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Although it is often considered one of the friendliest countries in EuropeDue to its hospitality and warm Spanish culture, Spain has recently been rocked by a number of anti-tourism protests.
Locals on the popular holiday island of Tenerife have even told visitors to ‘go home’.
Some Spaniards believe overtourism is to blame for their rising cost of living, and Airbnb restrictions in central Barcelona crazy fines If you want to swim or sleep on the beach at certain hours, we don’t blame visitors for feeling like they’re being chased out of Spain.
That being said, not all from Spain wants to reduce tourism levels:
One region in particular hopes to actively attract more guestsand if you love Tuscany’s vineyard-strewn hills and ancient cobbled towns that look like they belong in an illustrated storybook, then Castilla-La Mancha is exactly what you’re looking for.
This is what the forgotten center of Spain looks like
Located in the center of Spain, it is a kind of flyover country: it borders a number of much more developed, economically important regions, such as Andalusia, Aragon, Castile and León, and even the capital Madrid, yet it is usually bypassed by a majority of tourists.
It does not straddle the Mediterranean Sea or Spain’s Atlantic coast, but is instead characterized by vast natural parks and open plains, so you are unlikely to encounter the usual hordes of British and German holidaymakers that you would normally find in Sitges, Malaga and the like.
Just as Tuscany produces some of Italy’s best-known wines, so does Castilla-La Mancha one of Spain’s wine capitalswith a significant concentration of ‘bodegas’ including the award-winning Domino de Casalta, Hacienda Vallarta and Alto de Pioz.
Wine tastings are a big draw for off-the-beaten-path oenophiles, and from Madrid, an easy hour’s drive away, you can explore the area’s highlights, including a stop at a vineyard, from just $69. Receive your guide.
Castilla-La Mancha is one enormous province is Spain’s third largest, however, and you’ll want to spend more than one day exploring its hidden gems if you wish really do it justice:
Historic medieval towns that are still perfectly preserved
If you arrive from Madrid you will probably pass Toledo First: the regional capital, this ancient city located on a high hill overlooking the plains of La Mancha, has a preserved historic center, still surrounded by walls, and a wealth of Arab and Christian monuments.
For those of you who don’t know, Spain was ruled for centuries by a succession of Arab dynasties until it was reconquered by Christian kings, and alongside Seville and Granada, Toledo is one of the finest examples of Islamic city building in Europe.
Other important towns include Cuenca, yet another walled settlement resting on a staggering limestone formation, Albacete, dominated by a well-preserved medieval castle; Guadalajara – the original one, not the one in Mexico – was founded already in Roman times, and Ciudad Real:
Outside of Toledo, the ‘Royal City’ of Castilla-La Mancha is probably where tourists spend the most time: it is home to a Baroque old towna Quixote Museum, in honor of Miguel de Cervantes’ magnum opus of a novel, and Gothic churches richly decorated with Moorish motifs.
This is where those iconic Spanish windmills are located!
Speaking of Don Quixote, the most recognizable symbol of La Mancha is the white windmills spread over a dry hinterland, featured on the Cervantes classic; to see them you have to drive an hour south of Ciudad Real to Consuegra.
The picturesque settlement is reputed to have inspired the infamous scene in which the wayward knight mistakes the twelve windmills of Consuegra, scattered along a ridge for an army of giants, and sets out to battle them.
The mills are in an almost perfect state of preservation, with some of the stone walls and sails dating from the 16th century. Like Toledo, they can easily be visited from Madrid if you book a Quijote Windmills tour. day Tourwith prices starting at an affordable $62.
La Mancha is much cheaper to visit than other parts of Spain
Besides being a cultural hotspot of the first order, and Spain’s response to Tuscany with its sleepy villages and family-owned vineyards, Castilla-La Mancha is generally much more affordable to visit than other Spanish destinations that are trendier and, well, on the coast.
On average, tourists spend $42 per day on meals, as there is an abundance of cheap restaurants where a lunch menu costs from $15, including a starter and a main course, or a main course and dessert, as well as soft drinks, and a tapas starter in a snack bar averages $6 .
Hotels are also quite cheap, at least by European standards: in the center of Toledo, Hotel Sercotel Alfonso VI costs $65 to book per night this summer, and it’s going for even cheaper Hotel Carlos Vwith room rates starting at $55.
Overnight stays in Ciudad Real fall within the same price range: Hotel Santa Cecilia will cost you $62 a night, and even four stars Exe Doña Carlota is a very reasonable $59, or $73 if you include breakfast.
Overall, you’re looking at a travel budget of $928 for a week-long trip to Castile-La Manchabased on Budget your trip estimates.
And the best is… La Mancha Want you Visits
If you’ve been thinking about skipping Barcelona altogether and heading here instead, you’ll be happy to hear that Castilla-La Mancha actually want to more touristswhich puts it at odds with most sunny Spanish destinations:
In this era of growing ‘tourismphobia’, Castilla-La Mancha President Emiliano Garcia-Page has reiterated the importance of visitors to the region and promised that the tourism sector ‘will not stop growing’ in the coming years, despite side effects elsewhere in Spain.
Garcia-Page went on to say that the industry is not a threat but an opportunity for the area, even calling it “essential”: last year La Mancha organized a 2.8 million touristsa regional record, but unimpressive figures compared to other communities in Spain.
In other words, overtourism is far from a major concern for the authorities here, and in any case they encourage visitors to come and see for themselves:
No, it doesn’t have a beach, and resorts are certainly not at the top of the tourist offering, but Spain’s Mediterranean coast doesn’t have the beautiful natural scenery of La Mancha, the great wine, the UNESCO-listed Toledo, the fairytale villages and neither are the postcard-perfect windmills.
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This article originally appeared on TravelOffPath.com
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