Teruel
Teruel exists. It does exist...
If there is a place in the world to sing 'Love is in the air' it is Teruel capital. How could it not be if it is the city of the legend of the Lovers of Teruel? Eight centuries after it happened, the people of Teruel still remember the tragic story of Juan Martínez de Marcilla and Isabel Segura.
It can be seen in the Mausoleum of the Lovers, where they are said to be buried; and also in the monumental Paseo del Óvalo staircase which, among the decorative elements, incorporates a mural dedicated to them.
What's more, they are so fond of this story that if you visit Teruel in February you will find it transformed into a 13th century city to recreate the wedding of Isabel Segura.
Of course, if we take into account that Teruel displays buildings in a ravishing Mudejar style, the spectacle is guaranteed. It is so unique that the Mudejar ensemble was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
Teruel doesn't need to go back to the Middle Ages to charm you. You only have to look at the small statue of El Torico to know that it has won you over. Small, yes, but that has not prevented it from becoming the protagonist of a lively pedestrian square, with the occasional modernist building and attractive terraces under its porticoes.
Nearby, we are waiting for you at the Sercotel Torico Plaza Hotel. Just visit our city, we'll take care of your rest. You'll need to recharge your batteries, especially if you're travelling as a family because seeing dinosaurs is exhausting. Ah, we didn't tell you: Teruel also has dinosaurs.
They are in Dinópolis, an interpretation centre located 10 minutes by car from our hotel. Through recreations, projections and fossils you will understand how they lived before they became extinct.
It is called the Rambla de Barrachina and is very close to the city of Teruel. When you get there, you'll feel like you're in the Wild West or stepping on Mars, and the planet is all about you.
This Colorado Canyon is wide, tremendously vast, hence the name "wadi": it alludes to the space through which water flows when it rains in torrents. But that is not all.
In the Rambla de Barrachina you are surrounded by enormous elevations of land, which overwhelm and fascinate in equal parts. Its ochre, yellow and orange colours dance in the sunlight.
It climbs up to one of its highest points, the Muela de Teruel. From there, the views are endless.
Matarraña and Sierra de Albarracín: a getaway or a lifetime in two of the regions of Teruel
You will travel from village to village in the Matarraña region, silencing your mobile phone and not looking at your watch. You will pass through the delightful medieval village of Valderrobles, walk through the cobbled streets of Fresneda and arrive in Beceite and, with it, the Ruta del Parrizal de Beceite.
You will walk along paths and footbridges over the Matarraña river that will lead you to the most impressive point of the route: the Parrizal narrows, one of those gorges where it is difficult to see the sky and the walls are so close together that when you stretch out your arms you touch them all at the same time.
In Sierra de Albarracín, nature shares the limelight with the municipality that gives its name to this region. And just strolling through its cobbled streets will be worth the trip.
If we then tell you about the charm of its gabled roofs and tell you that it has a wall, towers and even houses hanging from the rock, this is what will come to your mind: Why has it taken me so long to come? Don't worry, and repeat as many times as you want, at Sercotel hotels we are looking forward to welcoming you back.
