iberianature – Spanish history and culture

  • Categories
    • Andalusia
      • Granada
      • Granada city
    • Archeological discoveries in Spain
    • Balearic Islands
    • Basque Country
      • Vizcaya
    • Briefs
    • Bullfighting in Spain
    • Castilla-León culture
      • Burgos
    • Catalan
    • Catalan culture
      • Barcelona
    • Catalonia
      • Tarragona
    • Drinks of Spain
    • Extremadura culture
    • Food and drink
    • history
    • Intersting things about Madrid
    • Portugal
    • Portugal art and culture
    • Social issues in Spain
    • Spanish architecture
    • Spanish art
      • Photography of Spain
      • Spanish painters
    • Spanish cinema history
    • Spanish history
      • Population history of Spain
      • Spanish maritime history
    • Spanish icons
    • Spanish language
      • Etymology of Spanish words
    • Spanish music
      • Flamenco
    • Uncategorized
  • Barcelona
  • Catalonia
  • Food
  • Forum
  • Main iberianature page
  • Naturaiberica
  • Spanish Civil War

Castro – celtic hill fort

A dictionary of Spanish history and culture

a – b – c – d – e – f – g – h – i – jk – l – m – nñ – o – p – q – r – s – t – uv – wxyz

A circular fortified settlement usually sited on a hilltop or some other naturally easy defendable place. They were built by the Celts and are found principally north-west Spain.

This is where we get Castro, a common surname in Galicia, from where the Cuban leader’s ancestors hailed.

The word castro comes from Latin castrum, a fortification

External links

 Castros in Spain and Portugal (Wikipedia)

Castros were located on hilltops, which allowed tactical control over the surrounding countryside and provided natural defences. They invariably had a spring or small creek to provide water; some even had large reservoirs to use during sieges. Typically, a castro has a triple loose stone and earth wall, which complements the natural defenses of the hill. The houses inside are about 3.5–5 m long. Most of the houses are circular in shape, although some are rectangular and they are made out of stone with thatch roofs that rest on a wood column in the centre of the building. Their streets are somewhat regular, suggesting some form of central organization. Castros vary in diameter from dozens of metres to several hundred.

Castro de Baroña, Galicia

Castro culture (Wikipedia)

“The culture began to develop during the late Bronze Age as a result of strong cultural influence on the indigenous cultures coming from Central Europe and the Atlantic and Mediterranean areas. In the formative period that followed, which lasted until the 5th century BC, the castros extended from south to north and from the coast to the interior of the Iberian Peninsula. The culture continued to expand and develop for about two centuries, until it began to be influenced by the Roman Republic in the 2nd century BC. The culture went through somewhat of a transformation, as a result of the Roman conquest and formation of the Roman province of Gallaecia in the heart of the Castro cultural area, until it finally died out in the 4th Century AD.”

  • Recent Posts

    • Words and concepts in Spanish that don’t exist in English
    • A few facts about bullfighting
    • An old woman cooking eggs
    • Decline of bullfights
    • A 3D exploration of Picasso’s Guernica
  • A-Z guide

    • About – Spanish history and culture
    • Culture and history of Spain a
      • ABC newspaper
      • The Spanish alphabet
      • Aberri Eguna
      • abertzale
      • alcázar and El Alcázar
      • Arabic in Spain
      • autarky in Spain
      • akelarre – witches’ sabbath
      • Alguerese
      • Aljama
      • Artesonado
      • alminar
    • Culture and history of Spain b
      • Bakalao music
      • botellón – drinking in Spain
      • La Banda Trapera del Río
    • Culture and history of Spain c
      • Contra Franco vivíamos mejor
      • Catalan-Aragonese Oath of Allegiance
      • Castro – celtic hill fort
      • Catalunya Nord
      • Geography of Spanish Cinema
    • Culture and history of Spain d
      • The death penalty in Spain
    • Culture and history of Spain e
      • Extremoduro
      • The Embrace by Juan Genovés
      • Estraperlo
      • The execution of Salvador Puig Antich
    • Culture and history of Spain f
      • Quotes by Franco
      • Franquismo sociológico – Neo-Francoism
    • Culture and history of Spain g
      • Garum
      • Guerrilleros de Cristo Rey
      • Galician Armed League – Liga Liga Armada Galega
    • Culture and history of Spain h
    • Culture and history of Spain i
      • indiano
    • Culture and history of Spain jk
      • Jota – dance
      • Juancarlismo
      • Kale borroka
    • Culture and history of Spain l
    • Culture and history of Spain m
      • Moorish guard
      • Meigas – Galician witches
    • Culture and history of Spain n
      • Nunca Máis – Never Again
      • Naranjito – 1982 World Cup mascot
      • NO-DO – Spanish newsreels
    • Culture and history of Spain q
      • Quinta del biberón
      • La Quinta del Buitre
      • Quinqui – mercheros
    • Culture and history of Spain r
      • Rebellion of the Alpujarras
      • Rumba catalana
    • Culture and history of Spain s
      • The Spanish flu
      • Sindic de Greuges – Ombudsman in Catalonia
      • saudade – morriña
    • Culture and history of Spain t
      • Tsunamis in Spain
      • Trikitixa – Basque accordion
      • Transterrados
      • Taifas
    • Culture and history of Spain u – v
      • Una, Grande y Libre – Francoist slogan
    • Culture and history of Spain wxyz
      • Yeísmo
    • Culture and history of Spain o
      • Operation Ogre – the assassination of Carrero Blanco
    • Culture and history of Spain p
      • The Prestige Oil disaster
      • Policía Nacional
      • Spanish political quotes
      • Palloza
      • Plateresque
      • The Peseta
      • plazas de soberanía – places of sovereignty
      • PRISA – Spanish media group
      • Porrón – the Spanish drinking vessel
      • Spanish punk rock
      • Spanish popular music
      • The People’s Olympics in Barcelona
    • Home
    • Timeline of Spain
      • Spain in 1973
      • Spain in 1903
      • Spain in 1976
    • Catalonia
      • Girona
        • Ampurdan – inland and context
          • Placenames in the Ampurdan
          • Artists and writers in the Ampurdan
          • History of the Ampurdan
          • Geography of the Ampurdan
          • Figueres
          • Peraleda
          • The Alberes Mountains
          • Around Figueres
          • Albons
          • Bellcaire d’Empordà
          • Verges and around
          • Ullastret
          • Peratallada, Palau Sator and Juliá de Boada
          • La Bisbal d’Empordà
          • Cruïlles, Monells, Madremanya and Bordils
          • La Pera and Pubol
        • Girona city
          • History of Girona
          • Girona weather
          • Eating and drinking in Girona
          • Girona accommodation
          • Girona sightseeing
        • Other information
        • Costa Brava
          • Lloret de Mar
          • Blanes to Lloret de Mar
          • Tossa de Mar
          • The Corniche
          • San Feliu de Guíxols to San Pol
          • La Platja d´Aro to Calonge
          • Palamós to Tamariu
          • Pals
          • Torroella de Montgrí
          • Montgrí massif
          • L´Estartit to L’Escala
          • Sant Martí d’Empúries to the Aiguamolls de l´Empordà (1)
          • Castelló d´Empúries and the Aiguamolls de l´Empordà (2)
          • Cadaqués
          • Monastery of Sant Pere de Rodes
          • The Gaverres Mountains
        • La Garrotxa
          • 1. Beuda
          • 2. Besalú
          • 3. Castellfollit de la Roca
          • 4. Besalú to Girona
          • 5. Banyoles
          • 6. Porqueres
          • 8. Parc Natural de la Zona Volcanica de la Garrotxa
          • 9. Santa Pau
          • 9b. Olot
      • Guided tours around Barcelona
      • Tarragona
      • Map of places in Catalonia
    • Asturias
    • Extremadura
    • Aragon
      • Legends of Aragon
    • The Spanish Civil War
      • Spanish Civil War links
      • Places in the Spanish Civil War
      • People in the Spanish Civil War
        • Gypsies in the Spanish Civil War
      • International involvement
        • Chinese volunteers in the Spanish Civil War
        • Japanese in the Spanish Civil War
        • British volunteers in the Spanish Civil War
      • Exhile and post war resistance
      • Events and battles
        • Battle of the Ebro
      • Spanish Civil War museums, exhibitions and sites
        • Spanish Civil War guided tours in Barcelona
    • Briefly

      Words and concepts in Spanish that don't exist in English
      Here are a few words and expressions in Castilian Spanish that don’t exist in English, and perhaps could be borrowed. Foreigners speakers of Spanish in Spain certainly use so of them with alarming frequency with other English speakers in Spain, as do our Spanish friends and spouses. The list does not include food terms (covered elsewhere on iberianature) and most cultural terms (architectural, historical, bullfighting terms, etc) In some cases, a simple word doesn’t exist in English (tuerto – one-eyed man) while in others the whole concept doesn’t exist (consuegros – a child’s spouse’s parents) More to come

      • compaginar: slot together” or “integrate timetables
      • consuegros – child’s spouse’s parents
      • El de la verguenza – that last tasty morsel (e.g. a biscuit) which everybody feels embarrassed about taking. I suggest from now on calling this the shameful one in English, as members of my family now do.
      • enchufe – beyond the simple dictionary definition of plug, enchufe means a connection, knowing somebody, being well connected, knowing the right people, that sort of thing when you want something done. So, if you have an enchufe, it might very well make it easier to get a job.
      • estrenar – to try out something for the first time, often in the sense of wear estrenar zapatos. A football team might also estrenar un nuevo estadio An estreno is the first night of a film.
      • gestor – a kind of financial administrator, not quite an accountant, not quite a solicitor.
      One word that you will hear a lot in Spain is gestor. The position is difficult to describe, simply because this agency does not exist in many countries. His main role is the interface between the public – in this case you – and the public administration. Generally, in UK you do not need any kind of interface, and when you do, it is clear that you should see a solicitor. In some other countries there will also be some person, or official in this kind of position.  From here (continue reading)
      • homologar – compare and equate standards of
      • lampiño – without a beard or with little hair. Note, also inberbe, a beardless youth.
      • lustro – five years
      • manco – one-armed man
      • mimoso – as an adjective somebody who loves to be pampered/made a fuss of. Also a noun.
      • monte – in the sense of wild land (as opposed to just hill) monte does not exist in British English but equates to the Southern African English bush and the Australian outback. Echarse al monte means to take to the hills, and by extension, los del monte, the maquis fighters.
      • morbo – a dark fascination
      • muda – change of underwear
      • palomina: pigeon guano
      En la localidad de Oliete (Teruel, España) se recogía la palomina que se acumulaba en la sima de San Pedro, lugar donde crían palomas. Existía una plataforma con torno en el borde de la sima para descender a los que recogían la palomina y luego elevarlos con la carga. Wikipedia
      • recogerse – to go indoors in the evening
      • resol – Reflected sunshine off the wall, floor, etc. that some Spaniards try to avoid in summer… as in, “We can’t sit at that table” (at a terrazza) “it’s got a parasol, but there’s a lot of resol” (Michael)
      • sobremesa – the time spent after lunch sitting round the table and talking
      • tertulia – a learned discussion, often as a regular event in a bar
      • tuerto – one-eyed man
      • zurdo – left-hander
      Under debate: cursi, hortero, normalización lingüística, traspaso Thanks to contributions from Glennie, Francis, Lucy, Michael, Lisa Howe, Patrick and Mónica. More to come

      Women do most of care work in Spain
      In spite of significant advances of recent decades, women are still the main caregivers for the elderly in 80 percent of the cases, according to a study by the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M). More here

      Largest towns and cities in Spain

      List of metropolitan areas in Spain by population. I was surprised to see Oviedo–Gijón–Avilés as high as it is.

      More...

      A history of Mojácar
      I enjoyed this potted history of Mojácar:

      Mojácar used to be a town of around 6,000 people in as far back as 1870. It maintained this number of inhabitants until round about 1900 when, slowly, numbers began to fall, speeding its descent in the 1930s. Through the various local vicissitudes of the drop in the local water-table, the end of the de-forestation, a peculiar plague of locusts in 1901, the end of the mines in the 1920s and the troubled times of the Civil War, the area in general eventually became depopulated with mass emigrations to Barcelona, Algeria, Germany and even Argentina, and Mojácar itself began its long descent into what was, by 1960, a moribund village of just 600 souls. Read complete post on Spanish Shilling

      Paddy Woodworth on the Basque Country
      Paddy Woodworth is an Irish reporter who has lived and worked in the Basque Country. His book The Basque Country: a cultural history, was described by the Irish Times as a terrific modern introduction to the Basque Country… succeeds in showing us the complexities of the Basque struggle for identity” Here’s an the introduction from his book from his website. “The Basque Country has had more than its fair share of stereotypes thrust upon it. The Basques have sometimes resisted this typecasting, but they have not been shy about making their own contributions, some as extravagant as any foreigner’s, to stock images of their homeland. More...

      Tomato trek
      I thought this cartoon strip was amusing. “Since a tomato leaves its branch of the plant in one of the hundreds of greenhouses from Almeria, until a consumer in Madrid take it into its meal, the price “grows” by 500% respect to the price given to the farmer”.

    • RSS Recent history entries on Iberianature.com

      • Altamira to reopen to visitors
        Spain has decided to reopen the Altamira cave complex in Cantabria after eight years being closed to visitors, despite scientists warnings’ that heat from human visitors damages the art. Visits are to resume next year on a restricted basis. The main chamber at Altamira features 21 bisons painted in ochre, red and black, which seem […]
      • George Orwell in the Monegros
        George Orwell fought during the Spanish Civil War in the Sierra de Alcubierre in the Monegros on the Aragonese Front, during the freezing winter of 1937 (above photo by batiskafo on Flickr). He famously described his experiences in Homage to Catalonia. Unlike the diaries he wrote in the very late 1930s and 40s, which have […]
    • Spain tags

      Anís del Juliano Badalona Badalona anis factory Beatus manuscript Bilbao Bilbao in the 20th century Bottle of Anis del Mono by Juan Gris Bottle of Anís del Mono Bull's Anisette Caceres Caixaforum Catalan landscape artists Celtic languages in Spain Charles Darwin icons Colla del Safrà Comer bien o comer mal es una cuestión cultural Cypress of Silos Ea El ciprés de Silos etymology of Spanish placenames etymology of Spanish towns Gaulish Spanish Geographical placenames in Spain Hemingway and Anis History of Las Hurdes Jean Gaumy Joaquim Mir Joaquim Mir in Mallorca King Alfonso XVIII Land Without Bread Luis Buñuel Manual Vázquez Montalbán monstrance origin of Spanish words Romanesque architecture in Spain shipwrecks in Spain Spanish alcoholic drinks Spanish Gregorian chants Spanish shipwrecks Spanish sonnets Spanish toponyms The Monkey's Anisette The Rock in the Pond Toponyms in Spain Villarcayo de Merindad de Castilla la Vieja
    • RSS Barcelona blog

      • Sagrada Familia’s falcons
      • Beer tour in Barcelona
      • Report on BTV on tours
      • Hans Beimler
      • A packet of tobacco
    • RSS The Guardian on Spain

      • Eurozone crisis as it happened: Italian PM warns EU could 'implode' without action on growth and jobs
        Enrico Letta says Europe must end its timidity on issues such as youth unemployment, or voters will 'make it implode'Graeme WeardenNick Fletcher     […]
      • Vodafone reports first ever fall in revenues as southern Europe slumps
        Overall revenues fell by 4.2% to £44.4bn, marking the first such contraction in the UK mobile phone company's historyVodafone has recorded its first ever fall in annual revenues as the recession in southern Europe caused its income there to dip by almost 17%.With its finances under pressure, the British mobile phone company said it would reinvest next m […]
    • RSS Blog de lengua española

      • Soluciones: acentuación de nombres propios de persona
      • Ejercicios: acentuación de nombres propios de persona
    • Meta

      • Log in
      • Entries RSS
      • Comments RSS
      • WordPress.org
    • Follow this blog
    iberianature – Spanish history and culture is proudly powered by WordPress Entries (RSS) and Comments (RSS). Theme by Bob