Escalona

Escalona is a municipality located in the north part of the province of Toledo, which in turn is part of the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha, Spain. According to the 2006 census (INE), the municipality has a population of 3053 inhabitants, most of whom are settled in several housing estates such as Ribera del Alberche, Miragredos or Castillo de Escalona.

The town is settled alongside the right side of the river Alberche, in the comarca of Torrijos, which is a part of the historical region of New Castile.

The Mudéjar-style Castillo-Palacio de Escalona is the most characteristic building of the town, built in the 15th century.

Twin towns

Villena, Spain

Peñafiel, Spain

References

Rafael Escalona

Rafael Calixto Escalona Martinez (May 26, 1927 – May 13, 2009) was a Colombian composer and troubadour. He was known for being one of the most prominent vallenato music composers and troubadours of the genre and for being the co-founder of the Vallenato Legend Festival, along with Consuelo Araújo and Alfonso López Michelsen.

He was also a long-time friend of Gabriel García Márquez, who included him in his stories and once told him that his own masterpiece novel, 100 years of solitude, was just a 350-page Vallenato. Escalona's songs compile the history and stories of the Magdalena Department of the past 20th century. Escalona was an atypical music composer: he does not play any instruments or sing so his songs can in some ways be difficult to analyze. His songs constitute a legacy of a past generation of Colombians in his memory, a pictorial collage, full of grace, that narrates stories, customs and gossips from his region. He also left a legacy of his loves and pains, humour and poetry. In 1991 Caracol TV produced a television series named Escalona, after him.