#ontinyent

Ontinyent, Central Valencian Country.

Hey, if you’re not from here you might not know about it, but this week has been the week of the Cold Drop in Spain, as usual, with a lot of inundations and non-stop raining after 3 / 4 months of drought. 

Except it isn’t. This year, the weight of the inundations has made the Segura River, which flows mainly in the province of Murcia, and that throughout the year needs a trasvase from the bigger Tagus river to be able to provide water to the crop fields, to overflow. Here is a comparison of the river normally and how it is now, in the city of Orihuela, the most affected place and right now inaccessible:

The most affected areas of this year Cold Drop are in the Southeast, namely the provinces of Murcia and Almería, both of them known for having a Semi-Desertic Mediterranean Climate, and being really arid and with little to no rain most of the year. As you can imagine, this has been devastating. For now, 4 people have died, but the number could increase, as there’s no sign of the Cold Drop to stop soon. I might add that in Almería there is Tabernas, the only natural desert in Spain, that is, well, a freaking desert. Here is how its main town, Tabernas, normally looks like vs now:

In Murcia city, things are also bad, with the Segura river just about to overflow. Note that this city has over 400.000 people, so it would be really bad if it overflows. Again, normally vs now:

Overall, it seems pretty bad. Here are more photos of the Cold Drop:

Overflowing of the Clariano River in Ontinyent, Valencia.

Denia, Alicante.

San Pedro del Pinatar, Murcia.

Murcia city.

Segura River overflowing in Orihuela, Alicante.

Ontinyent, Valencia.

Molina de Segura, Murcia.

Ontinyent, Valencia

Gandía, Alicante.

Molina de Segura, Murcia.

Orihuela, Alicante.

Orihuela, Alicante.

Murcia.

Mallorca.

Almería Province.

De Salses a Guardamar i de Fraga a l’Alguer: les comarques de parla catalana una a una. 66/88: la Vall d'Albaida (Central Valencian Country).

La Vall d'Albaida (Albaida Valley) is a landlocked shire whose capital city is Ontinyent.

This shire is known for its beautiful nature and historical towns. Surrounded by the Mariola mountain range and crossed by two rivers and many streams, the landscape creates many peaceful corners, and natural swimming pools.

The county also has a number of archaeological sites from many different time periods since Prehistory onwards. Among them, there are the mysterious series of cavities and tunnels excavated in the cliffs, the largest of which is the Covetes dels Moros near Bocairent. Even though it's difficult to know when they were made because no artifacts nor inscriptions have been found in them, studies show that it's most likely that they were made in the 10th or 11th centuries (Islamic period in the Middle Ages) and used as a grain storage. Similar structures exist for this purpose in Northern Africa, so it could have been made by Amazigh people who moved here with the Islamic conquest. Another theory (which is less likely) would link it to the Visigothic (7th-8th centuries) hermit burials nearby and consider that each cave would be a burial for a hermit form this community.

The bell ringers from Albaida have been included in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of "Manual Bell Ringing", which recognizes the long history of this knowledge and its importance as a tool of communication, music, and its role in festivities in the Iberian peninsula and Italy. In Albaida, they have been ringing the bells manually every day since the Catalan conquest in the 13th century, and passing down the knowledge from generation to generation ever since.

In Ontinyent (central Valencian Country), the festivities of Moros i cristians start with all the bands playing the song Chimo together. This means that 24 bands and over 1,000 band musicians are playing at the same time!

It couldn't be celebrated for 2 years because of the restrictions to guarantee public health in front of covid-19, but this year it's back as usual.

Building in neo-mudejar style in Ontinyent (central Valencian Country). Photos by Kazar Hotel.

This building was originally called Xalet Mompó and was built in 1925 as a home for the Mompó family. The house was built in neo-mudejar style, which is a revival of mudejar style (a Medieval architecture style used in Iberian Christian kingdoms who were influenced by Islamic culture). The neo-mudejar style was part of Valencian modernisme (art nouveau), a movement from the late 19th- and early 20th-century that re-imagined architecture and art of the country’s past with modern means and taste. In the case of this building, the architect also drew inspiration from more modern architecture styles from Northern Africa and the Middle East.

Ontinyent, Valencian Country.