Wild mushroom enthusiasts gather in Jimena for the annual Mycology Workshops

The full programme, in English, is below

JIMENA Jimena's annual Mycology Workshops (that we have called Mushroom Days in the past) get under way on Friday, November 23, and ends on Sunday, 25th. This is an event that attracts wild mushroom enthusiasts to the village every year. They come from all over the country to look for and learn about them. You may not see many wild mushroom pickers about, but you will be able to sample wild mushrooms (or setas) at local restaurants, most if not all of which make an effort at having them on their menus for a few days. Aside from the actual picking out in the cork oak forest, and a visit to the first mushroom market in Spain (yes, it's in Jimena), there are lectures and discussions, as well as a full programme for children. (See full programme below)>>>

Jimena Mushroom Days dates

Chantarelles, THE local delicacy

Parallel events include gastronomy and children's activities

JIMENA The 15th annual Mycology Workshops, to give them their official, translated name, are scheduled for November 23, 24 and 25. The event attracts people from all over the country and abroad, and includes not only going out into the countryside to pick wild mushrooms but also learning to classify them. Bars and restaurants throughout the town offer special tapas including these delicacies and parallel children's activities are included. We will keep you informed, so watch this space. (We hope budgetary restrictions don't make us wrong about the activities.)

Jimena's Mycology Days begin today

JIMENA This year's Mycology Days, in their fourteenth edition, get under way this evening with their official opening by the new President of Diputación de Cádiz, José Loaiza García, and the equally new Delegate for the Environment of the province, Silvia López Garrido, who will be introduced by Mayor Guillermo Ruiz. There are also four lectures on the subject of wild mushrooms planned for today until Sunday and tomorrow, Saturday is the day to head off into the Los Alcornocales Nature Park to collect them - and Sunday is for eating them. There are all sorts of mushroom-related activities for the children at the Aljibe primary school just a bit further up the hill from the Reina Sofía Cultural Centre, which is the hub of it all. See the full programme for the 14th Jimena de la Frontera Mycology Workshops (or Days, whichever you please):>>>

This year's Mycology Days: November 25, 26, 27

JIMENA This year's edition is the 14th for Jimena's annual Mycology Days are scheduled to be held over the weekend of November 25th to 27th. Many details are yet to be worked out, according to the 'Chantarela' Mycology Society, which will be working with the XCouncil. Among decisions to be made are whether to move the main venue from the Reina Sofía Cultural Centre in Estación to the Casa de la Cultura in the village, with other events and activities, such as those dedicated to children, to be held at the Misericordia church just below the castle. In any case, below is the programme of activities for 'Chantarela' for the next few months.>>>

Wild mushroom cookery book to be distributed tomorrow

JIMENA To coincide with the opening of the XIII Mycology Workshops (see full programme here), the Council is to distribute a cookery book with some of the municipality's restaurants' favourite mushroom recipes. Titled Setas y Fogones (loosely translated to Mushrooms and Cooking) and only in Spanish, its aim is that it should be used as a tool for tourists. The booklet contains recipes from Restaurante Cuenca, Hostal-Restaurante El Anón, Restaurante La Tasca, Restaurante El Ventorrillero, Restaurante Las Rejas, Hostal-Restaurante Los Arcos, Restaurante La Vía, Restaurante Mesilla de Los Ángeles, Restaurante Cacholla and Restaurante La Estación, both these in San Pablo. Look out for it at any of these establishments and, please mention you saw it here first!

Jimena's Mycology Workshops programme includes field trip, exhibitions and more

JIMENA Jimena's annual Jornadas Micológicas (translated to Mycology Workshops, but we call them the user-friendly Mushroom Days) are scheduled for the weekend of November 26 to 28. The programme this year (see it complete below) includes five technical talks, the customary field trip, children's activities, an exhibition and identification of wild mushrooms by experts, as well as a tribute to expert Fernando Palazón, who was instrumental in setting up what is officially called Jornadas Micológicas del Parque Natural Los Alcornocales. Wild mushrooms having acquired an increasing interest almost everywhere, this year's edition, the 13th, follows a schedule that has become the established way of doing it (see the complete programme below). The poster is from a collage by students at the Aljibe Primary School in Estación.

'Collect some mushrooms, collect some rubbish'

That is the slogan being used for an excellent campaign organized by Agaden, the environmental group, who presented it at a meeting at Los Alcornocales campsite yesterday morning. With the annual Mycology Workshops approaching on the weekend of November 27 to 29 (see programme here), the idea is that anyone going out to gather mushrooms during the season, should also bring back any rubbish they may find. For that purpose, the organizers of the campaign handed out bio-degradable bags, t-shirts for volunteers, cotton talegas (bread bags, usually, but very useful to take out to the country) and various other promotional material. Agaden plans to make a similar presentation of the campaign as part of this year's Mycology Workshops. We have to say that Agaden is doing excellent work this year, but needs the cooperation of all of us: 'the environment is everything and everyone'.

Jimena Mycology Workshops Programme

You will find the programme for the 12th edition of Jimena's Mycology Workshops below, in Spanish. Since all activities will be held in that language, we did not feel the need to translate them - except for those that involve children, which you'll find at the end. Los Alcornocales Nature Park is a treasure trove of wild mushrooms of all kinds, though the chantarella (chantarelle, a much prized species - that's it on the illustration) has for centuries been one of the area's economic pillars. The programme this year includes not only guided mushroom collecting in the countryside, but also a series of lectures and a 'route' around the restaurants of the village to try their particular way of preparing these delicacies. It is well worth the experience, as many people from around the country know, who come in specially for this annual event