Spanish research station Gabriel de Castilla in Antarctica

The Spanish Antarctic station Gabriel de Castilla was established in the1989/90 campaign. It is located on the SW coast of Port Foster in Deception Island. The base gives support to the scientific research in the island and it is operated by the Spanish Army. The station has different areas: living area, with accommodation for 14 people, scientific module, medical care module, engine room and mechanical workshop, store and emergency module. During the 2000/2001 campaign the base has been modernised, specially the living and scientific areas. The modifications have not increased the capacity of the station but have improved the scientific capabilities and the environmental protection measures.

Thank you so much, Li Ming, for this fantastic surprise!

Spain: Catalan folk costume

We received unique postcard from Spain, young couple in traditional Catalan folk costume. Postcard itself is usual postcard, but dress (pubbila) is made of real and very fine cloth. A pubilla in ancestral Catalan tradition was the female that would inherit the whole rural estate in the absence of a brother. Boy wears male version of inheritance clothing - d'Hereu.

Postcard arrived in cover with stamp Europa CEPT 2017 Castle Manzanares el Real, Madrid, but cover is not cancelled.


Thank you Tajana & Kristijan!

Postcard from Spanish enclave Melilla in North Africa

I received this postcard from Spanish enclave Melilla in North Africa. It's a map of all Spanish territories on north coast of Africa. Melilla is a Spanish autonomous city located on the north coast of Africa, sharing a border with Morocco, with an area of 12.3 square kilometres. Melilla, along with Ceuta, is one of two permanently inhabited Spanish cities in mainland Africa. In 2011 it had a population of 78,476, made up of Catholics of Iberian origin, ethnic Riffian Berbers and a small number of Sephardic Jews and Sindhi Hindus. Melilla is officially subject to a territorial claim along with the city of Ceuta.

Fantastic looking postmark with stamp The Road to Santiago, issued on 25.04.2016.


Thank you very much Nina for this wonderful surprise!

Spain: Nerja

Nerja is a municipality on the Costa del Sol in the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia in southern Spain. It belongs to the comarca of La Axarquía. It is on the country's southern Mediterranean coast, about 50 km east of Málaga. Under Muslim rule, its name was Narixa, which means "abundant source" and is the origin of the current name. Nerja has been a source of inspiration for expatriate writers and artists, such as Scottish novelist Joan Lingard and French-born author André Launay, Jorge Guillén and Federico García Lorca were longtime visitors and residents of the town.

Stamp is King Felipe VI, issued on 02.01.2016.

Thank you Nina!

Spain: Gran Vía

Gran Vía is a station on Lines 1 and 5 of the Madrid Metro located underneath the Gran Vía, in the Centro neighborhood underneath the Red de San Luis plaza. The Line 1 platforms were opened to the public when Metro service was inaugurated in Madrid in 1919, under the name Red de San Luis. The Gran Vía was still under construction at that time, but a year later the station adopted that name. During the dictatorship of Franco, the name was changed again to José Antonio. This reflected the renaming of the Gran Vía to José Antonio Avenue by Franco, in honor of José Antonio, founder of the fascist party Falange.

In 1970, the Line 5 platforms opened under the name José Antonio. Fourteen years later, in 1984, the station returned to its previous name of Gran Vía.

Stamps:
King Juan Carlos I - New Values, issued on 02.01.2002.
School Stamps - Spanish History: Emperor Charles V, issued on 19.10.2001.


Thank You Alfonso!

Spain: Vilanova i la Geltrú

My first postcard from Spain!

 

Vilanova i la Geltrú is a city in the province of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain and the capital of the Garraf comarca. Historically a fishing port, the city has a growing population of approximately 66,000, and is situated 40 km south-west of Barcelona, with the more famous coastal resort of Sitges some 10 km to the north-east. During the dictatorship of Francisco Franco (1939–75), the city's name was castilianized as Villanueva y Geltrú as part of the Anti-Catalan policies of the era.

Beautiful stamp on postcard!

Stamp: EUROPA - Musical Instruments

Series: Europa (C.E.P.T.)
Issued on: 2014-04-23
Description: Paco de Lucia (1947 - 2014), playing Spanish Guitar

Thank You very much Heike!