Impressions of Calahorra

Last updated September 2022

For me, Calahorra is The City of Excellent Events and Delicious Fruit and Vegetables. Calahorra is actually known as the city of vegetables (Ciudad de la Verdura), this is not just my name for it. As you might guess, it is so called because it produces a lot of fruit and vegetables – it even has a museum to prove it!

I fell in love with Calahorra and I didn’t expect to. I had just come from Salamanca, my favourite city in all of Spain, and I was very sad to leave it. With these feelings, I was not expecting to be very impressed, but Calahorra surprised me. For a city that I had never heard of before, it has so many wonderful parts to it: an old town; a plethora of amazing, unique events and festivals; various museums; lovely cafés and restaurants and very nice people!

There might not as much to do as in other cities, but you could spend a very happy day here, especially if it is over the weekend when all the museums are open. You could stop for lunch in Rincón de Andaluz and coffee in Café Paris or find your own spots, there are lots of cafés and restaurants in the city. It is pleasantly not very touristic; there is only one Tourist Office and no postcards for sale in the whole city. That tells you all you need to know. Still, there are a few tourists and I felt very safe walking around.

Calahorra reminds me of Mystic Falls in The Vampire Diaries TV show, not in the fact that there are lots of suspicious deaths involving gratuitous amounts of blood, rather because of their large number of events and festivals. During the early series of the show, my sister and I were amazed by how many special dances and events there were and how everyone took them very seriously – everyone had special outfits for each one. That’s how life was in Calahorra: for the big festivals families wore white and red; for the Roman market, families wore garlands of flowers or had little wooden swords; for Carneval they dressed up as group acts. Dublin has a large number of events and festivals, which I love, but the people don’t support them they way they do in Calahorra. Apart from on St. Patrick’s Day, maybe, where most people do wear green.

Of course, Calahorra’s festivals are more rooted in tradition than the majority of the festivals in Dublin. And of course, not all the residents take part. Still, from what I observed there was a really good atmosphere and participation.

So here are some aspects of the city that stood out for me:

– Its festivals!

They have very good events here, trust me, I’d know, I have experience in events from being a serial volunteer in Dublin! I will be writing on these special festivals in detail but for today, here’s just a brief overview:

• The festival to Calahorra’s saints, San Emeteri and San Celedonio. Interestingly, they are also the saints of Santander. There is a gruesome story to explain this, the saints are martyrs so they were beheaded in Calahorra, and their bodies dumped in the river and then they eventually washed up in Santander. That explains it rather well, right? It’s just a bit bloody.

• Mercaforum. This is a Roman market that takes place the weekend of Palm Sunday. There are a number of processions, stalls selling handmade goods, gladiator fights and more. It is probably my favourite event in Calahorra.

• La Semana Santa – a very traditional example of how Easter is celebrated in Spain. There is a very respectful atmosphere whereas in some other parts of Spain, especially in the South, the celebrations are more loud. There are a number of processions during the week of Easter and on Holy Thursday there is a theatrical representation of the final days of Christ’s life.

• Its delicious vegetables and fruit

Calahorra has very fertile soil due to the River Ebro. As a result, it grows large quantities of delicious fruit and vegetables. As well as the usual vegetables, there are some unusual vegetables that the people eat such as thistle (cardo).

• Old Town (Casco Antiguo)

I loved wandering around its Old Town, it is very enjoyable and peaceful to explore its little streets. Be aware that Calahorra is on a hill so you will need to climb some rather large hills while on your explorations!

• Parque del Cidacos – a park by the River Cidacos

The park by the river is very peaceful and quiet. It also offers playgrounds, a pretty little pond with birds and a bridge and very good views of the cathedral. You can walk under a bridge that has cars going overhead which is I still think is pretty cool. The first time I walked under a bridge like this was when I was in Valenica.

• Santa María Catedral

Calahorra’s cathedral is very impressive, both inside and out. In addition, on one of the facades on the outside you can see a mobile phone. It is typical to add a modern feature like this when one is restoring a façade in Spain. For me, the cathedral of Salamanca has the most interesting features: an astronaut and a dragon eating an ice-cream!

• Stunning architecture

• Lots of green spaces that you come across unexpectedly

• Storks – I always love to see storks!

• Café Paris

Café Paris is a very cozy, dinky café that offers a very extensive selection of delicious cakes. Spain is not known for its cakes but the cakes here were really good, as good as some you would get in Ireland. Trust me, that is a big compliment! I really enjoyed visiting Café Paris so I would definitely recommend going if you have the time.

Address:

Calle Julio Cesar, 10, Calahorra

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• Hills – as I have mentioned, the city is on a hill, it rises up from the river. This means that it can be a little tiring walking sometimes. Still, going up a hill means that there are many nice views of the surrounding countryside.

• Town Hall, statue of Quintilian and Paseo de Mercadal

This plaza leads to the city’s library and a large green space. A big shopping centre and cinema (on the top floor) are also here. It is a very nice area and it is also an important location for the city’s festivals and events. The statue of Quintilian is where a lot of events begin, such as the festivals to their saints and the Roman market, MercaForum. Quintilian is very important to the city.

• Camino de Santiago

Calahorra is also part of the Camino which means that there are little signs and symbols of it around, if you keep your eyes open! The route you can do in this part of Spain is actually listed on the UNESCO World Heritage list. As I mentioned before, this part of Spain has a very large amount of UNESCO World Heritage sites, making an even more interesting location to visit.

• Many attractions, mostly museums and churches. Some of the museums include: a museum about the city’s Roman past; a vegetable museum and a museum to their two saints. I will write in detail on these attractions and more one day soon.

To note:

Calahorra’s Tourist Office is in corner of Plazo del Raso – the square is an important centre of the town, also important to festivals. For example, it is here they burn a doll after Carneval. Well, there is no corner because is it a circle but still, you get an idea of where the office is.

The office is housed in the nice stone building, as photographed below. It is not open all day but it is definitely worth going. They offer detailed maps of the city and information on all the churches, museums etc. And I picked up a free booklet on Ernest Hemingway and Spain, it kept me going for a long time. It was in English, Basque and Castilian, I really enjoyed reading it.

How to get to Calahorra?

The best way would be from Logroño, as a day-trip. You could get either a train or a bus. Jimenez bus offers a service from Logroño to Calahorra, a little over a 1 hour journey, for €4. It’s the local bus company and it is comfortable and reliable. I used it all the time, coming and going from Pradejón. The bus leaves from Logroño bus station or university and stops at Calahorra’s Plaza de Toros or bus station. It would be best go get off at the station as it is more central.

So there you have it, my reflections on Calahorra, a city that gave me many special memories. I will be writing on some of them very soon!