Spain Guide
Aragón
Tarazona
The Aragonese plains are dotted with reminders of the Moorish occupation, and nowhere more so than at TARAZONA, a wonderfully atmospheric old town loaded with Mudéjar architecture. If you're en route to Soria or Burgos, it's an ideal place to break the journey. Tarazona's most absorbing sights lie in the old upper town, incorporating the Judería and Morería (Jewish and Moorish quarters, respectively), which stands on a hill overlooking the river, with medieval houses and mansions lining the callejas and pasadizos – the lanes and alleyways.
At the heart of the old town is Plaza de España, flanked by a truly magnificent sixteenth-century ayuntamiento. From here, a ruta turística directs you up to the church of Santa María Magdalena (open for services only), the Mudéjar tower of which dominates the town. The entrance offers great views of the eighteenth-century Plaza de Toros below – an octagonal terrace of houses, with balconies from which spectators could view the corrida. In the lower town, the Catedral is a typical example of the decorative use of brick in the Gothic-Mudéjar style.
If you're around for the week-long fiesta, starting on August 27, watch out for "El Cipotegato", a luckless character dressed in jester-like red, green and yellow stripy pyjamas who runs through the streets while everyone pelts him with tomatoes.
Central accommodation choices include Condes de Visconti at c/Visconti 15 (976 644 908, www.condesdevisconti.com; €71-100), a lovely sixteenth-century palacete. Among cheaper options is the Hostal Palacete de los Arcedianos, Plaza Arcedianos 1 (976 642 303, www.palacetearcedianos.com; €51-70), with decent en-suite rooms. On Plaza la Merced sits the new 
La Merced de la Concordia (976 199 344, www.lamerced.info; €71-100), in a 1501 palacete with modern flourishes that juxtapose nicely with the historic interior.
The El Galeón, in the lower town at Avda. La Paz 1, is a mid-priced restaurant, with good traditional food, including grilled ternasco (lamb). El Caserón 2, on Reino Aragón 2, just north of the old town, has haunches of ham dangling over the bar, and serves up traditional cuisine.