A week today I'll be crossing the Bay of Biscay and arriving in Santander. You would think I'm preparing for an Arctic expedition, the amount of things I'm having to take!
Being young and fit, Goytisolo travelled light - I'm feeling envious.
Unfortunately I've been suffering from a persistent infection since August, I was hoping it would have cleared up before this trip but I'm going to have to take extra antibiotic with me, as well as all the rest of my medication. S, my companion, complains we will need a suitcase just for all my drugs.  I hope we don't get taken for drug mules!
We have found a base in the village of Rodalquilar. In Goytisolo's time this was a mining town but now the mine is in ruins. The fortunes of Rodalquilar have gone from boom to bust many times in its history. The Romans mined silver there, later there was an alum mine, and when Goytisolo visited they were mining gold. The first gold mining was in the 19th century but stopped at the beginning of the 20th, to be started again in the 1930s.  In between these periods of industry, the population of the village would slump and poverty dominate.
Not that the people were benefiting much from the mine when Goytisolo visited in the 1950s. The mine was owned by a private company, the workers were badly paid and there was very little in the way of health and safety regulations.
Rodalquilar has had a renaissance over the last few years since the central offices of the National Park are situated there, and a wonderful Botanic Gardens has been opened.
This is where I will stay until the end of February.