I'm sad about Avila

I left Avila feeling really saddened. The Convent of St Teresa is still an active order of nuns, and as a Christian, especially as a priest, I find it very sad that they see visitors as nothing more than a nuisance. Some, like me, are genuinely devoted to their saint; but surely those who just come as tourists might leave as something more if they were given the chance.

As a woman I am sad that the first woman to be recognised by the Roman Catholic Church as a Doctor of the Church (in 1970), and who was declared Patron Saint of Spain in 1811, should be accorded so little reconition by her home town.

As an ordinary tourist, I am sad to have made the effort to go to a town which did not want me. (Even the chap in the Railway ticket office had clearly not forgotten the Armada!)

Despite its World Heritage status, the only guide or leaflet available in anything other than Spanish was the little map I received at the visitor centre, which was printed in Spanish and English. I bought a DVD at the San Jose Convent which is supposed to be in Spanish, French and English, so it will be interesting to see what's on that.

I wonder whether a recent increase in the number of tourists to the heritage site has made the churches feel invaded. I am troubled however that the heritage status clearly tries to play down Avila's most famous daughter. I can only hope and pray that, in time, those guarding Teresa's heritage will come to see the visitors as a gift from God, and those guarding the built heritage will realise that the the city's saint is their greatest asset.