The White Tales Route reaches the Sierra de Cádiz mountains with the 5th Storytelling Festival
In 1832, an Englishman explored the Sierra de Cádiz on the back of his sturdy Jaca pony and dressed in the typical Andalusian style. His guide was a strapping youth from one of the nearby villages and his luggage included a drawing pad and charcoal, which he used to capture the local customs of 19th-century Andalusia.
In his memory, the parks, castles, streets and libraries of Cadiz's white villages are hosting "The White Tales Route", the V Sierra de Cádiz Storytelling Festival, which will be held in nine villages over the first two weekends of August: Algar, Arcos, Benamahoma, Benaocaz, El Bosque, Grazalema, Olvera, Ubrique and Zahara, with the sponsorship of the town councils and Cadiz Provincial Council.
Just like the Gulliver Brotherhood, a secret order created by Richard Ford, the English writer, the "Piratas de Alejandria” Educational Dynamics Group is organising this Festival to travel around the world gathering and telling stories, epics and tales.
Storytellers from all over the world will follow the route of the Cadiz white villages, in the footsteps of the most famous of the Romantic travellers at the start of the 19th century, and will share their stories and tales with the audiences both under the mid-day sun and in the magic of the nights.
The route will be divided into two stages: the first from August 3rd to 6th and the second from August 10th to 13th . During the first stage, they will visit the towns of Arcos de la Frontera, El Bosque and Algar, and during the second, Grazalema, Benamahoma, Zahara de la Sierra and Ubrique.
Once again, "The White Tales Route" will bring together children and adults who seek the spoken word as a response to an image-dominated society. Piratas de Alejandría are therefore organising the Festival "to make a space for the rich cultural heritage of the word as one of the main elements that the human being has used throughout history to create beauty and transmit emotions”.
They say that storytelling has been relegated to being just for children and "we are forgetting that the word is an art that exists for the mere pleasure of communication. It can be addressed to any age and status and is an exponent of the wealth of the peoples and acts as a bridge of understanding between civilizations".
The festival is to be held in Sierra de Cádiz "because it is an outstanding inland tourist area where the visitor can travel back through time thanks to its archaeological sites and monuments, immerse himself in history through traditional festivities and costumes. It is also the perfect place to partake in sports in a magnificent setting".
Richard Ford has been chosen as the underlying theme, as he travelled through the province of Cadiz and was a tireless traveller who was not just content to see, but also resorted to the word to unravel the secrets of the places that he visited.
Like many other romantic travellers, he saw in Andalusia a passionate, sensual and exotic region, closer to the mythical Orient than the Europe governed by etiquette and ceremony.
IM WASSER
AM ZIEL 
BILSCHIRMHINTERGRÜNDE
In 1832, an Englishman explored the Sierra de Cádiz on the back of his sturdy Jaca pony and dressed in the typical Andalusian style. His guide was a strapping youth from one of the nearby villages and his luggage included a drawing pad and charcoal, which he used to capture the local customs of 19th-century Andalusia. 
Storytellers from all over the world will follow the route of the Cadiz white villages, in the footsteps of the most famous of the Romantic travellers at the start of the 19th century, and will share their stories and tales with the audiences both under the mid-day sun and in the magic of the nights. 
They say that storytelling has been relegated to being just for children and "we are forgetting that the word is an art that exists for the mere pleasure of communication. It can be addressed to any age and status and is an exponent of the wealth of the peoples and acts as a bridge of understanding between civilizations".