Books describing the authors’ walking trips are a genre I find irresistible. Today I want to narrow down the field to 20th century accounts of walks in just one country.
The country is Spain and I’m going to narrow the field further by excluding books about pilgrimages to Santiago de Compostela. So what are the best of the rest?
“In September 1919 a young Englishman disembarked in La Coruña on the north coast of Spain. He had just been demobilised and had a little money and about 2,000 books packed in his trunks. His ambition was to find a cheap place to live, educate himself through reading and become a writer. After a few days walking in Galicia he took the train to a deeply dispiriting Madrid and then on to Granada. Here he left his belongings and set off on foot in search of an affordable house to rent in the Alpujarras valley on the far side of the Sierra Nevada.
His name was Gerald Brenan and the story of the weeks he spent walking the valley weakened by dysentery, eating poorly and sleeping in bug-infested posadas could have made an interesting book in itself. In fact, his quest is all over by page nine of the book he actually wrote, South from Granada, one of the small classics of early 20th-century British travel writing.” (The Guardian)
“In the spring of 1927, VS Pritchett set out to walk 300 miles across Spain. At that time the country was almost completely isolated: many of the people he met had never seen a foreigner before. Yet despite their poverty, they received their odd English visitor, in his outlandish tweeds, with unfailing courtesy, hospitality and curiosity. Marching Spain is a vivid portrait of a timeless Spain, about to be torn apart by civil war, and a delightful record of personal discovery.” (Good Reads)
In 1935/1936 Laurie Lee walked from Vigo in Galicia to Almuñécar in Andalusia. At the outbreak of the Civil War his adventure ended when a British destroyer picked him up (like Jessica Mitford). He describes his walk in As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning. It is a sequel to Cider with Rosie and a prequel to A Moment of War, an account of his time spent fighting with the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War.
Now I’m going to cheat and include Penelope Betjeman’s account of a month long ride on a mule across southern Spain in 1961: Two Middle-Aged Ladies in Andalusia. Like, Moby Dick, it’s a book most people have heard of but not so many have read and that includes me in respect of both books. However, Two Old Ladies has been reprinted by Eland so I have ordered a copy. I cannot find a critic who doesn’t approve: “Enchantingly self-revealing, without being in the least self-conscious” (Daily Telegraph) ; “this acute and amiable observer concluded that the setting was like “the garden of Paradise before the Fall.” Anyone planning a visit to post-lapsarian Andalusia should pack Chetwode’s magical diary”. (The Independent).
Four remarkable people who were seduced by the Spain of yesteryear. Portugal, Britain’s oldest ally, does not attract the same affection except from families who make port. Would those authors have written about modern Spain? Who knows, but I can affirm that in my working life I met people from many countries and many became friends, especially our Spanish clients. These memoirs all reflect an immense affection for the people of Spain and they would feel the same today. I doubt this affection is reciprocated. In modern times Spain has become a haven for Daily Mail readers and bank robbers.
Now we must turn to politics. Who is Rory Stewart? Here’s a chance to get to know him better as he demonstrates an ability to filibuster with authority, erudition, elegance and a straight face.