tapas

If you do not know Tapas, then you do not know Alcalá or its inhabitants. Going out for Tapas in Alcalá is much more than gastronomy, it is a social action.

Alcalá de Henares’ gastronomy is famous due to its traditional dishes and its classical confectionery. But not everything is tradition in Alcalá nowadays, the city is alive and dynamic city and its inhabitants fancy to live every moment surrounded by his friends and family.

This street culture is perfectly reflected in one of the most famous and popular events that Alcalá’s population daily carries out en masse: Ir de tapas (to go out for tapas).

What does “Ir de tapas” means?

If you do not know Tapas in Alcalá, then you do not know Alcalá or its inhabitants. Ir de tapas in Alcalá is much more than gastronomy, it is a social action, a proper life style.

It just takes to go to some of the many city’s bars and restaurants to taste “a Tapa” in company. A Tapa is not more than a little portion of food served with some drink (with or without alcohol), though the most frequent combination is to take it with a beer. The concept is simple, but leads to one of the most important social action of our culture. In our region, it is quite an affair regularly practiced, as frequently as possible: going out from work, Sunday mornings, Friday nights, any festivity… any occasion at all is good to go out in good company to eat some Tapas .

If weather allows and the company is pleasant, Ir de tapas is frequently called Ir de Tapeo (to go out for Tapeo). Basically, it means that you repeat the ritual time and again in different bars of the same area. It is ideal to spend a Saturday evening or Sunday midday, and it can be a good alternative to traditional food.

Curiosity

In many places of Spain, especially in Madrid, it is common to find bars and cafeterias where free food, like olives or chips—the two most typical sides—, are offered with the drinks you order. However, in Alcalá, the concept of Tapa is much more important, as taking one or two drinks with its sides is equivalent to take a light meal.

http://i2.wp.com/www.dream-alcala.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/TapaClasica.jpg

http://i2.wp.com/www.dream-alcala.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/TapaClasica.jpgThe etymological origin of the word “Tapa” comes from the old costume of taverns and inns, of covering wine glasses with a portion of bread—with or without a ham slice—in order to avoid flies or mosquitos to get into the glass or to prevent dust to fall inside. Fortunately, the situation has changed…

Nowadays, Tapas are authentic expressions of creativity, small and exquisite bites. In several occasions, the Tapa upstages the drink itself, so it is not a side anymore, but the real star.

Tapas have come to be a true Spanish identity sign and are offered in reception feasts for the highest dignitaries (in the so-called Tapas meeting).

How a tapas bar is supposed to be?

Find a real Tapas bar in Alcalá in the first video showed here (upper right corner). In general terms, it is a nice and casual place, highly informal, as the main aim of that place is to get is to have a nice chat while sharing experiences with your friends. In many of them, you may see an exposition of selected Tapas for you to taste on the counter. In some places you can choose the Tapa you want to eat from a selection list. In others—with lower prices—the waiter simply gives you a standard Tapa chosen by him and served with your drink.

Following, several kinds of Tapas can be appreciated in the Gallery. There are countless types, from the simplest ones to the most refined. Many of them are for free while others, you have to pay for them separately.

Notwithstanding, all of them will achieve that you have a nice time in an animated environment.

Recommended places to go out for Tapas in Alcalá:

http://www.indalotapas.com/

http://eltapon.es/

http://www.brasbeer.com/

http://www.rutadelastapas.es/

La Taberna de Don Rosendo

La taberna de Rusty

Cervecerías Maimónides

Casas regionales de Alcalá

BARS IN ALCALA

BARS IN ALCALA

http://www.dream-alcala.com/en/bars-in-alcala/

You may already know a bit about bars in Alcala from reading the “tapas,” http://www.dream-alcala.com/en/tapas-in-alcala/ or “nightlife” pages, but don’t stop reading yet… there is still a lot to learn!

Becca Fogel, New Jersey, USA.

Bars in Alcala, and much of Spain, have a variety of functions. Ultimately, they are places of social reunion, to kickback and have some cañas and copas, or to enjoy a morning coffee and tostado with classmates. They are great places to meet up with friends, meet new people, and of course, stay well-nourished.

However, the concept of bars in Alcala doesn’t necessarily align with the American concept of “bars.” In fact, many bars in Alcala seem to serve the double function of bar and café (in the American sense). For instance, some bar venues that are perfect for relaxing with coffee and a book during the day attract rowdy sports crowds at night (go Real Madrid!). Plus, almost all venues you may be temped to call “cafés” in Alcala sell beer and wine, which is unlike the cafes in United States where liquor licenses are notoriously hard to acquire.

So to sum it up, the line between “bar” and “café” is a lot more fluid in Alcala and Spain in general than it is in the U.S.
Now that you have a sense of what it means to be a “bar” in Alcala, let’s get to the fun part…where are the best Alcalaino bars? No matter where you go, you are bound to meet lively people and enjoy excellent coffee, Mahou beer, and/or tapas. Just walk down Calle Mayor, the main street, and you’ll spot several charming venues.

But for a start, here’s a list of some of the most popular ones, close to the center: Indalo (mouth-watering tapas), Hemispherio (relaxing work environment with great coffee), Panaderia (60’s rock bar), Hanoi House (a lively nightlife spot), and La Española (fun place to watch the Real games, with very cheap tapas). Of course, each of these bars has a unique character, but it’s an Alcala character nonetheless.

So, give them all a shot, and enjoy!

What to see in Alcala de Henares? Visit Alcala in one day

Are you coming to visit Alcala de Henares for the first time and you don’t know where to start? Friends are coming and you need information to show them around the town? This is a proposal for a tour that goes through the most important and beautiful places in Alcalá. Are you interested?

What to see in Alcala in just one day? It is not an easy task. Alcala may seem a small city, but it has huge heritage and a long history. There are plenty of beautiful places to visit, while it may be confusing to know what to visit when you are coming to Alcalá for just one day. That is why we have designed this tour, which goes over the most important buildings, charming streets and ancients quares.

×We inaugurate with this post our tours around Alcalá. We will propose you different themed routes to visit Alcalá. We hope you like it!

The walk starts in the main college of the University and goes by inside the historical old town. These two elements have been included in the UNESCO World Heritage list.

Take into account that this tour doesn’t include everything that there is to see in Alcalá. If you have more time to spend in Alcalá, you should definitively try some of the other routes that we are designing.

In case you are going to show the city around to other people, you may need to remember the most important facts of the History of Alcalá. Read this post and brag in front of your friends about how much you know.

Visit this link for more information about public transport in Alcalá.

1. College of San Ildefonso

College of San Ildefonso, the main building of the University

If we had to choose just one thing to visit in Alcalá, most of us would choose the University.

Cardinal Cisneros founded in 1499, and since then, it has been one of the most important institutions in Alcalá. Learn more about it in this post.

College of San Ildefonso is a building that is worth a visit, even though you have to pay 4 euros for a guided visit, you’ll definitively love it.

The facade is gorgeous, and if you come on a weekday you can visit the patios for free. Nevertheless, the only way there is to visit Paraninfo or San Ildefonso’s Chapel is to pay for the visit.

2. Cervantes Square

Sculpture of Cervantes, and tower of Santa María on the back.

Cervantes Square is the former Market square of Alcalá, where medieval people traded their products on market days. The square was also used as a bullring during fairs and festivals.

It’s name comes from Miguel de Cervantes, one of the most important icons of Alcalá. He was born in Alcalá, in the old church of Santa María, whose ruins are next to this square (Oidor Chapel and tower of Santa María). In the center of the square, there is a sculpture of Cervantes.

To learn more about this adventurous writer and its relation with Alcalá, check out this link.

3. More information about what to see in Alcala: Tourist Information Office

Some extra information is always helpful. There is a Tourist Office in Cervantes Square, which is hidden in a small passage behind Oidor Chapel. Another office is placed in Santos Niños Square, where we will go later in this tour.

4. Corral de Comedias

Corral de Comedias in Cervantes Square

This is an impressing building that may be unnoticed from the outside, but that will amaze you on the inside.

It is one of the most ancient ‘Corral de Comedias’ in Europe – an outdoor theatre set up in the inner patio of a building.

It was about to be demolished, but fortunately it has been restored instead and nowadays is being used for theater, musical and ‘flamenco’ performances. Don’t missed it out!

From Cervantes Square, we get to ‘Calle Mayor‘, the main street in the town center of Alcalá. In addition, it is the longest street with ‘portico’ in Spain. It is a picturesque street that was inside the Jewish neighborhood and nowadays has become the main artery of the town center.

5. Cervantes Birthplace

The bench of Sancho and Don Quijote

Right in the middle of Calle Mayor is Cervantes Birthplace. Its visit allows you to understand how was life like during times of Miguel de Cervantes, and it’s free!

However, it is a must that youtake a picture in the bench in front of this house. This bench as a life-sise Sculpture of Sancho and Don Quijote (you should know rho they are, in case you don’t click here).

I guess you have been walking all morning and, by this time, you are hungry, aren’t you? This is the perfect time to have a tapa or a beer (maybe a couple) in any of the bars that are around you. This post talks about the most famous, and also our favorites, places to have a tapa.

6. Santos Niños Square

Santos Niños Cathedral

With a full stomach, it’s time to visit the place where Justo y Pastor, who are known as‘Santos Niños‘, are said to have been killeddefending Christianity.

Because of that, these children were considered saints. Years later, in the place where the assassination happened, a chapel was build to keep their remains. This chapel was lately rebuilt as the existing Cathedral Magistral of Santos Niños.

You may wonder why this cathedral has the title of Master, since there is only one other church in the world with this name. This is because all his canons were graduated in the Complutense University, all of them got the degree of ‘magister’.

7. Gate of Madrid

Gate of Madrid and the old wall on the back.

The gate of Madrid was one of the entrance to the old city of Alcalá, in the past protected by the wall that you can see next to the gate.

This is the gate people used when they came from Madrid to Alcalá. It is in front of the Gate of Alcalá (which is in Madrid, haven’t you visit it already?) In fact, both of them were connected by a road, by which you could walk straight from one gate to the other.

8. Archbishop Palace

Archbishop Palace and Convent of Bernardas on the back.

Archbishops of Toledo have been living in Alcalá since 13th Century – Alcala was part of this archdiocese.

The building has been repaired, damaged and restored many times, until a fire in 1939 destroyed the entire palace but one of the facades.

Out of curiosity, you should know that in this very building the Queen Isabella I of Castile interviewed Christopher Columbus and decided to support and finance the 1492 voyage that led to the opening of the ‘New World’.

Bernardas Square, where you are right now, is one of our favorites places in Alcalá. It is green and quiet, and is surrounded not only by the Archbishop Palace, but for the Archaeological Museum of Madrid and the Convent of Bernardas. All of them are worth a visit.

9. Clarisas candied almonds

Convent of Clarisas where you can buy candied almonds.

What about candy to finish this beautiful tour? We suggest that you visit the convent of Clarissa nuns, which is placed in San Diego Square, where we started our visit.

Here, the nuns make ‘almendras garrapiñadas’, which are candied almonds or caramel-coated almonds, that they sell.

Clarissa nuns are an enclosed religious order, so that you can’t see them. Once you are in the hall of the building, place your order at the turnstile designed to let the nuns maintain their privacy.

In case you are in the mood for more candy, go back to Calle Mayor where there are several ‘pastelerías’ or bakeries. Try some traditional sweets such as Costrada or Rosquillas de Alcalá.

We wish this tour has been helpful to you and that you have an awesome day in Alcalá. Remember that this route is a basic introduction to the main, but not every, beautiful places of Alcalá. Feel free to take a picture of any patio, public building or street that you see along your way. There are lots of lovely secret spots hidden among the streets of Alcalá, don’t miss them!!

A brief History of Alcala de Henares

http://www.alcalanow.com/brief-history-alcala/#more-1479

In this post we talk about the history of Alcalá de Henares, we tell you briefly the most important facts that you should know about our city. Aren’t you curious of its origins and how it developed?
The historical importance of the city of Alcalá de Henares was born possibly as a result of its geographical location. Alcalá is set in the Valley of the River Henares, a fertile land where people had to pass through in order to travel from the South Plateau to the Valley of the River Ebro.

First settlements in Alcala de Henares

Even though we don’t know precisely the origin of the first human settlements in Alcalá, archaeological remains tell us the exact locations of the Neolithic population and that of the Bronze Age. They were located in the south hills of the present-day town.

In one of these hills (San Juan del Viso) we can find signs of what could have been a Celtiberian city called Iplacea.This Celtiberian settlement was probably the embryo of a future Roman city.

Remains belonging to Roman times suggest that a Roman urban center had been placed here. Its location had defensive functions: it was easily accessible from one side and quite rugged to the North. Besides, it had control of the country plain around it. Different situtations of Alcala in the past

History of Alcala during Roman Times

Alcalá was already an important city which even appeared on Roman road maps and Administrative Areas of the Iberian Peninsula.

Complutum, as Alcalá was called in this time, is a name that it’s believed that it came from ‘compluvium’, a latin word which means ‘place where water converge’ since there are many streams meeting in here: Camarmilla and Torote merge with River Henares.

During the First Century BC, the population from the hills moved to the valley where it was possible to develop a growing city and was closer to the Roman road that connected Caesaraugusta (Zaragoza) with Emerita Augusta (Mérida).

Plenty of archaeological remains prove this fact: including the city itself and plenty of houses and discoveries that have been found over the years. ‘Casa Hippolytus’ is nowadays a museum where you can see some Roman remains and close to it there is the archeological site where the forum of Complutum used to be. You can visit both of them.

Los Santos Niños’ Cathedral – Engraving painting of Francisco Javier Parcerisa (1803-1875)

In spite of this, the most influential heritage from Roman times is the martyrdom of Justo and Pastor, also known as ‘Los Santos Niños’ (the Holy Children). They were two schoolboys who were killed for their faith during the persecution of Christians by the Roman Emperor Diocletian.

These children mean a lot to the city of Alcalá. During the Visigothic times, when the relics of Justo and Pastor were discovered, the Archbishop of Toledo, Asturio Azulino Serrano, commanded that a chapel be built here.

This chapel would be the center of the new settlement (neo-Complutum) where the archbishop decided to have a residence (what nowadays is the Palacio Arzobispal).

History of Alcala during Muslim era

Alcalá didn’t change its location during Muslim times, even though a small military fort, known as Qal’at Abd al-Sälam, was built during the ninth century in the outskirts, near the hill Ecce Homo. To this location  came some inhabitants seeking mainly protection.

In front of the chapel Nuestra Señora del Val some vestiges of the tower and traces of human settlement can be seen nowadays.

History of Alcala in the Middle Age

The archbishop of Toledo conquered Alkal’a Nahar in 1118. The archbishopric of Toledo would control Alcalá and its land beginning in 1126, when the King Alfonso VII allowed it.The intervention of archbishops of Toledo in Alcalá was clearly visible for the population:

• Gonzalo Petrez created a General Studies School in 1223
• Gil de Albornoz developed a urban planning of Alcalá
• Pedro Tenorio enlarged and reconstructed the archbishop residence, remade the bridge over the river Henares and built the Chapel of el Val
• Alonso Carrillo expanded the area of the villa

A long list of actions took place that made Alcalá well-known and one of the most important towns of the Kingdom of Castile.

Alcalá de Henares in 1565 – Painting of Anton van der Wyngaerde (1525 – 1572)

History of Alcala from the sixteenth to eighteenth century

In 1497, Cardinal Cisneros was promoted to Archbishop of Toledo. He fostered the construction of the Cathedral of Santos Niños, as well as several monasteries in the city and the Complutense University, his main project.

College of San Ildefonso. Source: Fotografía científica UAH.

The University Complutense meant a lot to Alcalá. Cisneros designed not only an University but an organized Renaissance city. The College of San Ildefonso was the nucleus of a urban development along the streets Colegios and Libreros, where another 12 schools and a hospital for students were built, too.

It led to religious orders setting in this town that opened schools and convents for members of their institutions, and it also led to lots of personalities being in Alcalá, as students or teachers, for instance Miguel de Cervantes.

During the age of Enlightenment, Alcalá de Henares was granted the title of ciudad in 1687, and Puerta de Madrid was built demolishing the existing one.

The University was gradually losing its functional character, and in 1767 the Jesuits were expelled, so that the university was forced to make a reform.

sanco panza and don kişot

click here for more info

Alcalá in 1667 – Watercolor of Pier María Baldi (Laurentian Library in Florence)

History of Alcala from the nineteenth century to the present

The Nineteenth century is a time of disasters. There was the Peninsular War (1808-1814), Ecclesiastical Confiscations and the Complutense University moved to Madrid because a lack of students. Every building ever belonging to the university changed its activity, serving as barracks or other military uses.

Puerta de Madrid. Source: Fotografía científica UAH.

The Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) was a disaster for cultural artistic goods and treasures of Alcalá. These disastrous consequences lasted until the 70s, when the industrialization of Spain and Alcalá started. It brought money to the inhabitants of Alcalá, and it brought back social life and urban development.

Luckily a new law was made just in time to protect the most important urban heritages of Alcalá (but not all), and so the city center wasn’t demolish to build new ugly housing.

The XXth century brings a new growing touristic interest in Alcalá. It has brought back the University (even though it is not the University Complutense anymore but the University of Alcalá) and the old confiscated buildings have been reoccupied and restored.

The college environment that was lost for a long time but that has always been the spirit of Alcalá has been reemerging.

Do you want to learn more things about Alcala de Henares? In this link we have more post about the History of Alcala.