COVER N.118 - SPAIN

Postmark:  43 Vila-Seca 20.05.2022
Posted on the 20th May; received on the 24th May 2022
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Spain, our next door neighbours. Such a big and multicentre country, Spain is. I know it quite well from top to bottom, since many were the times that I've crossed the border to visit its wonderful natural wonders and lively cities and also to enjoy its culture, its gastronomy, its traditions, all truly kaleidoscopic due to the immense regional diversity, one of Spain's greatest assets, if you'd ask my opinion....

Spain boasts a very complete catalogue of geographic features. Mountains? they' ve got it; desert? they've got it; luxuriant forests? they've got it; sandy beaches? they've got it; rocky coastline they've got it... in all truth, I feel it is hard to tell what they don't have ...

Unexpected villages full of charm and history in unexpected places? so many they have that the Spanish Correos have decided, starting in 2016 to issue an annual set of self-adhesive stamps dedicated to "Pueblos con encanto" - Villages with charm.

Series VII , as usual featuring 4 tariff A stamps, was issued on 21MAR22  and this was the set from which the main stamp on the nice cover I have to thank Ángel for was taken. The stamp is illustrated with a picture of Tudanca, a small (148 inhabitants in 2021) village in the Autonomous Region of Cantabria, in the north, not far from Santander, its capital. 

And come to think of it... I can't remember ever passing through Tudanca, so next time I drive to the north of Spain I'll be sure to include it on the menu.

Incidentally, this set also features the beautiful village of Olivença (although Correos chose to spell it Oliveza), which is technically Portuguese soil, but we're so good neighbours that this fact does not in any way impair the excellent relationship we've maintained, the more so now that we are all part of a greater geographic unit, the EU.

To complete the postage need to mail the cover to this side of the border, Ángel used three different iterations of definitive series featuring the effigy of Spain's King Felipe VI

The 0,05 € stamp was issued on 01FEB2017; the 0,10 € was issued on 19JAN2015 and the Tariff A (up to 20 g, domestic) was issued on 02JAN2020.

The postmark tells us that the cover was processed through the postal centre  of  Vila-Seca, in Catalonia.