0:00:04 > 0:00:07I'm embarking on a new railway adventure that will take me
0:00:07 > 0:00:09to the Western Mediterranean.
0:00:11 > 0:00:12I'll be using this -
0:00:12 > 0:00:18my Bradshaw's Continental Railway Guide, dated 1913, which opened up
0:00:18 > 0:00:22an exotic world of foreign travel for the British tourist.
0:00:22 > 0:00:26It told travellers where to go, what to see and how to navigate
0:00:26 > 0:00:30the thousands of miles of tracks crisscrossing the continent.
0:00:30 > 0:00:32Now, a century later,
0:00:32 > 0:00:36I'm using my copy to reveal an era of great optimism and energy
0:00:36 > 0:00:41where technology, industry, science and the arts were flourishing.
0:00:42 > 0:00:47I want to rediscover that lost Europe that, in 1913, couldn't know
0:00:47 > 0:00:52that its way of life would shortly be swept aside by the advent of war.
0:01:09 > 0:01:11On this journey through eastern Spain, I'll lift
0:01:11 > 0:01:16the lid on Europe's Belle Epoque to uncover the revolutionary
0:01:16 > 0:01:19fervour erupting in this newly industrialising nation.
0:01:26 > 0:01:29According to my Bradshaw's, I'm in Spain,
0:01:29 > 0:01:33but in 1913, many people felt a stronger allegiance
0:01:33 > 0:01:36to their region than they did to the country.
0:01:36 > 0:01:40And Spain was further divided between agricultural workers
0:01:40 > 0:01:44and gentry, and factory workers and owners.
0:01:44 > 0:01:49The ruling class, recently humiliated by the loss of Spain's American
0:01:49 > 0:01:53colonies, was targeted by an anarchist bombing campaign.
0:01:53 > 0:01:59And those tensions would build during the 1930s into a civil war
0:01:59 > 0:02:03that divided my Spanish family and sent my Spanish father into exile.
0:02:12 > 0:02:15I'll begin in Barcelona, capital of the Catalans,
0:02:15 > 0:02:19and follow the coast to the Roman city of Tarragona.
0:02:19 > 0:02:21From there, I'll head to Valencia.
0:02:21 > 0:02:24An early 20th-century outbreak of railway mania
0:02:24 > 0:02:28on the largest of the Balearic Islands draws me
0:02:28 > 0:02:32to Palma in Majorca, from where I'll travel to Manacor.
0:02:32 > 0:02:36I'll end my journey in the beautiful port of Soller.
0:02:41 > 0:02:45'Along the way, I'm trampled underfoot at the bottom of a Catalan
0:02:45 > 0:02:47'people steeple...'
0:02:47 > 0:02:50We keep our heads down so we're not really even aware of what's going on.
0:02:50 > 0:02:54Here comes someone else on top of me, I think. Yup, that's right!
0:02:54 > 0:02:58'I pay homage to Barcelona's most famous architect...'
0:02:58 > 0:03:00The reason it's so full of light is
0:03:00 > 0:03:02because he was able to get rid of the structural impositions
0:03:02 > 0:03:05that the Gothic masters weren't able to deal with themselves.
0:03:05 > 0:03:09Mark, I've understood more in the last ten seconds than I had in years.
0:03:09 > 0:03:12'I learn to make the perfect paella...'
0:03:12 > 0:03:13He's being very nice.
0:03:13 > 0:03:16He's saying that it seems I've been doing paellas all my life.
0:03:16 > 0:03:18I've been eating them all my life!
0:03:18 > 0:03:19TRAIN HOOTS
0:03:19 > 0:03:22'..and spoil myself with a spectacular scenic
0:03:22 > 0:03:26'ride aboard a sublime 1912 vintage Mallorcan railway.'
0:03:27 > 0:03:32To be on a train in the open air, enjoying the sunshine,
0:03:32 > 0:03:34this is absolutely perfect.
0:03:46 > 0:03:50The port city of Barcelona lies between the Collserola mountains
0:03:50 > 0:03:51and the Mediterranean Sea.
0:03:55 > 0:03:59Visitors from all over the world are drawn to its cosmopolitan
0:03:59 > 0:04:00avant-garde centre.
0:04:01 > 0:04:06They come to admire the city's superb modernista architecture,
0:04:06 > 0:04:11the fine art of Spain's most brilliant painters,
0:04:11 > 0:04:14to sample the rich and sophisticated Catalan cuisine...
0:04:16 > 0:04:17..and to party.
0:04:21 > 0:04:26Rail tourists today arrive at the 1970s-built Barcelona Sants station.
0:04:32 > 0:04:36"Barcelona," says Bradshaw's, "is the most important commercial
0:04:36 > 0:04:41"and industrial city of Spain, the activity of the population
0:04:41 > 0:04:46"contrasting with the dullness noticeable elsewhere."
0:04:46 > 0:04:49I'm in Catalonia - a region that has its own language
0:04:49 > 0:04:53and where independence is hotly debated.
0:04:53 > 0:04:55At the start of the 20th century,
0:04:55 > 0:04:58Barcelona had what Karl Marx called a proletariat -
0:04:58 > 0:05:02urban workers who were aggrieved, politically conscious
0:05:02 > 0:05:06and class conscious, a recipe for revolution.
0:05:14 > 0:05:19In 1909, these workers called a general strike.
0:05:19 > 0:05:21They were protesting against the call-up of reserve
0:05:21 > 0:05:26soldiers from Catalonia to fight a last-ditch imperial war in Morocco.
0:05:27 > 0:05:31Republican Catalonia wanted no part of it.
0:05:33 > 0:05:37The strike was to escalate into open revolt.
0:05:37 > 0:05:40I'm on my way to the castle of Montjuic on the heights
0:05:40 > 0:05:44of the south side of the city, and Bradshaw's promises me
0:05:44 > 0:05:48a fine view from the heights. Well, there's no doubt about that at all.
0:05:48 > 0:05:52But the castle, like so many beautiful things in Spain,
0:05:52 > 0:05:53has a darker history.
0:05:55 > 0:05:59I've arranged a rendezvous up on its battlements with historian
0:05:59 > 0:06:03professor Enric Ucelay-Da Cal to find out more about a bleak
0:06:03 > 0:06:06chapter in Barcelona's past.
0:06:08 > 0:06:11Enric, in 1909, I believe there was, in Barcelona,
0:06:11 > 0:06:12a thing called the Tragic Week.
0:06:12 > 0:06:15If we'd come up to a vantage point above the city,
0:06:15 > 0:06:17what would we have seen at that time?
0:06:17 > 0:06:22You would have seen columns of smoke from burning buildings...
0:06:24 > 0:06:27..churches, religious buildings,
0:06:27 > 0:06:30schools that were being burnt over several days.
0:06:31 > 0:06:34So who was doing the burning and with what motive?
0:06:34 > 0:06:37Urban workers, factory workers, shop workers.
0:06:37 > 0:06:40They are tearing up the streets, putting up barricades
0:06:40 > 0:06:44and burning the churches as a first response, a first attack,
0:06:44 > 0:06:47against the powers that be.
0:06:47 > 0:06:50They're burnt in the midst of a popular revolt.
0:06:50 > 0:06:53What was it that they had against the Church?
0:06:53 > 0:06:57My interpretation is this is a highly,
0:06:57 > 0:07:03highly Catholic society, even for those who are unbelievers.
0:07:03 > 0:07:07Consequently, when you have to be angry,
0:07:07 > 0:07:11you're angry at those who have betrayed the message of God.
0:07:11 > 0:07:13How many people are killed in this period?
0:07:13 > 0:07:20In all of Catalonia, over 110. 76 or so in Barcelona city,
0:07:20 > 0:07:22mostly civilians.
0:07:22 > 0:07:26There's a lot of pressure to find a scapegoat for the revolt.
0:07:26 > 0:07:29There are trials and five are shot.
0:07:31 > 0:07:34Among the executed was the anarchist revolutionary,
0:07:34 > 0:07:37Francesc Ferrer i Guardia.
0:07:37 > 0:07:39Although he was many miles away from Barcelona
0:07:39 > 0:07:42at the time, the authorities seized the chance to rid
0:07:42 > 0:07:46themselves of a troublesome free thinker who'd set out to
0:07:46 > 0:07:50undermine the Catholic Church's grip on education with
0:07:50 > 0:07:52a network of secular schools.
0:07:53 > 0:07:59He's found, arrested, tried. It's somewhat of a drumhead trial.
0:07:59 > 0:08:01And he is shot just behind us.
0:08:02 > 0:08:05These very violent events in 1909 seem to have
0:08:05 > 0:08:10some of the elements of what becomes the Spanish Civil War in 1936.
0:08:10 > 0:08:13- Am I exaggerating that?- Not at all. I think you're absolutely right.
0:08:13 > 0:08:15There's somewhat of a tradition.
0:08:15 > 0:08:18If you have a revolution, you've got to go for the priests.
0:08:18 > 0:08:24And so, in 1936, the first impulse is indeed to burn churches
0:08:24 > 0:08:26and to kill priests and monks.
0:08:26 > 0:08:30- And in 1937, there is a thoroughgoing revolution here.- Oh, yes, indeed.
0:08:30 > 0:08:33'36, '37, it is a thoroughgoing revolution.
0:08:36 > 0:08:40Throughout Catalonia, workers took over management of railways,
0:08:40 > 0:08:44factories and businesses and declared farmland under collective ownership.
0:08:46 > 0:08:48But the revolution was crushed
0:08:48 > 0:08:52when nationalist forces under General Francesc Franco finally
0:08:52 > 0:08:55captured Catalonia and proclaimed victory in the Civil War.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00- ARCHIVE:- The new ruler of Spain rides into the city of his conquest.
0:09:00 > 0:09:03Behind him, his Moors. His army lines the route.
0:09:09 > 0:09:11Now, you and I have something in common, I think.
0:09:11 > 0:09:16Your mother and my father both left Barcelona in January of 1939.
0:09:16 > 0:09:18- Quite a coincidence.- Yes, indeed.
0:09:18 > 0:09:19We both have ghosts,
0:09:19 > 0:09:22and those ghosts somehow have to be laid to rest.
0:09:23 > 0:09:25And it's not always easy.
0:09:26 > 0:09:28I think I'm going to see
0:09:28 > 0:09:30whether I can find the ghost of poor old Ferrer.
0:09:30 > 0:09:32- Hasta luego, Enric.- Hasta luego.
0:09:45 > 0:09:48It was in a cell like this that Francesc Ferrer was held
0:09:48 > 0:09:53before he was taken out to the castle walls and shot by a firing squad.
0:09:54 > 0:09:59He was one of the early victims of Spain's violent 20th century because,
0:09:59 > 0:10:04although it didn't participate in the First World War or the Second, still,
0:10:04 > 0:10:11hundreds of thousands of Spaniards died at the hands of other Spaniards.
0:10:33 > 0:10:37A century ago, a visitor to Barcelona would have seen the first
0:10:37 > 0:10:42signs of an extraordinarily ambitious building project.
0:10:42 > 0:10:46And today, its spires soar into the sky.
0:10:46 > 0:10:52When it's finished, it will be the tallest church building in the world.
0:10:52 > 0:10:55It is the Church of the Holy Family - la Sagrada Familia.
0:11:01 > 0:11:07Still a work in progress, Europe's most idiosyncratic church is the
0:11:07 > 0:11:11emblem of the city and the greatest work of one extraordinary man.
0:11:13 > 0:11:17The architect of the Holy Family Church was Antoni Gaudi,
0:11:17 > 0:11:19whose works are to be found all over Barcelona.
0:11:19 > 0:11:24But this is a tribute to Gothic cathedrals from all over Spain,
0:11:24 > 0:11:28reinterpreted in a highly personal style by a genius.
0:11:28 > 0:11:31And when it's eventually finished, it will have taken
0:11:31 > 0:11:34a century-and-a-half to build, as many cathedrals did.
0:11:34 > 0:11:38And the modern cranes today are achieving wonders,
0:11:38 > 0:11:42as Gothic builders did with ropes and pulleys.
0:11:48 > 0:11:52It's said that Gaudi conceived the Sagrada Familia as an atonement
0:11:52 > 0:11:54for the city's sins.
0:11:56 > 0:12:01And every detail of this vast space exudes his piety and devotion.
0:12:02 > 0:12:07Three richly ornamented facades tell of the Nativity, the Passion
0:12:07 > 0:12:11and the Glory. Words from the Bible adorn the towers.
0:12:11 > 0:12:16And when completed, 18 spires will represent Christ,
0:12:16 > 0:12:20the four Evangelists, the Virgin Mary and the 12 Apostles.
0:12:25 > 0:12:28I want to understand what Gaudi was trying to achieve.
0:12:28 > 0:12:32And who better to ask than the architect who's taken
0:12:32 > 0:12:36on the responsibility of completing his vision, New Zealander Mark Burry?
0:12:43 > 0:12:46Mark, hello. This is THE most stunning church.
0:12:46 > 0:12:50I mean, really breathtaking. And you have the privilege of working on it.
0:12:50 > 0:12:52How on earth does that feel?
0:12:52 > 0:12:56One feels humbled to be part of a very talented team on such
0:12:56 > 0:13:00- an extraordinary architect. - What brought you here?
0:13:00 > 0:13:05Oh, the fact that it was allegedly unfinishable and abandoned.
0:13:05 > 0:13:08And you're trying to do, here, his concept, are you?
0:13:08 > 0:13:11- You haven't changed his concept very much?- Not at all.
0:13:11 > 0:13:13We have the plan of the building, as he originally set it out.
0:13:13 > 0:13:15The nave that we're currently in,
0:13:15 > 0:13:18this was all modelled at a scale of one to ten and,
0:13:18 > 0:13:20over the decades, it's been sort of unpeeling
0:13:20 > 0:13:22the secrets from the models and finding just how
0:13:22 > 0:13:26rich his architectural vocabulary was and how deep his ambition.
0:13:26 > 0:13:28And, as you've worked on the building,
0:13:28 > 0:13:31what impression have you gained of Gaudi, the architect?
0:13:31 > 0:13:35It's a personal quest to improve on the Gothic.
0:13:35 > 0:13:39Gothic architecture produced the great cathedrals of Europe but they
0:13:39 > 0:13:43have their Achilles heels or the crutches, as he'd call them.
0:13:50 > 0:13:54The roofs and the walls of the great Gothic cathedrals were
0:13:54 > 0:13:56supported by vast buttresses,
0:13:56 > 0:14:00but Gaudi managed to balance the structure of the Sagrada Familia
0:14:00 > 0:14:05without them, and specified the stone for each column
0:14:05 > 0:14:09according to the load that it would have to bear in ascending order,
0:14:09 > 0:14:14beginning with granite then basalt and, finally, porphyry.
0:14:14 > 0:14:17And so, this building, the reason it's so full of light is
0:14:17 > 0:14:20because he was able to get rid of the structural impositions that the
0:14:20 > 0:14:23Gothic masters weren't able to deal with themselves.
0:14:23 > 0:14:24Mike, I've often been to this building.
0:14:24 > 0:14:28I've understood more in the last ten seconds than I have in years.
0:14:28 > 0:14:32Gaudi dies in 1926. What were the circumstances of his death?
0:14:32 > 0:14:37It was very sudden. He was living on site and had a terrible accident.
0:14:37 > 0:14:40He went to Mass, as he did every evening,
0:14:40 > 0:14:43and on his return was hit by a tram.
0:14:46 > 0:14:50Haunted by the violence of the Tragic Week and the damage that it
0:14:50 > 0:14:55wreaked on Barcelona's Gothic fabric, Gaudi had withdrawn from public life.
0:14:57 > 0:15:02When he was found, his clothing was such that he just
0:15:02 > 0:15:04appeared to be a sort of vagabond.
0:15:04 > 0:15:06And it was just to do with his modesty.
0:15:06 > 0:15:10He just simply devoted himself to the task of getting the building
0:15:10 > 0:15:14finished, including actually living on-site in his studio.
0:15:14 > 0:15:17I don't think there's any greater tribute to Gaudi as an architect
0:15:17 > 0:15:21than to meet someone who's literally devoted his life to him.
0:15:21 > 0:15:22Thank you very much indeed. Bye.
0:15:26 > 0:15:29Gaudi wrote, "There's no reason to regret that
0:15:29 > 0:15:31"I cannot finish the church.
0:15:31 > 0:15:36"I will grow old but others will come after me." How right he was.
0:15:50 > 0:15:52Few cities in Europe boast more cafes,
0:15:52 > 0:15:57restaurants or bars per square kilometre than Barcelona.
0:15:59 > 0:16:03- Buenas tardes!- Buenas tardes! - A beautiful cafe.- Si, gracias.
0:16:04 > 0:16:06When is it... When did it start?
0:16:06 > 0:16:07HE TRANSLATES INTO SPANISH
0:16:07 > 0:16:12- IN SPANISH AND ENGLISH:- 1929.- 1929?
0:16:12 > 0:16:15- Like a coffee...- Like a coffee shop? - Yes.- Excellent. It's so beautiful.
0:16:15 > 0:16:19Now, I want to have something typically Catalan. What shall I have?
0:16:19 > 0:16:25- Crema catalana,- cava. Exactly! Crema catalana y cava. Thank you.- OK.
0:16:28 > 0:16:34Crema catalana is very much like the French creme brulee. It's custard.
0:16:34 > 0:16:37It tends to be flavoured either with orange zest or lemon zest
0:16:37 > 0:16:41but it's got cinnamon in it and then it's got the caramelised top.
0:16:41 > 0:16:45And cava is a sparkling wine from Catalonia.
0:16:45 > 0:16:47I know Spanish people who tell me that they
0:16:47 > 0:16:51invented how to make sparkling wine before they did in Champagne.
0:16:51 > 0:16:53Now, I don't know whether that's true or not,
0:16:53 > 0:16:56but it tends to be very good and, of course, much cheaper.
0:16:59 > 0:17:00Mm!
0:17:23 > 0:17:27In medieval times, Catalonia was already an advanced society with
0:17:27 > 0:17:32its own governmental institutions, paying homage to the King of Aragon.
0:17:33 > 0:17:36That history is a source of regional pride
0:17:36 > 0:17:40expressed in a distinctive language and distinctive music.
0:17:53 > 0:17:57The pride that Catalans feel for their distinct identity can be
0:17:57 > 0:17:59seen all over Barcelona,
0:17:59 > 0:18:03and the exquisite Art Nouveau Palau de la Musica,
0:18:03 > 0:18:08dedicated to the music of Catalonia, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site
0:18:08 > 0:18:14and an acutely emotional symbol of the region's cultural heritage.
0:18:15 > 0:18:19I want to discover more about this unique building from deputy
0:18:19 > 0:18:22artistic director Victor Garcia.
0:18:24 > 0:18:26- Hello, welcome.- Hello, Victor. - Hello. Nice to meet you.
0:18:26 > 0:18:29This is just the most beautiful building!
0:18:29 > 0:18:32It would have been quite new at the time of my Bradshaw's guide.
0:18:32 > 0:18:36I imagined tourists arriving then to hear concerts. Why was it built?
0:18:37 > 0:18:40Well, Orfeo Catala, which is the owner of the building,
0:18:40 > 0:18:45is an amateur choir, and they were looking for a house to make
0:18:45 > 0:18:47rehearsals, to make their own concerts.
0:18:47 > 0:18:52So the founder asks a leading architect from that moment to
0:18:52 > 0:18:56- build this wonderful concert hall. - I mean, it is so wonderful.
0:18:56 > 0:18:58What sort of a style would you describe this?
0:18:58 > 0:19:02It's called Jugendstil. It's just a movement.
0:19:02 > 0:19:05The people who are working all around this quarter,
0:19:05 > 0:19:07they were building different clothes,
0:19:07 > 0:19:11and so, people wanted to have a sort of magical moment
0:19:11 > 0:19:14entering in this space where it's magical
0:19:14 > 0:19:19and where all the botanic flowers and magical animals are all around.
0:19:19 > 0:19:24It's like entering in a very sort of fantasy space.
0:19:24 > 0:19:27Now, this was built for a Catalan choir,
0:19:27 > 0:19:32so was it, in itself, an expression of Catalan pride, nationalism, even?
0:19:32 > 0:19:36Yes. This amateur choir, Orfeo Catala,
0:19:36 > 0:19:41was founded in 1891, and Palau de la Musica was built later on...
0:19:41 > 0:19:43some years later, in 1904.
0:19:43 > 0:19:46So they had, in the repertoire, always the Catalan
0:19:46 > 0:19:49music as one of the biggest aims.
0:19:49 > 0:19:53But I think, after the Spanish Civil War, the Catalan language
0:19:53 > 0:19:58- and other expressions of Catalan nationalism were suppressed.- Yes.
0:19:58 > 0:20:00So presumably, there could be no performances in the Catalan
0:20:00 > 0:20:02- language in that period.- Yes.
0:20:02 > 0:20:05For several years, the Palau de la Musica was really closed.
0:20:05 > 0:20:09So Orfeo Catala was not allowed to sing, especially all
0:20:09 > 0:20:14the traditional Catalan music, and that continued for years.
0:20:17 > 0:20:21To defy the ban during the Franco dictatorship was dangerous.
0:20:21 > 0:20:25Political opponents of the regime could expect to be jailed, especially
0:20:25 > 0:20:29for singing the emotionally-charged anthem el Cant De La Senyera.
0:20:31 > 0:20:34Cant De La Senyera - canta, song. Senyera - what does that mean?
0:20:34 > 0:20:36Senyera is a sort of flag.
0:20:36 > 0:20:41Still today, we always put this flag inside the concert hall,
0:20:41 > 0:20:42so it's quite important.
0:20:42 > 0:20:45So it was the song, the anthem, for the flag,
0:20:45 > 0:20:49that it's one of the symbols from the choir.
0:20:49 > 0:20:51MUSIC: Cant De La Senyera
0:20:51 > 0:20:56# Alcarem els ulls al cel
0:20:56 > 0:21:01# Per mirar-te sobirana
0:21:01 > 0:21:07# Alcarem els ulls al cel
0:21:09 > 0:21:15# Al damunt dels nostres cants... #
0:21:15 > 0:21:18Young people singing in their own Catalan
0:21:18 > 0:21:22language about their own Catalan choir and its Catalan flag.
0:21:23 > 0:21:25Emotional stuff.
0:21:25 > 0:21:30# Mes triomfants. #
0:21:37 > 0:21:39- ALL:- Cheese!
0:21:42 > 0:21:46THEY CLAP AND CHEER
0:22:06 > 0:22:10I'm back at Barcelona Sants station.
0:22:10 > 0:22:13The first railway line in Spain was built from Barcelona
0:22:13 > 0:22:16north to Mataro in 1848.
0:22:16 > 0:22:20But I'll head south-west along the beautiful coast of Catalonia.
0:22:25 > 0:22:30Spanish railways apparently love to give their trains special names.
0:22:30 > 0:22:33There's Ave, Avant, Talgo.
0:22:33 > 0:22:37This one's called Alvia and it's one of the now very extensive
0:22:37 > 0:22:40family of high-speed trains in Spain.
0:22:59 > 0:23:03Many Spanish towns and cities were found by the Romans.
0:23:03 > 0:23:09After my stop, this train goes on to Zaragoza, which was Caesar Augustus.
0:23:09 > 0:23:13I'm going to get off at Tarragona and if you think that's a mouthful,
0:23:13 > 0:23:20its Roman name was Colonia Iulia Urbs Triumphalis Tarraco for short.
0:23:45 > 0:23:49The Romans clearly knew a good thing when they conquered it.
0:23:49 > 0:23:52Back in the third century BC,
0:23:52 > 0:23:57the ideal combination of strategic location, mild climate and good
0:23:57 > 0:24:02local wine made Tarragona the capital of Rome's biggest Spanish province.
0:24:25 > 0:24:29Bradshaw's tells me that fragments of the Romans are to be seen everywhere.
0:24:29 > 0:24:34Well, this magnificent amphitheatre, which had a capacity of 13,000,
0:24:34 > 0:24:36is more than a fragment!
0:24:36 > 0:24:40The Romans burnt a Christian bishop here in the year 259 AD,
0:24:40 > 0:24:43and those jeering from up here in the stands might have been
0:24:43 > 0:24:48surprised that, years later, the whole Roman Empire became Christian.
0:24:48 > 0:24:51And then Christianity in Spain saw off
0:24:51 > 0:24:55and overcame centuries of Islamic occupation.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58And by the time of my Bradshaw's guide, the Catholic Church
0:24:58 > 0:25:02in Spain was one of the most powerful and entrenched in Europe.
0:25:02 > 0:25:04And that's my potted history of Spain.
0:25:18 > 0:25:23By an amazing chance, I've arrived in L'Ametlla de Mar on the one
0:25:23 > 0:25:26Sunday in the year when they have the tuna race.
0:25:26 > 0:25:31All these men and women will be taken out by boats to the tuna cages,
0:25:31 > 0:25:34where the tuna are fattened up, and they will swim back the 5km.
0:25:34 > 0:25:39It's a race and, when they get here, they will celebrate by...guess what?
0:25:39 > 0:25:40Eating tuna.
0:25:43 > 0:25:44HORN HOOTS
0:25:44 > 0:25:47It's apparently not the only thing going on here today.
0:25:47 > 0:25:51A lot of people in red headscarves are preparing to build
0:25:51 > 0:25:55one of those terrifying people steeples, or castells,
0:25:55 > 0:25:56as they call them in Catalonia.
0:25:58 > 0:26:02How long have you been participating in making the castells?
0:26:02 > 0:26:05Three years because I love that there's such teamwork
0:26:05 > 0:26:08and that you feel so needed here and that you can't do anything alone -
0:26:08 > 0:26:12you have to do it all with the other people and you're always helping.
0:26:12 > 0:26:16And even if you're little, even if you're super-old, you can
0:26:16 > 0:26:19- always help.- What sort of ages are the ones that go to the top?- Um...
0:26:19 > 0:26:24- We have a girl that's five or six years old.- Five or six?- Yeah.
0:26:24 > 0:26:27- Climbing to the top? - Yeah, that's normal here.
0:26:27 > 0:26:32- What, to six storeys or something? - Yeah.- Wow.- Or taller.
0:26:32 > 0:26:34So, excuse me, what happens if she falls?
0:26:34 > 0:26:39- Well, she's wearing a helmet, so... - Yes...
0:26:39 > 0:26:41So it doesn't have to be dangerous.
0:26:41 > 0:26:44Anyone can be involved in the pinya at the bottom, can they?
0:26:44 > 0:26:48- Yeah, everyone.- Could I do it today? - Yes, of course.
0:26:59 > 0:27:02I do like to look the part but, apparently,
0:27:02 > 0:27:05this cummerbund will do more than help me to blend in with the crowd.
0:27:10 > 0:27:13This should prevent any accident happening to my midriff
0:27:13 > 0:27:15while I'm exerting pressure on the tower.
0:27:20 > 0:27:26What is so fantastic about all of Spain is the enthusiasm.
0:27:26 > 0:27:28There's such a sense of community still,
0:27:28 > 0:27:31and people of all ages turn out for these festivals
0:27:31 > 0:27:35and they're just so committed and so happy and so sociable.
0:27:35 > 0:27:36Makes it a wonderful country!
0:27:50 > 0:27:52When they're three years old, they start training to go up
0:27:52 > 0:27:55the castell, and when they're four years old, they can already do it!
0:27:55 > 0:27:56Bueno! Pobrecito!
0:27:57 > 0:28:02- Perdon, como te llamas?- Mariona. - Mariona. So this is Mariona.
0:28:02 > 0:28:06- Cuantos anos tienes?- Siete. - Tienes siete anos.
0:28:06 > 0:28:11You're seven years old and you're going up. She's going up today.
0:28:11 > 0:28:14No te da miedo? No?
0:28:14 > 0:28:18- Y desde cuando has subido? - Desde el ano pasado.
0:28:18 > 0:28:21And she started going up last year. Bueno. Buena suerte!
0:28:21 > 0:28:23Que te vaya muy bien!
0:28:23 > 0:28:25La vamos a pasar muy bien. We're going to have a wonderful time
0:28:25 > 0:28:28seeing Mariona go to the top.
0:28:28 > 0:28:29Hasta luego.
0:28:29 > 0:28:32THEY CLAP
0:28:33 > 0:28:36HE SPEAKS IN HIS OWN LANGUAGE Mm-hm.
0:28:38 > 0:28:40Push, push, push? Si. Si, si.
0:28:40 > 0:28:42HE SPEAKS IN HIS OWN LANGUAGE
0:28:42 > 0:28:43Si, si.
0:28:45 > 0:28:47HE SPEAKS IN HIS OWN LANGUAGE
0:28:50 > 0:28:55So my job here is to hold on to the man's arms in front of me,
0:28:55 > 0:28:58apply pressure, keep my feet in place,
0:28:58 > 0:29:02keep the pressure going as they begin the ascent.
0:29:02 > 0:29:04We're all nice and tight now,
0:29:04 > 0:29:07the muscles are closing in all around me, there we are.
0:29:07 > 0:29:09Someone's coming over the top of me...
0:29:09 > 0:29:10There we go.
0:29:13 > 0:29:16Down here in the base, we keep our heads down, so we're not
0:29:16 > 0:29:20really even aware of what's going on above us, we're just applying pressure.
0:29:20 > 0:29:22Here comes someone else on top of me, I think?
0:29:22 > 0:29:24Yeah, that's right.
0:29:25 > 0:29:30Catalans have been building castells for 300 years.
0:29:30 > 0:29:33Castellers clamber up to form the tower,
0:29:33 > 0:29:35often nine or ten storeys high,
0:29:35 > 0:29:38before the enxaneta climbs to the top
0:29:38 > 0:29:44and raises four fingers to symbolise the four stripes of the Catalan flag.
0:29:44 > 0:29:47TRADITIONAL MUSIC PLAYS
0:29:47 > 0:29:51Now the tower has been built, you can really feel the pressure.
0:29:51 > 0:29:54I'm being pushed back, but I'm holding my ground
0:29:54 > 0:29:59and someone behind me is pushing me and we're all keeping our heads down.
0:29:59 > 0:30:02Time for Mariana to make her bid for the summit.
0:30:04 > 0:30:09CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:30:09 > 0:30:12TRADITIONAL MUSIC PLAYS
0:30:20 > 0:30:21HE EXHALES
0:30:23 > 0:30:26Wow! That was much tougher than I thought.
0:30:26 > 0:30:30- That was...- Fine?- Yeah, that was good, well done!
0:30:30 > 0:30:33Magnifico castell! Magnifico!
0:30:38 > 0:30:39I'm completely exhausted.
0:30:52 > 0:30:55When I arrived in Tarragona, it was on the new,
0:30:55 > 0:30:57high-speed standard gauge network
0:30:57 > 0:31:00which tends to have modern stations built out of town.
0:31:00 > 0:31:04I'm now back on Spain's traditional wide gauge railway,
0:31:04 > 0:31:06which for more than a century,
0:31:06 > 0:31:09had the effect of separating Spain from the rest of Europe.
0:31:25 > 0:31:28On my brief journey down the Mediterranean coast from Tarragona,
0:31:28 > 0:31:32I've moved from the region of Catalonia to that of Valencia.
0:31:32 > 0:31:34And another change of lingo.
0:31:34 > 0:31:36In medieval times, the people of Valencia,
0:31:36 > 0:31:39like those of Catalonia, owed their allegiance to the
0:31:39 > 0:31:44King of Aragon rather than the king of Castile, in central Spain.
0:31:44 > 0:31:47So you can see how complicated are Spanish politics.
0:31:47 > 0:31:51I'm going to leave my exploration of the city of Valencia
0:31:51 > 0:31:54until the morning, because evening is already drawing on.
0:32:12 > 0:32:15I awake from a blissfully undisturbed sleep,
0:32:15 > 0:32:19despite being in this, the city of a hundred bell towers.
0:32:21 > 0:32:25The third-largest city in Spain, Valencia is capital of
0:32:25 > 0:32:27another fiercely distinctive region.
0:32:30 > 0:32:32I'm standing by the bullring, which is
0:32:32 > 0:32:34so obviously based on a Roman coliseum.
0:32:34 > 0:32:38Indeed, our word "arena" derives from the Latin word for the fine sand
0:32:38 > 0:32:40that was used to collect the blood.
0:32:40 > 0:32:42It's still used in bullrings today.
0:32:42 > 0:32:45It was built in the middle of the 19th century,
0:32:45 > 0:32:47about the same time as the railway station,
0:32:47 > 0:32:50and you could imagine town planners thinking that the aficionados of
0:32:50 > 0:32:54the red cape would be able to arrive easily for bullfights by train.
0:32:57 > 0:33:01One of those aficionados was the American writer, Ernest Hemingway,
0:33:01 > 0:33:03who first fell in love with Spain
0:33:03 > 0:33:07when he came to see the bulls in Pamplona in 1923.
0:33:07 > 0:33:10Later, during the Spanish Civil War, Hemingway
0:33:10 > 0:33:14returned as a journalist to report from the front line
0:33:14 > 0:33:18and famously became a supporter of the Republican cause.
0:33:25 > 0:33:28Bradshaw's recommends that I use the electric tramways.
0:33:28 > 0:33:33Spain, like many countries, has reintroduced trams in the modern age.
0:33:33 > 0:33:37And Valencia was the first city to do so, in 1994.
0:33:37 > 0:33:39Although we think of Valencia as a coastal city,
0:33:39 > 0:33:42actually the beach is some distance away.
0:33:42 > 0:33:44But now Valencians find that they can use the tram
0:33:44 > 0:33:47and be there in just 15 minutes.
0:34:32 > 0:34:34Bradshaw's tells me that Valencia
0:34:34 > 0:34:38is situated on a fertile plain on the River Turia.
0:34:38 > 0:34:42And that plain produces vast quantities of rice.
0:34:42 > 0:34:47Ask a citizen of the world what is the national dish of Spain,
0:34:47 > 0:34:50and he's likely to tell you paella.
0:34:50 > 0:34:53But ask a Spaniard, and the answer will be that paella
0:34:53 > 0:34:55is a regional dish from Valencia.
0:34:59 > 0:35:04La Pepica restaurant opened in 1898 and has been serving
0:35:04 > 0:35:07its own special paella ever since.
0:35:07 > 0:35:10I'm hoping to learn the tricks of the trade.
0:35:10 > 0:35:12- Ola, Roberto!- Ola.
0:35:12 > 0:35:14HE SPEAKS IN HIS OWN LANGUAGE
0:35:14 > 0:35:16- Paella Pepica!- Pepica!
0:35:16 > 0:35:19So the Pepica paella has all the fish
0:35:19 > 0:35:23and the seafood already prepared, chopped up and skinned.
0:35:23 > 0:35:26Here are our peeled prawns going in.
0:35:26 > 0:35:29And here is our chopped up fish.
0:35:29 > 0:35:31That's going just on top of oil.
0:35:35 > 0:35:37HE SPEAKS IN HIS OWN LANGUAGE
0:35:37 > 0:35:39We're going very well, he says.
0:35:43 > 0:35:46Paprika! "Pimenton" in Spanish.
0:35:46 > 0:35:49Paprika is what we say. Ooh!
0:35:49 > 0:35:50Got to keep this moving.
0:35:53 > 0:35:57Fresh tomato, of course. Lovely. Look at that.
0:35:57 > 0:35:59So the rice goes in at this early stage
0:35:59 > 0:36:04and is going to pick up all the flavour of the fish and the tomato.
0:36:07 > 0:36:10For now, he's adding fish stock.
0:36:10 > 0:36:13He's obviously prepared that before in these great big vats.
0:36:13 > 0:36:16It is very important that it shouldn't stick.
0:36:16 > 0:36:18HE SPEAKS IN HIS OWN LANGUAGE
0:36:18 > 0:36:20Ah...
0:36:20 > 0:36:22So the rice will come out nice and loose
0:36:22 > 0:36:24if we keep it moving at this point.
0:36:26 > 0:36:30There goes the saffron. Now, saffron is what gives it the yellow colour.
0:36:30 > 0:36:32HE SPEAKS IN HIS OWN LANGUAGE
0:36:32 > 0:36:35He's being very nice, he's saying that it seems
0:36:35 > 0:36:37I've been doing paellas all my life.
0:36:39 > 0:36:41I've been eating them all my life!
0:36:46 > 0:36:50Once the paella has reduced, it's put in the oven for five minutes
0:36:50 > 0:36:52and then it's ready to be served.
0:36:52 > 0:36:55I'm going to enjoy this traditional farm labourer's meal with
0:36:55 > 0:36:58the current proprietor, Pepe Balaguer,
0:36:58 > 0:37:00grandson of the original owners.
0:37:03 > 0:37:07HE SPEAKS IN HIS OWN LANGUAGE
0:37:10 > 0:37:13Pepe suggests that we eat the paella in the traditional way,
0:37:13 > 0:37:17straight from the pan, with each person using his own wooden spoon.
0:37:32 > 0:37:34This restaurant has always been popular
0:37:34 > 0:37:36with devotees of bullfighting.
0:37:47 > 0:37:51And among those who used to dine here was one very famous guest.
0:38:40 > 0:38:44Having encountered paella, sangria and the bullfight,
0:38:44 > 0:38:46which might strike you as Spanish cliches,
0:38:46 > 0:38:50but nonetheless genuine for that, what's left?
0:38:50 > 0:38:53The guitar. Perfected in Valencia.
0:38:59 > 0:39:03HE PLAYS TRADITIONAL MUSIC
0:39:27 > 0:39:31- Bravo! What a lovely, resonant sound. - Nice, isn't it?- Very nice.
0:39:31 > 0:39:33How do you feel, having played that?
0:39:33 > 0:39:37Really good, because it's very easy to get a nice and clear sound.
0:39:37 > 0:39:42The effort made by the fingers is just...almost nothing.
0:39:42 > 0:39:46But the sound coming out is round and straight... It's very nice.
0:39:46 > 0:39:50That's why it's so-called "Catedral", it's round and big.
0:39:50 > 0:39:53This glorious instrument was made by master guitar-maker
0:39:53 > 0:39:55Manuel Adalid Jr.
0:39:55 > 0:39:59And I find him in his workshop at the Esteve factory.
0:39:59 > 0:40:04- Don Manuel!- Ola.- Ola. Michael Portillo. Gracias.
0:40:27 > 0:40:30It's been Don Manuel's life's work.
0:40:43 > 0:40:46Manuel crafts up to 25 guitars a year,
0:40:46 > 0:40:49which can sell for £10,000 each.
0:41:14 > 0:41:17The cultural heritage of eastern Spain is vibrant
0:41:17 > 0:41:19and everywhere to be seen.
0:41:19 > 0:41:24And it retains an authenticity which reassures and delights me.
0:41:24 > 0:41:28It's not just for tourists, it's real and straight from the heart.
0:41:29 > 0:41:32My heart quickens now for a different reason.
0:41:32 > 0:41:35I'm on the trail of an early 20th-century outbreak
0:41:35 > 0:41:38of offshore railway mania.
0:41:41 > 0:41:45I'm now really looking forward to going to the island of Majorca,
0:41:45 > 0:41:48and according to my very helpful Bradshaw's guide,
0:41:48 > 0:41:51there is a steamer at 4pm every Thursday.
0:41:51 > 0:41:54Now, the early 20th-century traveller would welcome
0:41:54 > 0:41:59the opportunity of having to stay a few more days in the city.
0:41:59 > 0:42:02But I'm of the modern sort, and I need to hurry on.
0:42:02 > 0:42:05And so this Valencia metro is taking me to the airport.
0:42:07 > 0:42:08Can you forgive me?
0:42:18 > 0:42:22I'm drawn to the largest of the Balearics, Majorca.
0:42:24 > 0:42:28Strategically positioned on ancient trading routes,
0:42:28 > 0:42:33these islands have been conquered by Arabs, Catalans, French and British.
0:42:35 > 0:42:38Tomorrow, I'll explore.
0:42:51 > 0:42:55A new day finds me in the Majorcan capital of Palma.
0:42:56 > 0:42:59On an island associated with mass tourism,
0:42:59 > 0:43:03you might be surprised by the cultural wealth of the capital,
0:43:03 > 0:43:05with Moorish fountains and courtyards,
0:43:05 > 0:43:09grand Romanesque buildings, and splendid churches.
0:43:21 > 0:43:23I'll begin my discovery of the island
0:43:23 > 0:43:26from Palma's modern Placa d'Espanya station.
0:43:30 > 0:43:33Tourists travelling on the first railway line to be built
0:43:33 > 0:43:38here in 1875 would have left Palma for Inca on British-made
0:43:38 > 0:43:43rolling stock, pulled by British-built steam locomotives.
0:43:45 > 0:43:49I'm on my way to Manacor. Bradshaw's tells me that it has a population
0:43:49 > 0:43:54of 15,000 and is the second largest town on the island.
0:43:54 > 0:43:58It might have added that it is a kind of jewel in the crown of Majorca.
0:43:58 > 0:44:00It had only become a town in 1912,
0:44:00 > 0:44:04based largely on the wealth of manufacturing pearls -
0:44:04 > 0:44:07a system designed to make oysters redundant.
0:44:07 > 0:44:10And so my journey has strings attached.
0:44:13 > 0:44:17THEY SPEAK SPANISH
0:44:19 > 0:44:2163, 64km from Palma to Manacor.
0:44:28 > 0:44:33Ah. We've got to change trains at a place called Inca, and that is
0:44:33 > 0:44:36because we are on the electric line now, but the last bit has not been
0:44:36 > 0:44:40electrified, so we have to get off this electric train
0:44:40 > 0:44:41and onto a diesel.
0:44:47 > 0:44:51This final leg to Manacor was completed in 1879.
0:45:04 > 0:45:08We're now passing through an area of vineyards and olive groves.
0:45:08 > 0:45:13I see little stone farmhouses, animals grazing.
0:45:13 > 0:45:14This is quite a long way from most people's
0:45:14 > 0:45:17idea of the island of Majorca.
0:45:25 > 0:45:29The train is taking me through the fertile plain of Es Pla.
0:45:39 > 0:45:43The Edwardian tourist would have been drawn to Manacor by the prospect
0:45:43 > 0:45:48of shopping, for the latest must-have fashion accessory, an artificial
0:45:48 > 0:45:53pearl necklace from the Majorica factory, established here in 1902.
0:45:53 > 0:45:57I'll find out more from export manager Didier Grupposo.
0:45:58 > 0:46:02So, Didier, I guess that we are at the very heart of the process here.
0:46:02 > 0:46:04What is it that these ladies are doing?
0:46:04 > 0:46:08Well, they are applying a layer of the famous
0:46:08 > 0:46:10Majorica pearl essence.
0:46:10 > 0:46:13It may be famous to you, but I don't know what it is.
0:46:13 > 0:46:14What is this essence?
0:46:14 > 0:46:18Well, it is a big secret, but I will say to you that it is organic lemons
0:46:18 > 0:46:21from the Mediterranean Sea. I can't tell you more.
0:46:21 > 0:46:23Had I come here 100 years ago, with this guidebook,
0:46:23 > 0:46:25would I have seen the same process?
0:46:25 > 0:46:29Well, at the very beginning, we need people to blow glass,
0:46:29 > 0:46:31and that is why we came here to Manacor.
0:46:31 > 0:46:35There was a long tradition of blown glass.
0:46:35 > 0:46:40Blown glass pearls would be weighted with white wax and then tinted.
0:46:40 > 0:46:45But they were fragile and not as realistic as today's Majorica pearls.
0:46:45 > 0:46:48Now, not only the look and feel, but even the weight
0:46:48 > 0:46:50is exactly the same as a natural pearl.
0:46:50 > 0:46:54I mean, if I take a natural pearl and a Majorica pearl,
0:46:54 > 0:46:56you can't see the difference.
0:46:56 > 0:46:59Now, what's happened to the real sea creatures? Because these things used
0:46:59 > 0:47:00to come from oysters, didn't they?
0:47:00 > 0:47:02No, it is forbidden. You can't...
0:47:02 > 0:47:06You can't go and dive in the sea and catch an oyster,
0:47:06 > 0:47:10so with Majorica pearl, you've got a definitive solution.
0:47:10 > 0:47:13And this area... You and I have just walked in here, but presumably
0:47:13 > 0:47:16- you don't invite people off the streets to come...- No, no, no...
0:47:16 > 0:47:21This is because of you, otherwise it is a very secret space here.
0:47:21 > 0:47:25One part of the process hasn't changed in 100 years.
0:47:25 > 0:47:29The pearls continue to be strung by hand.
0:47:29 > 0:47:32Maria has been doing the job for 25 years.
0:47:36 > 0:47:40Putting the knots into this string of pearls.
0:47:46 > 0:47:50Both her grandmother and her aunt worked here.
0:47:54 > 0:47:57They began very, very young. 14 or 15 years old when they began.
0:47:57 > 0:47:59'When the factory opened,
0:47:59 > 0:48:03'nearly every family in town had a member working here.
0:48:03 > 0:48:05'And it's still a major employer.'
0:48:06 > 0:48:08Muy bien. Estupendo.
0:48:09 > 0:48:11'How hard can it be?'
0:48:17 > 0:48:20I must get the string around my little finger. Si, no?
0:48:20 > 0:48:23Si. A si.
0:48:31 > 0:48:34- Bien.- A- si. Bien.- Bien.
0:48:40 > 0:48:42Ah! Si.
0:48:44 > 0:48:46SHE LAUGHS
0:48:48 > 0:48:50Got to go through the pearl.
0:48:52 > 0:48:55- A- si?- Si. Ah, bien, bien, bien, bien, bien.
0:48:55 > 0:48:57SHE LAUGHS
0:48:57 > 0:48:59A si. Si.
0:48:59 > 0:49:03Maria, I think this is absolutely impossible. I'm very sorry.
0:49:03 > 0:49:05I'm going to leave it to you.
0:49:05 > 0:49:06HE SPEAKS SPANISH
0:49:06 > 0:49:07SHE LAUGHS
0:49:11 > 0:49:15As I return to Palma, I'm struck by how my impression
0:49:15 > 0:49:19of the island has been transformed by following the tracks.
0:49:26 > 0:49:29If you're used to thinking about Majorca as a sun
0:49:29 > 0:49:33and sand resort, then you will find it full of surprises.
0:49:33 > 0:49:37You don't expect a Gothic cathedral with one of the highest
0:49:37 > 0:49:39naves in the world.
0:49:39 > 0:49:44Nor to have an evening drink in a 17th-century palace.
0:49:44 > 0:49:48I didn't expect an extensive system of railways.
0:49:50 > 0:49:55And my last surprise of the day is a glass of red Majorca wine.
0:50:25 > 0:50:27I'm on my way to Soller.
0:50:27 > 0:50:31Bradshaw's tells me it is in a fine situation at the base of Puig Major,
0:50:31 > 0:50:35which rises to 4,740 feet.
0:50:35 > 0:50:37The harbour is about two miles north,
0:50:37 > 0:50:40and the lemon is extensively cultivated.
0:50:40 > 0:50:45Indeed, this railway was built around the time of my Bradshaw's guide,
0:50:45 > 0:50:50partly to carry citrus fruits. It's known as the Orange Express.
0:50:50 > 0:50:52It's a train with appeal.
0:51:10 > 0:51:12This is absolutely perfect.
0:51:12 > 0:51:17To be on a train in the open air, enjoying the sunshine,
0:51:17 > 0:51:20the blue sky, the landscape.
0:51:20 > 0:51:23If you do only one thing when you come to Majorca, it is
0:51:23 > 0:51:25not the beach, it is the Orange Express.
0:51:39 > 0:51:43This wonderful line opened in 1912.
0:51:43 > 0:51:48It was so new when my Bradshaw's was published that it is not mentioned.
0:51:48 > 0:51:51But canny tourists abandoning my guidebook would have enjoyed
0:51:51 > 0:51:54a spectacular ride.
0:51:54 > 0:51:58The narrow gauge line rises close to 200 metres.
0:52:07 > 0:52:10Why have we stopped here for ten minutes?
0:52:10 > 0:52:12Well, we stopped to have a view of Soller,
0:52:12 > 0:52:16and now we are waiting for another train to cross.
0:52:16 > 0:52:19- Are we OK to stand here?- Yes, it is safe.- Thank you.
0:52:19 > 0:52:21I feel in good hands.
0:52:23 > 0:52:27HORN BLARES
0:53:00 > 0:53:06So now the town of Soller, which was on the right of the train,
0:53:06 > 0:53:08appears on the left of the train
0:53:08 > 0:53:13because we have looped down from the mountain and gradually come
0:53:13 > 0:53:18alongside amongst the beautiful buildings of this exquisite town.
0:53:22 > 0:53:26And all the way along, the lemons are within
0:53:26 > 0:53:29touching distance of the crate.
0:53:31 > 0:53:36Oranges and lemons have grown here for nearly 1,000 years.
0:53:36 > 0:53:39Once their role in preventing scurvy had been
0:53:39 > 0:53:43discovered in the 18th century, the British Royal Navy became
0:53:43 > 0:53:47an important customer, and business blossomed.
0:53:47 > 0:53:50I'm hoping to discover what makes this area so perfect for citrus
0:53:50 > 0:53:53from farmer Franz Kraus.
0:53:59 > 0:54:02Franz, this is such a divine place. It is really beautiful.
0:54:02 > 0:54:05Yes, thank you very much. It is called "the paradise".
0:54:05 > 0:54:07It is our paradise.
0:54:07 > 0:54:09Why does the island lend itself so well
0:54:09 > 0:54:12to the cultivation of oranges and lemons?
0:54:12 > 0:54:17Well, each plant has to have its own microclimate.
0:54:17 > 0:54:20And this place is a very special place
0:54:20 > 0:54:22for the microclimate of the oranges.
0:54:22 > 0:54:25So we've got a lot of water here, we get the heat,
0:54:25 > 0:54:27and we don't get the freeze.
0:54:27 > 0:54:31I had a delightful journey here, on the railway to Soller.
0:54:31 > 0:54:34How important was that for oranges and lemons?
0:54:34 > 0:54:36You have to understand, before there was a train,
0:54:36 > 0:54:38this valley was isolated
0:54:38 > 0:54:42from Majorca, and therefore it was called "the island on the island".
0:54:42 > 0:54:48And there was a small revolution with a fast-going train,
0:54:48 > 0:54:5240km the hour until Palma.
0:54:52 > 0:54:57And now it's a perfect machine to come back from the big
0:54:57 > 0:55:02- cities on a slower life.- I feel completely slowed down, myself.
0:55:02 > 0:55:04Thank you.
0:55:04 > 0:55:07'Franz is proud of the marmalade that he makes from his fruit,
0:55:07 > 0:55:11'and has kindly invited me to a tasting on the terrace.'
0:55:11 > 0:55:14Now, a lovely array of marmalades.
0:55:14 > 0:55:16What sorts of marmalades do we have here?
0:55:16 > 0:55:18Well, this one is bitter orange.
0:55:18 > 0:55:21This one is Canoneta orange.
0:55:21 > 0:55:25And this one is lemon.
0:55:25 > 0:55:27I'm going to try the orange
0:55:27 > 0:55:31because I'm most familiar with British orange marmalades.
0:55:39 > 0:55:44- Mmm! Franz, it is quite different. Quite different.- Yes.
0:55:44 > 0:55:47- It is very, very fruity, not so very sugary.- Yes.
0:55:47 > 0:55:50And a kind of purity to it.
0:55:50 > 0:55:53- Yes.- I think we've been making marmalade in Britain
0:55:53 > 0:55:56for, I don't know, hundreds of years,
0:55:56 > 0:55:59but this offers pretty zesty competition.
0:56:17 > 0:56:19HORN TOOTS
0:56:20 > 0:56:24The harbour at Soller will be my last port of call.
0:56:24 > 0:56:28And I've found another beautiful vehicle with which to make tracks.
0:56:44 > 0:56:49The tram was built in 1913 to connect town to port,
0:56:49 > 0:56:52and opened just after the inauguration
0:56:52 > 0:56:54of the Palma to Soller railway line.
0:57:00 > 0:57:03The Mediterranean is stunningly beautiful.
0:57:03 > 0:57:06But if you want to enjoy the sea without getting
0:57:06 > 0:57:09sand between your toes, do it from a tram.
0:57:30 > 0:57:33The astute rail traveller a century ago might have
0:57:33 > 0:57:36detected in Spain social tensions.
0:57:36 > 0:57:39And been worried, quite rightly,
0:57:39 > 0:57:43about the future of my father's generation of Spaniards.
0:57:43 > 0:57:47On my journey through a single country, I've encountered
0:57:47 > 0:57:51four indigenous languages, and there are others elsewhere.
0:57:51 > 0:57:56The fierce regional loyalties are even more evident today than
0:57:56 > 0:57:59they were when my guidebook was published, because now
0:57:59 > 0:58:04the minority languages are used officially and taught in schools.
0:58:04 > 0:58:08That may pose some political challenges to the unity of Spain.
0:58:08 > 0:58:13But the tourist today can simply delight in the rich
0:58:13 > 0:58:16diversity of cultures in this country.