Alcalá de Henares By Naveen Agnihotri

Called Complutum in Roman times, the town of Alcalá de Henares is famous for being the seat of a great university founded in 1508, and as the birthplace of Cervantes, whose Don Quixote is perhaps the second most often read book after the Bible.

Juan Carlos, Marisa and I took the train from Madrid on a nice Sunday. Alcalá is located about 30 miles south of Madrid; we got there around 11am. Unlike some of the more touristy Spanish towns like Toledo, Alcalá is relatively untouched by tourism. The town is quaint and nice, with interesting looking arches and gates. We walked around for a bit, taking in the sights.

Alcalá is a relatively small town, and the university is the main attraction. When we arrived at the main campus, a tour was just starting, so we took it. The tour happened to be in Spanish. This meant in that group of about 30 people, I was in the unique position of not understanding a single word of what the guide said. Our guide gabbed on, while I looked around, occasionally pretending that I was listening, but mostly admiring the splendid architecture, and catching up when JC would quickly translate the proceedings to me.

The University got moved to Madrid in 1836, but has now been revived, and declared a national treasure. We were told about distinct traditions, such as that there was a time when failing in a class resulted in public humiliation. We were shown the courtyard where students who had failed would be paraded, and everyone would be allowed to spit on them. Following this, the students wold be taken on a donkey ride throughout town, to make it clear to the general public who these people were. The guide said that this strategy resulted in a remarkably low failing rate among students. Our tour guide (who was himself a graduate of that university) very proudly told us about the small classes, and special privileges accorded to graduates of the university -- only graduates from the university can get married at the historic chapel.

At one point in history, because of oppressive policies of the ruling monarch, the university ran into severe financial problems, and was considering relocating, or shutting down. The residents of the town, who revered the university, got together and bailed it out. To this day, the entire land that the campus is built on is owned collectively by the residents of Alcalá. They rent it to the university for one Peseta (roughly half a cent) a year. They don't just give it away to the university, just in case the people who run it decide to sell out or something. Some remnants of the old Roman times are still around, like the columns along this passageway.

After the tour, it was time for lunch. So we found a nice bar, a couple of pictures of which are below. It is common fashion in this area to throw one's napkins on the floor after one is done with them. In fact, you can tell that this place is popular (ie, good) by the number of napkins strewn on the floor -- this is particularly visible in the picture on the left (you may have to click on it and see the larger version for this to become obvious).

This means of determining how good a bar is by checking the well-litteredness of the floor is apparently quite popular in Madrid and neighboring areas (less so in other areas of Spain). In fact, Madrileños are known to complain about excessive cleanliness when visiting the United States. They are often flustered: "The floors of all the eateries are clean. How am I supposed to tell which place is any good?"

Right opposite the place where we were eating was a nice church with this interesting looking tower.