Wednesday 19th March 2025 – Seville, Spain

We drove to Italica, a major Roman town just outside Seville. Parking in the town, close to the tourist information office, we obtained a map and were told what the major sites were and their opening times. The Roman theatre, next to the tourist office, is not open to the public except for performances and the lady explained that there were currently two days of plays for children. That explained the many coaches that we had seen parked close by. Fortunately, there is a viewpoint where we were able to see right into the theatre and we could watch part of the performance from there. The audience were probably 16 – 18 year olds and they were very attentive to the dramatic performance of The Trojans by Euripides.
The very small museum at the tourist office did not detain us for very long and we then walked for 10 minutes to the main site of Roman Italica. The site is set on a low hill with good views over the surrounding area and there are many excavated villas with beautiful mosaics and bathhouses. We spent a couple of hours walking around the site before returning to the van.
Close to where we parked, they have almost finished constructing a new motorhome aire and it will probably be ready for the main season. There were no other options to stay in the area, so we moved on to one of the Seville aires. We chose the one closest to the centre of the city. It really is very basic, a large car park on rough ground but it was busy with motorhomes, cars, vans and lorries. At €22 per night, including electricity, it must provide a good income for someone. We were directed to a spot in the middle and shown an electric point at the edge that we could run our lead to. However, the socket didn’t work and we had to move to another place where we plugged into a 4-way extension lead covered with a plastic bag. I don’t think that it would have passed UK regulations! Having said that, it was level, reasonably quiet and comfortable enough for the night.
Photos: The Italica theatre and the performance of The Trojans; Inside the Italica amphitheatre; The spectacular mosaic from the House of the Birds – the mosaic shows 33 different species of birds; Detail of the owl from that mosaic; A geometric mosaic from an Italica villa using the popular 3D effect – do you see a flower or cubes?

Tuesday 18th March 2025 – El Visor de Visor, Spain

We were fed up with the rain and getting wet, so we prepared for the worst – I wore my walking trousers and Jane wore her smart new wellies. It was very overcast and threatening to start with but it brightened up with blue skies and sun – the warmest day so far.
We went to the museum and had a chat with the lady on duty. She said that she couldn’t understand the weather – it never rained like this and the land was always brown not green as it is now. The museum was very good and excellent value at €2 for seniors, including an audio guide that gave very good explanations. There were beautiful mosaics and a special exhibition about a famous matador from Ecija. There was a display of many different colours of tight matador costumes covered in sequins.
We moved on to the Church of the Discalced, a very elaborate Baroque building both inside and out. We have a coffee and cake before leaving Ecija and driving to El Viso de Visor.
We stocked up at supermarket on the outskirts of the town before coming just off the top of the hill to the aire. It is a lovely aire with views for miles across the plain and a public park next to it. We had a wander around the park, which was a little damp in places due to the rain. The park is based around a spring that was very important to the village, providing all of its drinking water. There was a large pool into which the spring poured and the water was then channelled through the park. Above the park and on the edge of the hill was a large area obviously used for fiestas. Many large, partially open stands were owned by groups or families and they would be used for feasting during events.
Dinner was taken in the van where I cooked a traditional Spanish dish of pork steak cooked with fino sherry.
Photos: A Roman copy of the famous Wounded Amazon sculpture in very good condition – beautiful but I couldn’t see any sign of a wound; One of the lovely mosaics in the museum; An example of a matador’s outfit; On our way back to the van we came across workers laying cobbles and, something that you wouldn’t see in the UK, there were more women than men in the workforce; view from the festival area looking back to the town, with the aire in the middle distance; Some of the many stands in the festival area.

Monday 17th March 2025 – Ecija, Spain

Lots of rain overnight and into the morning – an umbrella was definitely required as we set off for the town centre and the tourist information office.
On the walk in, we past the Palace of Justice or courthouse where a bunch of security guards and a metal detector guarded the tile-lined entrance. Beyond we could see a beautiful courtyard and having asked politely if we could have a look, we were lead past the metal detector into the courtyard and it was definitely a ‘Wow’ moment. We were told that we could walk around the ground floor but not above. The decoration was stunning and in excellent condition and part of the reason for that is that it is relatively modern. In the 19^th century, a very rich lady from Ecija visited Granada and was so impressed by the architecture that she returned, determined to create something similar. It is absolutely beautiful and it is strange to see people using it as their place of work.
The man in the tourist information office was very helpful. Being a Monday, many of the sights were closed and he pointed out which ones were open. We already knew that the museum was closed and have planned to return tomorrow morning to see it.
We inspected the Roman pool in the Plaza Espana where there had also been temples as it was in the heart of the Roman city. We visited the Palace of the Palma Family (originally a convent) and were given a person guided tour by the guardian. Although it was all in Spanish, it was fun to see a lived-in palace with furniture and personal effects on display.
The town is full of convents and churches and we visited a number of the latter on the way round the old town. We also visited the Palace of Penaflor with its impressive painted exterior that is visible from the street. It was quite underwhelming inside as we were told that we could only visit three rooms on the ground and first floors. They neglected to tell us about the narrow spiral staircase that I investigated to find that it went up to the top of the tower where there were great views over the town and surrounding countryside. Fortunately, it wasn’t raining at the time and I was able to enjoy the views.
We walked around the town admiring the architecture and were particularly impressed by the traditional houses with their tiled entrances, pebble mosaics and pretty courtyards.
Then the downpour started and, after attempting to shelter from the worst in a doorway, we walked back in heavy rain to the van.
Photos: The magnificent courtyard of the Palace of Justice; The Palma Palace salon with its horned doorways, traditional in this area; The courtyard of the Palma Palace – we got the impression that the villa was available for private functions, especially weddings; The view from the tower of the Penaflor Palace; The elaborate tower of the church of Sa Juan see from Penaflor; The painted exterior of the Penaflor Palace; A pebble mosaic in the entrance of a private house; Entrance and courtyard of a private house.

Sunday 16th March 2025 – Ecija, Spain

It was a peaceful night and definitely much quieter than it would have been at the aire in the town. The other advantage of this hotel is that it is very close to the third Antequera dolmen, El Romeral. We headed there soon after it opened and found it to be the most interesting. There was a very good guardian there who, although he didn’t speak English, was able to explain the site very well by speaking slowly and expressively in Spanish and indicating clearly what he was talking about. The tomb is a tholos tomb from the Bronze Age although they are still working on a more precise date. We have seen many round tholos tombs in Greece, usually built with dressed stones that gradually move into the centre until they meet high above, creating a beehive shape. El Romeral is similar although it is built with rough stones and the top is closed with a large capstone. The weight of the capstone is transferred to the walls and stops them collapsing. El Romeral is totally original – no reconstruction work has been done and the structure has remained intact after thousands of years. There are actually two tholos buildings within El Romeral, joined by a short, low corridor. It is thought that the first tholos was where ceremonies were conducted and then the dead were taken through the corridor into the smaller tholos. Fascinating.
We moved on to the site of an ancient quarry, ‘El Coto de Las Canteras’ in Osuna. This high quality sandstone has been quarried since pre-Roman times and it reminded us very much of Bath stone in England. It has a similar honey colour and has always been a favoured stone for monumental buildings. Just like Bath stone, the quarrymen followed the good stone down, eventually mining the stone by leaving the surface, poor quality stone in place and taking out the good rock from underneath. This created a large underground space that has now been turned into an auditorium for concerts, cultural events and private functions. In 2004 the owners commissioned a local artist from Osuna to carve decorations into the stone, some of those you can see in the photos below.
We drove on to Ecija and a very good aire provided by the local council. It was getting quite late but it wasn’t raining, so we decided to have a short walk around the local area. Ecija appears to be a very pleasant town with lots of churches and convents.
Photos: The tumulus of El Romeral with the entrance on the left and La Pena in the distance on the right; The entrance to El Romeral; The doorway into the first, ceremonial, tholos chamber; The ceremonial chamber with the entrance into the second, burial, chamber; The roof of the tholos showing the capstone; The main structure of El Coto with sculptures around the door that leads to the auditorium; The Bacchanalian scene sculpted in the auditorium; A view of the quarry; Cara is dwarfed by the massive all-terrain motorhome parked next to her – it comes complete with its own massive generator.