Shepherds
who Reached the Heavens
BIELSA
“... these valleys, whose melancholic beauty touches one so
deeply, whose eternal silence at once pleases and moves. It
might be said, on the other hand, that the mountains which
enclose them like an inaccessible barrier completely separate
us from the world ...
And Its Parador
Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer
his is how these beautiful and imposing heights explain and
understand the genesis of the globe: No one can prove it, but
neither can anyone refute it. So powerful were the cataclysms, that these
gave rise to legends which seem to show that the Pyrenees were the
outcome of the bold exploits of gods and heroes. According to these epic
tales, Hercules, son of Jupiter, traveled to Iberia to carry out three of the
labors imposed upon him by the evil king of Mycenae. Some swear that at
his side came the famous conjurer Tubal, first settler of this peninsula, as
is indicated in the writings left by none other than San Juan de la Peña
back in the 16th century.
T
And there is more: the waters of the Flood having scarcely abated,
Tubal sought to settle in the crags of upper Aragon with his people. He
fathered a daughter, Pirene, who was of such remarkable beauty that she
attracted the lustful attentions of the evil three-headed giant Geryon, king
of all the peninsula long before it was either Celtic or Iberian. He set out
to make her his own by force. The young beauty took refuge in a cave
hidden in the vertiginous heights. When he could not find her, the evil
and vengeful Geryon set fire to the mountains. It was then that Hercules
himself arrived on the scene. He had come set on hunting down and
killing the perfidious giant. He spotted the huge cloud of smoke and
found Pirene in the fierce blaze. He tried in vain to save her, but the
beauty died in his arms. He then desired to construct a spectacular
mausoleum as an undying memorial to her, lasting throughout the ages.
He thus tore up the hard rocks and piled them up until he had raised the
mountain range which would be christened with the name of the
Pyrenees.
Learned geographers tell the tale in more precise, more prosaic ways:
these Pyrenean heights are the steepest of axial peaks, complemented by
interior ranges and a zone of medium height around the outskirts of Jaca.
This area has played a leading role in many natural origins, that of
witness to prehistory and judge and participant in each and every story,
scene and legend, as well as wars in which continual conspiracies,
denunciations, acts of revenge and another thousand or more misfortunes
were not unknown. It has seen Christian martyrdoms, cruel friendships
with the imperial invader, the quarrelsome tolerance of the barbarian
Visigothic invaders, and much more.
The areas invaded reacted almost immediately in impetuous, sometimes
brutal ways, although they were generally tolerant. With moderate
missionary tendencies, they were open to other customs and very different
beliefs.
Not much more time had passed before the infinite peninsular wars,
characterized by an insatiable lust for power over bordering areas, broke
out between one medieval Christian king or noble or another.
BIELSA AND ITS PARADOR
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Now, let us situate the visitor in this
unique and surprising
geographical setting. The magnificent
great heights of Aragon are divided, as
determined by history, although not
without battles and tensions, into four
large Pyrenean regions: the Jacetania, the
Serralbo, the Sobrarbe, and the
Ribagorza. Today these are depressed
areas: nearly abandoned, almost devoid of
residents and production activities. “…For
a long time now, politicians have sown us
a landscape of dams, canals, and
reservoirs which only bring good business
to them ...”
This exceptional Parador de Bielsa
belongs, in terms of jurisdiction and social
structure, to Jaca, “capital” of the socalled “Old Aragon.” Amongst this torturous and tortured granite, these
steep crests and mankind awoke at virtually the same time. Here the first
forms of human life were born: defense and attack, weapons for hunting
and fishing, and the discovery of how to make fire. With time, man
learned to mold clay into vessels. These peoples would come to extract
“metal rocks” which, when heated over the fire, could be modeled into
vessels, tools, images, or decoration for pacific and war ceremonies.
Another truly beautiful and singular region is Cerralbo, presumed land
of ancient Mozarabic beginnings: knowledge and tolerance capable of
uniting cultures supposedly, but falsely, in conflict. Sabiñánigo is capital of
the region. Today these areas are both industrious and industrial. Both
regions suffer serious depopulation problems: their three hundred square
kilometers of area are occupied by an average of a dozen residents per
kilometer of land.
Both regions are indissolubly united by a fierce devotion to Saint Orosia,
the incorrupt patron saint of the diocese of Jaca. The young woman was
martyred and sacrificed on Mount Yebra de Basa. Her head, or what
remains of the cranium, is still preserved here in an outstanding medieval
reliquary. Her holy and miraculous corporeal remains were brought to Jaca
at the close of the 11th century. Saint Orosia is and will continue to be the
eternal patron saint of these amazing areas surrounding the Parador de
Bielsa.
“...It is Santa Orosia who is the vicegoddess of the mountain, who has the keys
to open and close the heavens, and fills
these mountains with fertility for the
mountain dwellers ...”
Additionally, the saint would become, on
her own and attributed merits, something
like the goddess of the water, and a protector
against epidemics and plagues. She would be
the champion of the so-called “spirited ones,”
proscribed – frequently on any pretext – until
relatively recent times (almost the end of the
17th century).
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BIELSA AND ITS PARADOR
The region of Sobrarbe possesses a large
portion of the privileges and rights of
Aragon. The red cross which features on
the region’s coat of arms is witness to this:
The symbol of the cross appeared
miraculously on the crown of an ilex tree
during a vicious battle between Moors and
Christians. Legendary traditions, never
untrue, indicate that this portent
proclaimed that in Aragon “...before there
were kings there were laws ...”
The independent attitude of these
unmanageable areas would grow, this time
bringing them up against royal powers:
“...We are worth as much as thee, and
all together more than thee ...”
And it would come to even more,
between history and pleasant fantasies.
With the arrival of the 17th century, a terrible hurricane raged to life, a
hurricane of such force that it managed to pull down the monument
erected by the Council of the Realm.
There still remains a saying born of these ancient memories, guarded in
the form of a short popular folk song:
“... The appearance of that cross to this town brought it such fame that
history has placed it amongst the noblest of Spain ...“
Somewhat later, while still early on in the history of this part of Aragon,
the region of Ribagorza came into being, just after the beginning of the
11th century. Today the area is very sparsely populated.
However, above all, Mount Aneto presides and watches over this
Parador, which itself is perched on magnificent and proud crests. These
are known as the “Accursed Mountains,” perhaps due to an ancient
memories. Abundant traditions and legends explain this:
...”At the time of the area’s Christian beginnings a lost and disoriented
pilgrim was walking through these mountains, a view of which can be
enjoyed from the dining room and other areas of the Parador. That night a
terrible storm raged. The pilgrim knocked at
the door of all the shepherds’ cabins he
came across. But the shepherds, fearful of
any stranger, set their ferocious dogs on him,
noble dogs which guarded the flocks and
their owners. The distressed pilgrim finally
came upon a humble shepherd boy who
gave him the little he had to offer. Suddenly,
the modest shepherd was forced to listen to
the terrible curses against the previous
uncaring shepherds: the pilgrim swore that
he would turn them into a terrible mountain
of accursed rocks”. And so it was.
Monte Perdido:
Rooms Overlooking Superb
Sights
“Aragon is a land of freedom, simple, industrious, poor,
inhabited by modest men, lovers of truth and justice and
conscious of their own worth...”.
The now abolished Hispano-French controls did not exist until the mid19th century. Their advent brought about significant socio-economic
suffering. However, following the folk philosophy that one must make a
virtue of necessity, these Franco-Aragonese peoples devised a venial, and
highly profitable, solution: they managed to exchange their pastoral and
ranching customs and labors for contraband. These countrymen knew
various periods of economic boom, perhaps only exceeded by the current
flood of tourists.
Laín Entralgo
hus it was envisaged, thus it was to be, and thus it seeks to
remain: presiding over landmarks and myths, submerged in
unique cultures, languages, and customs.
These people pride themselves on being old-fashioned, but still take pride
in their progressiveness. Isolated by geography, which also serves as a
protector, they enjoy while suffering the consequences of their geographic
boundaries.
T
They are somewhat confused as to their
own nationality, but for the better: because
they are and live as Aragonese, but also as
French, and Basque.
These people have been shaped by the
passing of the centuries, and by the terrible
Pyrenean wall which for them is only
borderless valleys. Perhaps due to this
barrier that the Pyrenees created with
peninsular Spain, they forged fertile, while
not cordial, relationships with the
neighboring Gallic peoples. Thus arose
indispensable and frequent interactions
between the two sides. For many years now
they have created trade agreements, along
with rules governing pastoral activity and
other local needs. Each and every one of the agreements had its own law
and its exclusive tribunal made up of residents from both sides of the
mountains. And there still remain fond memories of those bitter disputes,
always accompanied by pleasant coexistence.
Perhaps the visitor would like to know or remember certain peculiar
details regarding these environs. Some are lost or hidden in forgotten
archives. Just a few curiosities:
Not long ago – just a few decades – on festive occasions, these hardy
women wore a black long-sleeved bodice bare of decoration or glitz of any
type. They donned large silk scarves with a bright and colorful fringe. It is
said that the skirt was rather short; it only barely reached their thighs!
The men dressed in blouses of dark cloth
over a white shirt tied over their stomachs.
It was topped by a black woolen vest with
buttons. A wide sash, an essential defense
against the biting cold of these climes,
covered them from waist to almost mid-leg.
Underneath were open breeches with large
underpants, worsted tights and espadrilles
tied on with ribbons.
The shepherds have always boasted of
being of another sort: they were and
continue to be the few that remain true to
their trade and secular traditions. They
wore breeches and abarca sandals, a type
of hybrid closed sandal and open shoe,
which they made themselves. Their
overcoat, called a pelliza, was made of the fleece of some of their sheep, as
was the zurrón bag tanned and sewn as well as each could with large,
narrow white dog leather strips. They always worked under the protection
of a staff, a tocho, which could be used for defense or offense as needed.
Mining Mirages
aving overcome the terrors of the millennium – throughout
Europe there spread a sort of religious plague, the belief that
one thousand years after the birth of Christ the entire world would end as
penance for human sinners – illusionary mirages were born. It was the
12th century, in the Sobrarbes areas of the Bielsa region. According to the
charter granting it town status, granted by King Alfonso II, the valley was
opened up so that promising deposits of iron and silver, amongst other
metals, could be exploited by mining. The town of Bielsa was granted the
privilege of building a castle and several mills with rights to the use of
water, pastureland, and woodlands, as well as numerous tax exemptions.
The bugle call of the mirage was answered by a group of “master miners”
with a variety of origins: French, Aragonese, Catalan and Castilian. There
were trades as specialized as lead and copper panners, silver refiners,
masters, operators, and colliers.
H
At the beginning of the 14th century, iron production increased under a
protective charter from King Jaime II. With more pain than glory these
activities extended into the 18th century: “… in the Bielsa area there are
abundant iron and galena mines and others extracting copper …” Neither
quantity nor quality allowed them to survive past the mid-19th century.
Much more profitable were the “Salt Gold Rushes,” which provided
lucrative profits in this area. Renaissance chronicles record that “… in
these towns the salt trade produced times of such great prosperity that
they would even lead to the building of highly noteworthy monuments...”
BIELSA AND ITS PARADOR
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Witchcraft and Other
Spells
hese Pyrenees spread such
fertile superstitions and beliefs
that there was even at one time a great
trade in magical recipes and antidotes
called “scarewitches” (espantabrujas).
Some were based on infallible herbal
concoctions, others made with holy
water, always infallible: “...witch,
poison-maker, necromancer, sorceress
and as such existing, named and
known...”
T
There still remains a certain memorial
in place names which recall not-sodistant beliefs and terrors: El Bosque de
las Bruxas (Witches’ Forest), La caseta de las Bruxas (Witches’ Hut), La
Cueva de las Bruxas (Witches’ Cave), etc.
Biescas is said to have been the “Bruxa Maut,” capable of making
people bark like dogs. Some swear that it was in these parts that the
following story took place: A tailor found himself at the meeting of the
witches’ Sabbath. As he passed by with the procession of witches to give
the devil, in the form of a male goat, a
kiss on the anus, the tailor took out his
awl and jabbed the goat. On the second
round of kissing, the devil himself
warned the tailor, “...you can pass, but
don’t kiss me...”
Despite the crushing discipline of the
Inquisition, when those burned at the
stake were more often the just than the
sinners, the witches, “much more
perverse than the devil himself,”
continued to sow evil until well into the
19th century. And they continued to
sow torment and vengeance thanks to
their evil ubiquity: “... Witches can
enter any place, whether it be as the air, water, or as a bird or a cat ...”
Pleasant Walks
along Crests and Valleys
bird songs, the ringing of cowbells. At last the mountains embrace you.
ontinier: Panoramic view of the Pineta Valley. Access to a sixkilometer forest path. Starts from the Parador road four
kilometers from Bielsa.
M
Pineta-Marboré Observation Point: Some four hours of mountain
hiking. Access from the National Park itself. Views of the Pineta Valley
and the Monte Perdido Glacier.
Plains of Lalarri: Starts next to the hermitage of La Pineta; an hour
away. This is a simple and attention-grabbing path. Curiosity moves the
visitor to discover the species of trees and bushes they come across in their
walk. Just as evocative are the sounds: waterfalls, the mooing of cows,
La Estiva. Ten-kilometer forest path. Starts from kilometer six of the
Bielsa-Parador road. View of the Monte Perdido Massif with the Pineta
Valley beyond. A sight like no other.
Lalarri Lakes: Long mountain path (around four hours). Access form
the Pineta chapel.
Ruego: Ten-kilometer forest path. Access from the Chisagües Road.
Lovely panoramic view of the Bielsa Valley.
Excellent and Simple
Flavors
he cuisine of Sobrarbes does not only set out to give diners their
strength back or fill them with
food. Rather, the local cuisine
encompasses the art and pleasure of
knowing how to enjoy humble and simple
flavors, inherited from ancient wise
customs. These valleys boast an
abundance of dishes almost without
recipes, and soups and stews in a
multitude of varieties.
T
There are typical, though not passé,
Soups like Bread with Garlic. Then
there is the humble Trout (but, oh,
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BIELSA AND ITS PARADOR
what trout!) and Hens (bearing no resemblance to chicken) in a wellbalanced egg and almond sauce. The Garlic, Egg, and Paprika Sauce
holds its own against to the taste buds of the most expert palates. There
are also any number of unique and
outstanding dishes: the Cod of Aínsa, Roast
Mountain Lamb, “Shepherd’s” Lamb,
Rabbit in Chocolate Sauce and Fried
Offal.
There are desserts with mysterious names
and sweet flavors: Millazo, Crespillo
Fritters, and many other sweets.
Little more than a memory are those
forbidden dishes for which diners are
condemned to excommunication by
ecologists: Frogs’ Legs, generally batter-fried; Lizard, or Fardacho,
grilled over charcoal from these very mountains; and Squirrel, called
Esquiruelo in these parts, in an excellent onion and rice casserole.
To these the guests can add
many more dishes which these
magical places provide as nature
allows, and the passer-by knows
how to discover: a wide autumn
variety of wild mushrooms, not
always recommendable for
neophytes; wild fruits, which also
require some experience; and
abundant game, although with all
due restrictions.
Guests should know about, and
in any case request, Beltesana
Soup: very common and quite
unusual. It includes pork meatballs
with parsley and some paprika, just
the right amount of saffron and
other secret ingredients.
Micolas also appear simple to
make from corn flour, water or
milk, and a touch of salt. But one must know how to control them.
Salamanca, where it is a salty sausage with flavorful but scant filling.
Rice Tortilla is a more complicated dish to prepare. Salt cod is desalted and crumbled, then sautéed with garlic and parsley before adding
rice to taste. To this is added a
tortilla made with bread crumbs,
flour and water, and the mixture is
left to cook over low heat.
Whatever time of year the visitor
may come, they will find excellent
cuts of Teruel Cured Ham;
Aragonese-Style Bread Crumbs
with Fried Eggs; Trout from the
crystalline water of the Cinca River,
served with Mushrooms; Roast
Shoulder of Lamb; Lamb Loin
Stuffed with Spinach, Curd
Cheese and Walnuts; Stewed Kid;
and perhaps Braised Local Wild
Boar with Nuts and Peach Purée.
Another ever-present specialty is
Foie Terrine with Cured Duck
and Plums in Port Sauce.
Millazo is no more than a millet flour fritter fried in sugared oil. In
these valleys, Farinato is a type of salty rice pudding, unlike that of
Secret Recipes
T
hese are jealously-guarded formulas, although the chef does not
mind revealing them upon request from a curious guest:
In due course, each autumn offers an exceptional selection of wild
mushrooms picked and selected in the nearby woods: Boletus,
Rovellones, Trompetillas and Ruiseñores.
An exclusive specialty is the mountain asparagus, or Codas, and
Braised Lambs Tails, nothing like diners might imagine. There is Cured
Lamb “Ham” prepared and cured exclusively at this Parador. We also
prepare a surprising Oxtail, de-boned and set with gelatin, and Lamb
Meatballs with Squid and
Prawns.
There are Boliches del Pilar (small white beans) fried with Huesca
Blood Sausage after being cooked.
Chiretas are a tasty mixture with a quince jelly and rice base stuffed
into lamb intestines and cooked in broth.
In addition to excellent Cheeses (Goat’s Milk, Tronchón, or
Patamulo), we offer an exquisite and singular selection of ice creams
prepared in the hotel. Among the flavors available are ChocolateCovered Boletus Mushrooms and Modena Vinegar with Crispy
Cheese.
BIELSA AND ITS PARADOR
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Pilgrims
and Romanesque Sinners
“... A pilgrim is anyone who is away from their homeland;
but no one is a pilgrim until they have gone to the house of
Saint James and returned ...”
Thus the divine, immortal Dante wrote, on the cusp of the 14th
century
t is estimated that it was some two centuries before when no less
than an ambassador/Almoravid spokesman expressed his
philosophical doubts:
I
“...Who is this personage who is so great and illustrious that Christians
travel to him to make prayer from the other side of the Pyrenees and
beyond? The multitude of those coming and going is so great that it
scarcely leaves space on the road to the west ...”
Naturally it was, Saint James, the Apostle, a fisherman by trade on the
Sea of Galilee. Also known as the “Son of the Thunder,” he professed his
faith in and admiration of the teachings of Jesus and Saint Peter,
afterwards keeper of the keys to the heavenly kingdom. As long as he
could, he was an untiring activist in the most difficult dawn of our
Christian Age. So effective would his proselytism be that he would end up
being decapitated by Herod himself at the beginning of the present era.
His disciples, without a doubt disciplined members of his congregation,
sailed over the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean with his mortal
remains in search of land’s end in Galicia. Traditions and legends swear
that the unburied body of the apostle sailed the waters of one ocean or
another in a “boat of stone.” This may be one of his magnificent miracles.
And today the most skeptical of archeologists, having scraped the core of
the Holy See of Santiago, have discovered a mausoleum which
corresponds to the earliest period of those imperious empires.
The 9th century having scarcely begun, a portentous sign appeared:
“... Some stars came down from the firmament to indicate the exact
location of the Holy Apostle, immediately christened and known as “the
field of stars”, right in the town of Compostela...”
The miraculous news spread like wildfire: over mountains and rivers to
all Europe. And like impetuous rivers, floods of people came, people
drenched in beliefs, in
sacrifices, some in search
of eternal salvation. Many
came to purge their past
sins with sacrifice. There
were not a few dealers in
holy relics, often fake,
but always guaranteed to
work miracles. The
pilgrimage route would
be enormously fertile, not
only for the eternal
beyond, but also for
worldly ambitions,
sometimes even with
indulgence of the devout
friars running the
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BIELSA AND ITS PARADOR
monasteries, inns, hospitals, and other establishments of the serving
vocations. Alongside these obligatory travels there arose monastery vineyards
and wines. An unrefined, but essential, gastronomy was quickly born. Along
the holy routes were scattered multiple activities of any number of types:
fairs, markets, and vendors of products of all kinds for the selfless walker:
dentists, blacksmiths, tailors, shoemakers, folk healers, and more. There was
also significant building activity, which would provide work for thousands of
people: this was the dawn of what we today call property speculation.
But the Route would always enjoy unquestionable virtues. Above all was
the development of the first signs of a European community; this would be
the first approach to a community of ideas, beliefs, and tolerances. There
would be eternal art and handicrafts to continue through the ages,
convents and monasteries, castles, bridges, churches, and cathedrals.
“... From the Pilgrimage Route Romanesque was born Romanesque, and
Romanesque gave birth to Gothic. And from Gothic a great family would
be born with Compostela as its godparent, the Holy See of the Apostle.”
Aínsa
The cultural capital of the Sobrarbe region. Its greatest attraction is the
medieval quarter. It is set on a promontory which emerges from the
courses of the Cinca and Ara Rivers. It boasts one of the best porticoed
squares in Spain and is a lovely and pleasant place to visit. Its period of
greatest splendor was the 13th century, when it received the same
privileges as Jaca.
Jaca
On its own merits, the true capital of the Aragonese Pyrenees, and so it
is called “the Pearl of the Pyrenees.” It is well known for its winter sports
facilities.
It boasts a magnificent cultural heritage. Its cathedral was the first
Romanesque temple in Spain, a restrained and solid Romanesque. Without
a doubt, the most characteristic element of this work is the checkerboard
pattern used.
The cathedral has a diocesan museum containing the most notable of
Romanesque art. The Benedictine church jealously guards the tomb of
Doña Sancha, daughter of Ramiro I, the first king of the Crown of Aragon.
Work on the Castle of San Pedro was begun in 1595. Its construction
was ordered by Felipe II in fear of a French invasion. It is currently known
as the ciudadela. The fort
of Rapitá was built three
centuries later. From its
exceptional site there is a
panoramic view of the city.
The city’s greatest charm
lies in the old quarter, with
a delightful layout, narrow
streets, many businesses,
marvelous and scent-filled
pastry shops, not to
mention the classic custom
of snacking on tapas,
deeply entrenched in the
city since time immemorial.
these streets the Crown of Aragon was born,
fruit of the marriage between Petronila of
Aragon and Ramón Berenguer, Count of
Barcelona. It is a long-established center for
wine production.
Barbastro
Known as the bastion of freedom and
independence for as long as one can remember. Its
inhabitants explain that the city rose up against
Rome on two occasions. The first time it
surrendered to Portius Cato; the second, it was
taken by the legion of Sextus Pompey.
France
Neighbor reached via the Bielsa-Aragnouet
tunnel. Nearby there is an important tourist
center: Saint-Lary, the shrine at Lourdes, and
magnificent lakes such as d’Oredón, among
others.
It is extremely pleasant to stroll through the
streets of the Entremuros neighborhood. Along
Parador de Bielsa
Monte Perdido
Valle de Pineta, s/n. 22350 Bielsa (Huesca)
Tel.: +34 974 50 10 11 - Fax: +34 974 50 11 88
e-mail: [email protected]
Reservation Center
Requena, 3. 28013 Madrid (España)
Tel.: 902 54 79 79 - Fax: 902 52 54 32
www.parador.es / e-mail: [email protected]
wap.parador.es/wap/
Text: Miguel García Sánchez Design: Fernando Aznar
BIELSA AND ITS PARADOR
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