Valente's Almería
Feeling the light of Almería is the nearest visitors can get to the essence of José Ángel Valente, how he felt and expressed himself, since this poet from Galicia chose to live here precisely for that reason, for the "inalienable call of light". A visit to the house where this 20th century creator lived conveys the universe of someone with commitment, a defender of the virginity of Cabo de Gata and the Mediterranean Sea, where the light that characterises eastern Andalusia is born.
The poet, essayist, translator and intellectual from Ourense lived in Santiago, Madrid, Oxford, Geneva and Paris until the writer Juan Goytisolo told him about Almería in 1984. He was looking for somewhere with a lot of light, a Mediterranean city with peace and tranquillity. And it happened. According to Valente: "It is not clear who chose who, if I chose the house or the house chose me".
During the 15 years he lived in Almería, he was actively involved in the life of the city. He was involved in projects relating to historical-artistic heritage, culture, the coastline, the interior landscape and the neighbourhoods that had their own identity. An example of this is his participation in The Alcazaba, La Chanca, Convent of Las Puras, The Cathedral, the Cabo de Gata and the Tabernas Desert. He was even named Honorary Member of La Traíña, a neighbourhood association in La Chanca.
The poet's home can now be visited and you can learn about the life and work of Valente. It is a bourgeois house built in 1868 and it is located on a narrow street in Andalusian style, now renamed after the author. It is located in the historical centre of the city.
The "The Home of the Poet" is a combination of architecture and poetry, a symbiosis that for him symbolises the search for light from the shadows. The house has architectural and aesthetic meaning, the ascent from the crypt to the rooftop. During a visit you feel the energy in the atmosphere, it conveys the experience of someone who successfully interpreted Almería's light.
