Tortosa and the Valle d'Ebro

I drove up to Tortosa this morning to meet with Jenny and discuss her sermon with her. We met in the Viena cafe opposite the town's main market hall, a substantial 1890's building, prominent on the Ebro river bank, not far from the old town. It boasts several tapas bars and a couple of bakery shops along with the usual fruit 'n veg, meat and fish stalls. Jenny told me that market food prices are above average as all produce sold carries a municipal quality guarantee. I noticed there are several stalls specialising in salted fish products, it was slightly odd to see so much on display in one place.

I'd parked the car at the far end of town close to the new local university buildings, a kilometre walk from the old town centre. Instead of returning along the riverside, I took to the back street to explore the Jewish Quarter. This is an area of streets dating back to the twelfth century, when riverside land that had accommodated Moorish shipyards was given to the city's Jews for house building after the city had been seized from its Muslim overlords. How sad that the Jews should be expelled from the city within a couple of centuries. 

There's nothing obvious left of the original buildings of this barrio, but the ground plan remains unchanged from the Middle Ages, also some of the street names. There's enough in the historical record to identify where the synagogue stood, and the bakery, and the butchers' shops. Yes, there were two, next door to each other. One of them sold kosher meats, the other halal, since Moorish and Jewish communities lived side by side in this small area before the folly of ethnic cleansing took over.

On impulse, I drove north on the road that runs up the east side of the Ebro valley, through the villages of Bitem and Tivenys, past orange groves heavy with ripe fruit. Every now and then I'd pass a small tractor with trailer laden with crates of oranges, heading for a local storage depot. December is a key harvest time for both olives and oranges of a certain kind. Water is diverted from the river on both sides of the valley into irrigation canals, serving the agricultural needs of the entire region, right down into the Delta. 

Beyond Tivenys, the narrow winding road climbs several hundred metres over a pass that descends to Benifallet where the road divides - to Gandesa north-west, to Rasquera east. I stopped at the top of the col to take photos, then descended, to head for home. The view of the valley and the high Sierras dels Ports to the west were well worth the effort of the climb. You'll find some photos here.