Zaragoza, Capital of Aragon

9am Sunday, Zaragoza

My feet are sore. It was my first sensation on waking up. Mind you, I spent yesterday walking for my country. Setting off at 7am, I transited the enormous Expo site at least three times and have probably seen more hidden corners of the city than most locals do in a lifetime.

The local tourist office provided me with the loveliest guide I have ever had in all my years of travelling. Arantxa is a highly intelligent 23 year old law student who speaks excellent English and French and who just loves her city, culture and region. The fact she could put up with me from 10am until almost midnight is also testament to her impressive staying power!

Zaragoza is delightful, with much superb architecture, nice walking streets, a plethora of excellent bars and restaurants and many wonderful green spaces.

Arantxa and I got into a fairly deep discussion about the veneration of inanimate objects. In the Basilica of Pilar, an impressive cathedral with a couple of domes decorated by local lad, Francisco Goya, there’s a column of stone on top of which stands a 36cm tall virgin. Folk kiss the base of this lump of rock. Pretty unhygienic, methinks. One chap pressed his lips against it three times, rather loudly. My little brain cannot comprehend how folk can get so carried away with such things.

But my thoroughly modern guide totally believes in it all. ‘The virgin guarded our cathedral during the Civil War. Surely it’s a miracle that three bombs came through the ceiling and failed to explode? I certainly couldn’t argue with the fact that two of the holes made by the bombs can still be clearly seen, while all three are proudly displayed on the cathedral wall.

A miracle? A large stroke of luck, at the very least.

Zaragoza is a place which appears to me to be something of a conundrum. It’s Spain’s fifth largest city, the capital of the ancient Kingdom of Aragon, with great road and rail infrastructure to bring it, potentially, successful trading links with a huge portion of Europe. The folk are friendly and all the ingredients are there for it to be a really progressive and happening place. Yet, perhaps overshadowed by Barcelona and Madrid, the Aragonese seem almost too nice to want to get involved TOO much with the nasty world of marketing. Perhaps they have that inbred insularity so common in island races?

Don’t get me wrong, I thought Zaragoza was great and, for sure, I will return. It just seems odd to me that a place with such a huge tourism potential is not achieving much greater success on a wider stage. It deserves many more foreign visitors, for sure.

As for the Expo, the original reason for selecting the visit?

There’s certainly some impressive new architecture and they are putting on some pretty good shows. Having just missed Diana Kroll in Malaga, Arantxa and I joined a packed auditorium (picnicking on the concrete floor) to hear her sing. ‘You guys sure hang out late´, she said, not only half way through her set as the cloak ticked towards midnight.

While Expo made Seville, it’s certainly not going to make Zaragoza. They are falling woefully short of their projected 6.5 million visitor numbers. Half way through, they are still 4 million adrift of their target and their audience has been almost totally Spanish.

Now, in mid August, they have decided to pump 2 million Euros into attracting the rest of Europe. It’s much too little and much too late.

Their organisation is shambolic. In 30 years of journalism I have not come across such a poorly organised set up. Their left hands have been totally disconnected from their right since the very early days. My impression is that they have replied on high tech when a simpler solution would have worked. Nobody ever seems to be able to make decisions.

However, It’s true that Expo did actually open on time.

Now that IS a miracle.

I feel sorry that I can’t be more positive; I thought that Expo would be a really impressive milestone in my travels, to remember for years to come. After the event, heads are undoubtedly going to roll and fingers are invariably going to be pointed. Expo gave Zaragoza a once in a lifetime opportunity to attract the world to enjoy what is actually a really nice part of the world. Perhaps nobody is actually to blame.

Aggressive marketing cannot be done by just being nice.