MOONINSPAIN

The surprisingly rooted reality of Spain’s state-owned chain of monumental luxury hotels

It was 1995, I was 22 years old and had just finished walking across Spain.Twenty six days had passed since I departed Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port to cross over the Pyrenees. After walking through every situation possible, I was finally here. Santiago de Compostela, my second to last stop on this pilgrimage. My feet were no longer recognizable as such, my ankles were swollen to the same circumference as my knees and my skin was a venetian red. Juan, Ismael and I had reunited at the albergue in San Marcos, less than a one hour walk to the center of the city. We had paused at Monte de Gozo, the joyous mountain, to have our first view of the spires of the Cathedral. The end was near.

The Praza do Obradoiro will take anyone’s breath away. The Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela towers over the pilgrims that have recently arrived to the city on foot, bicycle, donkey or bus. The arches of the Pazo de Raxoi are awaiting the tuna who will arrive in the late evening to serenade pilgrims and travelers alike with their repertoire of traditional songs to modern tunes. The Colexio de San Xerome with its Romanesque portal seems slight compared to the structure that it faces, the Hostal dos Reis Católicos.

The construction of this grandiose building with its Plateresque facade began in 1502 after the Catholic monarchs, Isabel and Fernando, visited the city of Santiago de Compostela. It was originally built as a hostel and hospital for the pilgrims arriving in the city, many in dire conditions. The school of medicine for the University of Santiago is in a building just behind the hostal.

Eventually, the hostal expanded to become a hospital for the local people, as well as an orphanage. Two of the four courtyards date back to the 16th century and you can see where the leeches were held to suck the blood of the ill and where the medicinal plants, used to aid in recovery, were grown. History seeps from every corner of this old hospital, converted to a hotel in 1954 for the Año Jacobeo, or holy year of Compostela. In less than one year, the hospital was transferred to another building, and the name Hostal dos Reis Católicos was given to this new luxurious hotel.

During that special June of 1995, Juan taught me just about everything I could imagine about the Camino de Santiago, and he was not going to stop just because we had come to the end of the path. Juan was 72 and this was his 10th pilgrimage to Santiago.

“For three days we can have breakfast, lunch, and dinner at the Parador de Santiago,” he told Ismael and me. We had no idea what a parador was and so we just followed him to the back entrance of this massive building near the Cathedral. We had already taken individual photos of our exhausted faces and received our Compostela certificates in the small pilgrim’s office located inside the Cathedral.

At this back door entrance, a gentleman dressed in a hunter green suit took a look at our pilgrim’s passports and led us directly to what seemed to be the employee’s dining hall. It was a bit early for Spanish lunch time but there were a few employees already helping themselves to a buffet of hot and cold food items. We followed Juan’s lead and began to fill our bowls with a potato and white bean soup that seemed like heaven to me, even on this hot June day. Bottles of wine were placed in front of us to accompany this multi-course meal. It is a moment that I will never forget for many reasons.

This was my first introduction to an almost thirty-year relationship with the parador system, and most intimately with El Hostal dos Reis Católicos. That hunter green color of the parador uniforms has become synonymous with home to me.

The parador system in Spain is reaching almost 100 years of history. The first parador was opened in 1928 during the reign of Alfonso XIII, the last king of Spain before the Spanish Civil War. One of the concepts introduced by the Marqués de Vega Inclán was to promote tourism in less privileged regions of the country.

El Parador de Gredos, in the province of Ávila, became the first of 98 hotels that belong to the Paradores de Turismo, having originally been built as a hunting lodge, complete with 30 rooms.

However, in 20th century Spain may historic buildings were in ruins and turning them into luxurious or semi-luxurious hotels was an ingenious initiative that continues today. The paradors survived the Spanish Civil War, and the dictator Franco took a great interest in them during his regime, appearing to inaugurate many of the establishments, including León, Santiago, Bayona, Fuente Dé, and Cazorla.

The buildings span from the 500 year old Parador in Santiago to modern structures like the Parador Costa de Morte in Galicia (where I will be spending my birthday this December), or the Parador de Aiguablava in Girona. The essence of the paradors is to maintain the heritage and history of Spain through the use of historical buildings for lodging and dining.

The restaurants of the paradors form an integral part of this experience, the food and wine offered in each restaurant a direct reflection of the local gastronomy of the region. In the Parador dos Reis Católicos there are two restaurants, Enxebre and Dos Reis, where you will find traditional Galician dishes heavy on seafood, excellent beef and local wine. The royal dining room is reserved for special events.

I have been blessed to spend many years sleeping in paradors, both for work and pleasure. León, Bielsa, Carmona, Antequera, Cuenca, Cazorla, Úbeda, and Jaén are just a few that I will name. In future posts I can share the history of these and many more.

But Santiago is engraved in my heart forever. As my friend Maria, who works in the reception at the Hostal tells me, “you are no longer a friend of the paradors, but a sister.” Here I have celebrated life and also the loss of loved ones. I have broken a foot and been pushed through the ancient passage ways at 3 am, on a wheelchair that was probably just as old as the parador, by my friend Rafa. We tried to stifle our laughter as the wheelchair and floor creaked below me. I am greeted with hugs that are worth more than a million dollars each time I arrive. The people who work here are gold to me and I will be forever grateful to have had them in my life for so many years.

My dear friend Julio was the Director of this parador for 18 years and he, along with his assistant director Antonio, shared every inch and bit of history with me. Julio was in charge of the Parador de Santiago until he opened the Parador Costa da Morte en Muxia. We visited him after finishing the Caminho Português in 2022, our post-pandemic celebration. This parador, filled with his heart and homeland, deserves its own article.

Besides being part of my professional life, staying in paradors has become a minor obsession for me. It is probably the healthiest addiction I have to date, next to hiking. There is something comforting about the smell, the colors, and the unique history of each hotel. And, if you are looking for something special to comfort you, you should definitely have the ice cream made with Cebreiro cheese at the Parador dos Reis Católicos in Santiago.

The perfect pilgrim’s indulgence!