Planning a trip to Spain. Outside of Madrid wanted to visit Escorial and the Valley of the Fallen. Googled Valley of the Fallen and cannot seem to get a definitive answer as to whether it is open or not. Thought someone may have been around that area recently. Any replies greatly appreciated. Many thanks.
Posted by
Spokane, WA
471 posts
Hi Richard We were there last July, and the Valley of the Fallen was closed and they did not know when or if it would open again. I have heard that the government is making some sort of decision on it in May of this year, but don't know if that is reliable information. On the other hand, El Escorial is very beautiful. Be sure to visit the library.
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32222 posts
richard, I attended the travel events at ETBD last weekend, and I vaguely remember one of Rick's Spanish Guides remarking that The Valley of The Fallen was closed. Unfortunately, I wasn't really paying attention so I didn't hear the details. According to the official website: "Since the 6th April 2010 the Valley of the fallen is CLOSED to visitors until the structure can be made stable. At the present time (Sept 2010) the technical evaluations and a reopening date have not been declared. El Escorial remains open." Cheers!
Posted by
Vienna, Austria
517 posts
You might be interested in the book "Ghosts of Spain" by Giles Tremlett. Subtitled "travels through a country's hidden past". He provides quite a bit of background and information on The Valley of the Fallen and El Escorial. The book talks at length about the legacy of the Spanish Civil War on today's Spain. It's available on Amazon.com Have a good trip!
Posted by
Wiesbaden
53 posts
Richard, Hoping to go there myself in a week or so. Would be great to get a definite answer.
Posted by
Milpitas
28 posts
It is open again. My son just visited over the Christmas holidays. I believe it has always been closed on Mondays.
Posted by
New York City, NY, USA
1 posts
Richard,
Don't know when you were planning on visiting El Escorial but I have friends that live there and I can assure you Valley of the Fallen is still closed. They have no idea at this time when it will even reopen.