Spain in a rainbow: a colour for each landscape
March 21, spring equinox, that time when spring arrives in the northern hemisphere and autumn does it in the southern hemisphere, surely the two most colorful times of the year. For this reason, every March 21 the International Colour Day is celebrated, a festivity that is a pleasure to join. Especially because this country offers a rainbow like no other. A range of colours spread throughout the geography that must be highlighted.
Vejer de la Frontera. | Shutterstock
It is inevitable, almost a must, to travel to Andalusia to feel the white in Spain. This land is well known for its beautiful villages. The one that stars in these lines is Vejer de la Frontera, in Cádiz, but the whitewashed localities are counted by hundreds. Zuheros in Córdoba, Capileira in Granada, Frigiliana in Málaga… One could go on. The origin of painting buildings white dates back to Roman times, but it was in the 18th century when it became popular. Andalusia has come to be considered white, although it is many other colours, of course.
Typical image of the fields of Castile. | Shutterstock
The fields that Antonio Machado strove to portray were yellow and still are. The granary of Spain clings to this colour as a way of life, precisely because a significant percentage of its population lives from it. That leaves us with one of the most typical and most beautiful pictures of the geography: the Castilian fields, with their infinite horizon, which seem to obey no other colour. In other corners they are covered with sunflowers, so it can be concluded that, without any doubt, yellow is the color of Castile.
Orange is the colour that stands out in autumn. | Shutterstock
Autumn is the time for forests. Especially in places like the Irati forest, between the north of Navarre and the Pyrenees in southwestern France. As far as Navarre is concerned, Irati forest is painted with a hypnotic orange that stands out above other colours also unique. There are reds, browns and greens, but it is this orange that has full meaning, because it is unique and because it is the colour one thinks of when imagining oneself there.
Madriguera, one of the Segovian red villages. | Shutterstock
The red villages of Segovia leave prints this impressive. Madriguera is the most representative village of all those that make up this beautiful area, which owes its name to its characteristic architecture. The native reddish stone covers everything, giving the landscape a colour closer to Mars than to planet Earth. Contrary to what one might suspect at first, this reddish tone is never excessive or overwhelming. It is a pleasure, in fact, to come across such a unique corner.
Pink lagoon of Torrevieja. | Shutterstock
In the natural park of La Mata-Torrevieja you can find this landscape rarity: the pink lagoon. Because of the high concentration of salt in the water, and because of the activity of bacteria and algae during the summer season, the water is dyed this vibrant colour until it produces the image that precedes these lines. Swimming is completely forbidden, but this lagoon calls to contemplate it for a long time.
Lavender fields in Brihuega. | Shutterstock
Extremely popular for a couple of years now, the lavender fields of Brihuega deserve the fame they have earned. In its domains there is no other colour than purple, especially during the month of July, when the flowers are ready for harvesting. This beautiful field, a tribute to purple, has recently had the problem of overcrowding, so you have to be responsible if you decide to visit it.
The waters of Formentera have a unique colour. | Shutterstock
Formentera is blue, a blue of many shades. This small Balearic island has always been said to have the best waters in Spain, similar to those of recurring paradises like the Caribbean. Nobody needs a Caribbean when you have Formentera, where the sky and the Mediterranean become one. Distinguishing the different shades of this colour in the landscape can be an entertaining and always pleasant game.
Quirós Valley, in Asturias. | Shutterstock
The north of the peninsula is green. Euskadi, Cantabria, Asturias, Galicia… mostly green communities. To exemplify this supremacy of what, they say, is the colour of hope, we take the Asturian valley of Quirós. It is almost impossible to believe that a place can have such an immense nature that there is hardly room for anything else.
Los Monegros, a unique landscape. | Shutterstock
Another phenomenon of nature that is difficult to match: the Monegros desert, between Zaragoza and Huesca. An area of semi-desert climate that suffers chronic droughts and that allows us to speak of a brown landscape in the peninsula. Of many shades, and although sometimes dotted with green oases, the feeling that one has when walking through it is that of being in another corner of the planet more associated with this type of postcards. But in this country, as you can see, there is something for everyone.
Timanfaya, another planet. | Shutterstock
Some places of the Timanfaya National Park leave pictures as striking, for the beauty and unusual, as this one in which the landscape turns black. It is a volcanic area, the vegetation has no place and the feeling of being on another planet is always present. But it is Lanzarote, an island where you can also discover other colours of this particular rainbow that makes up Spain. In this country you can enjoy all kinds of landscapes, for all tastes, for all looks.
