The president of the Segovia Provincial Council, Miguel Ángel de Vicente, presented this morning the new socio-economic recovery program 'Segovia, Reactiva2 province' endowed with almost six million euros and made up of six sector plans and 44 aid lines, which address all the areas of action of the provincial institution in economic and social matters. As De Vicente explained "after a very complicated year for our province due to the effects of the health pandemic, in which we are still immersed, we wanted to continue our first program with this package of measures that represent a complement to the Budget prepared for 2021 ". Therefore, starting from accounts "ambitious from responsibility and honest with the needs of and the possibilities of our province", the provincial institution now advances a little more with the incorporation of the remnants of the Treasury that give rise to this 'Reactiva2' which delves even more into the "investor, social character and a firm commitment to employment" that was set as the backbone of this year's budget.

In the words of the provincial president "the good management and caution with which things were done last year, allows us that, in this exercise, with a much calmer analysis of the situation and a much clearer vision, we can incorporate this socio-economic recovery program almost six million euros that will result in a direct and obvious benefit, both in our towns and in the people who live in them ".

For De Vicente, the 'Segovia, Reactiva2 province' program tries to "put on the table all the actions that the provincial institution is going to carry out in excess of the 67 million euros budgeted for this year 2021, because there is no it tries to create great headlines with bombastic figures, but rather to transfer real measures with a budget, thanks to a responsible management adapted to the needs of our province, because, once again, we want to be with those who need it most. " Most of the measures contemplated in this program "are the result of many meetings with the sectors involved, who have transferred their demands and concerns to each of the deputies and, from there we have structured the six plans that address employment, commerce, hotels, tourism, infrastructures, social services or culture and sports ".

'Reactiva2' also becomes a play on words because "we give continuity to the 'Segovia, Reactiva province' program that emerged at a time when reactivating the province seemed fundamental since we were immersed in an unprecedented health pandemic that is taking longer than we imagined and that is leaving devastating consequences in many cases ". From this perspective, De Vicente explained that "'Reactiva2' is something more than the second part of the previous program, it wants to give a positive message, that is, we have managed to reactivate ourselves and we have to continue in that line so as not to leave anyone behind" .

Six plans made up of 44 lines and programs

The 'REimpulsa2' plan is made up of nine lines aimed at creating Employment in the province and endowed with 2.987.097,29 euros, "which is 44% more than in 2020." The Employment plans of the Provincial Council will reach the 208 municipalities of the province again this year and will create more than 400 jobs in the territory. Thus, with the provincial institution's own funds, the Rural Employment Plan I will be executed for municipalities with up to 250 inhabitants which, with a budget of 450.000 euros, will create 150 jobs and allow 120 to 180 days of hiring; and the Rural Employment Plan II for municipalities of 251 to 20.000 inhabitants, which has a budget of 255.000 euros, will create 85 jobs in six months of hiring and that, "as a novelty this year has also been extended to the Communities of Villa and Earth ". To these own plans must also be added those that are made in collaboration with the Junta de Castilla y León such as the Preplan that will create 74 jobs with an investment of 450.000 euros or the ELMET, the forestry brigades that will reach the 208 municipalities of the province, creating about thirty jobs with an investment of 450.000 euros, or the Mixed Program of social and health care that generates nine contracts with a budget of 72.000 euros.

In addition, new lines have been established for temporary hiring of unemployed people within the provincial institution itself, such as AIR (Rural Impulse Agents) through which three contracts for one year of people with higher training have been made with an investment of 120.000 euros , the MAYEL with five hires of people over 55 years of age for a total of 100.000 euros or the COVEL that has allowed the hiring of 69 people without higher training for a period of six months and a budget that exceeds one million euros. Also, and as a novelty this year, the winter forestry brigades have been implemented, hiring twelve people for six months.

In terms of support for local businesses, local products, young people and entrepreneurs, the 'ReLanza2' plan has emerged, which covers eleven lines of help with a budget of 360.000 euros, which is 18% compared to last year. This plan includes a line of subsidies for rural trade, retail, hospitality and catering of 150.000 euros, 23% more than in 2020, financing the costs of maintenance and use of POS with an item of 10.000 euros "that will allow the extension of a year for those who already enjoyed this aid last year and which is also extended to the hotel industry ". In addition, this year there will be its own line endowed with 10.000 euros of support and promotion of street vending, local consumption vouchers aimed at the hotel business that consumes Foods of Segovia with an amount of 45.000 euros, in addition to campaigns to promote local consumption and promoting this consumption in retail stores "giving capital importance to what is ours and promoting the circular economy".

The partners of Alimentos de Segovia will once again have significant support from the provincial institution with a total amount of 90.000 euros allocated to aid checks for partners affected by the effects of the health crisis, as well as grants for digital innovation and revitalization of the brand, and for exhibitors and sales of Alimentos de Segovia, which "continues to demonstrate our commitment to positioning the producers and partners of Alimentos de Segovia within our province but also outside our territorial borders."

Finally, the line dedicated to young people and entrepreneurs has an amount close to 35.000 euros that includes the exemption of rentals in the VICAM offices, a call for aid to recently created companies and entrepreneurs endowed with 25.000 euros and a bag hours of personalized training.

Another sector that is undoubtedly suffering the most from the effects of the pandemic is tourism. For this reason, the 'ReinvenTa2' plan increases its budget with respect to 2020 to 425.000 euros, which includes eight help lines. Once again, 19 jobs will be created thanks to the Tourism Employment Plan (ELTUR) "which will allow the sector to be revitalized from the territory, accompanying businessmen and city councils in promoting our tourism offer, through their own management or the digitization of services ". In addition, "thanks to the permanent contact of the deputy with the representatives of the different groups, we have a perfect X-ray of the needs of each one and, therefore, we have decided to double the investment, up to 100.000 euros, in subsidies for the derived expenses of the activity for entrepreneurs of accommodation, restaurants, bars and cafeterias without terrace so that they can face the payment of rents, mortgages, supplies, fuel, telecommunications ... ". The 'reinvent2 your vacations' vouchers will also be maintained in rural accommodation, restaurants and activity companies, with a budget of 50.000 euros, "to promote the province as a safe and quality tourist destination". For rural accommodation, the bonus will depend on the length of the stay and the size of the accommodation. 

In restaurants, the discount will be 30 euros per reservation and à la carte table, while, in the case of businesses with activity, the discount will be 40% on the total amount, up to 30 euros.

On the other hand, Prodestur will continue to support professional tourist guides, through the visit campaign 'Viajero, yo te teando Segovia' and, as a new line of aid, travel agencies in the province will be supported with 15.000 euros for the creation of tourist packages, "since we did not want to leave out any group involved in the tourist reinvention of our province," the provincial president stressed.

Training for tourism entrepreneurs will once again play an important role, which will address financial management, thanks to the agreement with the UNED, improving customer service or how to sell tourism services, among other issues. And it also highlights the promotion of the province as a tourist destination with the realization of an advertising campaign in national media, "to position our offer in our target market that is in the Community of Madrid and Northern Spain, when sanitary restrictions allow them. "or online platforms through influencers on social networks and participation in other projects such as España Fascinante.

Finally, Prodestur and Alimentos de Segovia "rejoin synergies demonstrating that our way of management is transversal" with the 'Reinventa2' packs that "will add value to customers' stay, so that we will give away brand products from the Provincial Council to visitors staying in rural establishments in our province ".

The 'ReIntegra2' plan is located in the infrastructure chapter, which adds up to more than one and a half million euros that "will complement the more than 19 million euros of investments in the province already contemplated in the Budget". Thus, 333.333,33 euros will be allocated more to direct subsidy agreements for works in the towns, another 50.000 euros in the winter road campaign, 114.00 euros in the agreements with non-professional firefighters for the extinction of support fires in the province and more than one million euros will be added to those already budgeted for actions and maintenance of roads in the provincial road network.

Regarding Social Services, the incorporation of remnants that gives rise to the 'Reforza2' plan will allow an increase in social benefits by 236.000 euros with the new Home Meal program and an increase in the amount designated for Social Emergency Aid. In addition, the residential centers of the Provincial Council will continue their transformation thanks to the injection of 699.000 euros "that will allow us to continue advancing in the model of individualized attention in which we deeply believe, adapting spaces architecturally and environmentally".

Finally, Miguel Ángel de Vicente has given an account of the lines contemplated by the 'ReOrienta2' plan with 150.000 euros in aid in cultural matters for groups of performing arts, music ..., and for professionals and companies in the sector, as well as for new performances by professionals in the towns of the province. To this is added an amount of 128.000 euros for research grants from the Institute of Traditional Culture 'Manuel González Herrero' and new studies related to the tradition and customs of our peoples. As for Sports, the Segovia Provincial Council will articulate a line of direct aid to gyms and sports management companies in the province endowed with 25.000 euros for costs of signaling, conditioning, remodeling or maintenance of its facilities, "because we could not forget another of the sectors that have suffered the most from the uncertainty and harshness of the measures caused by the pandemic. "

In addition, and as part of the services that the provincial institution offers to citizens, but also to the municipalities of the province, the president has highlighted two of the actions that are carried out from the Finance Area. The Personalized Payment Plan that "adapts to the needs of each taxpayer, who can make monthly, quarterly or semi-annual income on account of the estimated annual debt corresponding to all the periodic collection taxes, without interest."

Also, from the Collection service, a fiscal calendar has been established for the collection of the taxes delegated by the municipalities, extending the term for the payment in voluntary period and delaying the beginning of the collection periods of the different tax figures, "as a measure aimed at mitigating the effects of the crisis on the taxpayer ".

Source: Diputación de Segovia 

These are not easy times for tourism worldwide, but that does not mean that a sector that when the pandemic passes will not continue to move millions of people and other areas. For this reason, steps such as that of the executive committee of the Smart Tourist Destinations Network continue, which approved last Wednesday the incorporation of about twenty new destinations - specifically 19 -, among which is the town of Cuéllar. With these additions, the total number of members rises to 270, of which 173 are destinations, 40 are institutions and 57 are companies.

The Secretary of State for Tourism, Fernando Valdés, who has chaired the executive committee of the Network, has welcomed the new members and described it as “excellent news that the network continues to grow, as it reflects the interest and added value that this initiative generates in destinations ”. The Commission of the Network is chaired by the Secretary of State for Tourism and has three vice-presidencies: one of organization that falls on the president of SEGITTUR; and two institutions represented by the FEMP and Red.es. In addition, it has nine members represented by eight destinations (Benidorm, Calvià, Donostia, Pontevedra, Arona, Palencia, Santander, Avilés and San Bartolomé de Tirajana).

The new member destinations of the DTI Network include the municipalities of Barcelona, ​​Logroño, Jerez de la Frontera, Alcantarilla, Alhaurín el Grande, Cebreros, La Nucía, la Navia, San Fernando, Santa Pola, Siles, Son Servera, Villaluenga del Rosario and Yaiza; as well as the provincial councils of Albacete, Barcelona and Gipuzkoa and the association of Municipalities Costa del Sol-Axarquía.

During the Commission's celebration, some changes to the internal regulations were also approved in order to speed up the incorporation of new members, given the growing interest in the initiative. The Smart Tourist Destinations Network, established on February 27, 2019, aims to promote a new reference framework to consolidate the competitiveness of the Spanish tourism model.

What is a DTI?
Smart Tourist Destination is an innovative tourist destination, consolidated on a cutting-edge technological infrastructure, which guarantees the sustainable development of the tourist territory, accessible to all, which facilitates the interaction and integration of the visitor with the environment and increases the quality of their experience in the destination and improves the quality of life of the resident.

This initiative, which emerged from the National and Comprehensive Tourism Plan 2012-2015, generates mechanisms to facilitate the rapid incorporation of innovations in destinations. All this translates into Cuéllar achieving better use of its tourist resources and the identification and creation of others, as well as an improvement in the quality of the visitors' stay and the quality of life of the residents. It will achieve a benefit in the efficiency of the production and commercialization processes, as well as a boost to the sustainable development of the destination in its three aspects: environmental, economic and socio-cultural. What is sought is to make the tourism strategy the basis for the economic revitalization of the territory, guaranteeing its positive effects in the long term.

Source: The Adelantado de Segovia

As much as our imagination goes to a knörr with its dreki in the bow, causing dread on the Atlantic coast and that, arriving in Porto, enters the mouth of the Duero, goes up kilometers and kilometers until reaching Aniago and from there The Eresma to Coca, the main idea is quite different and it will take us from one side of Europe to the other until we finish in the Segovian town but without the need to postulate a Viking repopulation in the center of the peninsula.

We focus on the lands surrounding the Baltic Sea. According to the Latin historian Tacitus, the Germanic peoples lived there before migrating throughout northern Europe around 500 BC and, among them, we find the Chauci tribe, who ended up living between the Elbe and Ems rivers, in Friesland ( now Holland and Northwest Germany). The phonetic resemblance to Cauca is very evident; but speaking of similarities, it is not that Kaunas (the most populous city in Lithuania) differs so much ...

This Germanic people invaded Retia (Switzerland) in 162 AD and entered as auxiliary troops in the legions of Marcus Aurelius: yes, the emperor of Gladiator, historically speaking somewhat arbitrary film; if we are really interested in the time, it is much better Yo, Julia, the book by Santiago Posteguillo ... but I'm going around the bush.

Let us leave the Caucasians, the Querusians and the Marsi fighting against other Germanic tribes. We will be back with them. We are going to advance a few centuries and we move to the Romanian Danube where hordes of Goths are crossing the border of the Roman Empire pushed by the Huns. The Latin historian Amiano tells us that a large group is going to take refuge in a forest called Caucalendenses locus during the empire of Theodosius the Great, curiously, also closely related to Coca. This place is in Transylvania, without scholars agreeing on the exact place. The truth is that we are facing another toponym with clear similarities with Cauca.

The etymology of Caucalend seems clear: -lend- derives from an Indo-European root * lendh2 "meadow, plain" that was altered to "country or land" already in Proto-Germanic (Iceland or England, they have the same root), therefore, we would be before “the land of the Cauca”. Could it be again our traveling tribe that reached that area so far south, occupied it and ended up receiving the name of its occupants? It is known that the Visigoths did gather there, but none of their "cousins", although it is said that they were one of the most populous peoples among the Germans.

The nineteenth-century Germanist Lorenz Diefenbach and, later, Julius Pokorny, a student of Celtic languages ​​and their world in general, put forward the idea that the Germanic Cauchi were the first Vikings since in the XNUMXst century AD they razed the Atlantic coast of Gaul, even reaching Ireland in his forays, where there was a tribal group called Kaukoi, although not all historians and linguists agree with this last statement. Over time, these Vikings would be called Saxons, either because they assimilated into Celtic culture, or because they were conquered by this people.

We are going to get closer to the Roman Cauca. In 153 BC, Appiano tells us that a Lusitanian general called Kaukainos or Kaukenos crosses the Strait of Gibraltar, after making life impossible for the Roman legions in the Iberian Peninsula, to invade North Africa, even seeking some kind of alliance with Carthage. The Lusitanian people, who were located north and south of the Tagus, are considered Proto-Celtic. We cannot ignore that the name of this leader bears a total resemblance to Cauca, again.

More. We all know that Antonio Machado died in Collioure in 1939 but not so many, that this French city was the Roman Caucoliberum. Liber in Latin means "free, exempt, independent." Although it is true that the Caucasians and the Gauls must have had intense relations, that a group of them came to found a city on the Mediterranean coast, next to the Pyrenees, it seems unlikely, but they were pirates ...

Finally, in the Iliad of Homer, the people of the Caucanos appear in Asia Minor, although, as we move away, the less likely it is that they are logically related. What would we do, then, with Caucasus? A word that comes from Latin, but that surely has nothing to do with Indo-European languages ​​(IE).

On the map we can see the places that we have indicated. Kaukainos I have located in the surroundings of the Tagus although it is a personal name.

ETYMOLOGY
Perhaps the first question we should ask ourselves is not what Cauca means but, rather, if all these names that we have mentioned are related in some way. What comes to mind before is that all of them are in the area of ​​Indo-European peoples, which does not necessarily imply that they come from the same language.

The most plausible hypothesis is that the root IE involved is * kobugo "hawk" that the Slovenian writer Lucijan Vuga relates to the proto-Germanic * xabukaz (so does the already mentioned Pokorny), with the same meaning; from there it would come to the root Caucasian- in German (language of the Goth peoples). Let us contribute a curious fact: in Etruscan it evolved to capys; hence, to the archaic Latin * accaput (ax) r> accipiter “goshawk”, one of whose results in Spanish we have reflected in Peña Cítores, in the Sierra de Guadarrama.

Given this, we would have that the Germanic people who pirate the Gallic and English coasts and that with time would become the best known Saxons, were nicknamed "the hawks".

Other alternatives are provided by Spanish philologists such as Francisco Villar, who proposes for the Segovian town a variant * cab-uca also IE, perhaps a diminutive or a name associated with water currents; Juan García Alonso prefers the division * kau-ko with an adjective sense: more or less “el cut”; in relation to this opinion is the Gaulish (Celtic): Kau "stone", plus an adjectival morpheme that would mean something like "stony".

AT THE END
In conclusion, there is still nothing clear about the meaning of Coca. The relationship with other similar names throughout Europe only tells us that the root should be found among the Indo-European peoples who arrived from the east throughout prehistory, although even that may be debatable. It could even be a personal name, as it is said of the Lithuanian Kaunas or the Lusitanian leader Kaukainos.

Source: The Adelantado de Segovia 

National Heritage has decided to extend the visiting hours to its monuments, including wider free access strips in most of them, in order to facilitate the visit to the citizen and promote tourism in the Royal Sites of the four autonomous communities where they are located, until the end of summer.

The president of National Heritage, Llanos Castellanos, stressed that "this update of schedules and prices reinforces the institution's commitment to contribute to the economic recovery of the country through greater access to culture for visitors and also favors , the businesses of the hoteliers and local merchants ”.

Thus, the Royal Sites of Aranjuez, El Escorial and El Pardo, in the Community of Madrid, and of La Granja de San Ildefonso and Riofrío, in Castilla y León, are opening two days with free hours per week instead of one, since Sunday afternoon has been added to Wednesday afternoon, from 15:00 p.m. to 19:00 p.m. This improvement also extends to the Royal Palace of La Almudaina, in the Balearic Islands, and the Monastery of Yuste, in Extremadura.

It should be remembered that visitors continue to enjoy the 50 percent discount on the price of their tickets until the end of the state of alarm, on May 9, within the framework of the institution's commitment to continue promoting economic recovery.

This extraordinary campaign reinforces the permanent policy of National Heritage in favor of groups such as children under 5 years old and large families, who enjoy a free pass, as well as young people between 5 and 16 years old, students up to 25 years old and Over 65s, who can purchase their tickets at a reduced rate.

In the current context of health prevention, the institution is giving preference to buying tickets online until the day before the date of the visit, so that the unsold surplus is offered at the box office, until the maximum capacity is reached, and only card payment is accepted.

In order to guarantee the right to a safe culture, National Heritage continues to implement capacity controls and the mandatory use of gel and mask, among other measures, in compliance with the guidelines and recommendations of the state and of the governments of the different communities. autonomous, as it has been doing since the reopening in June 2020.

Days and hours of free visit in the Royal Sites and Royals

Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso, in Segovia: free access on Wednesday and Sunday from 15:00 p.m. to 19:00 p.m.

Royal Palace of Riofrío, in Segovia: free access Wednesday and Sunday from 15:00 p.m. to 19:00 p.m.

Source: The Day of Segovia 

This Thursday the informative sessions on the regional heritage of the area begin, from 'Los Jueves con Codinse', with the first talk on 'BTT Routes in the northeast region of Segovia'. These sessions are aimed at the tourism sector in particular and the rest of the population in general.

It is intended to offer online sessions of approximately one hour, to gradually get to know the region more. Topics related to cultural and natural heritage, ornithology, trails and routes, geological areas of interest, museums, etc. will be discussed.

The speakers will be volunteers who know the subject in depth. On this occasion, two BTT route signaling projects will be presented. The first will be that of the Mancomunidad de la Sierra and will be presented by David Yagüe, president of the Mancomunidad de la Sierra, and Carmina Ortiz, local development agent of the Mancomunidad de la Sierra, and then by the Pueblos de la Serrezuela, with Ricardo Hernando, mayor of Villaverde de Montejo, and Víctor Tarodo, president of IMBA.

From Codinse they encourage neighbors to participate, not only as listeners, but as speakers if they know any tourist resource in depth. "We believe in the great tourist value of the territory and each and every one of us must be ambassadors for our land," they conclude.

Source: The Adelantado de Segovia 

Sepúlveda may become the 'capital of rural tourism' in 2021. The Segovian town is one of the ten finalist towns in this initiative promoted by the specialized web platform 'Rural getaway', which registered 247 applications in its fifth edition. "It is a pride that Sepúlveda is one of the finalist towns," acknowledges Mayor Ramón López; and adds: "It is a fantastic opportunity to publicize everything that our municipality can offer to the visitor."

The voting period opens this Wednesday and remains open until May 14. It will be on May 18 when the new 'rural capital' is made public. The list of finalist towns is completed with Aia (Guipúzcoa), Chelva (Valencia), Cuacos de Yuste (Cáceres), Daroca (Zaragoza), La Baronia de Rialb (Lleida), Olvera (Cádiz), Ortigueira (A Coruña), Taramundi (Asturias) and Yeste (Albacete, Castilla-La Mancha).

In 2020 Potes (Cantabria) won the award in an edition that broke all records with the participation of 94.545 participants, a figure that doubled those issued in 2019 when 48.836 people participated to choose the 'capital of rural tourism' 2019 and chose another Cantabrian town, Santillana del Mar, as the winner. In 2018 the award went to Aínsa-Sobrarbe (Huesca) and the previous year, the first edition of these awards, the lucky municipality was Sigüenza (Guadalajara).

Source: The Adelantado de Segovia

The Councilor for Culture and Tourism of the Board, Javier Ortega assured today that the Autonomous Tourism Sustainability Plan will become an opportunity for the transformation in the medium term of the entire offer of the sector in the Community, for which he called for the presentation of "solid" projects, led by the municipalities, aimed at modernizing the sector, reports Ical.

In addition, Ortega indicated that the initiatives must include the new guidelines of the European Union: ecological transition, digital transformation, competitiveness, gender equality, and announced that the new European funds will also be used to develop projects aimed at the digitization of tourist information oriented to people with different abilities.

In turn, he also argued the effort that his department will make to accredit new municipalities in the Smart Destinations Network, for which a 200.000 euro item has been opened.

The counselor announced that before June 30, the Autonomous Tourism Sustainability Plan for this year will be negotiated with the Government, a plan that will be developed until December 2014, while the 2022 and 2023 plans have their final execution date in August 2026.

Ortega, in response to the attorney for Citizens, María Teresa Gago, assured that tourism is experiencing a “decisive” moment that passes through the maintenance of the business fabric, but also through facing a modernization process based on tourism sustainability, where the economy digital takes on a fundamental role.

In his speech, Gago López highlighted "the unstoppable progress towards 4.0, digitized and sustainable tourism" and warned that we must be prepared for when the pandemic comes to an end. “Tourism must be properly prepared and stimulated. Digital uses must be allies for our economy, "he said, while emphasizing that in tourism they will be extremely important when setting successful strategies."

Source: Segoviaudaz

The Segovian skier and author of 'Hijos del Guadarrama', María Jesús Martín Merino, presented yesterday at the Government Sub-delegation the request for the Madrid area of ​​the Port of Navacerrada to be declared an Asset of Cultural Interest (BIC). A member of the 'Salvemos Navacerrada' platform, last week registered another similar request, in this case for the Segovian side of the Port. These initiatives have been well received, both by the Junta de Castilla y León and by the Community of Madrid, whose presidents showed their support for both requests, in the meeting they held last Friday at the Navacerrada ski resort to express their rejection. at the closure of these facilities, agreed by the State.

María Jesús Martín explains that the research she carried out for the publication of the aforementioned book “has helped me to confront with knowledge to defend the rights of this place, where my father Jesús learned to win more than 40 championships, where Paco and Blanca, Juanma, Lola, etc., surpassed the strongest in the world ”.

The writer highlights that last Friday she had a conversation with the president of the communities of Castilla y León, Alfonso Fernández Mañueco, and Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, in which both expressed their interest and support for both BIC statements, which may prevent the closing of the station.

For the BIC proposal in the Madrid area, it is requested to preserve only the sports facilities and the train station. “I feel that I am right to propose it now and in that way. My strength is in being above the political issue. I am going to defend the Port of Navacerrada because I am the mirror of those who love it ”, he concludes.

Source: The Adelantado de Segovia 

The National Geographic Travel magazine offers an extensive report on five essential excursions to be done in the province of Segovia, in addition to the capital. Sepúlveda, Maderuelo, Real Sitio de San Ildefonso, La Cañada Real Soriana and Pedraza, are the routes that are proposed.

sepulveda square
From Sepúlveda, the medieval town and the hidden beauty of the Duratón River stand out. "Considered one of the most beautiful towns in Spain, it is located between two rivers, Caslilla and Duratón, so it is not surprising that trekking enthusiasts travel there to enjoy the scenery."

They also recommend a visit to the Hoces del Río Riaza Natural Park, between Montejo de la Vega de la Serrezuela and Maderuelo.

Segovia, in five essential excursions
The visit continues to the Royal Site of San Ildefonso, where the Royal Palace of La Granja is located, one of the best examples of the monarchical splendor of the XNUMXth century.

A walk through Vera de la Sierra, the Segovian section of Cañada Real Soriana Occidental, is also recommended. They are almost 150 kilometers distributed in eight stages that run through the towns of El Espinar, Otero de Herreros, Sotosalbos, Collado Hermoso, Navafría, Arcones, Villarejo, Riaza and Ayllón. It is a route called shearing, which seeks to make known from the point of view of transhumance, the greatness of the valleys, plains and mountains that surround the Segovian sierra.

Segovia, in five essential excursions
The Candle Concerts, in the month of July, concentrate many visitors in Pedraza. 
And the visit concludes in Pedraza, one of the most visited towns in the province. The arcaded houses with noble coats of arms, the traditional stone buildings, the Castle where the Zuloaga Museum is located, a building acquired in 1926 by the painter Ignacio Zuloaga, stand out.

Source: The Adelantado de Segovia

The Minister of Culture and Tourism, Javier Ortega, chaired the plenary session of the Autonomous Tourism Council today, accompanied by the general director of Tourism, Estrella Torrecilla. Within the framework of this session, Ortega has advanced that the Ministry is preparing the Action Plan for the reactivation of the tourism sector in Castilla y León 2021-2023, which will have the collaboration of the tourism sector to jointly define the lines of work and the measures to address the current tourism situation in the Community. In this way, it has been agreed to set up working groups with the different subsectors to advance in the development of this plan, with the intention that it could be presented next May, once agreed with the entire sector.

The counselor stressed that among the fundamental objectives is to reorient and adapt the tourism strategy of Castilla y León to the new context to respond to the challenges posed by the tourism market in the short and medium term. In this sense, he assured that the crisis “has brutally affected companies and freelancers in the sector and therefore it is essential to establish a joint reactivation strategy, with a participatory methodology between the private sector and the different administrations, so we will have the ideas, proposals, suggestions and contributions from all the tourism subsectors of our Community in order, together, to be able to design and implement the reactivation plan that best suits our territory. A plan in which we all have to be generous and think about the general good over the particular good ”.

During the last months, the Ministry, in collaboration with TURESPAÑA and the UNWTO, has worked on an analysis of the evolution of tourism at an international, national and regional scale and on a study of trends and recovery scenarios, which will serve as a basis for the design of measures that will make up the Action Plan that is being configured around 4 axes. The support and improvement of the competitiveness of the tourism sector is sought; encourage the stimulation of demand and attractiveness of the destination; the promotion, communication and support to the commercialization and, finally, the governance and sustainable management of the destination.

The Board currently has the 2019-2023 Strategic Tourism Plan, but, even though it is in force, the crisis situation derived from COVID-19 makes it necessary to review, update and adapt it to the global economic and tourism situation. lives today. In the current circumstances, the counselor has indicated that it is not a question of seeking new objectives of the legislature in the field of tourism, “but of knowing how to evolve, be resilient and adapt to different and unexpected situations. Our 2019 legislature goals were based on certainties, we had a foundation to work from. The situation of uncertainty in the short and medium term that now faces us prevents us from having that basis on which to make an objective approach ”. For all this, he has insisted on the need to count on the collaboration and contributions of all the subsectors to explore which will be the ways of reactivation, “since this is more necessary than ever and right now it is essential for Castilla y León reduce the disappearance of our tourism companies and keep the tourist's attention to our destination alive ”.

European Vaccination Passport

On the other hand, during the meeting the situation of the European Vaccination Passport was discussed. In this regard, the counselor has assured that for Castilla y León, a Community that lives mainly from national tourism, it is essential that the vaccination passport can be used for tourist movements within the country. In this sense, he has pointed out that the possibility of establishing tourist corridors among the autonomous communities that have a significant level of immunity of their citizens could be studied, having vaccinated a large percentage of the population.

Source: Segoviaudaz

Cuéllar is another of the thousands of municipalities that under normal conditions would have had spectacular tourism figures this past Easter. The pandemic leaves, however, atypical statistics for the dates, but from which positive conclusions can be drawn. This is explained by the mayor of Tourism, Maite Sánchez, who believes that despite the negative, it is time to be proud of the work they have done from the Tourism Office.

Specifically, around 2.0076 people have passed through it; This does not mean that all of them have consumed tourist products, in fact, 1.475 people have done so. "This translates into a very good consumption rate of 71%, which means that out of every 10 people, our workers have retained 7," says the mayor, congratulating the guides for their efforts. "It has been a lot of work, these data mean that groups of six people have passed every 20 minutes," he explains. Since there are no dramatized visits yet - they will not be resumed until summer - the most consumed have been both the visit to the Castle and the guided tour pack to the Castle, the walls and the Mudéjar Interpretation Center.

In days, from March 25 to April 5, 801 tickets to the Castle and 259 complete packs have been counted. The week before, 415 entries and 30 to the wall were counted. The mayor also comments that the day of greatest flow was Holy Thursday, something to highlight, as well as the origins. "The largest number of visitors has come from the north of Burgos, which means that the campaigns launched in the Basque Country have reached Burgos," he points out. Valladolid and Palencia have been two of the most repeated origins these days. The most striking fact that Councilor Sánchez wanted to highlight is that the majority of visitors have been from rural areas and not from cities, which suggests that visits to family members within the community have also led to visits to Cuéllar.

The exhibition of images of Holy Week, for which they collaborated with the Parish and the Board of Brotherhoods, has been a success for visitors and organization. The mayor wanted to thank both for their willingness, coordination, and for having allowed the churches to be open, since the Board decreed that it ceased to be its competence a few days before the holidays, according to her words. Maite Sánchez also wanted to thank the work of the Culture staff of the City Council, which has allowed the final result of the exhibition to be a success.

The councilor assures that these data "do not allow us to be happy because tourism does not rise like this, with very low figures", but acknowledges that "many people have arrived that we did not expect, such as tourism in Burgos", which they hope to maintain and expand. The town hopes that in the face of the summer season, the statistics speak of a gradual recovery.

Source: The Adelantado de Segovia 

The Riaza City Council, which manages the La Pinilla ski resort, is considering contributing its own funds to the facilities, seeking to establish a viable long-term project. This would be the first time in the history of the winter complex that the Riazano municipality would allocate its own resources to La Pinilla. As it will be recalled, the Riaza City Council agreed a few years ago with the previous owners (Junta de Castilla y León, Diputación de Segovia and Caja Segovia) to take charge of the management and evolution of the station, as a direct knowledge of the needs of the Valley of Riaza.

Therefore, the aforementioned City Council is the sole owner of the station, where all the members of the corporation are part of the Board of Directors, to which the Cerezo de Arriba City Council also belongs, a term in which La Pinilla is located, represented by your mayor.

It was precisely the last session of the Board of Directors that studied the possibility of the City Council providing financial funds, either via loan or capital, to the La Pinilla complex, to work on a future project with activities throughout the year. year, not just in winter. The mayor of Riaza, Benjamín Cerezo, confirmed to this Editorial Office that the municipality is considering the option of financing La Pinilla, although this decision will have to be agreed and approved by the municipal plenary session.

In the same way, the spokesperson of the Socialist Group in the Consistory, Andrea Rico, also a member of the La Pinilla Board of Directors, who stressed the "delicate" treasury situation that the La Pinilla complex is going through, due to bad seasons. winter of the last two years, to which are added the restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Andrea Rico explained that it is about carrying out a project for the future, of survival and stability of the station throughout the year. “You have to work on diversification and optimization of resources. It is not a matter of timing, but of the future ”.

The La Pinilla ski resort closed the 2020-21 season on March 26, with only ten days open, in a campaign that can be described as bad. Faced with this situation, the Riazano mayor commented a few days ago that La Pinilla is already prepared to start the competitions and routes in the bike park modality, an important resource for the station, which gathers many fans every year. La Pinilla offers, in addition to its location, a set of facilities and highly qualified personnel that are the ideal complement to the specific needs for the production of high-impact and spectacular events.

Source: The Adelantado de Segovia 

The Segovia Provincial Council is going to launch a new institutional campaign that, under the slogan 'Our peoples, our strength' has been presented this morning by the president of the provincial institution, Miguel Ángel de Vicente. The Patio de Columnas of the Provincial Palace has been the setting chosen for the launch of this initiative that has made the towns and their people protagonists of the strength of the province to overcome the crisis.

The campaign aims to be the continuation of the message that has been transmitted from the provincial institution for years, thus the 'Our peoples are our work' evolves to "thank those peoples, with their mayors, councilors and neighbors, who have been an example in one of the most difficult times that we have had to live as a society "has highlighted De Vicente who has stressed that the previous one has been" one of those campaigns that have deeply penetrated our society, firstly because it is simple and, secondly, because There is nothing more certain that the work we do from the Provincial Council is by and for the peoples of our province. "

With the presentation of the new campaign, the provincial institution intends to "go one step further because throughout our history, our peoples, with their people, have always known how to draw that strength necessary to overcome crises" the president has had an impact on that "we are a land of castles and Castilians, of tireless workers and fighters, we are a land of overcoming and 2021 will be a year to rise again, it will be a year of struggle for our peoples and their neighbors, and from the Segovia County Council we want to be by his side and put in value that spirit that is so ours ".

The new logo represents our walls, our strengths, through a strong line as a clear reflection of our character. A character that is perfectly shown in the seven protagonists of the audiovisual campaign because "they are just an example of all the good things we have and that will make us once again make history together" as Miguel Ángel has expressed of Vicente, who wanted to personalize in each one of them "the passion of Ana Herrero, the illusion of Elisa, the smile of José Antonio, the perseverance of Lucía, the initiative of Ana Goya, the talent of Diego, the ability of Javier and the commitment to the land of Guillermo "because, as stated" all of them embody the values ​​that have made us get here, they represent each and every one of those who have decided to bet on the province of Segovia to make it grow from inside".

The campaign is made up of seven short videos that tell of the commitment to our province of the seven protagonists from different socio-economic prisms: culture, tourism, sports, entrepreneurship or the primary sector; and a final video that brings together all these little stories in a common thread that leads to a message full of positive energy. This audiovisual material is also supported by posters that follow the same line of action, with clear and direct messages that have come from the protagonists' own statements.

To conclude, Miguel Ángel de Vicente has confessed that "viewing the videos and knowing these stories has made me feel very proud to be able to count on all of them as that paradigm of what our peoples represent, and I want to thank them for betting on the province, for having decided to stay, because if we need something here, they are brave to take the reins to be victorious once again. And he concluded with a promise: "within our possibilities, you will have us close as an institution to make the path easier for you."

Source: Diputación de Segovia

With the aim of protecting the identity and heritage of Puerto de Navacerrada and, thereby, preserving its historical, cultural, sports and environmental contributions, the Segovian ski teacher and author of the book 'Hijos del Guadarrama', María Jesús Martín Merino has presented this Monday, April 5, in the registry of the Subdelegation of the Government of Segovia an instance addressed to the Ministry of Culture of the Junta de Castilla y León for the initiation of an administrative file to declare as 'Asset of Cultural Interest' (BIC ) to the Port of Navacerrada.

The Madrid Winter Sports Federation called a meeting in the Port this Sunday to show its dissatisfaction with the planned closure of the slopes of the Escaparate, Telégrafo and El Bosque ski resorts by the State, in which it was already communicated that Legal measures are being studied to prevent the station from closing.

Source: The Adelantado de Segovia

The fifth season of the well-known television series, “La casa de papel”, will include scenes shot in Segovia, specifically in the surroundings and the same reservoir of Pontón Alto where this March 31, a team of about 50 people is recording different shots, essentially with extras in the role of national police. The Segovian locations thus join those already recorded in Denmark, Portugal and other parts of Spain.

Throughout the day there has been speculation with the presence in the place of the actor, Álvaro Morte, (the Professor), although the truth is that this newsroom has not been able to confirm his presence and neither the producer, Vancouver, has wanted to provide any details of the work being done. "We never give information about our filming," they have sentenced in response to acueducto2.com.

The work that has remained on view this Wednesday in Segovia has focused mainly on shots taken in the tunnels and entrances of the wall of the Pontón reservoir, with extras characterized as national policemen in a succession of scenes that suggest the reproduction of a police pursuit of one of the main characters of the series. Different vehicles and police cars have also been brought to the scene.

What is the most watched non-English language series in the world keeps its fans in suspense after, in the fourth season, all the plots were completely open. The fifth cycle that is still in progress and does not have an official release date - successive rumors in recent months have placed that moment in April, then in early summer and later in August, although the truth is that no date has been confirmed. - It should be the one that definitively closed the series when dealing with the "Definitive Heist" according to statements attributed to its creator and director, Álex Rodrigo, who on this occasion would be preparing a season longer than the previous ones, with ten one-hour episodes each.

What Netflix announced a long time ago is the incorporation of new actors in the cast, among others, Miguel Ángel Silvestre and Patrick Criado, who will join the already known team that forms the band of robbers with Úrsula Corberó (Tokyo); Miguel Herrán (River); Itziar Ituño (Lisbon); Darko Peric (Helsinki); Hovik Keuchkerian (Bogotá); Jaime Lorente (Denver); Rodrigo de la Serna (Palermo); Belén Cuesta (Manila); Esther Acebo (Stockholm); or Luka Peros (Marseille), and even the essential Pedro Alonso (Berlin), again in flasbacks. The plot maintains other characters played by Enrique Arce; Antonio Romero; Fernando Cayo or Najwa Nimri.

Source: Aqueduct2

How many castles are there in Segovia? In the Facebook group Segovianos por el Mundo the question was raised and at the moment there is no clear consensus. 32, 9, 15? Naturally, it depends on what is meant by "castle". The definition of the RAE refers to "strong place, surrounded by walls, bastions, moats and other fortifications" ... By affinity, castles are also those parts of the defensive framework that have survived the passage of time, fortified palaces, walls, gates access, shutters ...

The specialized website Castillos del Olvido census in Segovia no less than 60 catalogable environments that fit the definition, some were left in just the foundations, others correspond to defensive frameworks of the Civil War. Of these we selected 13 that run through the entire provincial geography, exceptional witnesses to our history.

Source: Aqueduct2

The royal palaces of La Granja de San Ildefonso and Riofrío, and the Monastery of Santa María La Real de Las Huelgas, are the Royal Sites of Castilla León that extend the routes of their tourist visits this Holy Week within the campaign "Extraordinary National Heritage ”, Which will run until April 4, informs Ical.

In the Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso, in Segovia, the public will be able to know in detail the valuable series of tapestries "The Passion of Christ"; and at the Riofrío Palace, you will have the opportunity to participate in an explanation about the relationship of the Riofrío Forest with the Sierra de Guadarrama. In addition, the visitor will be able to discover the ecological path of the Mirador de Riofrío. In the Monastery of Santa María La Real de Las Huelgas, in Burgos, the visitor will have exceptional access to the Chapel of San Juan.

In this way, National Heritage wants to contribute to the revitalization of the country's tourism sector on the occasion of Holy Week, at a time of perimeter confinement by COVID-19.

In this sense, capacity controls and mandatory use of gel and mask have been established, among other measures, in compliance with the health guidelines and recommendations of the state and of the respective autonomous communities in which the Royal Sites are located, as well as which has already been doing so since its reopening in June 2020.

In addition to this extraordinary campaign, the public will be able to continue benefiting from the campaign of 50 percent in the price of the ticket that began in October 2020 and will end on May 9, when the state of alarm subsides.

The valuable series of tapestries of 'The Passion of Christ', belonging to the collection of Emperor Carlos V and elaborated by Pieter de Pannemaker, is the extraordinary offer of the Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso. This extremely rich upholstery in gold threads and silks dyed with excellent natural colorants is a sample of the expertise and skill of the aforementioned Brussels upholsterer, who brilliantly translates the cartoons of Bernard van Orley, a painter highly influenced by Dürer and Raphael, to cloth . These cloths were Carlos V's wedding gift to his wife Isabel de Portugal.

Inside the Monastery of Santa María La Real de Las Huelgas the Chapel of San Juan Bautista consecrated in 1279 is opened to the public, it is one of the most beautiful chapels of the monastery, it has a rich decoration and the precise data of its construction can be read in two inscriptions on tombstones. The visit takes place on Thursday morning and on the weekend in full schedule.

In the Royal Palace of Riofrío, an explanation of the relationship between the Riofrío Forest and the Sierra de Guadarrama is presented as a novelty and under the responsibility of Guardería. In addition, the Mirador de Riofrío path has been opened, a family route with free access and circular route, 1,5 kilometers long. The path has up-to-date signage and informative signage, which allows you to follow the route without worries and learn about the natural and architectural secrets of this unique enclave.

The Royal Sites and Patronages of National Heritage, located in four different autonomous communities, have registered a total of 12.249 visitors in the first weekend of the “Extraordinary National Heritage” campaign.

The Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, with more than 3.000 people, has been the most visited monument in this "extraordinary" weekend, followed by the Royal Palace of Aranjuez with 2.405 visitors, and the Royal Palace of Madrid, with 2.071 visitors. So far, National Heritage has received visits from 67.548 people in March who have wanted to discover everyone's heritage.

The National Heritage gardens have also been the protagonists this weekend, welcoming 24.192 people who have sought to enjoy outdoor leisure, according to the visitor counting system implemented in nine of the green spaces that the institution has. The Jardín de la Isla, in Aranjuez, has been the most visited green space with 9.795 people, followed by the Parque de la Casita del Príncipe in El Escorial, with 4.028 people, and the Jardines de La Granja in Segovia, with 3.702 people.

Source: Segoviaudaz

The study of the Canto-Los Hierros site, in El Espinar, has revealed the existence of several Roman camps from the 135st century BC in its surroundings, probably of the troops led by Julius Caesar during the advance of the Roman conquest of Hispania. It is a site with a surface area of ​​XNUMX hectares in which remains of an indigenous settlement have been identified with four sections of wall located at the top of a large hill, located just three kilometers from the urban area of ​​El Espinar, between the provinces of Segovia, Madrid and Ávila.

As the project director, archaeologist Iván Aguilera, explained in an interview, it all began in 2016, when within the framework of the Atajo program, two lines of wall were discovered and the remains of almost a hundred houses with characteristics similar to other pre-Roman settlements. of the Central system such as Castro de Ulaca, in Ávila.

With the passage of time, the researchers were suspicious of the possible existence in that same place of Roman camps in a period after these indigenous populations, for which several studies were carried out in this regard.

First, an analysis of the area was carried out with a LIDAR remote detection system, which allowed the taking of images of the terrain with a high level of detail thanks to laser technology, and revealed the existence of structures associated with these Roman camps. .

The large-scale vision also allowed scholars to know the real surface of the deposit: "We have been able to corroborate the deposit, the structures that we had detected in 2016 and add more houses and walls, so we have gone from 70 hectares to 135", Aguilera relates.

A direct survey of the terrain at the end of last year has finally confirmed the existence of at least two Roman camps from the middle of the 5.000st century BC. After the discovery of some materials, such as tacks from the Roman legionaries' sandals and arrowheads. According to this study, the first indigenous settlement was built in the XNUMXrd century BC. C. by populations of vetones, which in the middle of the XNUMXst century BC. They were besieged, it seems, by the Roman legions, each one formed by some XNUMX soldiers.

"At this moment, all the space from the Levant to the Douro River is controlled by the Roman world and Julius Caesar arrives on the peninsula to pay for what he wants to do in Rome, which is to monopolize the maximum power," says Aguilera.

In search of "fame and booty", it is known that in the year 61 BC. This Roman military man crossed the Central system with two legions and beat the indigenous populations in his path "lowering them to the plain": he moved them from the top of the hill to a lower area to have them more controlled and carry out "a more efficient taxation" , in the archaeologist's words.

In addition, there is another detail that makes one suspect the trace of Julius Caesar in this camp and it is the shape of the structures found: "The type of entrance that these enclosures have is a quarter of a semicircle, an access that is always associated with the figure of Cesar, "says the project manager. This type of structure has been found among the remains of the famous Gallic Wars and, according to Iván Aguilera's analysis, it is very likely that the tactics that are believed to have been used in this area were a kind of "preparatory strategies" for what was to come.

The Gallic Wars, the Battle of Alesia, the entry of Julius Caesar into Rome through the Rubicon River and his conversion into "the dictator who struck the republic in quotation marks and turned it into an empire," says the historian .

Aguilera of the site stands out for its vast extension as a pre-Roman settlement, unprecedented in the Iberian Peninsula and with similar findings only in Central Europe, such as the Bribacte deposit in France, and also the inhospitable place in which it is located, 1.700 meters above the level of the river. sea.

At this moment, his team is waiting for the City Council of El Espinar to respond to the results of the project and, above all, to express its commitment to support with financial means to continue with this study, which until now has been developed in totally altruistic way.

Source: The Day of Segovia

We are in the run-up to the Easter holidays, a few days that for many come to mean a stop in the daily routine and recharging batteries for a summer that at this time of year still seems far away. It goes without saying that until two years ago, this brief holiday trip was the traditional setting for the celebration of processions in most of the towns and cities of our geography as well as serving as justification for a trip of several days, both towards the coast as well as inland tourism destinations, all with the permission of the weather, unpredictable in early spring.

The socio-sanitary situation induced by COVID-19 has led to the fact that this year, although without reaching the circumstances of severe confinement experienced in the previous one, it continues to be impossible to carry out most of the religious celebrations and leisure activities aforementioned are limited and not at all programmed for long distances. Not surprisingly, a whole panoply of restrictions aimed at containing the pandemic is still in force, so that our non-essential movements are limited to the autonomous sphere.

Fortunately, we have the largest autonomous community in the entire national territory, with nine provinces and an area that exceeds 94.000 km2, even larger than our neighbor Portugal. It goes without saying that Castilla y León treasures an abundant historical-artistic heritage and a great variety of landscapes that are reflected in an extensive network of natural spaces, without prejudice to a rich and suggestive gastronomy. In short, despite the limitations, we are lucky enough to reside in an authentic museum, partly in the open air, which at this time of year offers the traveler a wide range of possibilities for enjoyment and recreation, of course respecting the corresponding indications regarding hygiene and social distancing.

Taking into account these previous considerations, through this collaboration I bring up an interesting archeotourism proposal, ideal to put into practice during this Easter by the commuter traveler that we have all become due to circumstances. This proposal is circumscribed even to an even smaller scope, as it is located in the Segovian territory itself. It goes without saying that the province of Segovia, led by the capital, is a true benchmark for inland tourism due to competitive advantages similar to those already mentioned for the autonomous region, which allows us to provide our visitors with a highly satisfactory experience. to the point of converting a large majority of them into recurring tourists.

That said, the proposal in question, although it has archaeological heritage as a common thread, does not disregard the landscape argument at all, and I would even dare to say that neither the geological one. It is located specifically in the middle valley of the Eresma, in the middle of the Segovian countryside and just 35 km from the capital. This is where three hills are certainly elevated above the surrounding plain, forming an almost perfect triangle in which the vagaries of geology and history have left their mark in a more than obvious way. Access to this area, regardless of the origin of the traveler, can be done easily both from the A-601 highway and from the CL-605 regional highway, known as the Arévalo highway.

In the first place I am going to refer to the hill of San Isidro, following a chronological criterion based on the age of its first historical manifestations. The hill is located in the town of Domingo García, just 40 km from the provincial capital. The visit to this place is free and free, being able to access it after passing the detour towards Domingo García from the SG-P-3411 road that connects Santa María la Real de Nieva and Bernardos.

We are before an outcrop of slate and quartzite that emerges from the plain in an impetuous way, formed by the Cuesta Grande and the San Isidro hill itself. The metamorphic materials of the hill, especially the slate, have served throughout history as a support for the representation of engravings ranging from the Paleolithic to contemporary times, engravings that the archaeological discipline calls petroglyphs. Of the large sampler present in San Isidro, perhaps the most interesting set is the one belonging to the Upper Paleolithic, which forms one of the best manifestations of prehistoric art in the province. By means of the picketing technique there are depicted hunting scenes, with schematic human figures as well as species already present in the Upper Paleolithic fauna, such as equids and cervids.

Along with the petroglyphs, the hill of San Isidro has a small sample of medieval architecture, the homonymous Romanesque hermitage, located in a privileged place as an exceptional lookout. Today the building is totally in ruins and badly affected by wind erosion, a deterioration that, however, allows us to examine in detail its peculiar constructive structure based on slate and schist slabs. Around its outer perimeter there is also a necropolis made up of anthropomorphic graves of various sizes carved into the rock itself.

Another enclave of great geological and archaeological value in this area is the Cerro del Tormejón or the Virgen del Tormejón, in the municipality of Armuña, where again we find the hill-hermitage binomial. To get to the hill you can use the greenway of the Eresma valley, which takes advantage of the route of the old railway line Segovia-Medina del Campo. In this case, the access section begins at the old Armuña stop, next to the SG-V-3311 road that connects this town and Bernardos.

In the vicinity of the hill, shortly before starting the ascent, we already came across the Tormejón stream, a river course that gives its name to this promontory of limestone and marl as well as being the cause of the shaping of the cuts of its western and southern faces . In this case we find a flat hill with a marked tilt towards the southeast. Although today its surface is a wasteland, until the middle of the XNUMXth century it was subject to terraces for the sake of its use as arable land. In fact, the imprint of this agricultural practice is still visible on the limestone terrain and it is even more so in aerial photography.

From the archaeological point of view, the hill has vestiges corresponding to various phases of occupation. The oldest dates back to the Bronze Age, although the best-represented periods are the Celtiberian, with abundant remains of the well-known painted pottery and, above all, the late Antiquity, which has also provided evidence in the form of ceramics, especially stamped, to the point of constituting this site a true reference of this type, in what some authors have called the 'Segovia horizon'. It is in this late-ancient period, between the V-VI centuries, when apparently the occupation of the hill reached its greatest extension. In fact, in the eastern area there is a long line of stone material, certainly rickety, which has the appearance of having formed its perimeter walled by an area that, on the other hand, is the one with the easiest access and the least defensible of the hill.

The site has been the subject of archaeological excavations on two occasions. The first took place in 1977, directed by Francisco Gozalo Viejo. Fortunately, the second has been developed in campaigns in the last two years under the direction of Raúl Martín Vela, within his commendable Eresma Arqueológico project, an intervention that also has the collaboration of Gozalo Viejo himself based on his accredited archaeological knowledge of the enclave.

Finally, the third hill, and no less interesting for that, is the so-called Cerro del Castillo or the Virgen del Castillo, in the municipality of Bernardos, where again we find the well-known hill-hermitage association. Although the access is made through a dirt road, it is easier than expected, since this road is in an acceptable state of conservation and also constitutes the straight and natural continuation towards the outskirts of Castillo street, starting in the Plaza Mayor de Bernardos itself.

After 3 km of travel, you will reach the hill, which stands majestically almost at the foot of the Eresma, a river course that cuts and snakes through the slate massif forming a spectacular valley. The material that constitutes this form of relief, mainly slate, has been the object of extraction for centuries in the quarries of the town, still revealing itself as a key sector in the local economic fabric. From the somewhat flat top of the hill there are splendid panoramic views of much of the province, thus evidencing its variety of landscapes. Thus, to the north you can see the continuous green patch that characterizes the nearby Tierra de Pinares, to the east the spectacular valley that the Eresma generates when cutting from the slate massif, and to the south and west the wide extension towards the horizon of the Segovian countryside. with the Sierra de Guadarrama as a backdrop.

At the top of the hill there is also the hermitage that gives it its name, whose Marian image is the object of great popular devotion in Bernardos. Every ten years, in a periodicity that dates back to 1940, the town celebrates the Ascent of the Virgen del Castillo, in a ritual that begins on Pentecost Sunday with the ascent of the image to the hermitage, followed by a long procession on following Tuesday (the one in 2010 lasted almost twenty hours) in which the Virgin makes the reverse journey to the parish church. Last year this deep-rooted tradition had to be suspended for the first time because of the pandemic.

But if the hill of the Virgen del Castillo stands out for the traveler, it is for its archaeological remains. From several laudable actions, although more sporadic than would have been desirable, several sequences of occupation have been established, especially concentrated during Late Antiquity and the High Middle Ages. The earliest evidence on the hill dates back to the beginning of the XNUMXth century, coinciding with a stage of instability that arose from the decline of the Roman administration in Hispania, a particularly turbulent stage that led to the abandonment of the surrounding villages by its inhabitants. rich owners and the concentration of the population in well defensible high places, in a dynamic similar to that detected in Cerro del Tormejón. It is in this period when the walled enclosure that crowns the hill was built on the basis of large slate slabs, visible for a long distance today thanks to the archaeological restoration work.

The occupation had to be maintained during the Visigothic period until the Arab domination. Already in the High Middle Ages there is evidence of a new use during the emral period (between the end of the XNUMXth century and the beginning of the XNUMXth) according to the ceramic remains found. At that time the hill had to be reused due to its defensive character, possibly by a small Muslim garrison.

And so far the part that touches me through this collaboration that El Adelantado de Segovia has kindly given me, which is none other than to expose through a few brief brushstrokes the attractions present in this area of ​​the province, in which for on the other hand this geographer and historian has no ancestry whatsoever. The other corresponds to the traveler, this time more than ever 'from the outskirts', who as a participant (if he wishes) in a visit with deep cultural and landscape content, and in a few days as propitious (I hope) as those that lie ahead. You must be fully aware of being in three enclaves endowed with a special magic, in which the Story is more than told in the environment.

(*) Graduate in Geography and History, Diploma of Advanced Studies in Archeology and author of the book 'The Roman Villa and the Visigoth Necropolis of Santa Lucía, Aguilafuente (Segovia). New contributions for its study '.

Source: Adelantado de Segovia

After the appointment of the new directive of the Rural and Active Tourism association in Segovia, the president of the Provincial Council, Miguel Ángel de Vicente, and the deputy of Prodestur, Magdalena Rodríguez, wanted to have a first contact with the team that now Gerardo Otero leads and they have recently invited the president of the group to a meeting that took place earlier this week in the Provincial Palace and which was also attended by the vice president of the association, Alicia Merino, the delegate of Active Tourism of the same, Juan Pertejo, and the vocal, Ana Marazuela.

At the conclusion of the meeting, Magdalena Rodríguez valued this first contact in a "very positive" way and pointed out that "it has been a meeting in which both parties have shared our ideas in a cordial and respectful way and we have shown ourselves willing to work together. collaborative and joint way in favor of the sector in the province, which has experienced a particularly hard year due to the pandemic. " Precisely the worrying situation derived from the health crisis and its restrictions was one of the first topics addressed at the meeting. Thus, the representatives of the provincial institution, who informed the meeting attendees of the new lines of aid planned for the sector and the renewal of tourist vouchers for the loyalty and overnight stay of tourists in the province, once again they were willing to act as intermediaries between the Association and the Junta de Castilla y León and to transfer the demands of the platform to the autonomous administration.

Likewise, the meeting served to commit both parties to actively collaborate in training programs such as the one that, promoted by Prodestur and taught by the UNED, will deal with 'Financial management of businesses in the tourism sector' from April 5 to 30, and to comment on different aspects of promotion and dissemination resources that can be improved to favor access and dissemination of information on accommodation.

Lastly, the meeting attendees, who decided to hold future meetings to address issues in a more specific way, also talked about the improvement of some infrastructures and commented on how the extension of fiber optics in the province and the gradual implementation of the Teleworking will also contribute to developing the Segovian rural tourism sector.

Source: Diputación de Segovia

The National Parks Autonomous Organization (OAPN), dependent on the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO), stated today that after the dismantling of the Navacerrada ski resort, the environmental restoration of the occupied area will be carried out, and to This will be taken as a reference point for the recovery of the old Valcotos ski resort, which the Government of the Community of Madrid expropriated in 1998 and which is an example of the ecological restoration of a ski resort, making the enjoyment of the natural space compatible with its conservation. , informs Ical.

The OAPN presented at the meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Sierra de Guadarrama National Park, a proposal for a sustainable economic recovery and activation program for the Port of Navacerrada. The expiration of the concession of the three-slope ski facilities (Escaparate, Telégrafo and El Bosque) will mean the reversion to the public forest domain of these mountains, which are located in an environment with numerous protection figures.

In this way, the physiography and vegetation cover will be recovered, highlighting trails, stay areas and self-guided itineraries, as well as information, surveillance, maintenance and visitor control services. The development of basic and applied research will also be promoted to improve scientific knowledge of the National Park and its surroundings.

The OAPN presented the Recovery Program as an open proposal to which it invites the regional and local administrations and the agents involved to join, to address the issue as a comprehensive management program, which the National Parks Law calls a 'Pilot Program 'for sustainable economic activation.

The Program identifies two lines of action with the double objective of ensuring future prospects for the space with regard to its regeneration, conservation and public use, and of launching a proposal for the economic reactivation of the surrounding municipalities.

Likewise, the OAPN, with the support and collaboration of the rest of the public administrations, business entities, cultural organizations and other interested agents, will promote various actions in accordance with the proposals of the municipalities themselves.

The first of them will try to promote the local economy through digitization, which will allow greater efficiency of services and facilitate the implementation of new companies, especially SMEs, linked to innovation, to new services such as 'coworking', to the bioeconomy, culture and traditional uses.

Another of the lines involves the promotion of sustainable mobility for the distribution of tourist flows, with the regulation of the use of parking lots, the creation of new accesses in public transport and the promotion of the use of bicycles between municipalities.

In addition, it aims to activate historical, sports and nature tourism, which will be favored by the seasonal adjustment and diversification of the tourist offer, as well as by promoting inclusion and accessibility or the recovery of some historical and sports spaces (such as the High Performance Center for training in height) or of special natural and landscape richness. In addition, specialized training for National Park guides will be promoted.

Regarding the rehabilitation of the Port of Navacerrada, the Ministry's proposal takes into account the unused or dilapidated facilities, urban furniture, public spaces and the provision of accessible toilets for people with reduced mobility. He also stressed that the focus will be on improving waste management in the area, updated digital information will be available and a network with panels will be deployed at key points to guide visitors.

Source: Segoviaudaz

The Tourism team of the Cuéllar City Council is already preparing for an Easter campaign that will be atypical and that will be marked by the reduction of capacity, as well as local visitors, since due to the perimeter closure of the region, tourists who arriving at the town in the coming weeks can only come from the different provinces of Castilla y León.

The limitation of capacity is also marking the first bars of tourism this year, since currently only six people, including the guide, can be in all museum and monumental spaces, so guided visits to monuments such as the castle or spaces such as the Mudejar Interpretation Center, located in the church of San Martín, are affected by this measure. The Councilor for Tourism, Maite Sánchez, highlights the effort that the guides are making during these weeks, and advances that for the dates of Easter the service will be reinforced with the hiring of more staff, and thus be able to offer better service, yes , always with groups of five tourists.

Despite the difficulties, Sánchez did point out that with the elimination of the perimeter closure of the provinces of the Community, in force until a few weeks ago, more visitors have begun to arrive, a trend that is expected to be maintained and even increased in the next weeks. "I do see color in the sense that families are arriving and there is rhythm in the office," says the mayor.

Currently, the Tourist Office offers visits, for groups of five people and approximately every 40 minutes, to the castle, the Mudéjar Art Interpretation Center, the church of San Esteban and the walkway of the walls. Spaces such as the La Magdalena chapel only open their doors to researchers, although many other activities are expected to be resumed in summer. Due to these limitations, Tourism recommends those who are thinking of visiting Cuéllar in the next few dates to make their reservation in advance, in order to avoid waiting.

Source: North of Castilla Segovia

The Royal Sites and Patronages of National Heritage, located in four different autonomous communities, have registered a total of 16.090 visits between March 19 and 21, coinciding with the San José bridge. In the province of Segovia, the Royal Palace of La Granja was visited by 367 people, while that of Riofrío registered the visit of 145 people.

This figure confirms the upward trend in the number of visits that National Heritage has been experiencing since the beginning of the year, since the number of visitors registered between March 1 and 21 is almost 15% higher than that registered throughout the month. February. In total, until March 21, National Heritage has accumulated 49.123 visits in the Royal Sites and Patronages in the month.

Saturday, March 20, was the day that more people went to the National Heritage monuments with 5.708 visitors. The Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial was the monument that registered the most visitors on that day with 1.615 people.

The Monastery of El Escorial has also been the most visited monument in the overall count of the San José Bridge, with 4.447 visitors, followed by the Royal Palace of Aranjuez, with 3.575 visitors, and the Royal Palace of Madrid, with 2.989 visitors.

National Heritage will maintain until next May 9, coinciding with the end of the state of alarm, the extraordinary campaign of 50% reduction in the price of its tickets, which began last October. It will also continue with the application of the health security measures adopted by the institution in accordance with state regulations and the corresponding autonomous communities in order to guarantee safe access for the public and workers.

Source: The Adelantado de Segovia

During the Middle Ages, this area of ​​the mountains was a hunting ground for the Castilian kings. One of them, Enrique IV, built a hermitage and dedicated it to Saint Ildefonso. Later, the Catholic Monarchs donated this hermitage to the monks of the Parral de Segovia Monastery, who built a farm around it; hence the name of La Granja de San Ildefonso. It was two centuries later when Felipe V, grandson of Louis XIV, bought the farm from the monks and began in 1721 the construction of the palace, which has been the main cause and engine of the growth of this town. Today, it is one of the best examples of the monarchical splendor of the XNUMXth century.

The Royal Palace, a symbol for La Granja de San Ildefonso
This palace is one of the residences of the Spanish royal family and is managed by the National Heritage, so both its beautiful gardens and the building itself are open to the public, however, inside only the old royal dependencies can be visited. On the main floor are what were the rooms of the monarchs; the upper floor, on the other hand, houses the most sumptuous rooms, such as the Hercules Room or the Marble Room. It is also possible to enter the Royal Chapel, as well as the Museum of Tapestries, which houses the collection of tapestries of the Crown of Spain, one of the most important in the world. The style of all this beautiful architectural ensemble is Spanish Baroque with French and Italian touches; in it, art and luxury are present in every detail.

But if the Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso is famous for something, it is for its spectacular gardens. It is the most representative example in Spain of French-style gardens that were designed in Europe at the end of the XNUMXth century. It houses monumental fountains, twenty-six to be exact, made of lead and painted as if they were bronze and marble, all decorated with mythological scenes and characters. Of its one hundred and forty-six hectares, half is forest, but there is also a labyrinth, a cave, bridges, a small construction called the Casa de las Flores and, of course, the hermitage of San Ildefonso, which was the origin of the palace. and of this picturesque municipality. The beauty of these gardens and the emblematic palace was and is news all over the world, because as Benito Pérez Galdós wrote: «Who has not heard of its wonderful gardens, its smiling landscapes, the surprising liquid architecture of its fountains , of its labyrinths and orchards? ».

The Royal Glass Factory of La Granja de San Ildefonso
Museum of the Royal Glass Factory
Built in the first third of the XNUMXth century as a royal manufactory, the Royal Crystal Factory of La Granja was erected so that the palace would not lack stained glass, lamps or luxury glassware, while promoting local industry.

The current building, of Neoclassical style and considered an Asset of Interest with the category of Historic-Artistic Monument, has approximately XNUMX square meters of extension and was built at the end of the XNUMXth century after the fire of the previous one. At present, the Royal Glass Factory of La Granja includes not only the production furnaces - which are still artisanal - but also a school of plastic arts and an important museum with a permanent exhibition on the manufacture of glass, with machinery and antique pieces and, of course, different collections of the famous La Granja crystal. Visiting this place also allows you to learn about the glass-making techniques of two centuries ago, since you can witness the blowing and molding processes during the production of glass, in which they use the same techniques as in their golden age.

Other places of interest
Beyond the emblematic palace and the historic factory, La Granja de San Ildefonso offers places with a very special charm, such as the Melancolía neighborhood, the Plaza de los Dolores, the church of Nuestra Señora del Rosario ..., without forgetting the two doors that give entrance to the historic center: the Puerta de la Reina and the Puerta de Segovia, both centuries old and full of history and meaning, like everything that makes up the beautiful municipality of La Granja de San Ildefonso.

Thanks to the Siglo Foundation for Tourism and the Arts of Castilla y León and the Tourism Area of ​​the Segovia Provincial Council.

Source: Article by Maica Rivera. The reason

The Community of Castilla y León presented the quality of its agri-food products, among which is the Segovia suckling pig, to the students of the Basque Culinary Center academic institution. This action is part of the new strategy of 'Tierra de Sabor' which highlights the need to carry out alliances with gastronomy and tourism.

The Tierra de Sabor pantry participated in the conferences on quality agri-food products from Castilla y León that were held this week at the Basque Culinary Center, where third-year students of the Degree in Gastronomy and Culinary Arts of this academic institution, a benchmark international in the world of gastronomy, have had the opportunity to meet them and see their many culinary possibilities.

During two days, the foods protected by Tierra de Sabor and the figures of food quality recognized in the Community, such as the suckling pig from Castilla y León, the suckling pig from Segovia, cheese and wines from all the denominations of origin were protagonists of the formation of the future chefs of the first level. These prescribers approached the first day to a global vision of the wide variety of agri-food products originating in the Community and, during the second day, they were able to learn more about El Bierzo's products.

The Community chefs who contributed to showcase the excellence of Castilla y León products were Juanjo Losada, from the Pablo restaurant (León), Cristóbal Muñoz, from the Ambivium restaurant (Peñafiel), Samuel Naveira, from Mu-NA (Ponferrada), Juanjo Pérez and Yolanda León from the Leonese Cocinandos, and Miguel Martínez, from the La Tronera restaurant (Villadepalos, León).

They were, along with different producers and members of the regulatory councils of quality figures, those in charge of showing the characteristics of the Community's food and wines and the possibilities of application they have in consumer kitchens and in those of restaurants around the world.

Entrepreneurship platform
With the intention of supporting companies in their desire to improve their markets and product outlets, it seeks to strengthen alliances and search for new collaborating partners such as gastronomy and tourism. For this, the impulse of the 'Entrepreneurship Platform in gastronomic innovation' and the carrying out of activities such as those developed this week will also be used. Castilla y León has the largest pantry in Europe of quality products with 69 figures from all sectors and, at present, Tierra de Sabor has more than 900 companies and about 6.000 products carry on their labels the characteristic yellow heart of this brand, these sources have specified.

Source: The Adelantado de Segovia

The La Pinilla complex is studying diversifying activities and creating new ones for the coming seasons, when the ski season is practically over, with only ten days of opening of the station, until now. The president of the Board of Directors of La Pinilla and mayor of Riaza, Benjamín Cerezo, recognizes the complicated situation that a ski resort entails not having enough snow to open the slopes, which have been closed for weeks. At this point in March, he affirms that a heavy snowfall would have to fall and accompany the temperatures so that the artificial snow cannons could work and condition the skiable surface; although they still do not lose hope that if snow falls in the next few days, La Pinilla can say goodbye to the season with an Easter week underway.

"It is intended to promote the hospitality that we have in the complex, with the organization of events that attract the public throughout the year"

At least, as confirmed by Benjamín Cerezo, this season the facilities have been open more days than in the past, in which they only opened two days. Faced with this situation, alternatives must be sought, and therefore the Chairman of the Board of Directors wants to study new possibilities for facilities that could become a tourist destination for mountain lovers. "The aim is to promote the hospitality that we have in the complex, with the organization of events that attract the public throughout the year."

While waiting for the end of the ski season, La Pinilla is ready to start the competitions and routes in the bike park modality, an important resort resource, which brings together many fans every year.

Regarding the request made from La Pinilla to the administrations to create a corridor that allows people to come to the complex from the Community of Madrid, Benjamín Cerezo explained that there has been no response. And regarding the situation that the Navacerrada ski resort is going through, which will probably close its doors due to the non-renewal of the ski slopes concession, Cerezo describes it as "outrageous." "Instead of promoting spaces like these, what they are causing is their destruction," he concludes.

Source: The Adelantado de Segovia

The deputies Magdalena Rodríguez and Noemí Otero accompanied Luis Miguel Prada this morning in the presentation of the ninth edition of the Cocido Guide which, for yet another year, will have the support of the Segovia Provincial Council and which has taken place in telematic format.
The Guide to Cocido by Segovia is an annual gastronomic project that has become a reference with the commitment to a dish as typical and complete as the traditional cocido. All alike, but none the same. For this reason, and there are already nine editions, the organization intends to publicize and promote its consumption in the restaurants of our province, through different informative, promotional and informative elements. Forty-four restaurants will participate in this edition, twenty-three of them located in the towns of the province, and which will have the support of the Provincial Council thanks to the collaboration of the Tourism and Provincial Promotion Areas, "because it is time to be with the hospitality sector has been so punished during the last year, because compliance with all sanitary regulations is guaranteed while we encourage the consumption of our products ", as highlighted by the head of Tourism, Magdalena Rodríguez.

As also happened in the last edition of the Rice Guide, in an extraordinary way and following the security protocols against Covid 19, the guide has been launched in digital format and can be downloaded on the web platform, using QR code with stickers in the places and tourist places of interest, as well as in the social networks of the initiative. This year, registration for restaurants has been free, "serving this small action as a sign of our support for the Segovian hospitality industry", as pointed out by the promoter of the guide, Luis Miguel Prada.
Precisely for this reason and, given the complicated situation that catering establishments are suffering due to the pandemic, "the Provincial Council had to be present once again in an initiative of these characteristics in which the province is represented, for the moment, with more than twenty restaurants "as indicated by the deputy for Tourism, Magdalena Rodríguez.

The main actor in a good stew is, without a doubt, the chickpea and for the Provincial Promotion deputy, Noemí Otero "we are fortunate to have different types of chickpea in our province, integrated into the Alimentos de Segovia brand. Their organoleptic qualities they are endorsed by the guarantee mark that supports them, both the Valseca chickpea and the Labajos chickpea ". For this reason, Otero continued "we must remember the importance of the cultivation of legumes in general, and chickpea in particular, in our territory, as a gastronomic reference, but also agri-food and as an economic engine of the province."

The stews that can be tasted in this new edition of the stew guide will feature chickpeas from Alimentos de Segovia, "characterized by being especially buttery and maintaining the integrity of the grain and the skin attached after cooking", therefore, has concluded the person in charge of the brand of the Provincial Council, "we are going to make the province enjoying good food."
Magdalena Rodríguez also highlighted the work carried out by the Prodestur laboratory "accompanying the producers on the way to convert the Valseca and Labajos chickpeas into a guarantee brand and collective brand respectively, a path in which we continue to take steps and that it is reinforced by its membership of the Diputación brand, Alimentos de Segovia, with whom from Tourism we continue to establish synergies to continue promoting our province as an ideal tourist and gastronomic destination ".
All the information on the restaurants that participate in the Guide, as well as the calendar or services on request, can be found at this link http://guiadelcocido.com/guia-segovia/index.html

Source: Diputación de Segovia

A team of Estonian public television professionals has traveled these days to different spaces in Castilla y León with the aim of spreading the word about the Community in the Baltic country and in that region of Europe, as well as publicizing different locations of film shootings and opening New markets.

The visits have included prominent heritage sites in the provinces of Segovia, Valladolid, Salamanca and Ávila. In Segovia, in addition to the capital of the province itself, the press trip included La Granja de San Ildefonso, Turégano, Sepúlveda and Pedraza, which included a visit to the Zuloaga Museum, reports Ical.

In the province of Valladolid, among other locations, included a visit to the Castillo de la Mota, in Medina del Campo, or the Casa Cervantes and the Calderón Theater, in the city of Valladolid. In Salamanca, Casa Lis and other prominent locations in the historic center of the city. The press trip to Castilla y León closed on Monday in Ávila with other historical sites declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

The audiovisual industry has every day a greater weight in economic and employment terms in the field of cultural industries. And film shoots also have very positive effects on other sectors, such as tourism, since they are an effective means of promoting the heritage and cultural values ​​of a territory.

Film Commission of Castilla y Leon
All this is part of the commitment of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to promote the development of the audiovisual sector in the Community and to reinforce the lines of action of the Film Commission of Castilla y León. In addition, the effects of the health crisis have very significantly damaged both the audiovisual and tourism sectors in 2020 and it is necessary to recover this activity.

The objective of this initiative is to attract all kinds of audiovisual activities to Castilla y León (film shoots, television series, advertising, video ...). It is thus intended to take advantage of the possibilities offered by the territory for the realization of audiovisual productions in them.

In this way, the Film Commission offers information on possible film locations and helps to find the best ones; facilitates filming by helping to obtain all necessary authorizations; offers logistical, artistic, professional information ... and answers questions about financial instruments for financing audiovisual projects.

As a result of this work, in 2019 the Castilla y León Film Commission handled 58 inquiries about filming in the Community and, despite all the restrictions, in 2020 inquiries were addressed about 39 film projects.

Source: The Adelantado de Segovia

From April 9 to September 9, an exhibition of the painter Ignacio Zuloaga will take place in Tallinn, Estonia.
The Segovia Provincial Council is collaborating with the Zuloaga Foundation and the Spanish embassy in that country, as is the Junta de Castilla y León.
Prodestur Segovia, Tourism area of ​​the Provincial Council, in addition to the opening ceremony of the exhibition in that country, has organized a trip for Estonian national TV in order to carry out a report on Zuloaga in the province of Segovia, in addition to taking advantage of this activity to show other localities in that country.
The report will include the following locations: La Granja de San Ildefonso, Segovia capital, Turegano, Sepúlveda and Pedraza.
The Junta de Castilla y León has also participated in this trip, as they will also visit Valladolid, Salamanca and Ávila.
In the photo, the TV team interviews Enrique Laborde Zuloaga, Patron of the Zuloaga Foundation.

National Heritage maintains the promotion of 50% discount on the price of admission to the Royal Sites of the Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso and Riofrío until the current state of alarm ends, on May 9.

As a balance, National Heritage estimates that the promotion has been well received by the public, and reports that in February visits to the Royal Sites and Royal Patronages throughout Spain increased by 43% compared to January, when the storm Filomena forced to close the monuments. In Castilla y León, one of the enclaves that attracted the most tourists compared to the previous month was the Riofrío Palace in Segovia, with an increase of almost 48%.

Free days
The ticket price reduction campaign does not alter the established free hours, which are all day Wednesdays and Sundays from 15.00:18.00 p.m. to XNUMX:XNUMX p.m. at the monuments located in Segovia.

Source: The Adelantado de Segovia

Gerardo Otero Sanz is the new president of the Rural and Active Tourism association of Segovia, chosen from among the eleven members that make up the collective's board of directors, which brings together 147 partners. In addition to continuing with the actions promoted by the previous president, Domingo Asenjo, the new management expands objectives and sets new challenges for the future.

Thus, one of the lines of work will focus on associative life, on intensifying the relationship of the partners with the association. To do this, they plan to resume the days of coexistence, suspended by the pandemic, and open a communication forum between partners through the association's website. "We want members to be able to access all the information on the web," explains Gerardo Otero. In this sense, work will be done on giving a boost to the “technological issue”, with the renewal of the association's web portal, digital signatures, in short, moving towards the digitization of the sector, which has been forced to do so during coronavirus health crisis.

In addition, according to the president, they want to expand the relationship with public administrations, as well as with other groups and with the media.

Another aspect that they want to consolidate is legal and administrative assistance to members, to inform, for example, of the aid they can access at a time like the present, also focusing on technological assistance.

Training will be another of the lines of action of the new board of directors, telematically while the situation remains as it is now and in person when the pandemic allows it.

And Gerardo Otero also points out that it is intended to carry out a greater job of promoting Segovia as a destination for rural tourism, not only from the administrations, but also individually. "The idea is that each partner works his own micro-destination, to later transfer it to the client," he points out.

recuperación
All these actions can be carried out when the sector begins to recover, after the health and economic crisis caused by the coronavirus, which is especially affecting a sector such as tourism. "We have been without work for practically the last six months, which has led many accommodation and active tourism businesses to near closure," laments Gerardo Otero.

The sector has received some type of help from the administrations, and others that have not yet been resolved, but the main desire of these entrepreneurs is to be able to return to work normally as soon as possible.

Source: Deputation of Segovia

Knowing how to analyze the state of a business and make the most appropriate financial decisions, detect the keys to finding the best financing or know the basic criteria when investing in a new project or business are some of the fundamental objectives pursued by the course 'Financial management of businesses in the tourism sector' that is going to materialize thanks to the collaboration agreement signed between the Segovia Provincial Council and the UNED, which unite synergies to enable the best development of these teachings, and which the president signed today from the provincial institution, Miguel Ángel de Vicente and the director of the Associated Center of the UNED in Segovia, Mariló Reina.

The school year will take place from April 5 to 30 under the blended methodology. Prodestur, the body in charge of Tourism in the provincial institution, will fully finance this training and the university center will take care of the teachings, the methodology, and other academic aspects. The course seeks professionalization and excellence in the sector, from the point of view of the financial management of activities and will be divided into three training modules. It lasts forty hours and is aimed at professionals who manage or own business in the tourism sector, without high knowledge in financial economics with a desire to train in fundamental knowledge about financial management in small medium-sized companies in the tourism sector.

The first module, which will take place from April 5 to 12, deals with financial information or the analysis and diagnosis of the business and will review basic concepts to know how to analyze the current state of an activity and will delve into the indicators related to liquidity, solvency or profitability, among other issues. Decisions on financing are the focus of the second part of the course, which will take place between April 13 and 21, and will touch on aspects such as the basic concepts of financial calculation, bank financing, loans and other sources of financing. The third module, which will run from April 22 to 30, will address the analysis of investment projects, studying investment selection criteria and teaching how to estimate the value of a company.

The course is directed by Inmaculada Pra Martos, who has a PhD in Economic and Business Sciences (UNED), an expert in credit risk, banking supervision and sustainable finance. He has extensive experience in research and teaching at the UNED, in other universities and entities such as the Institute of Stock Market Studies (IEB), the University College of Financial Studies (CUNEF), the Cardenal Cisneros University Center or the Pontifical University of Comillas (ICADE), and in in-company training courses for entities such as Banco Sabadell, BBVA or Caja Madrid.

Live online sessions will be on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. The sessions on Mondays will be held in person at the Associated Center of the UNED in Segovia, also broadcasting telematically. In this sense, those interested who are registered in the province will have priority to attend the classes in person. All sessions will be recorded so that students have access to them at any time. The course has a cost of 15 euros for registration fees.To consult all the information, those interested can go to the following link: https://extension.uned.es/actividad/24180

Source: Diputación de Segovia

The Association of Rural and Active Tourism of Segovia (Aturacse) will elect a new president in the general assembly of partners that it plans to hold telematically on Wednesday afternoon. Its head since 2014, Domingo Asenjo, will not stand for re-election, as he has informed the media.

In his announcement, he highlights that in this period "we have had significant growth in terms of partners and in terms of organizational structure and recognition of representative and social status, with the development of social networks and positioning on the Internet being halfway there to convert our portal www.seruralsegovia.com reference of the sector in the searches of rural accommodation and activities of our province ".

He also emphasizes that "many things have changed and I have felt very comfortable, working with the colleagues of the different boards of directors, to form a worthy, vindictive and representative association in rural and active tourism in the province of Segovia and to defend the rights and interests of partners and the tourism sector in general, as well as to require improvements in infrastructure, equipment and services in the provincial territory that, in addition to benefiting rural and active tourism, benefit the territory, citizens and to the municipalities in the battle against depopulation and for the recovery of emptied Spain, where the presence and activity of rural and active tourism is so important. "

The Rural and Active Tourism Association of Segovia is the result of the merger in 2014 of the Aturtipise and Aturacse associations, of which Asenjo was already president, who thanks the municipalities of Aguilafuente, Prádena and Turégano for their collaboration in carrying out its objectives. "Times pass and things change and new proposals and actions are needed, which I am sure, the new colleagues who make up the new board of directors will know how to energize for the good of the partners, the rural tourism sector and the citizens and the territory provincial in general, "concludes Asenjo, who clarifies that he will continue as Aturacse partner.

Source: The Day of Segovia

The Molino de los Señores, located next to the Eresma River, at the exit of the city of Segovia along the Arévalo road, is a unique example of industrial architecture, a 233.511,89th-XNUMXth century building protected in the Special Plan for Historic Areas (PEAHIS) of Segovia and declared an Asset of Cultural Interest (BIC) by the Junta de Castilla y León. Its owners, the Hernanz García brothers, promote its rehabilitation to turn it into a building for tourist use, with six apartments, based on a project by the architect Félix Trapero Rodríguez with an estimated budget of XNUMX euros.

The promoters have requested an environmental license, for the authorization of exceptional (tourist) use of rustic land of special protection and urban planning license for rehabilitation works, so the project must now undergo a public information period of 20 days in the that allegations may be presented.

The proposal maintains the milling room in its original state to allocate the upper floors to hotel accommodation, through an intervention compatible with its essential characteristics such as BIC.

In this sense, the location of the air conditioning and thermal production equipment inside has been ruled out, because it would affect the special qualities of the mill plants and it has been chosen to install them outside respecting the environment of this building that has been started. since 1983 a file for its declaration as a historical-artistic monument by the General Directorate of Fine Arts.

The thermal production system is based on the use of renewable energies and a highly efficient and environmentally friendly installation has been designed, through a vertical geothermal capture in a closed circuit with a geothermal heat pump that allows both air conditioning of the mill as the production of sanitary hot water, according to the execution project. The necessary equipment will be located in the semi-basement floor of an adjacent building known as the 'Casa del Hortelano'.

The ground floor, at the access level to the Mill of the Gentlemen, will have the minimum essential furniture; in other words, an adapted counter and seats in the waiting area, designed to blend in color with the rest of the materials. On the lower level of this plant is the milling area that preserves part of the machinery from the last period of its activity as a mill (XNUMXth century).

The first floor will house three tourist apartments, each configured as a studio, with a living space and a separate bathroom. One of them has been designed as an adapted accommodation unit. The second floor will house a three-bedroom apartment (living-dining-kitchen space; a double bedroom, two single bedrooms and a bathroom) and a study, while on the third there will be only one study.

On the plot, a six-space car park has been planned, one of them adapted.

El Molino de los Señores, with documentary references from the 1122th century (confirmation of a donation of the 'Molino de los Señores Deán y Cabildo' by Alfonso I 'El Batallador' and his wife Doña Urraca in 2018), was already the subject of an intervention in XNUMX for structural conservation works, necessary to prevent its significant deterioration from advancing.

The plot has up to seven buildings or remains of buildings: Molino de los Señores (402 square meters), Casa de las Monjas (the Servants of Mary were owners during part of the 1.882,36th century), Casa del Hortelano, Casa de los Ventanales, nave, stables and Casa del Molinero), totaling 1.374 square meters built, XNUMX actually because the last two are demolished.

Source: The Adelantado de Segovia

Among the 15 most beautiful castles in the world, according to the list selected by 'National Geographic', is the Alcázar of Segovia, one of the most characteristic medieval castles in the world and one of the most visited monuments? from Spain. Its imposing profile rises majestically over the Eresma valley and is a symbol of the city of Segovia. Palace and fortress of the Kings of Castile, its layout reflects the splendor of the Court during the Middle Ages, and its walls have witnessed battles, palace intrigues, royal weddings and amazing events. In its two thousand-year existence, the Alcázar has been a Roman fort, medieval fortress, royal palace, custodian of the royal treasure, state prison ,? Royal College of Artillery and General Military Archive.

The Segovian fortress is thus a unique case in the history of Spanish and European architecture, castle and royal residence, which its nickname indicates: "alcaçar", with which it is already known in 1135, when Alfonso VII the emperor reigned. The word Alcázar, from the Arabic alqasr, serves to define a fortified royal residence, as the Dictionary of the Castilian Language already indicates to us, in its first edition of 1870: "The palaces of the Kings, and great lords, were formerly called that way, because they were all strong. "

The 15 chosen also include Cardiff Castle, which was a Roman fort, an impressive Norman castle and a Gothic palace; the castle of Saumur, on the banks of the Loire River as it passes through the French city that bears his name, dating from the XNUMXth century; Dunnotar Castle is located in Scotland, on the North Sea, and was built in the XNUMXth century; Ashford Castle in County Mayo is the oldest in all of Ireland; Stahleck Castle in Germany was built on the River Rhine in the XNUMXth century; in Japan, the samurai castle of Himeji Castle stands out, dating from the XNUMXth century, although it was adapted and rebuilt until the XNUMXth century; Guimarães Castle, located in the Portuguese council of the same name, was created in the XNUMXth century; on Lake Geneva, in the middle of the Swiss Alps, stands the Chillón Castle, built in the XNUMXth century; in Germany, Eltz Castle is located on the Moselle river, between Koblenz and Trier; in Austria the castle of Hohenwerfen stands out, which was built in the XNUMXth century and is one of the most visited monuments by tourists; 'National Geographic' has also selected Edinburgh Castle (Scotland), a fortress built in the XNUMXth century that stands on 'Castle rock'; Bran Castle, in Transylvania, is known to be that of Count Dracula; Also on the list is Warwick Castle, on the River Avon, which was built in the XNUMXth century.

The two selected Spanish castles are the imposing Alcázar de Segovia, a fortress built in the 15th century and one of the main tourist attractions of the Segovian city. And the second Spanish castle chosen among the XNUMX most beautiful in the world is Loarre Castle, in Huesca.

Source: The Day of Segovia

The City Council of the Real Sitio de San Ildefonso launches the SICTED training sessions for tourism companies in the municipality that are part of the tourism quality project in destination.

The City Council of the Real Sitio de San Ildefonso, through its Department of Tourism, has developed two days of online training for tourism companies attached to the SICTED Tourism Quality Project, which were taught by the staff of the Tourist Office authorized as technical manager of the destination.

On this occasion, five companies in the tourism sector belonging to the accommodation, restoration, museum and commerce trades have received training in the methodological module corresponding to cycle 1, where they have made known notions about what the SICTED Project is, guidelines on the use of the Good Practice Manuals that must be applied in their establishments as well as the use of the management platform, among other concepts, which will allow structuring the management processes of their company and detect possible internal deficiencies to improve the provision of the service and achieve the distinction called "Commitment to Tourist Quality", a national recognition granted by the Secretary of State for Tourism.

The Councilor for Tourism, Paloma Ramírez, welcomed the attendees, thanking the interest shown to be part of the SICTED project and underlined the need to carry out initiatives like this one that affect the safety and quality of companies in the municipality by La Granja y Valsaín a benchmark as a quality, safe and trustworthy destination for tourists, visitors and neighbors. He stressed his intention to continue betting on a homogeneous level of quality in the services offered to tourists, clarifying that both tourist services, themselves, and those others that, without being strictly, contribute to the formation of the tourist experience in the area, are included. destination. And he concluded by transmitting and reiterating the support of the City Council to the tourism sector of the municipality, so affected as a result of the health crisis caused by Covid-19.

It should be noted that the Real Sitio de San Ildefonso is part of the Integral System of Tourist Quality in Destinations (SICTED) together with other tourist destinations nationwide, since 2017 in which it received the "Tourism Quality Commitment" in recognition of the work done to improve quality management as a tourist destination.

SICTED is a quality improvement project in tourist destinations, promoted by the Secretary of State for Tourism and the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP), which works with tourism companies and services of up to 36 different trades, which influences in the experience and satisfaction of the tourist who visits the destination. Currently, 215 destinations from all over the national geography are part of this project and which already adds more than 5.864 distinguished companies throughout the national territory.

Source: SegoviaDirecto.com

The Bishopric of Segovia renounces the claim of ownership of the cloister of Santa María la Real de Nieva. The mayor of the town, Pilar Ares, through a municipal side, informs that the sentence of the Provincial Court of Segovia acquires firmness, which ratifies the decision of the Investigating Court, which declares that the consistory as "owner of full domain" from the cloister of the Monastery Church. "We can already affirm emphatically that the aforementioned dependencies are property owned by this town of Santa María la Real de Nieva," Ares declares on the side.

The councilor communicates that, since the City Council received the lawsuit filed by the Bishopric of Segovia, "this Consistory has defended the interests of the municipality with all the means at its disposal", and acknowledges that "it has not been an easy path but the result final has been satisfactory ". On the other hand, Ares makes clear the spirit of the consistory to continue collaborating with the parish, as it has always done and to help it in everything that is necessary.

In 2019, the City Council of Santa María la Real de Nieva won over the Bishopric of Segovia the litigation that both institutions maintained for the ownership of that space. The Court of Santa María ruled in the ruling that the City Council “owns full ownership of the cloister, the site of the old sacristy, porter, Chapter House, refectory, Hall of Courts and Queen's Hall, of the monumental complex - old Convent of Dominicans— in Santa María ”.

Source: The Adelantado de Segovia

The Government of Spain, in a unilateral decision, brings the Navacerrada ski resort to its final closure. The National Parks Autonomous Organization (OAPN), dependent on the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO), announced this afternoon that it will not make a new concession of the ski facilities of the Escaparate, Telégrafo and El Bosque slopes in Navacerrada , through a letter to the Territorial Service of the Environment of the Junta de Castilla y León, which had requested a report from National Parks as owners of that part of Mount Pinar de Valsaín.

According to the OAPN, the renewal of the concession, signed on April 3, 1996 and which will end soon after the 25-year term is reached, is not viable. The decision will revert these mountains to the public forest domain, guaranteeing the environmental and landscape restoration of these high-value lands, located in the surroundings of the Sierra Norte de Guadarrama National Park and classified as a Special Management Area, which would become part of Cumbres Limited Use Zone.

The facilities for the practice of ski corresponding to the concession include, in addition to the three mentioned slopes, three chair lifts with their complementary constructions and an artificial snow system composed of a deposit building that houses the compressors, the water and air pipes and the impulse cannons. A treadmill-type ski lift installed without authorization is also in the area.

The Puerto de Navacerrada Ski Station company must dismantle the ski lifts and their footings, remove buildings and remove their rubble, cables and water intakes with a deadline that ends on October 30, 2021.

A protected area
The area, which extends over 7,6 hectares, has various protection figures. On the one hand, the land where the slopes and chair lifts are located to the south borders the Sierra de Guadarrama National Park (PNSG), cataloged as a Type B Moderate Use Zone. The rest of its limit borders the Special Area Protection of the PNSG corresponding to a Type A Moderate Use Zone. For its part, the water intake of the Telegrafo stream is located upstream of the beginning of the Eresma River section, declared as the Alto Eresma Fluvial Natural Reserve.

In addition, the occupied land is located within the Real Sitio de San Ildefonso-El Espinar Biosphere Reserve, the Special Protection Area for Birds (ZEPA) and the Sierra de Guadarrama Special Conservation Area (ZEC), forming thus part of the Natura 2000 Network.

The vegetation surrounding the occupied land also corresponds to formations of scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) and broom-juniper of mountain piorno (Cyitisus purgans) and creeping juniper (Juniperus comunis var. Nana).

From National Parks they argue the decision on climate change and tourist pressure in the area. Thus, they explain that “the current climate change scenario has determined this decision, based on unfavorable predictions, according to the data collected by the Puerto de Navacerrada meteorological station: since the 70s (decade of better conditions for the existence of snow in Navacerrada), the average temperature has increased by 1,95 degrees, the average temperature of the minimum has also increased by 0,77 degrees and the snow has been reduced by 25% (the days of frost decrease by 21,6 , 24,2 and snow days in XNUMX) ”.

A scenario to which we must add, according to National Parks, the high tourist and recreational pressure that the area suffers: "the Port of Navacerrada suffers a serious problem of saturation and access, agglomerations that, on occasions, represent a problem of public order and public safety, contributions of waste without a clear solution for its collection and evacuation. In short, a model for public use that must be adapted to the preservation of the values ​​of the natural environment of the National Park ”.

Surprise
Thus concludes the OAPN statement, which was made known to the Ministry of the Environment this afternoon, at the same time as the media, showing their surprise at the forms and the decision of the Ministry. The Regional Government has not yet decided what the next step will be, although many possibilities do not arise, "when we are only managers, and the owner of the forest tells you that you cannot continue with that use." The same sources showed their discomfort at the way National Parks act, when the Junta de Castilla y León had only requested a renewal of the concession of the ski resort, a use contemplated by the Rector Plan of Use and Management (PRUG) of the Park. "It was a unilateral decision, not by consensus of course," they maintain from the Ministry.

The same surprise was manifested by the one who was mayor of the Real Sitio de San Ildefonso and current PSOE attorney, José Luis Vázquez, who is convinced that “what the Ministry has done is to communicate the end of a concession, but the restitution of that space the original is now improbable and impossible ”. Vázquez points out that three-quarters of the station are located in the Real Sitio, “but there is a fourth that is located in the Community of Madrid, with all the businesses linked to the station, so I want to be convinced that this is a communication of the end of a concession and now it is necessary to initiate the administrative procedures to tender the new concession accordingly ”.

The farmer defends the uniqueness "of a Park like the Guadarrama," which is that presence of the human being, perfectly integrated into the territory.

Source: The Adelantado de Segovia

The Autonomous Community of Castilla y León remains the leader in overnight stays in rural tourism accommodation, registering a total of 13.004 during the month of January 2021, although this number represents a 77,5 percent drop compared to the first month of 2020, as reflected by the data from the non-hotel tourist accommodation occupancy survey released today by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).

The drop in overnight stays in Castilla y León was thus more marked than the average for the national group, which stood at 69,5 percent less when registering 111.434 overnight stays. The number of travelers also fell, in this case by 79,62 percent at the national level, standing at 32.649 of which 3.396 visited Castilla y León, the third Community in this regard after Madrid (6.519) and the Valencian Community (3.516) .

Mobility limitations due to the pandemic, which are still in force, caused national tourism to be the main protagonist also in January 2021, accounting for 94,9 percent of overnight stays, with 12.348, compared to the remaining 5,1 percent. generated by 657 foreigners. The mean stay was 3,83 days. As for travelers, a large majority of residents in Spain was also registered, 3.290, which represents 96,8 percent, compared to 106 travelers from abroad.

The price index for rural tourist accommodation in Castilla y León stood at 2021 euros on average in January 150,35, which reflects an interannual increase of 0,76 percent, compared to the national average, which registered a price of 145,80 euros per night and a decrease of 0,7 percent compared to January 2020.

The number of rural tourism establishments increased slightly in Castilla y León with respect to December 2020 to stand at 2.567, compared to 2.372 in the previous month, with a supply of 21.240 places and a total of 3.248 workers. The degree of occupancy by place stood at 1,97 percent while on weekends it increased slightly to 2,63 percent. At the national level, the 11.593 existing rural tourism accommodations offered 104.851 places served by 15.253 employees, with an average occupancy during January 2021 of 3,43 percent, increasing on weekends to 4,92 percent.

Two provinces among the best

With regard to provincial data, Castilla y León ranked two of its provinces, León and Salamanca, among the 15 in Spain that registered the most overnight stays in rural tourism accommodation. In this sense, Salamanca occupied the sixth global position in the number of overnight stays with 3.500 total in January 2021, with an average stay of 4,62 nights registering 757 total travelers, while León ranked fifteenth with 2.124 overnight stays for a Average stay of 3,16 nights and a total of 672 travelers, all nationals.

The survey of occupancy in non-hotel tourist accommodation released today by the INE also reflects data on overnight stays in tourist apartments, campsites and hostels, where Castilla y León registered more modest numbers compared to the national average. Thus, the Community closed January 2021 with a total of 9.166 overnight stays in tourist apartments, 212 in terms of campsites and 314 in shelters.

Source: The Day of Segovia

The Aguilafuente City Council has started the steps to create a job bank for cultural and tourism promotion assistants for the municipality. Contracts or temporary appointments will be made when the needs of people from the Culture area arise in the municipal cultural spaces of the town: Santa Lucía archaeological site, Aguilafuente archaeological classroom, permanent exhibition of the sculptor Florentino Trapero, exhibition dedicated to printing and the book and the library.

The regulatory bases of the process establish the functions of the positions, which are, among others: customer service, visitor guide, revitalization of Aguilafuente's cultural spaces, attention to cultural activities scheduled according to the schedule and schedule established by the person in charge of the Area of Culture and Tourism and collaboration in the administrative action of cultural spaces.

In addition, it will be in charge of the adaptation, control, surveillance, supervision, management and detection of needs of the different cultural spaces; organization of warehouses and cultural offices; surveillance of the exhibition hall; logistical assistance in events held by the Culture; help in dissemination work; preparation of attendance reports and memories; handling of word processors, spreadsheets and other computer programs, and tasks according to the needs of the library: loan and return, activities to encourage reading ...

Applicants to join this job bank must have an academic degree related to history, archeology, culture and tourism of a level equal to or higher than the intermediate degree in Vocational Training.

The selection process will consist of two phases: competition and opposition. The latter will consist of two tests: a multiple choice theory test on the cultural and tourist heritage of Aguilafuente (30 multiple choice questions, each with four possible answers, of which only one will be valid), with a time to complete. 45 minutes and a practical test on specific questions, writing documents or proposals related to the effective handling of email, social networks and / or effective use of the Microsoft Office package.

And in the contest phase, professional experience, academic training and courses, seminars, conferences and congresses will be valued.

Source: The Adelantado de Segovia

National Heritage reopens today all the Royal Sites of Castilla y León, among which are the Royal Palaces of La Granja de San Ildefonso and Riofrío, after having been closed since January 23, following the health recommendations of the regional authorities.

As was done before closing, National Heritage will maintain capacity controls, limited to 33% in farm palaces, which may be accessed by a maximum of 90 and 70 people per hour, respectively.

As for the accesses, the public of the Royal Palace of La Granja will be able to continue entering through the Tapestry Staircase and exiting through the Car Yard, in order to avoid crowds. In Riofrío, the same access criteria prior to closing will be followed, since the route allows the visit without generating traffic jams between people entering and leaving the palace.

In addition to the free hours in these Royal Sites, National Heritage continues to offer its tickets at 50% of its price in all its monuments, within the framework of an extraordinary campaign that began on October 8, 2020 in order to promote access to culture and contribute to the recovery of the tourism sector.

Starting this Saturday, the public will be able to visit the Royal Palaces of La Granja and Riofrío from Tuesday to Friday, between 10 a.m. and 16 p.m., and on Saturdays and Sundays, from 10 a.m. to 18 p.m., with the last access one hour before closing. In both cases, free access will be guaranteed on Wednesdays, all day, and on Sundays, from 15:XNUMX p.m. Guided tours will be for groups of a maximum of five people, in addition to the guide.

The opening of the Royal Sites is due to the improvements in the health situation in Castilla y León, following the health measures adopted by the competent bodies to guarantee a safe public visit.

Also open today in the community, the Royal Monastery of Santa Clara de Tordesillas, in Valladolid, and the Monastery of Santa María la Real de Las Huelgas, in Burgos.

Source: The Adelantado de Segovia

The Territorial Commission of Heritage of Segovia today authorized the archaeological excavation in an open area of ​​the Prehistory site identified in the extension plot of the Los Huertos waste treatment center. In the archaeological control work, at least 50 structures of different dimensions excavated in the natural terrain were identified, such as post holes, buckets / silos, possible recessed hut bottoms, to which some ceramic and metallic elements are associated, with chronology of early Bronze Age, reports Ical.

From the Board they explained that "it has not yet been possible to delimit the area of ​​extension of the site, which seems large" and has only intervened in the central area of ​​the plot, where there is a notable concentration of finds.

The Heritage Commission considered it essential to authorize this excavation, in which the mechanical clearing of the vegetation cover will be carried out from the outer bands of the deposit towards its nuclear zone, in order to know the limits of the area of ​​dispersion of structures, and manual cleaning and excavation of archaeological structures and levels to document them.

On the other hand, in Nava de la Asunción, the green light was given to the preventive archaeological activity of a photovoltaic solar installation project, with intensive archaeological prospecting and total coverage of the lands affected by the plant installation project photovoltaic, located in the vicinity of the Roman town of Matabuey, and the mechanical excavation of 11 stratigraphic and archaeological test strips of 10 square meters each, on the foundation lines projected to hold the solar panels.

In Torre Val de San Pedro, the archaeological activity linked to the second phase of the infrastructure works project of the land consolidation zone of this municipality was also authorized. An archaeological preventive action will be carried out, consisting of systematic prospecting and total coverage of the areas affected by the infrastructure works plus a protection band of 50-100 meters, in order to determine archaeological incidents that could be produced and define the precise corrective measures.

Source: Segoviaudaz

The most representative associations of the tourism sector of the province of Segovia (Association of Accommodation, Hospitality and Tourism of Segovia HOTUSE-AIHS, Association of Rural and Active Tourism, Association of Waiters, Association of Sommeliers ASUSEGO, Association of Tourist Guides, EURO-TOQUES , MASTERS of Cuisine, Association of Cooks FACYRE) have expressed their intention to participate actively in the decisions and proposals that are made on the sector in our province and have decided to launch the sectorial table of provincial tourism.

This sectoral dialogue table is open to other formations, some of them such as SEGOVIASUR, the association of travel agencies, the CIT of Cuellar and the Segovian countryside have already joined, and others such as CODINSE, HONORSE, AIDESCON and the center CIT tourism initiatives in El Espinar will be incorporated shortly, after consulting with their respective boards of directors about their incorporation and, in this way, participate in the decisions taken regarding the sector in our province.

This table is set up to convey to the institutions the needs of the sector, both in the preparation of the different projects and their demands, and with whom it will hold regular meetings. The creation of this dialogue table is urgent, especially in the times that we have had to live and with the need to relieve the tourism sector of the numerous burdens it supports, HOTUSE reports in a statement.

They consider it essential to have the tourism professionals of the province in the preparation of the different proposals that are carried out, such as requesting, once again, the different institutions that support the sector in creating the ideal conditions for its reactivation, also the bonus and exemption from fees and taxes. As well as, that they are counted on when preparing the different projects related to the sector, both for support and promotion.

One of the first actions that are proposed is to reiterate to the administrations, in general, and to the town councils of the province, in particular, that they support the companies that are having the worst time in this pandemic since their survival is vital for maintenance of employment in rural areas. Another objective of the Segovia Provincial Tourism Board is to support and contribute to the development of our province.

They trust that the creation of this platform will be useful to convey proposals, projects, needs and demands. Always trying to add through experience and knowledge of the sector.

Source: The Day of Segovia

A month after the hasty closure due to the lack of snow, the La Pinilla resort reopens its doors in this unusual season with nine days of skiing, and trying to take advantage of the rainfall that has fallen during the last week.

While waiting to publish the daily part on the morning of Thursday, February 25, from La Pinilla it is detailed that they will open "the upper area of ​​Gran Plató, Pinilla and Mirador, with snow limitations. While the return and front will be closed.

Only citizens of Castilla y León can attend and it is trusted that they can fill the quota and take advantage of the so-called 'white gold'.

The special prices of 20 euros for adults, and 15 for children, remain on Thursday and Friday.

The station has already requested the Junta de Castilla y León, in collaboration with the Community of Madrid, to allow access from this community using the pass purchased online as a safe-conduct to bypass the perimeter closure.

Source: The Day of Segovia

In February the Christmas comedy directed by Álvaro Fernández Armero 'A thousand kilometers from Christmas' has resumed filming. He will do it first in Arties, a small town located in the Arán Valley, and then in Benasque and other nearby towns in the province of Huesca.

The film will extend its production for a few more weeks throughout different locations in Segovia, Madrid and Guadalajara. 'A thousand kilometers from Christmas' will hit Netflix on Christmas in 2021 and 'The Beast' and 'The Crystal Girls' from 2022.

The platform already announced last October seven new original Spanish production projects for 2021 that included three fiction series, two documentaries, a feature film and a 'stand up comedy' special created and starring Dani Rovira under the title of ' Hate'.

Source: The Day of Segovia

National Heritage has approved a project for the recovery of the surroundings of the Palace of Santa Cecilia, within the municipal area of ​​the Royal Site of San Ildefonso. The project presented and finally approved by National Heritage and supported by the City Council of the Real Sitio de San Ildefonso, according to Europa Press, contemplates the recovery of the space of the Palace of Santa Cecilia, both of the palace building itself (affected by the years of inactivity ) as well as adjacent buildings, such as the stables or the old baths.

As reported by the promoters of this Palace, the action is "very respectful of nature and commitment to sustainability, it has planned the reforestation of the farm and with it the return to the banks of the reservoir of native flora and fauna species, lost to this day due to the passage of time and abandonment ”.

Through a note from the communication department of the Palace of Santa Cecilia, the project proposed for the Palace estate bases the immediate future of the space on a series of aspects that are closely linked to the conservation, promotion and care of nature, with water as a common nexus.

The Palace of Santa Cecilia was previously a hotel and the headquarters of the College of the Sacred Hearts, and the tribute to history will also be present in the project. Special emphasis will be placed on the development of spaces for children, intended for healthy learning in a natural environment through different workshops in writing, painting, music and other disciplines rooted in the tradition of artisan workshops that meant, and some still do. They do a large part of the activity of the Real Sitio de San Ildefonso.

The Santa Cecilia farm is located in the Real Sitio de San Ildefonso, bordering the Eresma River at the foot of the Pontón Alto reservoir. In it you will find the emblematic hotel or palace of Santa Cecilia, a historicist building built between 1904 and 1906 as a noble residence; equipped with brick facades and tower. It consists of four floors and is completed with a guard house and stables. Used as a residence and college of the Sacred Hearts, it is currently empty and unused.

The total area of ​​the plot is 55.370 square meters, of which 1.065,95 are occupied by buildings. A few have been the projects that were thought for this building that National Heritage has been trying to rent for years, but none have come true, so far. It will now be restored.

Source: The Adelantado de Segovia

Nobles, bishops, monarchs ... They all had something in common: the desire to build luxurious residences with which to show their wealth, opulence and power. Thanks to its vanity, Spain can now boast one of the richest palace heritages in Europe. And the province of Segovia is not far behind, since the Royal Palace of La Granja is the fourth 'most beautiful' in Spain, according to the list prepared by Civitatis, the leading company in the sale of guided visits, excursions and free tours in Spanish all over the world.

“About 13 kilometers from Segovia is the Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso, a majestic residence built by order of King Felipe V. The first Bourbon monarch brought a taste for elegant palaces from France and decided to apply it to this jewel architectural, entrusting the project to the architect Teodoro Ardemans ”. This is how the company defines the characteristics of the farmhouse palace.

At the top of the list is the Royal Palace of Aranjuez (Madrid), known to tourists as' the Spanish Versailles. It is followed by the Royal Palace of La Magdalena (Santander), in an eclectic style, which solemnly crowns the Bay of Santander. In third place is the Palacio de San Telmo (Seville), a building that houses the Presidency of the Junta de Andalucía.

Source: The Adelantado de Segovia

Without a doubt, 2020 has been the star year of rural tourism. Despite the closure of accommodation during the harshest months of confinement and the consequent restrictions on mobility, travelers have opted more than ever for “proximity tourism” to enjoy their vacations and weekend getaways. According to the data extracted from the accommodation portal https://www.clubrural.com, this last year reservations have increased by 35% compared to 2019. If before, travelers took into account variables such as price, location, gastronomic offer and nearby places of interest to decide the destination “now most are looking for accommodation independent, with anti-covid protocol and that offers a flexible cancellation policy ", assures Aroa Salazar, communication manager of https://www.clubrural.com. Taking these data into account, the rural accommodation portal has published a list of the 50 most visited rural tourism capitals in the last year.

In the province of Segovia, the town of Ortigosa del Monte has become the rural capital of the year 2020, being the most visited and with the most demand for this type of accommodation.

At the level of Castilla y León, in addition to being the community with the most rural accommodation, it also has some of the municipalities with the highest demand. This is the case of Navaluenga (Ávila) which this year has become the most visited town in the community ahead of the Segovian town of Ortigosa del Monte, Candelario (Salamanca), Aguilar de Campoo (Palencia) or Soto de Sajambre (León), who have been the favorites of their province. In Burgos, the winner has been Villadiego (Burgos), where there is a district called Villalibado that was abandoned and recovered years later thanks to a rural tourism project promoted by a family and that now welcomes a significant number of tourists every year. .

Source: The Adelantado de Segovia

The president of the Association The Most Beautiful Towns of Spain, Francisco Mestre, and the president of the Spanish Association of Mountain Municipalities, Marcel Iglesias have carried out a first contact to make decisions aimed at the necessary revitalization of rural areas and the protection of mountain villages. It is the response from the emptied Spain to the pandemic.

Both associations seek to advance in the design of policies and new programs that make it possible to restore local productive systems, promote new business opportunities, redefine the forms of relationship between the rural world and the cities, as well as fight against the depopulation that most of them suffer. of these municipalities. With this meeting, a way is opened for collaboration between both associations that together bring together nearly 400 peoples, all with a unique cultural and historical heritage.

The measures in which both associations are going to work together are aimed at addressing the serious problem of depopulation, especially in small municipalities, where differentiated taxation, a boost to the circular economy and services under equal conditions, as well as helps to improve telecommunications (in many of the towns, even ATMs are lacking) and to face the setback in the tourism sector that many of these towns have suffered due to the pandemic.

"Most of the most beautiful towns in Spain are also mountain towns," Iglesias stressed. "Both associations are going to work together towards projects that can benefit our peoples in inland Spain trying to be their speaker." For Mestre, there is an “urgent need for effective measures to be adopted in our towns to deal with the problem of depopulation, taking special care in the correct application of the funds that come from the EU, especially now when the pandemic has forced to limit, or even close, a large part of the productive fabric of these beautiful towns: tourism ”.

The Association The Most Beautiful Towns of Spain, which already has 104 unique towns, was born from the conviction and need to make the wonderful towns that dot the Spanish geography known to the whole world. The objective is to promote small municipalities, preferably rural ones, grouped under the same quality brand, through promotional actions and cultural events that the association undertakes both inside and outside of Spain. This network encompasses places of great beauty and personality that exude history and culture at the same time, villas marked by tradition that the traveler will be able to enjoy while walking its roads and mixing with the locals.

Source: The Adelantado de Segovia

The Junta Natural Heritage Foundation and the Ribera del Duero Route Consortium have signed an agreement to install a wildlife observation team, for informational purposes, at the Casa del Parque de las Hoces del Río Riaza, in Montejo de la Vega de la Serrezuela (Segovia). The camera will be installed in the Casa del Parque and will focus on one of the griffon vulture nests in this natural space and can be used by all visitors who come to the center.

hoces del riaza montejo park house in la vega de la serrezuela
House of the Hoces del Riaza Park, in Montejo de la Vega de la Serrezuela. / EA
Visitors will be able to contemplate the bordering areas of the nest in an autonomous way, and they will also be able to observe the birds online through the web pages of the Natural Heritage Foundation and the Ribera del Duero Route that is based in Aranda de Duero (Burgos). This project, framed within the development plan provided in the Sustainable Tourism Charter, has cost 7.600 euros, which will be fully financed by the wine route.

The Minister of Development and Environment, Juan Carlos Suárez-Quiñones, has highlighted that actions such as these “allow the Park Houses to be further linked with the territory where they carry out their work and make it possible to bring the nature of Castilla y León closer to a public that appreciates the quality and uniqueness of things ”.

Suarez-Quiñones has also highlighted the international impact of this route "which is becoming an attraction for wine tourists around the world."

For his part, the president of the Ribera del Duero Wine Route, Miguel Ángel Gayubo, has indicated the satisfaction of being able to contribute to the preservation and dissemination of one of the main natural parks found in the Ribera del Duero.

"The Hoces del Río Riaza Park is home to the largest refuge for birds of prey in Europe and we must take care and make its charm known", he stated before concluding that this collaboration is part of the commitment that from the Wine Route "we maintain with sustainability and caring for our environment and that we will continue to develop in the coming months ”.

Source: The Adelantado de Segovia