1936 On the Continent

there, professors and all.
    You know, of course, that it was at Valladolid that Christopher Columbus died in poverty and squalor.
Salamanca
    The English students at Valladolid will probably tell you where you can see a portrait of God. There is a library in the city which contains one of the oldest published histories of the world, and it is in that volume that the portrait is contained, together with other interesting pictures of the creation of the world, etc.
    Then on to Salamanca, of which you must have heard in connection with a famous battle fought around there by the Duke of Wellington. Here again the ordinary guide-books will tell you all about the “sights,” and Iwill only mention one interesting thing about Salamanca—there is an advertisement in its tall cathedral informing the world that you can be confessed within in sixteen different languages.
    Salamanca has a university that you may be interested to see, the more so as it is very easy to get one of the young
caballeros
who study there to show you round, which is far more interesting than engaging a guide.
    The fact that Salamanca possesses a private wireless broadcast station reminds me that radio is so widespread in Spain as to become a nuisance. You seem to be hearing radio loudspeakers all day and all night everywhere, except in the smallest villages.
    Another much more pleasant characteristic of Spanish cities is the fact that they are beautifully illuminated at night. You have noticed this at San Sebastian and Santander, but these places would be no criterion, since they are fashionable resorts and would be expected to have such displays. But it is the same almost everywhere in Spain, and apart from being attractive it makes it easier for the foreign visitor to get used to the late hours the Spanish keep.
    Salamanca, of course, has many hotels and they are incredibly cheap. For instance, the Hosteria Vasca, where there is running hot and cold water and a telephone in each room—the latter is a rarity in Spanish hotels—will give you full board residence at a
maximum
price of 15 pesetas per day, or less than 10s.
“Have a Banana!”
    If you are interested in cheerful “sights” you may visit the Death House, where the Inquisition used to store the dead bodies of their victims pending disposal. The Shell House, which has nothing to do with petrol, is a large building whose walls are covered with large shells or scollops. There is supposed to be an ingot of gold behind each shell, but the inhabitants of Salamanca dare not test the truth of this rumour in case it turns out to be false.
    Salamanca, by the way, is in Banana Land. There are bananas everywhere, and at every turn you are invited by a banana seller to have one.
    Salamanca’s bull farms may be visited by the foreign tourist who has a good guide. They are smallish but vicious beasts that they breed there, and if a record were kept of all the
matadors
gored by them.…!
Avila
    Avila is a small city within 40 miles or so of Madrid. It is really too hot in summer to go there, but we are on our way to Madrid—which we simply must see, however hot it is—and it will do no harm to stop here for a few hours.
    Avila shows many signs of the Moorish occupation, which, however, you must see for yourself. The most interesting thing about it is the battlements, and if the weather is only tolerably hot you can walk round them, though you can always do so in the evening. If you are lucky enough to be at Avila on market day you will see picturesque crowds of villagers who bring their goods to market in panniers carried by donkeys. Broad-brimmed hats, long capes, short breeches is the wear of the men; the costume of the women is uninteresting. If your eardrums are quite sound you may walk round the marketplace and listen to the shrill cries of the sellers, which from a distance sound like the screams of a hundred thousand people who are being murdered.
    Before you leave Avila you must visit the tomb of Tomas de Torquemada, the first Chief Inquisitor of Spain, a kind gentleman who was so anxious for the salvation of the souls of the Jews that he burned their bodies.
    And now to Madrid!
MADRID
    Before you enter Madrid you must know a few things that will save you a great deal of annoyance during your stay in the city.
    First, there are the crowds of beggars, whom even the recent strenuous efforts of the Spanish authorities have failed to suppress. On no account must you give alms to any of these