Issue date: 11 Mar, 2019
CHARMING TOWNS
For the fourth year running, Correos is issuing this series of stamps dedicated to the country’s most picturesque towns and villages, which will be travelling around the world on parcels and letters from Spain. This detachable according-fold series, paying homage to old-fashioned fold-out postcards, also presents the reverse side of the stamp printed just like the backs of those cards used to be. The booklet has four self-sticking stamps and a vignette.
The towns selected for this year's stamps are: Liérganes in Cantabria, Covarrubias in Burgos, Laguardia in Álava and Ujué-Uxue in Navarra.
Liéganes: in the province of Cantabria, the earliest mentions of the town date from the 16th century. Exploring Liérganes lets us enjoy an excellent collection of Baroque and Neoclassical buildings, manor houses, 19th-century “Indiano” mansions, churches, chapels, country shrines, bridges and mills, in a variety of styles and periods but forming a harmonious whole. With their little secrets, these buildings reveal the development and evolution of Liérganes. A collective story about a village which gradually became the main socio-economic centre of its district.
Covarrubias: a town in Burgos where archaeologists have found evidence that this unique location has been inhabited since Paleolithic times. The early church of San Cosme y San Damián is believed to be from the Visigothic period, and over time became one of the most important centres of the area’s religious, cultural and economic life. In the 10th century Covarrubias again became important and the descendants of the Conde de Lara settled here. Their mansion would later be left to the monastery of San Pedro de Arlanza by Fernán González. The town prospered in the 15th and 16th centuries, when the church of Santo Tomás was rebuilt and a new collegiate church displayed the highly decorative Gothic style of Burgos. The palace of Fernán González was also restored.
Laguardia: a town in Álava. A huge amount of archaeological remains have been found so far in the surrounding area, indicating that it has been densely populated since prehistoric times. This is a village for wandering around and enjoying its historic streets, leading us to the modern automaton clock which is now an icon for its inhabitants, as it kicks off the main festival of San Juan on 23 June.
Ujué-Uxue: a small and delightful medieval village on the eastern side of Navarre. Its unique location on top of a mountain towers over the Sierra de Ujué. The town centre is a tight cluster of old houses around the fortress church of Santa María (11th-14th centuries), in the highest part of Ujué. As you stroll around its steep cobbled streets, you can almost hear the clank of armour of the knights and soldiers who once marched here.
Rate A - €0.75. For a “standard” letter or postcard within Spain, up to 20 g.
Rate A2 - €0.85. For a “standard” letter or postcard within Spain, between 20 g and 50 g.
Rate B - €1.65. For a “standard” Ordinary International letter or postcard addressed to Europe (including Greenland), up to 20 g.
Rate C - €1.75. For a “standard” Ordinary International letter or postcard addressed to the rest of the world (except USA, Canada, Japan, Australia and New Zealand), up to 20 g.
Rate D - €2.10. For a “standard” Ordinary International letter or postcard addressed to the USA, Canada, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, up to 20 g.