Spain – Salamanca Part I (En)

We went to Salamanca, where our friends Helen and Rob were going to join us at the campsite, and my cousin was going to pick us up and show us around the city. Salamanca is famous for its university, so it’s a lively city full of young people. Furthermore, Salamanca’s old town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and boasts remarkable examples of Plateresque architecture.

Where to stay

We stayed at Camping Don Quijote (40.975201, -5.60423 latitude, longitude), which costs €21 per day with the ACSI card and €27 per day without, including electricity. The campsite is fantastic, the facilities are clean and new, with the best showers we’ve ever had, with good water pressure and adjustable temperature. Washing machines cost €4, and there’s hot water for washing dishes. The Wi-Fi worked well, but the mobile phone signal wasn’t strong. The chemical toilet disposal area and waste water disposal area are easy to access, with drinking water taps next to the pitches. The pitches are large and shaded if you want. The campsite also has a swimming pool, but it was closed when we were there, a restaurant with a terrace and a shop where you can buy bread and other necessities. There’s a huge parking lot for visitors at the campsite entrance. The river runs alongside the campsite and forms a small sandy beach where you can swim. We went for a walk and explored the beach with Helen and Rob. The owners are two sisters who are incredibly nice and helpful. I highly recommend this campsite for visiting this amazing city; we stayed for 5 days!

What to see

My cousin Caridad and her husband, along with their dog, came to pick us up at the campsite and took us to Salamanca. We parked opposite the Roman bridge, which offered incredible views of the towers, the Clerecía dome, and the silhouettes of the cathedrals.

Just as you cross the bridge, you come across a sculpture of Lazarillo de Tormes, a Spanish novel published in 1554. Going up a hill, you emerge into a square where the General Archive of the Spanish Civil War and the Museum of New Art are located. My cousin told me that you used to be able to enter the museum to go to the restaurant, but now you have to pay even for that. Circling the museum, you’ll find the medieval towers of the cathedral.

Walking around the towers, you reach the square where the Salamanca Cathedral is located. There were a lot of people around because there was a wedding, and you couldn’t enter through the main door. Taking a picture of the whole cathedral is difficult. My cousin told me that when they renovated the cathedral, they added modern sculptures that had nothing to do with the original design. We found one of an astronaut and another of a lion with a man holding an ice cream cone.

Opposite the Cathedral is the Church of St Sebastian, which we were able to see inside.

And from there, we went to see several buildings of the University of Salamanca, founded in the 12th century, such as the House of Shells, and the modern area of the city, where we tried the typical food, which you can see in part II of Salamanca in the next blog.