Seville is famous for certain quintessentially Spanish, or Andalucian, things – flamenco, tapas and bullfighting. But say “Seville”, and many people, especially the British, will think “oranges” or “marmalade”. For it is here where the naranjas amargas (bitter oranges) are…
Exploring the Sierra de Grazalema from a home-from-home in Benamahoma
You can see for miles from Puerta de las Palomas (1,639m), in the Sierra de Grazalema. Nearly nine years ago I went to a small pueblo blanco (white hilltop town) called Grazalema in Cadiz province on a chilly November weekend, to…
The medina and the market: colours of Tangiers street life
For me, the most memorable part of my all-too-short visit to Tangiers was wandering through the Medina – the old city, just below the Kasbah. In my last post, I talked about our guide, Aziz. If I had been trying…
A century of tradition: Seville’s olive oil biscuits go global
Over 100 years ago, a young woman in a town near Seville started making and selling snacks called tortas de aceite, using an old family recipe. Made from nothing more than flour, water, sugar and olive oil, with a little aniseed and…