Flowers awaken when time itself whimsically decides. That small uncertainty, which keeps us on edge year after year, makes spring so magical.
In El Hornillo, the cherry trees begin to fill with white petals between mid-March and early April. This year we had to wait until the first week of April, but at last, this Thursday, April 2, there will be an 8-kilometer circular route in El Hornillo with explanatory stops—from 10:00h to 13:00h—and on Friday the 3rd, in the same schedule, in El Arenal. The perfect plan to begin the Semana Santa celebrations.
Such is the beauty of this municipality of Ávila during the blooming season that it occupies one of the top 5 spots of the best places in Spain to practice hanami.
Less than 300 inhabitants have the privilege of waking up each day in this corner of our geography, where the cherry trees currently carry the beauty of a landscape that already stands on its own:
“Letting yourself be dazzled by the beauty of the Regional Park of the Sierra de Gredos, where El Hornillo is located, is an experience that must be lived. It is worth enjoying the peace that floods this natural enclave, the crystal-clear waters that flow through it, and the vibrant colors that tint the landscapes across the different seasons,” Visitación Pérez Blázquez, the mayor of El Hornillo, told us a few years ago.
What to do in El Hornillo?
El Hornillo is part of the Mancomunidad del Bajo Tiétar, to which the towns of Arenas de San Pedro, Candeleda, Cuevas del Valle, El Arenal, El Hornillo, Guisando, Mombeltrán, Poyales del Hoyo, Villarejo del Valle, San Estaban del Valle and Santa Cruz del Valle also belong.
Visitación Pérez recommends taking the main route that runs through El Hornillo, Guisando, and El Arenal – municipalities that form the Mancomunidad de Los Galayos – totaling around 50,000 cherry trees, whether on foot or by bicycle, as the views along it leave no one indifferent.
