![](https://anthrowcircus.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Rebecca-Bumpus-Spanish-street-1.jpg)
The Plaza, Heart and Soul of My Valencia Life
STORY BY APRIL BARCALOW
I gave my heart and soul to Spain, but not just to the country—rather, I gave them to Valencia. The name itself swells something in me that to this day I cannot adequately define with words. Pronouncing it evokes a sort of ache, as though I’ve both held and lost this eastern swath of Spain. Like the undulating minor keys of flamenco music, the name Valencia calls out a history that was never really mine, and yet is so deeply a part of my childhood that I cannot separate myself from it.