This is a big day in Spain, as families all over the country get together to exchange presents and eat Roscon (a ring-shaped, cream-filled cake with a plastic toy hidden in the middle – whoever gets the slice with the toy pays for next year’s Roscon).

The name, Los Reyes, refers to the three Kings who supposedly brought gifts to Jesus, hence the present giving. Although some families do now give children presents on December 24th as well (to keep them busy over the rest of the Christmas period), this is the big day. Here in Madrid my sister-in-law has just been on the phone saying “Hurry over, the Reyes have left something for you”, so it’s time to get going. Two questions: can I eat Roscon at this time in the morning (10:30), and I wonder what I’ll get!?

Avoiding other tourists when you are in Spain is a great way to improve your Spanish, and to get away from all the other guiris running all over the other country. Fortunately for those who want to avoid their fellow countrymen when on holiday, most end up in Barcelona, Madrid, Granada and Seville. But what if you really want to get off the beaten track this year, and find yourself alone in a sea of Spanish? Here are a few of our favourite getaways:

Teruel: So off the beaten track that the locals have even started a website declaring ‘Teruel Exists!’ Great for Mudejar architecture and wonderful ham.

Vigo: Downtrodden backstreets and fresh oysters. Workaday Galicia with all the gastronomic trimmings.

Gijon: Stormy weather, a wonderful Chillida sculpture and the best fabada on the planet. Head onwards from here for the beaches around Llanes.

Extremadura: Trujillo and Caceres are small towns with a rich Roman and conquistador past. Most of the province of Extremadura is pretty much off the tourist trail, and there are some wonderful drives through rolling countryside. Take any B-road from Salamanca to Trujillo, via, Guijuelo, and you’ll see what I mean.

Aragon: An empty, majestic province rolling up to the Pyrenees. Try Jaca if you need a town to stay in, but get out into the villages if you can. The best plan is to go without one.

Carmona: A small town just to the north of Seville. Lovely Parador. Try the jamon on toast tapas in the museum bar. A lovely, sleepy Andaluz town.

I could go on and on, but now it’s over to you. Where do you go to escape tourism in Spain? Comments are welcome below or in this forum post.

The situation with ETA is vexing. They still have not officially claimed responsibility for the bomb at Barajas airport that exploded at the weekend killing at least one Ecuadorian (and probably another, who is still missing), which leads many to suspect that this latest blast is the work of a new pro-violence and anti-peace-process faction of the terrorist organisation.

Whether that is the case or not, it is clear that they did use the last 9 months to rearm, just as they have done in other “ceasefires” in the past. Clearly it will be difficult to trust them again. Hopes were very high last year amongst much of the Spanish population, and the bomb at Barajas made a mockery of all those who, like me, believed that this time things could be different.

Today another 100 kilos of explosive, ready to be deployed, were discovered in the Basque country. The Prime Minister, Jose Luis Zapatero, still speaks in terms of the “suspension”, rather than the “end”, of the peace process, but it seems likely he will have to give up that line if he is to win the next elections. People are fed up with the concept of dialogue with terrorists and it is clear that ETA, in whatever shape or form, are back in full force.

More comment:
In English: ETA Gives Zapatero Golden Opportunity – The Big Chorizo
In Spanish: Excellent round ups and analysis at http://escolar.net/

Marina’s timetable for telephone/skype conversation classes in January has been published – Click here for more details and the calendar.

“A mob of 400 people burnt the house and cars of a Spanish villager known as the “Bald One” on New Year’s Eve”, claiming revenge for seven years of his threats and violence against locals…

Full story at CNN!

My favourite image from the Notes from Spain flickr pool this month ties in with one of my desires for the year ahead: to get out and see a lot of the Spain I had no idea was still out there. I knew that Merida was once a Roman settlement, for example, but I had no idea it still contained ruins as interesting as those in the photo above.

The image, of the “Acueducto Romano de los Milagros” (large version here), was taken on Christmas Day by ClintMalpaso.