Camino del Norte 13 – Gaudi

It was 24 lovely kilometers from Santilla del Mar to Comillas.

Today was another excellent day. The trail was on country roads with frequent opportunities to stop for a sit and a coffee. Probably the best bit was when we came back to the coast and had a spectacular view of snow-capped mountains on our left and bright blue sea on our right.

As has been fairly typical the last few days there were lots of snails and slugs on the road, as well as insects amongst the wildflowers.

The last part of the walk went through some lovely little villages with cobbled streets made into canyons by high stone walls. This part of Spain was rich in the 1800s from returning ‘Indeos’ or people who made their money in South America and came home with enormous wealth to spend on houses. What the local history plaques fail to mention is that most of that wealth came directly or indirectly from the slave trade.

A good example of this is the El Capricho del Gaudi in Comillas where we are staying tonight. Gaudi designed a house themed around sunflowers for a rich Indeo. The house is pretty cool, although I can’t imagine living there. It’s now a museum rich in information, but there was not a single mention of how the owner made his riches: You have to go to Wikipedia to find the words “notorious slave trader”.