Monthly Archives: February 2014

Seville | Andalucia Tapa by Tapa

At veoapartment we like our fiestas as much as anyone and, as February 28 is Andalucia Day (marking the date of the referendum that gave Andalucia its Autonomous Region status), we thought we’d take the opportunity to treat ourselves to something special. As you all probably know, Andalucia is the southern region of Spain, famous for its sunshine, beaches, palm trees, flamenco and bullfighting. It is also the birthplace of the tapa, so what better way to celebrate than with an Andalucian tapas lunch?

Luckily one of our favourite tapas bars, La Pepona, had a similar idea and is holding one of its regular gastronomic events this week. This one is in honour of Andalucia Day, featuring a traditional tapa from each of Andalucia’s eight provinces, a “tour de food” of the region without leaving Seville. And with the help of two serious professional eaters – @SVQconcierge and @SevillaTapas – we managed to visit every province. So if you’re in town this week we highly recommend stopping by La Pepona and trying some or all of these very special dishes priced at just 2.50€ each. Veo approved!

As well as great food La Pepona has an exceptional wine list and lots of options by the glass. Ask front of house “show man” Juanlu to suggest something for you.

Flamenquin con salmorejo (Cordoba) | Gazpachuelo (Malaga)
Andrajos (Jaen) | Tortilla de Sacromonte (Granada)

Flamenquin con salmorejo (Cordoba)
Two for the price of one here. Flamenquin is ham and cheese rolled up in batter and fried, and salmorejo is the traditional Cordobes cold tomato soup. Thicker and creamier than gazpacho, it’s one of my favourite sauces.

Gazpachuelo (Malaga)
From the name you might expect this to be a tomato soup, but this is from Malaga, so it’s actually a fish and prawn based soup with potatoes and mayonnaise.

Andrajos (Jaen)
Another of those really tasty dishes that the Spanish are able to cook up from very modest ingredients, in this case a bit of rabbit, some little flour cakes, in a vegetable sauce of onions, tomatoes, peppers, garlic and olive oil, and/or whatever else is at hand.

Tortilla de Sacromonte (Granada)
Well, it’s an omelette, of course, but not the more typical Andalucian potato omelette. This local variant particularly features sweetbreads. For the less squeamish that’s sheeps brains. I hadn’t had this before, but it was actually rather good. Admittedly I wouldn’t have known it included brains if someone hadn’t told me.

Olla de trigo (Almería) | Tortillitas de Camarones (Cádiz)
Huevos a la flamenca (Seville) | Habas con chocos (Huelva)

Olla de trigo (Almería)
Literally a wheat pot. Another stew, this time of wheat, fleshed out (so to speak) with all those odd bits of pig that you have left over. Traditionally this includes the pig’s ear, which turned out to be quite tasty, though a little chewy.

Tortillitas de Camarones (Cadiz)
If you’re at all familiar with Spanish food you’ll already have tried these shrimp fritters, and experienced the crispy, crunchy goodness. And if you’ve tried them once you’ll probably be wanting some more.

Huevos a la flamenca (Seville)
A tomato and pepper sauce/stew topped with poached eggs. One of those traditional winter warmers that never fails to hit the spot.

Habas con chocos (Huelva)
And this is another warmer. A stew of broad beans with cuttlefish that sticks nicely to your sides.

Seville | The Pottery and Ceramics of Isabel Parente

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Pottery is an essential architectural landmark in Seville, and you can find exquisite decoration everywhere, in a huge variety of different colours and styles. It can be like walking through an open-air museum. Unfortunately, because of industrialisation the techniques of handmaking pottery and ceramics were gradually being lost in the second half of the twentieth century, but more recently interest in the art has been reviving.

One of the artists at the forefront of this revival is Isabel Parente, who together with Salud Jimenez has been running a craft pottery workshop in Seville for the last 16 years. “Our handmade pottery was born from a love of the art, and from a concern not to lose the Sevillano ceramic tradition,” she says, “and we want to offer customers things they can’t normally find in the shops.” These include the bold, linear geometrical designs of the Islamic tradition, as well as the gentler curving shapes of the Italian renaissance and baroque.

In the video you can see them demonstrate some of the traditional techniques (for English subtitles use the captions icon), such as cuerda seca (dry rope), low relief, and stencilling and handpainting of pottery.

If you would like to buy one of these handcrafted pieces you can find their workshop at

ISABEL PARENTE
626 963 086
Calle Doña Maria Coronel 21
41003 Sevilla

Seville | Orange Days

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Whether by chance or careful selection, Valentine’s day in Seville marks the start of the Third Annual Edition of Las Jornadas Gastronómicas de la Naranja, a culinary competition for creating tapas using bitter oranges, which this year boasts more than thirty participating tapas bars and restaurants, and will last ten days.

seville orange days

If you’ve ever been to Seville, or are a keen marmalade maker, you’ll already know that Seville is famous for its orange trees, which are harvested at this time of year. Despite the close association of Seville with oranges, they are not, in fact, native to this part of the world, but come originally from the Far East. The first orange trees in Seville are believed to have been planted in the 12th century, primarily for shade and decoration – bitter oranges were chosen so that people wouldn’t eat them off the trees! Even today, the biggest consumers are the English. Seville oranges are the best in the world for making marmalade!

orange harvest in Plaza del Salvador

The tapas on offer include Iberian ham with orange sauce, roast beef and macerated orange in puff pastry, and an orange salmorejo with flakes of cod and leek.

There will be a panel of expert judges, but the public will also be able to vote for their favourite tapas (see the full list of participants below), which will give them a chance to win 1 of 10 hampers of orange goodies from local suppliers such as Basilippo, Inés Rosales and la Vieja Fábrica.

A rather nice touch is that on Feb 14 at Santa Justa, and Feb 17 at the airport, arrivals will be greeted with an orange and a brochure about the competition.

The Alfonso XIII hotel will host an orange products trade show on the 21st and a cooking demonstration on the 22nd, both events starting at midday.

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Ley de Turismo de Andalucía

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Muchos propietarios de apartamentos nos preguntan sobre la legislación existente en España, y en particular en Andalucía. Desde veoapartment intentamos informarles de los hechos y de lo ocurrido. Por lo siguiente, nuestra valoración, en orden cronológico.

HASTA 2011
La ley de Turismo de Andalucía incluía la forma jurídica de la “vivienda turística vacacional”. Era obligatorio el registro de estas viviendas en el Registro de Turismo de Andalucía (RTA) para ejercer una actividad turística.

2012-2013
La época de un comportamiento desleal y hostil de la Junta de Andalucía, por los siguientes hechos:

La Junta deroga la ley antigua. En la nueva Ley de Turismo de Andalucía 13/2011 NO son mencionadas las anteriores viviendas turísticas vacacionales
La Junta NO informa a los propietarios anteriormente registrados
La Junta denuncia a muchos propietarios con amenaza de multa hasta 18.000 Euros
Por la situación de alegalidad y enfrentamientos con la Junta de Andalucía, los propietarios afectados crean la Asociación de Viviendas de Uso Turístico de Andalucía (APARTSUR) para defender sus derechos

2014
El día 2 de Febrero 2014, el consejero de Turismo de la Junta de Andalucía, Rafael Rodríguez, anuncia, a través de una entrevista en “El Mundo”, que “La Junta regulará la explotación turística de viviendas privadas” y que esto se hará “antes del próximo verano”.

Conclusiones
Desde veoapartment esperamos que este anuncio ponga fin a las denuncias soportadas por los propietarios, y que pronto podrán ejercer su actividad dentro de un marco legal. Recomendamos a los propietarios de Andalucía hacerse socio en Apartsur. Uno de los propósitos de la asociación es minimizar los esfuerzos burocráticos para poder ejercer la actividad, y que la regulación de las viviendas de uso turístico sea dentro del marco Europeo.

Recientemente, la incompatibilidad de una ley autonómica Española con la ley Europea, en el sector del alojamiento turístico, provocó un fallo del Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Canarias a favor de los propietarios de los establecimientos turísticos. Los jueces se basaron en la Directiva 2006/123/CE del Parlamento Europeo.

Directiva 2006/123/CE del Parlamento Europeo (también llamado “Directiva Bolkestein”)
Artículo 9
Regímenes de autorización
1. Los Estados miembros solo podrán supeditar el acceso a una actividad de servicios y su ejercicio a un régimen de autorización cuando se reúnan las siguientes condiciones:
…
c) el objetivo perseguido no se puede conseguir mediante una medida menos restrictiva, en concreto porque un control a posteriori se produciría demasiado tarde para ser realmente eficaz.

Valentine’s Day in Seville and Granada

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Friday week will be Saint Valentine’s Day, so unless you’re Al Capone and have other things on your mind, your thoughts should be turning to romance, a candlelit dinner, and maybe a nice bottle of wine. You could do all that at home of course, but there’s still time to organise a romantic getaway for two. And what could be sweeter than a long weekend in Seville or Granada in southern Spain, home of flamenco, exotic palaces and great food and wine?

becquer monument detail of monument dedicated to Gustav Bécquer in Maria Luisa Park, Seville

Explore the Palaces and Gardens of the Alhambra or Alcázar

The palaces of the Alhambra (Granada) and Alcázar (Seville) both date mainly from the 14th century, and though the first was built by the Moors, and the second by Christians, they share many of the same exotic features, with horseshoe arches, pools and fountains, and dazzling ceramic decoration. Be swept off your feet by this Arabian Nights visual feast.

Parks and Carriage Rides

Apart from the Palace Gardens, there are some other exceptional green spots. In Seville stroll through the Murillo Gardens over to the magnificent Plaza de España, but more especially go to the Parque Maria Luisa. It was laid out for the 1929 Expo and full of little grottoes and other surprises, such as the monument to Sevillano poet Gustav Becquer featuring the three stages of love. You can even take a carriage ride for two from the centre. In Granada visit the Carmen de los Martires, or take a walk along the picturesque River Darro.

Arab Baths and Massage

Go on, pamper yourself! Both Seville and Granada have their own Arab baths, the Baños Arabes in Seville and the Hammam baths in Granada, where you can enjoy the full bath and massage treatment at the hands of experts.

Eating Out

Few things beat taking some time out on a pavement terrace with a glass of wine and just watching the world go by, or having a bite at one of the great tapas bars in Seville, such as Las Teresas or Vineria San Telmo. Don’t miss the jamón and sherry, the taste of Spain. For a romantic evening dinner try Becerrita or Sevilla’s only Michelin star restaurant Abantal. In Granada La Tana wine bar is a cosy intimate spot to stop for a drink and a snack, perhaps finishing with a late dinner at the elegant Puerta del Carmen.

alegria flamenco flamenco performance at the Flamenco Museum in Seville

Flamenco

There are plenty of places where you can catch the passion of a flamenco performance, but beware. Not all of them are good. In Seville the shows we like best are at the Flamenco Dance Museum and Casa de la Guitarra. In Granada, head out to the famous Sacramonte Caves for a rather different style.

Cocktails

At the end of the day you’ll want to find somewhere special for that last drink and remembering the day. There are quite a few good rooftop bars around these days, but in Seville the Doña Maria Hotel bar with its view of the cathedral is still the place to go. In Granada, head up to El Huerto de Juan Ranas next to the San Nicolas lookout on the Albaicin hill for a spectacular view of the Alhambra across the valley.

Where to Stay

There are lots of great apartments at reasonable prices to choose from, but our favourite romantic getaway choices include, in Seville, the gorgeous view from Giralda Terrace, and Campanario Terrace for its unusual location. In Granada, Duplex Terrace overlooking the Plaza Nueva is unbeatable. For something more exotic try Sacramonte Cueva 2.