11 Tuesday Feb 2020
Spotted on my WALK… renovations for a new gastrobar in the Alameda area reveal tiles from Marqués del Mérito, an important sherry producer in Jerez that was founded in the mid 1800s. In 1979 Díez Hermanos bought Marqués de Mérito and formed the Díez Mérito group, taking over the emblematic bodegas Bertemati, where it still resides today. I guess this was either a bar or a wine shop (or possibly an abacería – a combination of both).
23 Friday Aug 2019
Over the past few years Sevilla has lost several of its landmark independent shops (and bars), usually replaced by tacky souvenir places or chain stores. Papelería Ferrer, founded in 1856, is one of the last ones still standing. It’s important for us to support these places, and not just lament the loss of them after they are gone. Though I do wonder if it’s inevitable, especially when owners die and there is no family member to take over. Of course in other (most?) cases it’s a case of rents skyrocketing and these small businesses not being able to afford to carry on. So perhaps the most realistic thing is to just enjoy and appreciate these wonderful places while we still can.
26 Saturday Jan 2019
Posted in andalucia, history, spain, tapas, tapas bars
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Taberna El Gallo is probably the most emblematic traditional bar in Córdoba. Great wines and food too! It is my favourite spot in the city. So I was very sad to read that it was going to close after the death of the owner, who ran the business with her husband. Rent issues, along with the ages of its present staff, some of whom have recently retired, have led to the bar closing its doors after 83 years.
Then I saw that someone has started a Change.org petition to preserve the bar and keep it going. Presumably under new management, but hopefully retaining its charm, character and heritage. Here is the link so you can sign the petition and help save Taberna El Gallo.
12 Thursday Apr 2018
By the time I moved to Sevilla Los Gabrieles had already been abandoned, though I think the hostel next door (and above it) was still in operation. It has since closed too. Apparently it is inspected from time to time by the Urban Planning Department, and the paper ads plastered all over this gorgeous tilework are removed.
The original tiles date back to the 1930s and were made in Triana at Mensaque Rodríguez y Cía, which closed its doors for good in December 2006. As you can see, Los Gabrieles was also used as a gaming toom, late last century. What a shame that it is just left like this to deteriorate. I would LOVE to see this place restored and used. Any takers?
19 Saturday Aug 2017
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It’s been a good week, being on “staycation” in Sevilla, though an inordinate amount of time has been spent looking for ceiling and wall lamps for the new Casa Azahar. Which led to not one, but two, visits to El Corte Inglés in Nervión. The first time finished with a fab lunch at Casa Paco “El Buen Comer”, making the trip worthwhile (even though I came home empty handed). But a couple of days later I decided to go back for the two wall lamps I’d seen there, which ended with an early evening walk home down Eduardo Dato (totally beat the 10,000 steps record that day!). And along the way we passed what is left of Sevilla’s second, and short-lived, bullring, La Monumental.
I’d first learned about its existence back in 2009, after visiting La Monumental tapas bar, located on the old site and filled with bullfighting memorabilia, including framed contemporary news clippings about Sevilla’s almost forgotten bullring.
This ill-fated second Plaza de Toros was first opened to the public in 1918, closed in 1921, and finally demolished in 1930. The driving force behind its construction was the famous bullfighter José Gómez Ortega, known as Joselito el Gallo, whose death in the ring on May 16, 1920 was a contributory factor in its closing. In 1915, when construction started, this was a ‘greenfield’ site a short way outside the city. Its demolition made way for the new suburbs that now spread out to Nervión and beyond.
The architects were José Espiau y Muñoz and Francisco Urcola Lazcanotegui, whose other works include the splendid Hotel Alfonso XIII, and the Edificio Adriática at the end of Avenida de la Constitución.
Since the first time I visited this remaining gate to the bullring a plaque has been put up. Can you believe that for all these years it just stood there without anybody knowing what it was? Anyhow, the plaque reads…
“Here was the monumental one of Seville (1918 – 1921) driven by Joselito El Gallo, King of Los Toreros”. September 2012, centenary of the alternative of Joselito, his supporters.
casa azahar 