A day in Brihuega during the lavender bloom requires only one set plan: Get to the fields by sunset, to view an unexpected, lush swath of purple as far as the eye can see, with the orange glow of the Spanish sun directly behind it... But each year in summer, on fields where some of the bloodiest battles of the Spanish Civil War were once fought, those colors change with the bloom of a thousand hectares of lavender, the equivalent of about 2,500 acres or 3,000 American football fields.
In the past decade, the lavender harvest has revitalized Brihuega, drawing welcomed visitors and their euros with natural beauty rivaling vacation favorites like Provence in France... 'Not to say anything bad about the French, but the Spanish, we're maybe more dicharacheros,' said Angel Corral Manzano, the town's major lavender farmer.
While I feasted on croquetas and cheeses and drank a spicy syrah, the bar owner, Javier Hernandez, told me about his hometown, Brihuega... But like many young people in small Spanish villages, Mr. Hernandez left Brihuega.
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