Delta Del Ebro. Our Springtime trip

Good Lord, it feels like years since my last post. Truth is it was 5 months ago but I guess a lot has happened in that time. As you can see from today’s title, the holiday I’m about to tell you all about took place a couple of months before my last post, I’m getting behind on our travels. This is due mainly to our summer gigs and also my little macrame and crochet hobby/business, along with looking after our house, land, cats, fish and peafowl!! But I’m not complaining, I love it all 😊.

Still, I like telling you all about our little trips and seeing as I’m recovering from the flu and don’t feel like doing much at all except sitting by the fire, it’s the perfect time to scribble a few (hundred) lines and show you a few (thousand) pictures of our spring getaway. Trouble is it was such a long time ago that parts of it are a bit of a blur, actually most of it is. Thankfully I can rely on my photos to be in the correct order and that helps me recall where and when we were and what we did there.

Because of this, rather than doing what I normally do, i.e. grouping the post into different sections like places to go, restaurants to eat in, walks, etc, I shall write it as it happened, Day 1, Day 2,… It will probably be a bit jumbly but at least I’ll know what I’m talking about (more or less).

If you follow my blog you’ll know that Pep and I always go away for my Birthday at the end of April. It just so happens to fall during the Benissa fiestas, when Pep has a week off work. This year we had no idea where we were going to go. It wasn’t going to be a long holiday so we didn’t want to go too far away, I can’t be doing with all that driving when you’re only away for a few days.

Pep was having a gander around Google Maps, searching for places we could drive to in 2-3 hours, and spotted the Delta del Ebro. The Delta del Ebro is where Spain’s largest river, the Ebro, forms an estuary in the Mediterranean. A friend of Pep’s lives near there and raves about how lovely it is. Fab, decision made. Now to book somewhere to stay. I found a nice, modern apartment on airbnb in a small town called Camarles. The reviews were good and people mentioned how close it is to all the attractions the Delta del Ebro has to offer. Another decision made. Now all we needed to do was pack the bags and get the fold-up bikes in order 😁.

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Camarles is just under 3 hours from Benissa along the coast up to Cataluña. Hhhmm, that means we’d be passing Oropesa del Mar, the town where I used to have an apartment, much like a second home to me. Mum and I still go once a year at the end of summer to enjoy a few days on the beach, doing very little else. You can see my posts on Oropesa here and here

So I thought it would be nice to stop there for lunch on our way to Camarles. We went to one of my favourite old fashioned beach side restaurants to have a “plato combinado” (normally some form of meat or fish, chips, fried egg and veg) and Pep could enjoy one of the best “carajillos quemados” Spain has to offer! I spoke about the carajillo quemado in this post, I also give a recipe to make one. They’re scrumptious and very warming, perfect for this time of year.

Right, onto Camarles. I actually don’t have any photos of the small town, it’s a bit nothingy. Only 4 bars (I think) which we didn’t even venture in, but it was in a perfect location to visit everything we wanted to see. So on to day one of our lovely little break.

As often happens when we’re away, we rarely have anything planned for our first day. So we hopped in the car, bikes in tow, and drove towards the river Ebro. We stopped in a small village (can’t for the life of me remember its name) next to the river and took a couple of photos. I happened to glance over and noticed a sign marking a cycling route which looked like it might run alongside the river. That was the “sign” we needed. We dragged the bikes out the car and got pedalling.

It was getting on for lunchtime so we had a quick google search of local restaurants. “Lo Mas de Nuri” (Facebook page here) came highly recommended, not that I always trust Tripadvisor but what else could we do. Still it was close by so we thought we’d give it a try. It was well worth it. It was a weekday so not too many people about.

They had a menú del día for 18€ or 19€ if I remember rightly (I could be completely wrong) so we opted for that. Starters included a salad and mussels. Pep and I never order mussels ’cause neither of us are too keen on them but seeing as there was no other option we gave them a go. Oh my goodness, they were fantastic. Cooked in a “romseco” sauce (tomatoes, garlic, “ñora” peppers, almonds, etc) they were like no other mussels I’d eaten. My mouth waters now just thinking about them.

For our main course we shared a rice dish cooked in a paella (that’s the name for the pan they cook paella in, hence paella’s name 😁). Can’t remember which one ’cause I have no photos. It was ok and the reviews of the rice dishes here are very good. The trouble is we’re used to the excellent rice dishes in our area (the Senyoret at El Cantonet for example) and personally they beat the socks off the ones in the Delta del Ebro. But that’s just a matter of taste and possibly what we’re used to. Still, we managed to eat it 😁.

For pudding we opted for the Crema Catalana (similar to crème brûlée). I can’t eat lactose due to my stupid tummy but when in Cataluña it’s a sin not to eat this yummy pud at least once (and then pay for it later, although I did only eat a little bit, Pep happily finished it for me whilst I had an infusion of some sort).

And on with our little cycle route. We continued towards the Delta del Ebro, curious to see it. It’s a fabulous little ride, especially on such a lovely day. Nice and flat too, an added bonus!!! I think hills and bikes are a dreadful combination 😂.

Some of the photos are a bit jumbled up, some were taken on the way to the Delta, some on the way back. I think we did a slightly different route on the way back but really can’t remember. I’m blaming it on my flu brain.

Before returning to our car we made a slight detour to visit the Lo Passador bridge. I love bridges, hence why I like Alcoy so much (see my posts on Alcoy here, here and here). The Passador bridge is a modern structure, construction began in 2008 and it was inaugurated in 2010. It’s the only bridge joining the Baix Ebre and Montsià regions. Previous to it being open to the public the only way to cross the river would be by boat, hence local people and visitors alike regard it as an emblem of the area.

Right, moving on to day 2. Oh dear, this is going to be a long post, most unusual 😁. Anyway, I’ve started so I’ll finish! We gave the bikes a rest on day 2 and drove to Tortosa, a small historical city inland of the Delta.

The Ebro is one of the main protagonists but there is plenty more to see there, a castle from the tenth century, which is now home to a Parador hotel, being one of them. I won’t ramble on too much about it else we’ll be here all day. Of course I’ll show you some photos of the picturesque town but if you’d like more info you can visit this website. It’s in English too.

After our time in Tortosa we zoomed over to the Punta del Fangar, a natural park by the sea, also known as the desert of the Ebro. It is a peninsula with a length of 7 kilometres and some parts are 3 kilometres wide. The park is known for being the nesting area of marine birds. There are parts of the peninsula you can’t walk on so as not to disturb them. It’s also a refuge area for migratory aquatic birds.

At the end of the walk there is a lighthouse. It was our goal to reach this lighthouse. Unfortunately we were too late and too tired to make it. After walking for nearly 5 kilometres we gave in and headed back to the car before it got dark. We soooo wanted to make it there. Maybe one day. My photos are a bit samey and don’t do the beautifully peaceful place justice.

Ok, we’re more or less at the halfway point of our wee trip. On to day 3!!

On day 3 we were back on the bikes again, ready to enjoy a route around the Encanyissada, a lagoon measuring 879 hectares, the largest of the Delta. Another fabulous place if you’d like to do a spot of birdwatching. There are plenty of miradores around the lagoon if that’s what you’re in to. The Encanyissada is the only hunting reserve for aquatic birds in the whole of Cataluña (not my scene thank you very much).

Our route began at the Restaurante Estany Casa de Fusta (website here), more on that a bit later on. We dumped the car at the designated car park and began our 2(ish) hour sightseeing bike ride.

During our route we had to cycle on a main road for approximately 10 mins (I think). I despise cycling on main roads so I do it as quick as poss and with no stops for taking photos, hence why I don’t have any of that part of our ride.

We also cycled through a sweet little village called Poblenou del Delta, a relatively new town built after the Spanish Civil War. It was intended for settlers who worked the lands dedicated to rice cultivation, salt collection and fishing.

Nowadays it’s more touristy with some good restaurants and plenty of accommodation, even though its population is just under 200 people. I would have liked to return there during our stay but we didn’t get the chance. Unfortunately I only have one photo (see above). Sorry about that.

We returned to our starting point around lunch time so we thought we’d give the restaurant a go. The reviews were also pretty good.

As usual we opted for the menú del día which consisted of 5 starters, different rice dishes for main course, desserts, drinks and coffee. All this for 27€ each.

We decided on the arroz seixat for our main course. For some reason I don’t have a photo of this one either which is a bummer as I can’t remember what it was and what was in it. I do recall that it was ok but still not as good as the ones around our area. We’re spoilt I suppose. By the way, all the fish and shellfish is local and extremely fresh.

Before continuing on another cycle route we had a quick stroll around the area. There is a lovely little “barraca” which has been converted into an information centre/souvenir shop.

Next to the restaurant stands the Casa de Fusta (wooden house), a construction built in the 1920’s by a few hunters who were drawn to the area due to the variety of birds that nested here. It’s now home to an ornithological museum with a representative collection of all the different species of birds that can be spotted at the lagoon. We didn’t go in though, we were ready to go cycling again

Afterwards we cycled to the Platja del Trabucador, a long, thin stretch of sandy land that juts out into the Med. This beach (well actually two beaches) allows you to swim in two different seas, the open sea (the Med) and the sea of the bay of Alfacs. The bay waters are shallow, great for sports like kitesurf and windsurf. The beach can be driven on for around 2 kms, but don’t go off the track as you’ll most likely get stuck in the sand.

Luckily for us it can be walked or cycled upon for 6,5 kms so we spent an hour or so enjoying the tranquility of the area. I must admit, cycling on sand, no matter how compacted it is, is completely different to cycling on tarmac. Our legs were rather sore the following day.

Undoubtedly our legs (and bums) couldn’t take any more cycling on day four. We thought we’d have a day trip in the car around the Terra Alta. Once we’d planned our route we began our journey to Miravet, a picturesque village located on the edge of the river Ebro.

There are two ways to reach Miravet, one by road, the other using a boat which transports you and your car across the Ebro!! Unfortunately we didn’t realise this until later. In the next photos I’ll show you a screen shot from Google Maps where you can see that driving to Miravet takes quite a bit longer than travelling in the boat 😁.

Since we were so pooped from the previous day’s outing we didn’t make it to the castle situated at the top of the village. You can check out more photos and also see the car-carrying boats on this website. There is more info on the town, in English as well as Spanish, Catalán, etc.

Shortly after, we reached the town of Corbera d’Ebre. There are 2 parts, the old town, which was destroyed in the Civil War, and the new town, where the townspeople built their homes after Franco said that the old town wouldn’t be rebuilt. Nice chap he was.

The Battle of the Ebro was one of the toughest, bloodiest battles of the whole Civil War, 116 days of combat in total. It was fought in the areas of the Terra Alta and the Ribera de l’Ebre. The best military units of the Republican army and the nationalist army fought face to face.

On the 21st of September, 1938 the Spanish Republic announced that all International Brigade volunteers would be withdrawn from its army. The British Battalion of the XV Brigade fought for the last time, 2 or 3 kilometres east of Corbera d’Ebre. They were withdrawn on the 24th of September. In those 3 final days of fighting, 23 British volunteers were killed, along with over 175 of their Spanish comrades.

The streets of the old town are painfully silent, helping us feel the sadness of what occurred here nearly 90 years ago.

I feel the rumor of the people,
the laughter of the children playing in the streets,
the neighbor who says good morning,
the peasant returns from the work of the field.

And all this, is only in my imagination.
They have not been there for a long time.
Stones and debris remain
and these voices are only ……… the wind.

Taken from the Poble Vell website, which you can check out here. It’s worth having a read, there’s a lot of info about the town.

Check out this webpage to read about the restoration of the church (in English) and also see photos of the inside. It’s quite something. The architect wanted to preserve the feeling of still being a ruin by having the roof made in EFTE, a type of very resistant plastic. The roof is see-through, allowing all natural light in. I think all churches should be like this, I find them incredibly dark, dismal places.

We leave Corbera d’Ebre behind and continue with our route. For some odd reason I have no more photos of our outing and I could have sworn we’d visited other villages. Oh well, I think the two I do have photos of were possibly the most interesting. That’s what I tell myself at least.

On the outskirts of Camarles (where our apartment was) I had spotted a rather large garden centre. It wasn’t just your usual garden centre though, it was dedicated solely to Bonsai trees. On the day we arrived it had caught our attention and we knew we’d pay a visit before our holiday was over.

After our trip around the Terras Altas we dropped by. All I can say is WWWOOOOOWWWW. I have never seen so many Bonsai trees under one roof in my whole life. In fact I’ve never seen that many Bonsai trees throughout my whole life. There are literally thousands of them. Small ones, big ones (as big as Bonsai trees can be, of course), ones with flowers on, ones over 130 years old,…

Prices range from 15€ up to 25.000€!!! You can also buy everything you need to look after your tree and also take lessons in caring for it. It really was astounding. Here is their website. It’s in English too. They have an online shop but I would definitely pop in if you’re around the area.

That evening we drove to a coastal town not far from our apartment. As I mentioned earlier we weren’t struck on the bars in Camarles so we would tootle along to other towns for our dinner. Here are a few pics of L’Ametlla de Mar, a pretty fishing town 15-20 mins drive away from our apartment.

On to day 5, my birthday and our last full day in Delta de Ebro. Whenever we’re on holiday for one of our birthdays we try and plan something special for that day. I know, every day is special when you’re on holiday but it’s nice to do something a little bit different to the rest of the days.

As you’d have seen on day one (if you were paying attention of course :D) I shared a photo of a river tour boat on the Ebro. A couple of days previous to my Birthday we’d had a quick Google search to see what tours were available. The one that caught our interest was a slightly longer one, one and a half hours in total, which takes us to the river’s mouth. We were lucky to get the last two seats on the 11am outing. It’s advisable to book, especially at weekends.

We had a grand time. The tour guide explains all sorts of interesting info about the Delta, history of some of the islands, problems they’re having with the rise of the water due to environmental change and how it affects the rice fields, social and political problems (’cause there are always plenty of those), etc, etc. He spoke in Spanish too which was a relief, I find Catalán a bit hard to understand sometimes, the accent is completely different to Valenciano and no doubt I would have just switched off. This is the tour we booked.

It was our last day, obviously we wanted to get a bit more cycling in while we still could. Surprisingly, we hadn’t booked a restaurant for lunch, thinking it would be better to just decide what we fancied on the day.

We knew we couldn’t leave without sampling those wonderful mussels we’d been lucky to try on our first day. So out come the bikes again and we set off in the direction of “Lo Mas De Nuri”. What we hadn’t taken into account was that it was a Saturday, and a Saturday of a “Puente” too (the following Monday was a national holiday, which means there will be more tourists than normal).

We arrived at the restaurant and the rather large car park was full. Luckily we were on bikes but it wasn’t the parking that was worrying me, it was the not being able to get a table. I entered the restaurant and tried to get one of the many busy waiters’ attention, not an easy feat. Eventually one stopped and told me that there might just be one table for two left on the terrace. Fine by me. A quick conversation with one of his colleagues informed us that that was the case. Hooray, I love it when that happens!!

I can’t remember if they have a menú del día at the weekend, it was a special day so we ordered from the a la carte menu. It was all mouthwateringly scrumptious. Three starters to share and a main course to share too. Pep obviously wanted to sample the Tiramisu too which I’m told was not ‘alf bad.

Just a silly anecdote before I move on to our last few hours in the Delta de Ebro. Wherever I am in the world on my Birthday it usually rains. As you can see from all the photos, the weather we were lucky to have whilst on our hols was spectacular. The area can be quite windy but we timed it right, warm breezes on some of the days but nothing more.

Cycling back to our car after my Birthday lunch the sky became very grey and it got a tad chilly. We decided to have a drive to another local coastal town only 8 minutes away from our apartment. We’d only been there for 10 minutes and it chucked it down, for an hour at least. We found refuge in an ice cream bar, as did most people, and waited for it to pass. Once it did it was as if nothing had happened. There wasn’t a drop of rain back home in Benissa that day but I can guarantee there would have been if I’d have been there!!

Day 6 and our last couple of hours in the Delta del Ebro were mostly spent packing. Before we left though we wanted to see how quickly the rice fields were filling up, seeing as the previous day they had “turned the taps on”.

The Delta is famous for its many rice fields, there are over 22.000 hectares of them. They’re the third largest in Spain. Depending on what time of year you visit the Delta you will be greeted with different scenery, a bit like the vineyards in the Pla de Llíber. We arrived when the rice fields were dry, with small amounts of green shooting through the earth. When we left some of the fields were almost completely full of water. In summer they would be bright green, the rice fully grown. Late summer/early autumn is time for harvesting.

Well, that more or less concludes our lovely stay in a wonderful part of the country. There were so many more things we would have like to have done but you can’t cram it all into 5 days. We will return one day to do them and hopefully make it to that darn lighthouse!

I hope you’ve enjoyed my post and that you haven’t found it too long. Up to now I have written 4315 words and the total reading time of this entry is 58 minutes!!!! I’m presuming that’s for a 4 year old, surely it can’t be that long! I best not ramble on about anything else. But there is one more thing I want to show you 😉

A recent photo and video of the peacock and peahen with their lovely chick, who is now old enough for us to know what sex it is. Thank goodness she’s a peahen. If it had been a male I would have had to find a home for him, or have it for Xmas dinner (just kidding!!) as it’s not advisable to have 2 males and 1 female, the two males would fight. They’re like chickens, 1 male to 6-7 females. Can’t be bad.

Right, I’m definitely off, that’s 4474 words and I’m still rambling. I’d like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year. My cat Dina would also like to do the same.

Thanks for reading. Take care all of you. I hope to be back sooner next time but who knows. Time will tell. Have a good one. Lots of love, Georgie and Pep xxx