Spain – Aragon – Zaragoza – Gelsa (En)

Gelsa is a Spanish town and municipality in the Ribera Baja del Ebro, province of Zaragoza, Aragón. It has a population of 996 inhabitants and our friends Mariana and Cor, from Holland, has just bought a house there. So we went to visit them. We stayed in the motorhome area of the town (41.40859,-0.464582 lat, long) which is next to the sport center. It has services for filling and emptying the grey and black waters. As we arrived near to lunchtime, we went to have lunch with our friends in the town square.

After lunch, we went to see the town. One of the most exciting buildings is its Church of St Peter Mártir de Verona, built in the 17th century. Inside, the relic of the Holy Thorn is exposed which, according to legend, comes from the crown of thorns worn by Jesus of Nazaret. Other significant buildings are the Hermitage of Nuestra Señora del Buen Suceso, patron saint of the town; the Town Hall, a former casino; and the palace house of the Funes family, dating from the 15th century.

The imprint that the Muslims left in Gelsa can be seen especially in its Moorish quarter, with wide houses on narrow streets and projecting eaves.

The new house of our friends is in the town centre and it is huge, with 6 bedrooms, a big large garage, terraces in the bedrooms and a terrace on the top of the house with views of the town. They are repairing the house so it is empty, when we return in September or October we hope to see it complete!

On 27th March was my birthday and my friends did a surprise party in a pub in the town which is very Andy Warhol with a very cool underground cellar. Decorations included and an amazing lunch with a Zaragozan salad and a mixed paella with chicken, pork ribs and seafood! Also, a birthday cake to blow the candles! I had a great time and we finished at night in another pub in the town and decorated the motorhome! Thank you very much to our friends for a great birthday!

We finished our visit to Gelsa inviting our friends to a Chinese lunch for all their kindness and hoping to see them again when we return to Spain!

And we went to Catalonia, to San Vicent de Castellet, a municipality in the Bages region, in the province of Barcelona, surrounded by two natural parks: un municipio de la comarca del Bages, en la provincia de Barcelona, rodeado por dos parques naturales: Sant Llorenç del Munt i l’Obac and the Monserrat mountain natural park.