Parador Gredos. In the first year of the 20th century King Alfonso built this as a hunting lodge in the midst of the Sierra de Gredos. When the decision was taken to build a series of state operated luxurt hotels for the Seville World's Fair, he donated it to the state and here, in 1928, the first parador opened its doors. Although it has been enlarged and brought up to date several times since then, a large hunting lodge is what it remains in spirit. The furnishings are on the unpretentious side, the walls are made of thick stone, the emphasis is emhatically on the out of doors. One comes here mainly to escape the heat of the Madrid summers for a week end. (The capital is roughly an hour-and-a-half away). On one occasion we left Barajas Airport on a sweltering, sultry late April day only to arrive in Gredos in a snow storm. There are pleasant walks, mountain bike paths and a tennis court. And, if one gets bored by all this rusticity, the medieval city of Avila is half an hour away.
Parador Siguenza. Perched, like so many of the paradors, on a hilltop, this was originally an Arab fortress, then, after it fell to the Christians in the twelfth century, a bishop's palace. It dominates the countryside, a vast and imposing stone structure. The decor is resolutely medieval, the rooms of good size, the bathrooms sumptuous. There is a sauna which, when I was there last, was unisex. The Romanesque cathedral at the foot of the hill has a fine twelfth century tympanon. A very good reason for staying here is the proximity to the Madrid airport. Except at the heighth of the morning rush hour this can be reached in under an hour. Unfortunately this means that the parador is a favorite of the Madrilenos for weddings, and you already know what this entails.
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