Holidays to Spain

IT IS SAID that Spain is not one country, but several. It has by far the greatest range of landscapes in Europe, four distinct languages, many cultures, and, in Madrid and Barcelona, two of Europe’s most dynamic cities. The country which was once known for its high-rise package ghettoes today offers a broad and eclectic choice of characterful accommodation; from former monastic cells to dream-like Gaudíesque hotels, and from converted castles to farmsteads. Even Tenerife, that temple of ‘pile-it-high and sell-itcheap’ tourism, also offers the traveller a stunningly-sited parador and numerous rural hideaways.

SPAIN REGION BY REGION

SPAIN DIVIDES roughly into six regions and two major cities.

Northwest Spain

The long beaches and green, rural landscapes of Galicia, Asturias and Cantabria are a world away from packageholiday Spain. The region varies enormously in its landscapes, from the mountains and valleys of the Picos de Europa, to Spain’s little-known fjord country, the Rias Baixas. Here, casas rurales, or country holiday homes , are very popular. The city of Santiago de Compostela, its great cathedral for centuries the goal of pilgrims, has both luxurious and spartan accommodation for its many thousands of visitors.

Northeast Spain

From the Atlantic and Bilbao in the west, Northeast Spain runs through the Basque country, Navarra, La Rioja, Aragon, the Pyrenees and northern Catalonia to reach the Mediterranean. By contrast to Bilbao’s exuberantly new-wave Guggenheim Museum, San Sebastian is long-established as the most elegant and fashionable of all the Spanish seaside resorts. It offers an interesting, wide range of accommodation and some very fine luxury hotels. Walkers in the the Pyrenees are less pampered, with refugios, basic mountain huts, and more comfortable residencias-casa de payés, as casas rurales are called in these parts.

Eastern Spain

Spain’s eastern coastline is the land of the Costas, from Brava in the north to Blanca in the south. Long stretches (though by no means the whole coastline) are marred by fastbuck holiday developments, but step just a little way back from the beach bars and discos and normal service is quickly resumed.

Barcelona

Rivalling or surpassing Madrid in many aspects, Barcelona may officially be number two in Spain, but it is numero uno as far as most visitors are concerned. Its Old Town oozes an ancient and salty atmosphere but the city is probably best know for its Modernist architecture, some of the most original of which comes from the stable of the hugely talented Antoni Gaudí. Barcelona has some superb visitor attractions, great bars and a buzzing nightlife. The city’s most characterful hotels are on or just off Spain’s most famous street, Las Ramblas.

Central Spain

Taking in the provinces of Castilla Y León, Castilla-La Mancha and Extremadura, the sun-scorched central plateau (meseta) surrounding Madrid is the Spain of Cervantes’ Don Quixote and El Cid: epic landscapes dotted with picturesque windmills and imposing castles. A deep sense of history permeates the region, captured in the awe-inspiring Gothic cathedrals of Burgos and León, the stunninglypreserved medieval capital of Toledo, the perfect Renaissance architecture of Salamanca and the fairy-tale towers of Segovia’s castle. To the west is wild and parched Extremadura, Spain’s most remote area. It receives relatively few foreign visitors, but Cuenca, with its famous hanging houses, the marvellous Roman city of Mérida and the Gothic-Renaissance buildings of Cáceres make the trip well worthwhile. Government- run hotels, or paradores , offer some of the best places to stay in the Central region.

Madrid

Not nearly as attractive nor as visitor-friendly as Barcelona, Madrid is a large modern capital, chiefly visited for its world-class museums and art galleries. However, it also has Spain’s best shopping, excellent bars, and the country’s most frenetic nightlife. In Madrid, accommodation is largely functional, with location rating higher than character.

Andalucia

This is the Southern Spain of popular imagination – flamenco, bullfighting, sherry, white cubist villages (pueblos blancos) and fields of sunflowers. It is also an enormously varied region, from desert in the east to the vast watery Doñana National Park in the west, with the snow-topped Sierra Nevada mountains, the historic city of Granada and long golden beaches nearby. In the historic Moorishinfluenced cities of Granada, Seville and Córdoba, Andalusia boasts three of Spain’s most beautiful and popular tourist destinations. Literally all kinds of accommodation are found in Andalucia, with the emphasis switching in recent years from coastal to rural.

The Islands

The Canaries and the Balearics have long been a byword for cheap, packaged tourism. There are exceptions however, the most striking being the northwest coast of Mallorca, which now features some of Spain’s finest country house properties. Peace and quiet and individual rural accommodation can also be found in the beautiful, lesserknown Canary Islands of La Palma and La Gomera. RURAL TOURISM

POLICY OF AGROTURISMO or turismo rural (rural tourism) has been embraced by the Spanish government to help convert fincas (farms or estates) into country holiday homes known as casas rurales. Properties vary in size and may be in the wilds or just a mile or two from a busy resort. Owners usually accept just a few visitors at one time. Facilities and atmosphere vary greatly. Most allow for selfcatering. What all casas rurales should have in common is that they offer peaceful surroundings, an insight into local culture and some degree of personal service. They are most numerous in Northern and Central Spain, and in Catalonia, where they are called casa de pagès or casa de payés. They are also becoming common in Galicia and Cantabria (casas de labranza) and in Andalucia.

MONASTIC CELLS

SPAIN HAS A LONG tradition of offering rooms to pilgrims and travellers.  Nowadays this form of hospitality is extended to tourists in some 150 monasteries and convents. A cell can consist of anything from a room almost as spartan as it sounds, deep in the heart of a monastery, to a charming converted apartment with its own garden.

Cells are most often found in Benedictine and Cistercian monasteries and convents in rural towns and villages, or around such cities as Burgos, León, Madrid and Segovia. Some of these stipulate married couples only, others have single-sex restrictions, and in others you will be expected to help with the washing up and to tidy your room.

PARADORES

SPAIN’S MOST NOTABLE hotel grouping is the state-run chain of paradores (parador means inn or stopping place). The most famous are housed in stunning historic buildings: former palaces, castles, royal hunting lodges, monasteries and so on. All are furnished and decorated in strictly vernacular style and should offer local cuisine of a high standard. But there are also modern, functional paradores, deliberately sited where there is (or was) a dearth of other satisfactory accommodation. The advantages of this type of parador are usually a splendid location and views worth travelling miles to enjoy. Paradores started as a cheap form of lodging, but they are now expensive and many have been overtaken by converted properties offering similar, but bettervalue accommodation. Moreover, as government-run hotels, they can lack the personal touch and warmth of welcome.

FOOD AND DRINK

SPANISH CUISINE is as varied as its many regions. In the north is abundant fish and seafood from the Atlantic; the mountains and hills provide hams, sausages and game, which are often combined with beans to form hearty stews (a recurring theme throughout the country). The Basque Country, with its orientation towards the sea, is recognised as the gastronomic centre of all Spain. In Madrid and the central region, game is plentiful and one-pot meat-and-pulse stews are generally the order of the day. Suckling pig and lamb, sausages and other pork dishes are common. Cocido madrileno, a slow-simmered stew of beef, chicken, ham, pork belly, chickpeas plus various other items, is the regional favourite. The cuisine of both south and east coasts is mainly Mediterranean, but influenced by the Moors who introduced olives, oranges, almonds, saffron and rice. The last of these two are in Spain’s most famous dish, paella, which has many ingredients, including seafood, chicken, rabbit and pork.

Catalonia’s sophisticated and inventive combinations include fish and seafood stews and classic romesco sauce (red peppers, tomatoes and chillies). Fried fish is the food of the south, with fritura de pescados (deep-fried squid and fish) a favourite with both visitors and locals. By contrast, some of Spain’s best jamón serrano (cured ham) comes from the mountains of Andalucia.

Gazpacho, a chilled raw soup based on tomatoes, cucumber and peppers, is a Spanish culinary classic, as are tapas. Originating in Andalucia, but served all over Spain, tapas are snacks whose name stems from the traditional bartender’s practice of covering a glass with a saucer or tapa (cover) on which was placed a bite-sized morsel. Tapas are nowadays Parador de Hondarribia, eaten as snacks or combined to make up a full meal. Classic tapas include tortilla (potato omelette), albondigas (meatballs), cured ham, cheese, olives and many types of fish and seafood La Rioja is the country’s most prestigious wineproducing region, while the Pinedès region of Catalonia is the home of sparkling wine, or cava, as well as producing highquality still wines.

Sherry is Spain’s great vinous invention, named after Jerez de la Frontera in Andalucia, where it is still made.

BEDROOMS AND BATHROOMS

DOUBLE BEDS are sometimes provided as conventional doubles as in Britain and the USA; sometimes as two singles pushed together. If you want a double, ask for a cama de matrimonio.

BOOK WELL in advance for hotels in Madrid, Barcelona and in any resort in high season. During Spain’s festivities (including Easter Week) rooms are impossible to get, or charged at outrageously inflated prices.

Spanish breakfasts tend to be simple – coffee, rolls and fruit juice. Paradores, however, increasingly offer wide-choice buffet breakfasts. Lunch is traditionally the main meal of the day, starting around 1pm. Dinner is served late in the evening, around 9pm (earlier in tourist resorts); in summer, restaurants may open past midnight as people eat dinner later and later. At weekends, restaurants tend to be filled at lunchtime by large and boisterous family groups. Language Spanish (Castillian) is the national language; you may also come across Catalan, Gallego (in Galicia) and Euskera (in the Basque Country). English is spoken widely in tourist centres and most, but not all, large towns. Currency From 1 January 2002, the European euro (written ‘EUR’), made up of 100 cents.

Shops Traditionally open 10–2pm and 5–8pm, Mon–Fri, and on Saturday morning. In resorts they may open all day and at weekends.

Tipping The Spanish rarely tip waiters more than 5 per cent. It is usual to tip tour guides and taxi drivers 10 per cent, and to leave a small amount for chambermaids.

Telephoning

Spanish phone numbers have no zero in front of the area code. To call Spain from the UK dial 00 34; from the US, 011 34, then the full number.

Public holidays 1 January; 6 January; Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday; 1 May; 15 August; 12 October; 1 November; 6 December; 25 December.

USEFUL WORDS

Breakfast Desayuno

Lunch Comida

Supper Cena

Free room? ¿Habitación libre?

How much? ¿Cuánto?

Single Habitación individual

Double Un habitación doble

SPAIN PRICE BANDS

SPANISH HOTELS are officially classified by stars, from one to five. Don’t be distracted: our price bands are simpler and refer to the price of a standard double room in high season, almost always excluding breakfast. Hotels rarely quote prices exclusive of VAT; other unexpected extras are rare.