Palaces, aristocrats, casas de vecinos (Jerez, Spain-March 2015)

Spain is a monarchy, and there are still aristocrats.  The aristocrats have what is known here as "palaces," although these are usually considerably smaller than what you might think of when you're thinking of the palace of a king or queen.  They are the fine town homes of the aristocrats, who usually also have other residences in other places.

tree peeking out over the high wall of a palace grounds

The palaces open onto the street.  There is usually a patio in the center, and grounds - with a garden and trees - on one side, enclosed by a high wall.

There are quite a few palaces near where I live, about half of them in ruins but the others, still used by their aristocratic owners.  One very nice one is located about a block from my apartment.  

the palace of the Benavente family

It belongs to the Benavente family.  My street, named Benavente Bajo (Lower Benavente) and the street parallel to mine that is up the little rise, Benavente Alto (Upper Benavente), are both named after this family.  The Benavente palace is located on Benavente Alto.  

A friend of mine was fascinated by aristocrats and persuaded me to go to a lecture in which one of the Benaventes talked about his illustrious family.  I found the talk boring, but at least I know that the Benaventes actually exist.

Right next to the Benavente palace, in a FORMER palace, is something known as a "casa de vecinos;"  a building in which many, many families live in their own, small apartment.  They share a common patio.

"Casa de vecinos" right next to the Benavente palace.
Notice clothes hanging out to dry on the balcony.

In Spain, a class-conscious country, people of different classes often live next to each other.  (In the United States, where we claim we aren't class conscious but really are, different classes live in different neighborhoods.)

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Eve A. Ma is in Spain where, having completed the revised Afro-Peruvian documentary, she is getting back to work on a documentary about flamenco.  Subscribe HERE to our monthly newsletter to keep up with her work.