Aspe, home of the midnight grape
Aspe has been an independent wine-producing area since the 16th century, but these days the town forms part of an association with neighbouring Novelda, Hondón de las Nieves and Monforte del Cid and shares with them the Denominación de Origen Uva Embolsada del Vinalopó, which guarantees the high quality of the table grapes from this area.
The mature grapes are covered with paper bags while ripening to protect them from insects and to ensure their sweetness - an unusual sight during the months of September and October.
These grapes are the sweetest available and much favoured dur- ing the New Year's Eve celebrations, when Spaniards traditionally gulp down one grape on each of the twelve chimes of the clock at midnight to bring them luck for the coming year.
The original Moorish town of Aspis was founded in the 12th century on a site about four kilometres from the present town. A few ruins are still visible there.
Modern Aspe was built on the banks of the Tarafa River, a tributary of the Vinalopó, which later dried up and earned the town the nickname of 'uvas mil y agua poca', a thousand grapes and little water.
At its heart Aspe is a pretty little town with a liking for pastelshaded paintwork. Even some of the modern buildings are decked out in coats of ochre, pale blue, brick red and other pleasantly muted tones.
In the Plaza Mayor, the 17thcentury palace of the Duque de Maqueda, until recently used as the town hall, is undergoing extensive restoration.
The new town hall next door has been designed by someone with obvious good taste and the modern frontage blends in beautifully with the stone of its 300-yearold neighbour. It's worth nipping inside to admire its arched glass ceiling.
Facing the palace in the Plaza Mayor is the attractive Casino Primitivo, one of a number of modernista (Art Nouveau) buildings in the town, but the square is dominated by the grand baroque façade of the Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Socorro. The church celebrated its 400th anniversary in 2002. Unfortunately it is often closed, but there is a pretty little side chapel on the narrow lane to the right of the building.
The attractive streets radiating from the Plaza Mayor are a mixture of modernista and medieval. It's worth walking up Calle Don Francisco Candela (to the left of the Casino Primitivo) to see the wonderfully archaic Droguería Andújer. The stock may have changed since the shop opened 70 years ago, but the style hasn't. The shelves are packed with every conceivable product for cleaning, painting, polishing, staining and a hundred-and-one other household chores. Brushes, paint-rollers, buckets, watering cans and fly swats hang on bits of twisted metal coat hangers from aging shelving. In its own fascinating way, it's a museum.
Two minutes or so walk from the town hall is the splendid 1930s Mercado de Abastos with its glorious Moorish-style horseshoe arch for an entrance and its cream-andrust-red stonework. You can shop here for a picnic and take it to the nice little park beside the market.
To find out more of the history of Aspe visit the Museo Municipal, situated in the Centro Social, by the bridge that takes you in the direction of Novelda.
The museum is housed in a 19th-century nobleman's house and has displays of oil and winemaking processes (original to the house) as well as depictions of life in a small town.