Jill Petzinger

Valencia

Journalist in Spain . Beats inc tech, biz, politics, travel, food. Former Berlin reporter @YahooFinance and @qz. Bylines FT, WSJ, BBC Travel, Foreign Policy...

Articles

Valencia mourns

Oct 31, 2024 | jillpetzinger.substack.com | Jill Petzinger

Today, as the flood-water levels subside, Valencians in the towns, villages, and suburbs surrounding the city are sifting through the mud and debris of their destroyed homes. So far, 158 people are confirmed dead. Emergency services, police and sniffer dogs are out looking for dozens unaccounted for. Thousands of homes are without running water or electricity.
Peak Pyrenees

Aug 17, 2024 | jillpetzinger.substack.com | Jill Petzinger

With Valencia drenched in August sweat, I’ve been dreaming about cool mountain air and reliving our May road trip through the wild, high Pyrenees. Early May is gloriously empty in the mountains. Ski season is over, the summer outdoor-sports crowds haven’t arrived, and the hospitality industry goes into standby mode. On the slopes and in the meadows, the drizzly Spring weather is urging the landscape back to life.
El Perelló tomato festival

Jun 20, 2024 | jillpetzinger.substack.com | Jill Petzinger

Last weekend was the third anniversary of our arrival in Valencia and we marked the occasion at a festival celebrating the region’s most delectable tomatoes in the little beachside town of El Perelló. El Perelló is a 30 minute drive south of Valencia through the Albufera national park. It’s a beautiful stretch of fragrant pine forests and rice fields that give way to roadsides lined with tomato plants under white-sheet canopies.
Canfranc station, the silent movie star of the Pyrenees

May 23, 2024 | jillpetzinger.substack.com | Jill Petzinger

Canfranc railway station has been called the “Titanic of the mountains” and “Casablanca in the Pyrenees” during its short life as an international crossing between France and Spain. Maybe no exaggeration since it has suffered fire, derailment, smugglers, spies, Franco and the Nazis. It confronts you after rounding the bend at the end of Canfranc village, the majestic 240m-long station hall set tight up against a backdrop of moody mountains.
Salvador and the surprise cheese tutorial

May 14, 2024 | jillpetzinger.substack.com | Jill Petzinger

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Lunch at Arrels

Apr 19, 2024 | jillpetzinger.substack.com | Jill Petzinger

We hopped on the snail-slow regional train this month for lunch at Arrels in Sagunto. The restaurant in the old stables of a 16th century mansion is led by Vicky Sevilla, the youngest woman to win a Michelin star in Spain. Sevilla said that when she was 17 she couldn't fry an egg. By 25 she had opened Arrels and at 29 was awarded a Michelin star. Arrels doesn’t put its menu online, so it’s all a surprise when you get there.
Almuerzo and the super-sandwiches of Valencia

Aug 23, 2023 | bbc.com | Jill Petzinger

Valencia's late-morning tradition of "almuerzo" includes a giant sandwich, peanuts, beer and plenty of conviviality. It is 11:00 on a Tuesday at Bodega Casa Flor, a 130-year-old restaurant in the Cabanyal neighbourhood of Valencia City, Spain, and noise levels have reached a peak. Waiters zip around bearing huge paper-wrapped sandwiches to tables strewn with peanuts and sipped beers.