Spain-Morocco 2015

Sevilla: The Plaza de España + la mantilla española

Joanna July 20, 2015 4 2

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Here we are again, on our way to Seville. Southern Spain is going through a period of severe drought and one heat wave after another. Local people say that this summer so far is one of the hottest.

Two hours later, we are in Sevilla. The gateway to the New World in the 16th century, Sevilla boomed when Spain did. In the 17th century, Sevilla was Spain’s largest and wealthiest city. Local artists made it a cultural centre. Sevilla’s Golden Age-and its New World’s riches-eneded when the Spanish empire crumbled. (Rick Steves)

The Plaza de España is a plaza located in the Parque de María Luisa, in Seville, Spain built in 1928 for the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929. It is a landmark example of the Renaissance Revival style in Spanish architecture.

While we were admiring the beauty of this plaza we had a chance to see a groom with his future mother in law, la madrina. The most fascinating was la mantilla española on her head.

A mantilla is a lace or silk veil or shawl worn over the head and shoulders, often over a high comb called a peineta, popular with women in Spain. It is now particularly associated as a pious religious practice among women in the Roman Catholic Church, worn as a Christian headcovering.

And now, another Spanish dish: a soup called salmorejo.

Salmorejo is a purée consisting of tomato and bread, originating from Cordoba in Andalucia, south Spain. It is made from tomatoes, bread, oil, garlic and vinegar. Normally, the tomatoes are skinned and then puréed with the other ingredients. The purée is served cold and may be garnished with diced Spanish serrano ham and diced hard-boiled eggs.