**NOTE: As you can see, we are now using Flickr to host all of our reader submitted pictures. The images play in a slide show here on the blog; you can control the slide show as you like, or click on any picture to take your to Flickr for a larger image. Here is a link to the Flickr site that hosts all of these images**
Thanks to Ted Bowling for these incredible pictures. He writes:
“Hi James:
Just got back from southern Spain and thought I would share a few of my images with your readers. I don’t think I can caption them individually, so I’ll give you a quick run down of what your looking at:
The first picture is exactly what it looks like, a little western town in the United States. What is this doing in Spain? It surprised me too. Its actually an abandoned movie set. Clint Eastwood filmed “A Fistful of Dollars” here. Remember the term, “Spaghetti Westerns”. Many of them were shot in this desert north of Almeria on the southern coast of Spain during the 1960’s.
The next photo is the city of Almeria, taken from the old fortress. The ships in the background are express ferries traveling back and forth to Africa. Note the tightly clustered buildings and narrow streets designed to maximize shade during the dry, hot summers.
The third photo was taken in Toledo, a city many consider to be the cultural heart of Spain. It served as the capital until Philip II moved the government to Madrid in the 16th Century. Like many Spanish cities, canvas is spread and suspended to provide shade during the hot summer months. No such luck here in Alabama.
Spain is full of poppies in May and June. Sometimes it looks like the red carpets stretch out for miles.
Next you have some windmills. These are actually as tall as a football field. If you look closely, you can see a small door at the base of the tower. These giants produce electricity throughout much of Western Europe. My understanding is that about 7% of Spain’s electricity now comes from wind power. Not to worry, Spain still has the old fashioned windmills that Don Quixote did battle with. Those primarily turned grindstones to process wheat.
The white-washed village is in the Sierra Nevada mountains in southern Spain. When the Catholic Monarchs Isabela and Ferdinand finally drove the Moors (Muslims from Northern Africa) from Grenada in 1492, they allowed some of them to stay in Spain but in relative seclusion, in these small mountain towns. After a revolt in 1556, they were finally exiled from Spain permanently. These small towns, including the one you see here (Capileira), were then repopulated with Christians from the north of Spain. Capileira sits at about 4500 feet and on a clear day, offers a view of the Mediterranean Sea over 40 miles away.
The sweeping farmland in the next picture is planted with Olive Trees. Thousands of olive trees. Much of the Olive Oil we consume here in the US (regardless of the brand) is actually produced here in southern Spain.
Hope you found these interesting.
Ted Bowling
Homewood, AL”
