Debate over banning short-distance flights takes off, but the cons outweigh the pros
Journey to the centre: The furthest point from the coast in Spain
25/04/2021
WE OFTEN talk about beaches on here. If much of northern Europe was asked to name a country they would head for on a short-haul flight on the very next warm day to be able to lie on a beach, Spain would probably be mentioned quite a lot.
And actually, people living in Spain spend their winters looking forward to the beach, with even many living near one taking an annual holiday to a different part of the country that has another.
Expats often get laughed at by their friends and families in their native lands when they say they live on the Mediterranean mainland and take a beach holiday in the Balearics, or they live on the Costa Brava and book their holidays in Murcia and do nothing but relax on a beach. Even though it would never strike anyone as silly if a person living in London, which is replete with art galleries, booked a city break somewhere in Europe and spent it visiting all the art galleries.
A national survey carried out by Loving Tourism found out that whatever happens with the pandemic and provided travel is not limited to your local supermarket, 45% of people living in Spain fully intend to take a summer holiday this year, and another 33% are considering it, meaning only 22% are not planning to do so (and it could be because they plan to take it in the winter, or they live in a town with a perfectly good beach anyway).
Of those who would, at least, like to go on holiday, even if they do not intend to this year, 56.4% said sunning themselves on the beach would be their top choice.
Beach-love is not limited to those in a cold climate. It seems it's an integral part of human nature – there's another research question for evolutionary anthropologists to get their teeth into; what is it that's integral to us as a species that gives us an innate need to make a beeline for the nearest coast?
There's more to Spain than...
Chances are that if you read one more article anywhere in cyberspace that includes the glaringly-obvious reminder that 'there's more to Spain than its great beaches', you'll feel like hurling eggs and tomatoes at your computer screen.
Don't, because you can make a delicious tortilla, or Spanish omelette, with the first (all you otherwise need are potatoes, olive oil and optional onions), and a tasty salad or gazpacho with the second.
Instead, spare a thought for the people who live in the town the longest distance in Spain from any beach.
Also, remember its name for a future pub quiz – because it actually might crop up. It's often been the answer to exactly that question on the TV quiz shows Pasapalabra and Atrapa un Millón (Spain's version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire).
And then surprise yourself by learning that, despite being as far away from the nearest beach as you can ever find yourself in Spain, it's so popular with tourists that its headcount more than doubles in high summer.
Yes, really: Don't forget, 56.4% said that if they intended to take a holiday this July or August, it would be to the beach; that leaves up to 43.6% of the country who might, potentially, end up in this very town.
So, where is it?
Where is the centre of Spain?
An oft-googled question among Spaniards and Spainophiles – usually in a state of early-hours insomnia and probably around the same time as 'do penguins have knees' and 'what is the record for the longest-ever continuous episode of human wind-breaking' – is 'where is the dead centre of Spain'?
To the first of these, yes, they do, but their upper legs are covered in feathers, so they look as though they only have little short, knee-less ones.
To the second of these, you'll find the answer in our story about the man who holds more Guinness World Records than anyone else in Spain (and no, none of them are for flatulence, they're all for highly-unusual sporting achievements).
To the third of these, the answer is that nobody has been able to agree.
Although Spain's famous Kilómetro Cero ('Kilometre 0') is in Madrid's Puerta del Sol square, it is not the middle of the country, however you measure it.
How to calculate it is tricky: As the crow flies? After all, you might have to drive a long distance to get to one town, because of the mountainous terrain, undulating levels and winding roads, and just a few kilometres to another, and yet on a map, they're the same distance away from you.
Topography aside, how do you define 'country' for the purposes of locating the centre of it? If we include the Balearic Islands, and measure from far-west (south-western Cáceres province in Extremadura) to far-east (eastern Menorca), then the dead centre of the country is in the village of Sinarcas, in the Requena-Utiel district (widely famous for its wine tours) of the province of Valencia, just before you hit its western border onto that of Cuenca, Castilla-La Mancha. Or if you take the Canary Islands into consideration, the centre of Spain as a country is just above Gibraltar.
Even working out the centre of mainland Spain is not easy, because it's not a perfect geometrical shape (few countries are, are they?) added to the fact that all countries on earth are not completely flat, because they sit on the surface of a big ball, so using a map, which is indeed flat, is not a reliable method.
The majority of studies to date place the dead centre of Spain at the base of the Cerro de los Ángeles, a hillock in the southern-Madrid commuter town of Getafe, about 12 kilometres from the central part of the capital. King Alfonso VI conquered this spot and built a chapel on it, declaring it the middle of Spain, and it was for this very reason that King Alfonso XIII, in the early 20th century, unveiled the gigantic Sacred Heart statue at the foot of the slope.
This statue would come to mark the focal point of disputed territory in the second half of the 1930s, during the Civil War, and ended up being destroyed in the conflict; dictator General Franco cut the red tape on a new one built to replace it in 1965.
Centremost Spain is definitely not Madrid city, despite the fact that this was the reason it became the capital in the 16th century by order of King Felipe II, who consulted 'wise men' and told them to find the exact spot to build the Imperial Court on. It turns out their calculations were a bit off - too far to the north.
Residents in Pinto, about eight kilometres south-south-east of Getafe, have considered themselves to be at the point of the compass for centuries; in fact, the name is an 'evolution' of punto, which means 'point', after the Arab settlers during the Middle Ages – a community long known for their superior scientific, mechanical and mathematical knowledge, which gave rise to much of today's medical and irrigation technology and farming techniques – decided this was the middle of the country.
In fact, the very place from which all of the rest of Spain allegedly radiates out in equal distance was worked out to the square metre and is marked by a monolith – this is at the junction between Pinto's C/ Maestra María del Rosario and C/ Hospital.
Until the 1960s, a giant circular stone with a windmill sail in the middle sat on this spot, which was known as La Exacta.
Legend has it that a chest is buried directly underneath it, containing the instruments used to make the calculations.
It's not even a straight competition between two towns in the Greater Madrid region. If you head to the capital from the east or south coasts on the long-distance (Larga Distancia) train, the 'snail rail' often chosen by those not in a hurry as it is much cheaper than the express AVE, you'll normally have to change convoy in Alcázar de San Juan (Ciudad Real province). And anyone you speak to, proud to show off their town to you, will mention two features of it: The Don Quijote windmill at the station, and the fact that it is the very centre of mainland Spain.
Indeed, if you draw straight lines across the map, from nine o'clock to three o'clock and from 12 o'clock to six o'clock, then from the most north-westerly and north-easterly points to the most south-easterly and south-westerly points, from the furthest points east and west and from the furthest points north and south, even where these are a long way off to the right or left, then draw a circle encompassing the middle parts of all of these lines, the town that sits in the very centre of that circle is, indeed, Alcázar de San Juan.
So the furthest town from the coast is either Pinto, Getafe or Alcázar de San Juan?
No, it's none of these. Don't forget that other than the provinces of Huelva (Andalucía) and A Coruña and Pontevedra (Galicia), Spain's west does not have a coast, because it backs onto Portugal. So the towns in the very centre of Spain are closer to the Mediterranean than Nombela, in the province of Toledo.
About an hour's drive west of Getafe, Pinto or Alcázar de San Juan, Nombela, home to just 854 inhabitants, is a whole 364 kilometres from its closest beach, on the Mediterranean; 372 kilometres from either the Costa del Sol, straight to the south, or the Cantabria coast, straight to the north; and being west of the centre of Spain does not help much either, since the closest beach in Portugal is the Praia de Quiaios in Figueira da Foz, near Coímbra, a full 507 kilometres away.
What do Nombela's residents do when it's hot, then?
Those whose house has a swimming pool, or who live on complex with a communal one, are quite content. For those in neither situation, there's the huge, outdoor public pool; or if they're prepared to travel a mere four kilometres, there's a 'beach' on the shores of the river Alberche, where you'll find local families and plenty of tourists catching the sun and taking a refreshing dip.
Inland parts of Spain, even just half an hour or so from a beach, often have 'artificial' ones on river banks, outdoor swimming pool complexes complete with sunbeds and ice-cream kiosks, or lakes or rivers converted into bathing areas.
But as for the impossibility of going for a splash in the sea without at least a four-hour car journey first, Nombela has turned this in itself into a tourist attraction: Being farthest from the sea than anywhere in Spain means its name is well-known, and the 'White Cross' monument on the Berrocal mountain is a tribute to this unusual fact.
What's the big attraction, apart from being furthest from Spain's biggest attraction?
Nombela is, otherwise, geographically perfectly placed: It's a short trip to Madrid, the Mediaeval walled city of Ávila is about 60 kilometres north-west – a swift drive by motorway, from which it's a fairly quick ongoing journey of around 65 kilometres left, to the classical university city of Salamanca, or right, to the beautiful Roman metropolis of Segovia, with its world-famous giant aqueduct and alcázar, or Mediaeval Arab fortress. Also, Toledo is the provincial capital city, which is a stunningly-pretty example of classical Spain and loved internationally for its architecture.
Despite being within easy reach of large cities with globally-acclaimed monuments and history, Nombela, as a small village, offers all the delights of rural life and, other than tourism, its main industry is farming.
And for nature-lovers, hikers, and those seeking clean, country air, it's paradise.
The El Piélago reserve, with its three mountains – the Venus, Cruces and Pelados – the Darkitos viewpoint, offering a spectacular panorama across hundreds of kilometres of emerald-green slopes and dense forest, the Guayerbas lake, and the rock formations and cave ruins atop the San Vicente hill are a joy for those who appreciate magnificent scenery, and you might spot some of the prolific wildlife the parkland is home to – squirrels, partridges, hares, rabbits, foxes, deer, wild boar – whilst finding shade among the pine trees, oaks and horse-chestnuts.
One of the easiest-to-follow – in terms of avoiding confusion – walking or cycling routes through the Sierra de San Vicente is from the nearby village of Pelahustán; ask anyone where to find the start of the Senda Viriato ('Viriato footpath'), and you'll be rewarded along the way with a breathtaking view of the Tajo river valley, the Alberche (Nombela's local 'beach'), and can stand on a rocky outcrop and see if you can spot the sea across verdant sylvan oceans from 1,373 metres up.
Visitors recommend popping over to nearby Nuño Gómez and touring the rock formations in its rural surroundings – the Canto (boulder) de la Encinilla, Canto de los Cascabeles and Lancha Lisa, and the cave known as the Casa de los Ladrones ('House of Thieves').
Hidden streams, water-mills in a near-perfect state that belies their 400-plus years of life, and the popular 'Vega Vasco Island', yet another enclave where you can go for a refreshing splash, can all be found in the vicinity of Nombela.
So there's plenty of water, to jump into or to look at, and even a 'beach', despite its closest sea-coast being the best part of half a day's drive, net of service-station stops.
And Nombela's mere presence is yet more proof, if we needed any, of how Spain is a country of such contrasting extremes – and everything in the middle of those extremes – that there's practically nothing in terms of scenery, climate, or tourism preferences you won't find in it.
Related Topics
You may also be interested in ...
WE OFTEN talk about beaches on here. If much of northern Europe was asked to name a country they would head for on a short-haul flight on the very next warm day to be able to lie on a beach, Spain would probably be mentioned quite a lot.
And actually, people living in Spain spend their winters looking forward to the beach, with even many living near one taking an annual holiday to a different part of the country that has another.
Expats often get laughed at by their friends and families in their native lands when they say they live on the Mediterranean mainland and take a beach holiday in the Balearics, or they live on the Costa Brava and book their holidays in Murcia and do nothing but relax on a beach. Even though it would never strike anyone as silly if a person living in London, which is replete with art galleries, booked a city break somewhere in Europe and spent it visiting all the art galleries.
A national survey carried out by Loving Tourism found out that whatever happens with the pandemic and provided travel is not limited to your local supermarket, 45% of people living in Spain fully intend to take a summer holiday this year, and another 33% are considering it, meaning only 22% are not planning to do so (and it could be because they plan to take it in the winter, or they live in a town with a perfectly good beach anyway).
Of those who would, at least, like to go on holiday, even if they do not intend to this year, 56.4% said sunning themselves on the beach would be their top choice.
Beach-love is not limited to those in a cold climate. It seems it's an integral part of human nature – there's another research question for evolutionary anthropologists to get their teeth into; what is it that's integral to us as a species that gives us an innate need to make a beeline for the nearest coast?
There's more to Spain than...
Chances are that if you read one more article anywhere in cyberspace that includes the glaringly-obvious reminder that 'there's more to Spain than its great beaches', you'll feel like hurling eggs and tomatoes at your computer screen.
Don't, because you can make a delicious tortilla, or Spanish omelette, with the first (all you otherwise need are potatoes, olive oil and optional onions), and a tasty salad or gazpacho with the second.
Instead, spare a thought for the people who live in the town the longest distance in Spain from any beach.
Also, remember its name for a future pub quiz – because it actually might crop up. It's often been the answer to exactly that question on the TV quiz shows Pasapalabra and Atrapa un Millón (Spain's version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire).
And then surprise yourself by learning that, despite being as far away from the nearest beach as you can ever find yourself in Spain, it's so popular with tourists that its headcount more than doubles in high summer.
Yes, really: Don't forget, 56.4% said that if they intended to take a holiday this July or August, it would be to the beach; that leaves up to 43.6% of the country who might, potentially, end up in this very town.
So, where is it?
Where is the centre of Spain?
An oft-googled question among Spaniards and Spainophiles – usually in a state of early-hours insomnia and probably around the same time as 'do penguins have knees' and 'what is the record for the longest-ever continuous episode of human wind-breaking' – is 'where is the dead centre of Spain'?
To the first of these, yes, they do, but their upper legs are covered in feathers, so they look as though they only have little short, knee-less ones.
To the second of these, you'll find the answer in our story about the man who holds more Guinness World Records than anyone else in Spain (and no, none of them are for flatulence, they're all for highly-unusual sporting achievements).
To the third of these, the answer is that nobody has been able to agree.
Although Spain's famous Kilómetro Cero ('Kilometre 0') is in Madrid's Puerta del Sol square, it is not the middle of the country, however you measure it.
How to calculate it is tricky: As the crow flies? After all, you might have to drive a long distance to get to one town, because of the mountainous terrain, undulating levels and winding roads, and just a few kilometres to another, and yet on a map, they're the same distance away from you.
Topography aside, how do you define 'country' for the purposes of locating the centre of it? If we include the Balearic Islands, and measure from far-west (south-western Cáceres province in Extremadura) to far-east (eastern Menorca), then the dead centre of the country is in the village of Sinarcas, in the Requena-Utiel district (widely famous for its wine tours) of the province of Valencia, just before you hit its western border onto that of Cuenca, Castilla-La Mancha. Or if you take the Canary Islands into consideration, the centre of Spain as a country is just above Gibraltar.
Even working out the centre of mainland Spain is not easy, because it's not a perfect geometrical shape (few countries are, are they?) added to the fact that all countries on earth are not completely flat, because they sit on the surface of a big ball, so using a map, which is indeed flat, is not a reliable method.
The majority of studies to date place the dead centre of Spain at the base of the Cerro de los Ángeles, a hillock in the southern-Madrid commuter town of Getafe, about 12 kilometres from the central part of the capital. King Alfonso VI conquered this spot and built a chapel on it, declaring it the middle of Spain, and it was for this very reason that King Alfonso XIII, in the early 20th century, unveiled the gigantic Sacred Heart statue at the foot of the slope.
This statue would come to mark the focal point of disputed territory in the second half of the 1930s, during the Civil War, and ended up being destroyed in the conflict; dictator General Franco cut the red tape on a new one built to replace it in 1965.
Centremost Spain is definitely not Madrid city, despite the fact that this was the reason it became the capital in the 16th century by order of King Felipe II, who consulted 'wise men' and told them to find the exact spot to build the Imperial Court on. It turns out their calculations were a bit off - too far to the north.
Residents in Pinto, about eight kilometres south-south-east of Getafe, have considered themselves to be at the point of the compass for centuries; in fact, the name is an 'evolution' of punto, which means 'point', after the Arab settlers during the Middle Ages – a community long known for their superior scientific, mechanical and mathematical knowledge, which gave rise to much of today's medical and irrigation technology and farming techniques – decided this was the middle of the country.
In fact, the very place from which all of the rest of Spain allegedly radiates out in equal distance was worked out to the square metre and is marked by a monolith – this is at the junction between Pinto's C/ Maestra María del Rosario and C/ Hospital.
Until the 1960s, a giant circular stone with a windmill sail in the middle sat on this spot, which was known as La Exacta.
Legend has it that a chest is buried directly underneath it, containing the instruments used to make the calculations.
It's not even a straight competition between two towns in the Greater Madrid region. If you head to the capital from the east or south coasts on the long-distance (Larga Distancia) train, the 'snail rail' often chosen by those not in a hurry as it is much cheaper than the express AVE, you'll normally have to change convoy in Alcázar de San Juan (Ciudad Real province). And anyone you speak to, proud to show off their town to you, will mention two features of it: The Don Quijote windmill at the station, and the fact that it is the very centre of mainland Spain.
Indeed, if you draw straight lines across the map, from nine o'clock to three o'clock and from 12 o'clock to six o'clock, then from the most north-westerly and north-easterly points to the most south-easterly and south-westerly points, from the furthest points east and west and from the furthest points north and south, even where these are a long way off to the right or left, then draw a circle encompassing the middle parts of all of these lines, the town that sits in the very centre of that circle is, indeed, Alcázar de San Juan.
So the furthest town from the coast is either Pinto, Getafe or Alcázar de San Juan?
No, it's none of these. Don't forget that other than the provinces of Huelva (Andalucía) and A Coruña and Pontevedra (Galicia), Spain's west does not have a coast, because it backs onto Portugal. So the towns in the very centre of Spain are closer to the Mediterranean than Nombela, in the province of Toledo.
About an hour's drive west of Getafe, Pinto or Alcázar de San Juan, Nombela, home to just 854 inhabitants, is a whole 364 kilometres from its closest beach, on the Mediterranean; 372 kilometres from either the Costa del Sol, straight to the south, or the Cantabria coast, straight to the north; and being west of the centre of Spain does not help much either, since the closest beach in Portugal is the Praia de Quiaios in Figueira da Foz, near Coímbra, a full 507 kilometres away.
What do Nombela's residents do when it's hot, then?
Those whose house has a swimming pool, or who live on complex with a communal one, are quite content. For those in neither situation, there's the huge, outdoor public pool; or if they're prepared to travel a mere four kilometres, there's a 'beach' on the shores of the river Alberche, where you'll find local families and plenty of tourists catching the sun and taking a refreshing dip.
Inland parts of Spain, even just half an hour or so from a beach, often have 'artificial' ones on river banks, outdoor swimming pool complexes complete with sunbeds and ice-cream kiosks, or lakes or rivers converted into bathing areas.
But as for the impossibility of going for a splash in the sea without at least a four-hour car journey first, Nombela has turned this in itself into a tourist attraction: Being farthest from the sea than anywhere in Spain means its name is well-known, and the 'White Cross' monument on the Berrocal mountain is a tribute to this unusual fact.
What's the big attraction, apart from being furthest from Spain's biggest attraction?
Nombela is, otherwise, geographically perfectly placed: It's a short trip to Madrid, the Mediaeval walled city of Ávila is about 60 kilometres north-west – a swift drive by motorway, from which it's a fairly quick ongoing journey of around 65 kilometres left, to the classical university city of Salamanca, or right, to the beautiful Roman metropolis of Segovia, with its world-famous giant aqueduct and alcázar, or Mediaeval Arab fortress. Also, Toledo is the provincial capital city, which is a stunningly-pretty example of classical Spain and loved internationally for its architecture.
Despite being within easy reach of large cities with globally-acclaimed monuments and history, Nombela, as a small village, offers all the delights of rural life and, other than tourism, its main industry is farming.
And for nature-lovers, hikers, and those seeking clean, country air, it's paradise.
The El Piélago reserve, with its three mountains – the Venus, Cruces and Pelados – the Darkitos viewpoint, offering a spectacular panorama across hundreds of kilometres of emerald-green slopes and dense forest, the Guayerbas lake, and the rock formations and cave ruins atop the San Vicente hill are a joy for those who appreciate magnificent scenery, and you might spot some of the prolific wildlife the parkland is home to – squirrels, partridges, hares, rabbits, foxes, deer, wild boar – whilst finding shade among the pine trees, oaks and horse-chestnuts.
One of the easiest-to-follow – in terms of avoiding confusion – walking or cycling routes through the Sierra de San Vicente is from the nearby village of Pelahustán; ask anyone where to find the start of the Senda Viriato ('Viriato footpath'), and you'll be rewarded along the way with a breathtaking view of the Tajo river valley, the Alberche (Nombela's local 'beach'), and can stand on a rocky outcrop and see if you can spot the sea across verdant sylvan oceans from 1,373 metres up.
Visitors recommend popping over to nearby Nuño Gómez and touring the rock formations in its rural surroundings – the Canto (boulder) de la Encinilla, Canto de los Cascabeles and Lancha Lisa, and the cave known as the Casa de los Ladrones ('House of Thieves').
Hidden streams, water-mills in a near-perfect state that belies their 400-plus years of life, and the popular 'Vega Vasco Island', yet another enclave where you can go for a refreshing splash, can all be found in the vicinity of Nombela.
So there's plenty of water, to jump into or to look at, and even a 'beach', despite its closest sea-coast being the best part of half a day's drive, net of service-station stops.
And Nombela's mere presence is yet more proof, if we needed any, of how Spain is a country of such contrasting extremes – and everything in the middle of those extremes – that there's practically nothing in terms of scenery, climate, or tourism preferences you won't find in it.
Related Topics
You may also be interested in ...
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