Towards the end of the 60s, some people began calling the town of Gallipienzo “Old Town”. Depopulation of the town was imminent. New Gallipienzo was almost built and Casa La Juanica received an order for it to be demolished. A meeting point for generations, La Juanica closed its doors and the town lost its inn; the one that had always been there. Reyes and Txema, their descendants, tell how the local people as well as foreigners would meet at the inn, among these were mountain engineers and those from the centre, the dentist that came once a week, truck drivers, the bus line driver, the judge, the property registrar and the notary; a host of personalities from the era, who came to the town to provide services to nearly one thousand souls and more than 120 homes. However, there was a very special group of persons; a group of faithful customers of Casa La Juanica, a group of men who for working purposes, travelled down river from the valleys of Roncal and Salazar, stopping at Gallipienzo to try the inn’s famous asparagus with poached eggs; they then continued down river to the pier of Carcastillo, where the voyage ended for some while others continued until reaching the Ebro River and arriving at the delta and into the Mediterranean with their rafts. Our friend Reyes remembers with nostalgia, seeing how Los Almadieros would walk up the path towards his grandma’s house.
Today there is little left of Casa La Juanica but one of the windows to the path is still standing as if it were waiting to once again see the people from Roncal and Salazar come walking up the path. Sailors that inspired the name of one of the rooms at the Heredad Beragu Hotel: Los Almadieros. Come have some asparagus with poached eggs just like they were cooked at La Juanica, which we have now added to the menu for our guests. And why not, taste the flavour of this dish to learn a little bit more about our history.
Let this serve as homage to those that were here before us and remain true to their legacy.