bird and animal species. Designated a national park in 1998, it is one of only two in Andalucia, the other being the Doñana National Park.

Between the highest mountains in Spain and the Mediterranean Sea, La Alpujarra is one of the most enchanting and beautiful regions in the world. La Alpujarra is a mountainous district in Southern Spain, which stretches south from the Sierra Nevada mountains near Granada and the eastern of the region lies in the province of Almería. In older sources the name is sometimes spelled Alpuxarras; it may derive from Arabic al Busherat meaning "the grass-land".

Toledo
Toledo is one of the most important centers of european medieval history. It was capital of Spain from the Gothic epoch until 1560, fact that explains its really impressive medieval architecture. However, this symbol of religious tolerance during the Medieval Age has changed little since its depiction in El Greco's paintings.

Toledo is now a UNESCO World Heritage site. In fact, walking through Toledo’s streets one feels like having stepped back into the Middle-Ages. If you go to Toledo, see and buy some of its fine artisany and enjoy of its highly recommandable cuisine.

La Mancha & Don Quixote
Don Quixote is often nominated as the world's greatest work of fiction. Many artists have drawn inspiration either directly or indirectly from Cervantes' work, including the painter Honoré Daumier, the composer Richard Strauss, the writer Henry Fielding and the filmmaker Terry Gilliam.

Don Quixote's importance in literature has produced a large and varied cultural and artistic legacy. The autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha has used the fame of Cervantes's novel to promote tourism in the region. Many places in La Mancha are linked to the novel, including windmills and an inn upon which events of the story are thought to have been based.

Culturally, La Mancha includes the Sierra de Alcaraz, Montes de Toledo, northern Sierra Morena and Serranía de Cuenca, parts of Tajo river valley, and it is administrative divided among the comarcas of Campo de Calatrava to the south and Campo de Montiel (Don Quixote himself started his adventures in Campo de Montiel), the eastern Mancha Alta, the central Mancha Baja, the western Valle de Alcudia, and Parameras de Ocaña y Manchuela to the north.

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