Visit the Bodegas Cerdá (Hondón Wine Maker). The family business was founded in 1885 in Hondón de las Nieves, Alicante. From its very beginnings, this family run company have given attentive service to it’s customers and know about fine tasting quality wines. It’s has been their route to success!

The NEW Premises – Worth a Visit !!

Since 2007, Bodegas Cerdá invite you to get to know their NEW superb new facilities that include a Wine Museum, a tasting room and restaurant, a shop for wine and traditional products as well as the production and bottling hall where you can witness the magical world of wine making.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: Visit the superb Bodegas Cerda web site (see a video in english or spanish).

The Hondon Valley has 1000′s of acres of Almond Trees & it’s harvest time already !

The surrounding fields and mountain terraces are bursting with the delicious almond nut. You can still see the traditional method of harvest (i.e. put a big net on the ground and whack the tree with sticks until the almonds fall off). But more recently farmers are hiring a modern tractor attachment that looks like it was a prototype from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (see picture) !!!

Hondon Valley Harvest Time (late August / early Sept')

This does the job in a couple of minutes and is a joy to watch if you’ve never seen one before !! The tractor is driven up to the tree trunk; the attachment ‘clamps’ around the tree whilst simultaneously opening a large concertina style skirt to act as a vessel for collecting the almonds. The attachment then vibrates the tree trunk vigorously to shake the nuts into the skirt. After a few trees the skirt is emptied into a pile for scooping up later into trucks to go back to the farmer’s place for sifting and bagging… and sooner or later turned into salted, sweetened, ground, paste products.  I particularly like the local roasted / salted almonds here which are sometimes served as a Tapa … very more-ish and probably too fattening BUT DELICIOUS !!!

Shaking and Collecting Almonds

According to a recent report (Oct 2009) by uSWITCH.COM “Spain Is The Best Place to Live In Europe!” – Well actually they said Spain is top with France in the ‘Quality of Life Index’ You can read why on RoundTown News or download the Report from uSwitch.com website.

- uSWITCH.COM / Report

It’s party time in Hondon Valley. Like so many cities, towns and villages across Spain August is for partying. The Fiestas are usually quite amazing, even small villages set aside funds and resources that help get the community out into the Plazas, singing, dancing and involved in all manner of activities. Including locally…

Religious Festivals / Beauty pageants / Dancing & Live Music / Concerts / Theatre / Raves / Medieval Markets / Fireworks / Bull Runs… and they go on all night if you let them.

Don’t expect to get much work done during August – people have other priorities !!!

ENJOY THE FIESTAS   Ole !!

For such a small village Hondón knows how to party and has put on some truly fantastic fiestas. Some Fiestas are a ‘tour’ that do the rounds of villages in the area BUT MOSTLY Hondon people get truly involved in the Fietsa Spirit. My personal Favourite has been the Hondon Medieval Night / Correfocs … where the whole village is transformed into ‘olde world’ with street entertainers and stalls + a big firework finale. It takes place usually in July or August. It’s worth seeing !

Hondon has many annual festival (big ones over 2 weeks August), some honoring the Virgin of the Snows (religious icon). On August 5 on odd years, Hondón de las Nieves or Aspe organise this festival which has proven to have popular support by the locals of both Aspe and Hondon. People march from all the local village to be entertained with cultural events giving the first fortnight of August a real festivity of color, food, music and dance. We love it !!

You can usually get a program of festivals from the village town hall (Ayuntamiento).

There are also many Cultural Days, which show theater, music, dance, cuisine and sports in late spring or early summer. Hondón de las Nieves also has a Municipal Sports Center which has a public swimming pool, tennis courts, fronton, paddle courts, a soccer field and a restaurant. All this, plus recreation areas, scenic beauty and other holidays, provide visitors a wide range of possibilities for leisure.