Spain’s fifth-largest city is rarely at the top of the must-visit list—despite medieval Mudejar architecture, a rambunctious tapas scene, and its own signature folk dance.
and between the country's Cantabrian and Mediterranean coasts. Both by road and rail, it’s well-connected. And a river runs through it—the mighty Ebro, Spain’s answer to the Rhine or Volga.
Despite being a major logistical and industrial hub, Zaragoza was said to be an easygoing city with a provincial, almost small-town vibe. I felt my expectations rising. Just maybe, this would be somewhere that had managed to avoid the over-tourism plaguing certain other Spanish cities and had remained, in that deathless travel cliché, “under the radar.”
I'd made sure to choose my travel dates with care. October 12th is a Spanish national holiday and the feast-day of the Pillar, when Zaragoza erupts into a week-longin which the sensible rhythms of daily life come to a juddering, wine-soaked halt. Planning my visit for the week before the big day, I calculated, would give me a blast of pre-party excitement without sweeping me up completely in the madness.
True, the retail universe on the wide shopping streets, calles Alfonso and Don Jaime, were monopolized by the same tedious chain-store brands you find in every Spanish city. The few traditional stores that had survived gave a far more genuine and eccentric flavor. The century-old pastry-shop Fantoba, with its creaky colonial-themed wooden interior, still sold the specialty Frutas de Aragón .
But among Zaragoza’s various art museums in old-town palaces there was one sure-fire, drop-dead winner.Though his relationship with his hometown was not always an easy one, nowadays Francisco de Goya is held byto be a universal brand ambassador for their city.
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