What to Do in Alcala de Henares: the City of Cervantes, Alcala de Henares, Spain

The Spain of my pre-Sevilla had one leading protagonist: Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. Spain’s most famous author is best known for his chronicle of Spanish knighthood, Don Quijote, Man of La Mancha, and he penned the book while living in Valladolid over 400 years ago.

If you’ve ever studied Spanish, you’ve likely been force-fed the adventures of a wayward knight whose fantasies took over his perceptions of daily life. These days, my fantasies have been about getting out and exploring my new city and its surrondings.

So it seemed only fitting to make our first day trip from Madrid to Alcalá de Henares, the city in which Cervantes was born and to which his name is commonly associated to pay an early homage to his and contributions to the Spanish language and its literature. In fact, it’s a UNESCO World Literature city, anchored by the Spanish bard and the Universidad de Alcalá, a leading institution in Spain. And ut’s an easy daytrip from Madrid without a car or the need for an overnight stay.Alcalá de Henares is a town of 200,000, making it a city by Spain standards, and it’s got a large, lovely student population. But on a long weekend in the middle of summer, the city itself was about as dead as Cervantes – plazas and bars were empty and shops closed. The historic center itself is small and easily walkable, a pleasant cross between the squat, wood-laden buildings conserved from the 16th Century and a modern city with a cutting-edge educational institution. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).