Postcard from Spain no. 6

Another postcard from Catalonia, sent by me from L'Estartit, showing the map of the province of Girona. I assume there is a whole series of these attractive cards, covering the entire Spain, published by Escudo de Oro in Barcelona. I saw this one only in one place of all the kiosks and card-racks, in one of the narrow streets leading to the Girona cathedral. And the stamps:

The EUR 0.36 civic value "No contaminar" shown earlier, and a rose from 2007.

Postcard from Spain no. 5

We spent the last few weeks on holidays in Spain (Catalonia) and France (Department of Herault), and here is a postcard we sent home showing the city of Girona. Even though it was a very hot day (for me quite unexpected for September) the city amazed me, it is a pure medieval jewel. The card shows the historic centre and the River Onyar.

Here are the stamps I used: a EUR 0.34 trompeta from 2010 and a 0.36 "Civic values" from 2012, together making the actual rate for Europe of 0.70 EUR. The card was posted in the town of L'Estartit.

These "Civic values" stamps issued on 9 January 2010 can be currently found in most Spanish tabac stands that I visited (the other stamp on offer is the 0.70 EUR "Turismo" from 2012).

Cover from Spain no. 10

Aa usual, I received the current Spanish EUROPA stamp from Jose Luis in Carballo, Galicia. This year's topic is Visit... specific country. And this is the nice Spanish contribution. Muchísimas gracia!!

Cover from Spain no. 9

This is a lovely airmail cover in the best tradition, sent from Barcelona, Spain, with a complete set of two mycology stamps which were issued on 16 October 2009 in 320,000 copies. The left-hand mushroom is Boletus pinophilus (pine bolete), in Czech hřib borový (yum!), the right-hand one is Cantharellus cibarius (chanterelle), in Czech liška (= fox). Both also very popular and widely used and eaten here.

Muchas gracias, David!!

Cover from Spain no. 8

Here is a nice cover received from José Luis in Carballo, Galicia, Spain, showing an autumnal view of a beechwood in the province of Segovia (el Hayedo de la Pedrosa). The stamp was issued on 4 April 2011 as part of the Europa stamp project and bears the new logo. Muchísimas gracias, José Luis!

Postcard from Spain no. 4

A nice postcard showing the major sights of Madrid, sent from Ciudad Real on 22 December 2010.

The 0.64 euro Christmas stamp was issued on 3 November 2010, and is a painting by J. Carrero, a variation on Christmas themes.

Gracias Aurora!

Cover from Spain no. 7

Here is a cover from Spain (unfortunately without cancellations) with 4 nice trumpet stamps issued on 9 April 2010. There were three more musical instruments issued in the same series last year: saxophone, horn and trombone.

Thank you, Juan!

Cover from Spain no. 6

Here is a lovely cover sent from Carballo in Galicia, with the complete set of three large stamps issued on 20 May 2010 in the series "Espacios naturales de Espana", showing views and the typical flora and fauna of: Parque Natural de las Sierras de Cazorla, Segura y Las Villas (Province of Jaén); Parque Nacional de Donana (Provinces of Sevilla, Huelva and Cádiz); and Parque Nacional de Garajonay (Isla de la Gomera, Canary Islands). The print run of each stamp was 320,000 pieces, and I love them! (the Donana stamp with the sunset is just beautiful). Muchas gracias, José Luis!!

Cover from Spain no. 5

A fantastic cover received a few days ago from Carballo, Galicia, Spain, with three brand new Spanish stamps. The 0.34 eurocent stamps (issued on 20 April 2010 in 320,000 copies) shows Carlos María de Castro (1810 - 1893), Spanish architect and urbanist, responsible for planning the regulated expansion of the city of Madrid in the 19th century. The stamp has a map of this expansion (ensanche) in its background.

The two nice photographic stamps with the nominal value of 0.45 eurocent, issued on 15 April 2010, feature important sights of the towns in Baeza (Palacio de Jabalquinto) and Úbeda (Casa de las Torres), in the province of Jaén, Andalusia. Both were inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2003 thanks to the many well-preserved examples of Italian Renaissance architecture in Spain.

Gracias, José-Luis!

Cover from Spain no. 4

Received this week from Carballo in Galicia, the children's book EUROPA stamp from Spain, one of the few using photography. Due to the red colour the stamp is pretty striking and original, not bad at all! It was issued on 6 May 2010 in 320,000 copies. Thank you, José Luís! The Czech stamp is on its way to you.

Cover from Spain no. 3

Recived today after a week of travelling from Galicia, very nice cover with this year's Spanish EUROPA stamp. It was issued on 23 April 2009 in 550,000 copies and shows a composition of the Moon and galaxies, a topic which will recur in other astronomy stamps throughout the year. Gracias, José Luis!

Cover from Spain no. 2

Another cover from Spain, this time sent from Madrid on 9 March 2009 and received 2 days later. The stamp was issued on 2 April 2009 in the series "Architecture" with 5 other fabulous pieces. This breathtaking skycraper called Torre Agbar, 144 metres tall, was opened to public in 2005 in Barcelona. It is a work of the French architect Jean Nouvel, who claimes that it was inspired by Montserrat, a mountain near Barcelona, and by the shape of a geyser rising into the air; and it is science fiction come true.

Thank you, Carmen!

Postcard from Spain no. 3

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Another fine postcard from Spain, this time showing a lesser known, but still very interesting town of Estella (Lizarra in Basque), located in the province of Navarre, southwest of Pamplona. Estella, with 13,000 inhabitants, lies on the Camino de Santiago (St James' Way) and is a truly historic place full of Romanesque architecture.

The larger self-adhesive Christmas stamp was issued on 3 November 2008 along with another stamp of 31 eurocent. The painting is by J. Carrero and is called Maternity. The Juan Carlos definitive from 2008 is part of the latest (5th) basic series of definitives begun in 2007.

Thank you, Sonia!

Cover from Spain

A cover with two stamps sent from Donostia (San Sebastián) in the Basque Country on 25 February 2009 and received 2 days later.

The larger 57 eurocent self-adhesive stamp was issued on 17 May 2006 in the Sciences series and commemorates the XXV International Congress of Mathematicians held in Madrid in 2006. In the bottom part there is a sequence of ancient Arabic numerals from the Vigilantus Codex kept at the El Escorial monastery in Spain, considered one of the oldest records of these numerals.

The violet self-adhesive stamp was issued on 2 April 2007 in the Nature series, along with a canary.

Thank you, Olaia!

Postcard from Spain no. 2

This postcards shows a fantastic view of the pond and gardens at the Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos (Fernando and Isabel) in Córdoba, Andalucía, a World Heritage Site since 1984.

And the stamps made me happy too, as they are part of a series initiated this year of Spanish provinces, with their maps and flags (including the flag and the national emblem of Spain). The two regions featured here are Cantabria and Euskadi (Basque Country) in the north. "A" tariff corresponds at the moment to 32 eurocent (postage for sending a normalised letter of up to 20 grams within Spain).

A similar series is now issued in the USA, Italy, Russia, etc.

Gracias, David!

Postcard from Spain

A postcard from Valencia, Spain, showing la Lonja de la Seda (The Silk Exchange), built between 1482 and 1533, a masterpiece of late Gothic architecture, since 1996 inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage list.

The self-adhesive stamp, issued on 11 February 2008, is part of a project to help in the fight against gender violence, mentioning the telephone number 016 where victims and witnesses can call their testimonies. Sent on 9/2/2009, received on 12/2/2009. Gracias, Margarita!