Frommer's Spain

Flamenco dancers in Sevilla.

We can’t verify that Ernest Hemingway once said, If you visit only one foreign country in your lifetime, make it Spain. But if he didn’t say it, he should have. And he could have added that after your first visit, you might never be tempted to go anywhere else.

No other country is quite as flamboyant. Long before Hemingway came to add his macho gloss, 19th-century European writers and painters had mythologized Spain as the quintessential romantic country. It was the land of Moors and Gypsies, of swirling flamenco skirts and narrow-hipped matadors. It was the land of such legendary heroes as El Cid, such wise fools as Don Quijote, and of kings with nicknames such as Pedro the Cruel and Alfonso the Wise.

It’s all still true—it’s just not the whole truth. Flamenco has enjoyed a renaissance, and many Spaniards are still obsessed with matadors, even as they turn their backs on bullfighting. The current king is likely to be remembered as Felipe the Tall. Yet after being paralyzed by war and dictatorship for much of the 20th century, Spain jumped straight from the 19th century to the 21st. A flamenco beat still drives it, but Spain is now a country of high-speed trains and cutting-edge Internet technology, of a radical avant-garde in food and art, of vibrant modern metropolises like Barcelona, Bilbao, and Madrid that hold their own on the world stage.

The country continues to evolve, and its allures continue to multiply. Ultimately, your own experiences will be the last word on Spain, but we can’t resist the urge to share some of our favorite places and activities. As a team of Spain-lovers, here are some of what we think are highlights of the country. Try them and see if you agree.

The best Authentic Spanish Experiences

bullet.eps Being Swept Up in the Passions of Flamenco in Sevilla: Whether you watch a pure performance at the flamenco dance museum or catch an impromptu shindig at a Gypsy bar in Triana, you’ll find you can’t get the flamenco rhythms out of your head. See p. 258.

bullet.eps Absorbing the genius of Las Meninas in Madrid’s Museo del Prado: Diego Velázquez revolutionized court painting in the 17th century. Join the crowds gazing at his enigmatic portrait of the Infanta Margarita and her retinue, and marvel at the master’s brushstrokes. See p. 83.

The Gardens of the Alhambra and Generalife in Granada.

bullet.eps Connecting with Moorish Royalty and Commoners in Granada: The Alhambra was the crowning artistic glory of Islamic Spain. Once you’ve admired its ornate palaces and gardens, wander the medieval alleyways of the Albaicín. See p. 278.

bullet.eps Gaping at the Gaudís in Barcelona: The Catalan language has the perfect verb to describe seeing Antoní Gaudí’s Modernisme masterpieces: Badar, meaning to walk around with your mouth open in amazement. See p. 439.

Gaudi’s Casa Mila, also known as La Pedrera.

bullet.eps Trawling for Tapas Around Madrid’s Las Letras: The literary quarter has been a nightlife hub for centuries. Hop from bar to bar, tasting the air-dried ham that hangs over the counter, along with garlic prawns, pickled anchovies, and spicy fried potatoes. See p. 134.

bullet.eps Celebrating the Basque Renaissance in Bilbao: The bold architecture of Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum set a new bar for design and sparked a chain of civic improvements. From the new waterfront promenade to various other architectural innovations, Bilbao struts its stuff with pride. See p. 597.

bullet.eps Sunning on the Beach at Historic Tossa de Mar: The ruins of a medieval coastal fortress crouch on one of two headlands bracketing this sandy cove on the often-rocky Costa Brava. See p. 534.

The best Ways to Bring History Alive

bullet.eps Driving the White Towns of the Sierra de Grazalema: Scattered from Ronda to Arcos de la Frontera, these mountainside fortress towns, like flocks of nesting birds. were once the frontier between the Christians and the Moors. See p. 312.

bullet.eps Tracing Roman Footsteps in Tarragona: The oceanside Amfiteatre Romà is a stunning reminder that Rome ruled eastern Iberia from this Costa Daurada port for more than 600 years. See p. 502.

The cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.

Cordoba’s La Mezquita.

bullet.eps Seeing the Sun Rise in Córdoba’s Judería: Get up early to visit La Mezquita, Europe’s greatest surviving medieval mosque, and wander the timeless streets of the Jewish quarter before the crowds arrive. See p. 263.

bullet.eps Surveying the Ages in Girona: From Roman fortifications to Muslim palaces to the largest Jewish Call in Spain, Girona preserves its past. The ramparts above the cathedral show the whole ancient city, raised like dinosaur plates on the spine of a hill. See p. 515.

bullet.eps Honoring the Pilgrims’ Faith at Santiago de Compostela: For nearly 10 centuries Christian pilgrims have trekked across northern Spain to the holy shrine of St. James, or Santiago. For the devout, walking into the great cathedral is an earthly taste of the gates of paradise. See p. 655.

bullet.eps Walking the Walls of Ávila: The 11th-century walls around Ávila—some of the most intact medieval walls in Europe—offer stirring views of the countryside, not to mention up-close views of storks nesting on the city’s highest buildings. See p. 195.

bullet.eps Reliving Roman Entertainment in Mérida: The ruins of Spain’s Roman capital, Emerita Augusta, are the best-preserved outside Italy. Visit in summer to take your seat in the spectacular ancient theater, which hosts a classical drama festival. See p. 713.

The best Hotels in Spain

bullet.eps Gran Hotel Domine, Bilbao: It took a lot of architectural chutzpah to erect a contemporary design hotel right next to Frank Gehry’s iconic Guggenheim Museum, but this place is up to the challenge. It’s a sleek yet comfortable place to stay. See p. 605.

bullet.eps Hostal de Los Reyes Católicos, Santiago de Compostela: Created by royal order to welcome pilgrims coming to Santiago, it’s the most history-steeped lodging in town—or maybe in Spain. See p. 660.

bullet.eps Hotel María Cristina, San Sebastián: Opulent in ways that only a Belle Époque hotel can be, this landmark hotel takes its name from a Spanish Queen and delivers royally when it comes to luxury and first-class service. See p. 585.

bullet.eps Gran Hotel Inglés, Madrid: A total refit has transformed this famous old establishment into one of the capital’s most stylish boutique hotels, set in a narrow Las Letras street across from Hemingway’s favorite sherry bar. See p. 118.

bullet.eps Hospedería del Real Monasterio, Guadalupe: Here’s a rare opportunity to lodge inside one of Spain’s most beautiful monasteries in this medieval pilgrimage town. Clanking keys, echoing corridors, and pilgrim-friendly prices make this an atmospheric treat. See p. 746.

Frank Gehry’s stunning design for the Hotel Marqués in Elciego, in the La Rioja wine country.

bullet.eps Casa Fuster, Barcelona: Modernisme’s heyday lives again in this deluxe hotel designed as a private home in 1908 by Lluís Domènech i Montaner. Private balconies in many rooms open onto leafy Passeig de Gràcia. See p. 466.

bullet.eps Hostal de la Gavina, Sant Feliu de Guíxols: This oasis amid the bustle of the Costa Brava epitomizes gracious living with a hint of Moorish style. See p. 534.

bullet.eps Hotel Marqués de Riscal, Elciego: Rioja wine house Marqués de Riscal hired Frank Gehry to design a City of Wine melding production facilities with this striking hotel with a shell of anodized titanium. A kissing cousin to the Guggenheim Bilbao. See p. 610.

bullet.eps Las Casas de la Judería, Sevilla: Comprising 27 traditional houses in the old Jewish quarter, linked by a labyrinth of passages, flower-filled patios and underground tunnels, this eccentric hotel is full of history and character. There’s a lovely rooftop pool too. See p. 251.

bullet.eps Parador Casa del Corregidor, Arcos de la Frontera: Once the headquarters of the king’s magistrate, this perfectly located parador in Andalucía has a modern wing hanging over the cliff edge. Its terraces have exhilarating views of the Río Guadelete plain below. See p. 318.

The best Tapas Dining

bullet.eps Bergara Bar, San Sebastián: San Sebastián is well stocked with good tapas bars, but the bright lights of the Bergara shine down on a counter simply groaning with pintxos creatives. It’s considered a national treasure by gastronomes and Spanish chefs. See p. 591.

A classic array of tapas, those iconic Spanish bar snacks.

bullet.eps Bodeguita Casablanca, Sevilla: This busy corner bar near Puerta de Jerez is acclaimed for its deft riffs on traditional dishes. Try the trademark tortilla al whisky, cooked carefully to preserve the alcohol and topped with cloves of roast garlic. See p. 256.

bullet.eps Casa Bigote, Sanlúcar de Barrameda: Grab a barrel-top table at this riverside taberna for a plate of rock salt-sprinkled prawns and a cold glass of the town’s manzanilla sherry. Watch the ferry go back and forth to the Doñana across the Guadalquivir delta. See p. 329.

bullet.eps Casa Dani, Madrid: With a stall inside the beautiful Mercado de la Paz food market, Casa Dani prides itself on making the finest tortilla española (Spanish omelet). A huge, gooey slice costs just 2.80€. See p. 135.

bullet.eps Casa Juan, Torremolinos: Mainly a seafood restaurant, Casa Juan serves tapas between meals (i.e., between 5–9pm). It’s the perfect spot for a freidura of mixed tiny seafood—often called fried foam—fried in olive oil. Eat it skin, bones, and all. See p. 362.

bullet.eps KGB, Málaga: Málaga foodies flock here to have fun, and a stream of guest chefs contributes a never-ending variety of novel small plates. The top secret tapas are just a joke on the initials for Kuartel Gastronomic Bar. See p. 373.

bullet.eps Nou Manolín, Alicante: Famous chefs from all over Spain (and even France) come on eating holidays to Alicante to treat themselves to Nou Manolín’s great fish tapas. See p. 406.

bullet.eps Tragatá, Ronda: At this offshoot of Benito Gómez’s exquisite Bardal restaurant, the tapas are little more than a bite, but the Spanish classics and fusion fish dishes are so well-made you might try the whole selection. See p. 311.

bullet.eps Tapas 24, Barcelona: With tapas for breakfast (broken eggs over fried potatoes), lunch (grilled ham and cheese with black truffle), or dinner (hamburger with foie gras), chef Carles Abellean pays homage to the tapas lifestyle. See p. 484.

bullet.eps Taberna Bar Cuervo, León: Michelin-starred chefs throughout Spain have begun to feature the air-dried beef of León on their menus. This taberna has had the best for decades, along with classic León sausages. See p. 229.

bullet.eps Taberna Casa Manteca, Cádiz: Founded by a retired matador in the 1950s, this shrine to the bullfight and flamenco serves chicharrones (thinly sliced pork belly) and the local payoyo cheese on waxed paper with a glass of sherry. See p. 338.

The best Restaurants

bullet.eps Arzak, San Sebastián: Co-chefs Juan Marí Arzak and Elena Arzak are passionate about visual presentation and magnificent taste. Yes, the plates are artful, but your palate will be duly rewarded at this restaurant that’s been a leader in avant-garde Basque cuisine for more than four decades. See p. 588.

bullet.eps José María Restaurante, Segovia: Segovianos are fanatics about roast suckling pig. Here’s where aficionados of cochinillo take their families for the crispest crackling skin and the juiciest succulent meat. See p. 195.

bullet.eps Lasarte, Barcelona: Basque chef Martín Berasategui’s exquisite fine dining restaurant offers reinterpretations of some of his greatest dishes and innovations by his brilliant chef de cuisine. See p. 483.

bullet.eps Dani García Restaurante, Marbella: At this Costa del Sol fixture, star chef Dani García reproduces some of his classics such as lobster salad with popcorn olives (exploded with liquid nitrogen) and suckling pig with pumpkin and orange. See p. 352.

bullet.eps El Celler de Can Roca, Girona: Roca brothers Joan (head chef), Jordi (head pastry chef), and Josep (sommelier) belie the trope about broth and too many cooks. This is Catalan home cooking with surreal twists, as if Salvador Dalí’s ghost were in the kitchen. See p. 523.

Suckling pig roasting in a tile oven.

bullet.eps Coque, Madrid: Representing a new wave of staggeringly sophisticated restaurants, the Sandoval brothers take diners on an avant-garde gastronomic tour, serving scientifically created dishes in several locations within their Chamberí restaurant. See p. 140.

bullet.eps La Pepica, Valencia: La Pepica’s sprawling kitchen is the temple of paella Valenciana—and dozens of variations. See p. 398.

bullet.eps Casa Marcial, Arriondas: Nacho Manzano made his mark in London, but his family restaurant is where he concocts outrageous and delicious dishes such as cucumber soup over green pepper sorbet or roast woodcock with oysters and river eels. See p. 633.

bullet.eps Solla, Pontevedra: Self-taught Pepe Solla lacks the preconceptions of a classically trained chef—he thinks nothing, for example, of pairing sea bass with braised turnip greens, Galician cabbage, and an orange-lemon sauce. See p. 666.

bullet.eps La Despensa del Etxanobe, Bilbao: Fernando Canales parades his genius in two adjacent restaurants: L’Atelier, the place to celebrate a business deal, and La Despensa, which oozes class in its décor, service, and carefully crafted cuisine. His pipeline to foragers and fishermen ensures he has the very best products of the season. See p. 606.

The best Ways to See Spain Like a Local

bullet.eps Shop in the Fresh Food Markets of Barcelona and Valencia: One look at the culinary riches on display in Barcelona’s La Boqueria and Valencia’s Mercado Central, and you’ll grasp the Spanish obsession with eating. Wait till you taste that orange! See p. 390 and p. 427.

bullet.eps Look for the Good-Luck Frog in Salamanca: The university city has the wittiest and most phantasmagoric stone carvings in all of Spain. Students look for a frog perched on a skull in the elaborate carvings around the door to the Escuelas Mayores. See p. 207.

Flowering patio of Cordoba.

bullet.eps Crowd into a Bar to Root for Real Madrid: Ticket prices for soccer matches at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium have become crazy expensive, but most fans watch the games on television—ideally on a big screen in a bar. See p. 113.

bullet.eps People-Watch at El Rastro: You may not find a bargain at Madrid’s venerable Sunday street market at Lavapies, but it’s a great place to watch the crowds who come for a wander, a look, and tapas at the bar afterwards. See p. 96.

bullet.eps Have a Glass of Catalan Cava: Sip sparkling wine surrounded by vineyards where those grapes were nourished by the Mediterranean sunshine. In the El Penedés growing region, you can tour Freixenet, Codorníu, Torres, and smaller local wineries. See p. 494.

bullet.eps Visit the Private Patios of Córdoba: During the Córdoba Patio Festival in May, people open their homes so visitors can admire the traditional interior courtyards hung with potted geraniums. See p. 268.

bullet.eps Make the Evening Promenade in Marbella: All over Spain people go out for a leisurely evening walk to show off a beau, visit with neighbors, or just enjoy the cool air. The marble sidewalks of Marbella are an elegant setting for a stroll. See p. 349.

The best Family Outings

bullet.eps Boating on Mallorca’s Largest Underground Lake: The Cuevas del Drach (Caves of the Dragon) hold concerts amid their forests of stalagmites and stalactites. Row around Lago Martel, the largest cavern lake in the world, in illuminated rowboats. See p. 691.

The Cuevas del Drach.

bullet.eps Talking to the Animals at the Bioparc Fuengirola: Moats and landscape features replace bars and cages at this model zoo where you can see more than 140 species of animals. See p. 356.

bullet.eps Seeing the Horses Dance in Jerez de la Frontera: Elegant purebred horses are put through their paces by highly skilled horsemen on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the Andalucían School of Equestrian Art in Jerez. See p. 323.

bullet.eps Hiking the Wind-Sculpted Hoodoos of El Torcal: Andalucía’s first natural park is a fantasia of wind-sculpted limestone boulders. Trails lead through the surreal landscape. See p. 375.

bullet.eps Kicking Back in Madrid’s Parque del Retiro: Madrid’s families flock to the Parque del Retiro to row around the lake, catch impromptu concerts, and let little ones watch old-fashioned puppet shows. See p. 107.

bullet.eps Riding the Train to the Beach in Alicante: Hop the light rail in downtown Alicante and arrive minutes later at the long sands of the barrier beach of Playa San Juan (Platja Sant Joan in Valenciano). See p. 402.

Bilbao’s Guggenheim Museum is as exciting for its architecture as for the art within.

The best Art Museums

bullet.eps Museo del Prado, Madrid: Created from the royal collections, this is one of the world’s greatest art museums. Its galleries contain Italian, Dutch and Flemish masters, but it’s the Spanish greats who shine, from Diego Velázquez’s psychological studies of royalty to Francisco de Goya’s journey from early pastorals to late nightmares. See p. 83.

In Sevilla, masterpieces are displayed in the serene setting of a 16th-century former convent.

bullet.eps Museo Nacional Centro del Arte Reina Sofía: During the Franco dictatorship, artists fled to countries more hospitable to their modern visions. The Reina Sofía puts them back where they belong. Pablo Picasso’s Guernica, his cri de coeur for the bombing of a defenseless Basque village, is the definitive piece of anti-war art. See p. 87.

bullet.eps Museo de Bellas Artes, Sevilla: The tiled courtyards of this 1594 former convent host Bartholomé Esteban Murillo’s florid masterpieces, painted for the convent, and Francisco de Zurbarán’s hauntingly austere portraits of saints. See p. 242.

bullet.eps Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona: More than 10,000 works by Joan Miró fill this light-filled museum atop Montjuïc in Barcelona. His surreal shapes and dreamy spaces have a whimsy of their own, like someone telling a funny story in another language. See p. 450.

bullet.eps Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao: For some visitors, Frank Gehry’s titanium-clad museum building still upstages its own exhibits, whether temporary or permanent. But over time, a penchant for performance pieces and sculpture (some whimsical, some not) on a gargantuan scale ensures that art aficionados will leave fully satisfied. See p. 601.

bullet.eps Teatre-Museu Dalí, Figueres: Salvador Dalí cultivated his image as an eccentric, so it’s no surprise that his final monument to himself is a former theater transformed into a non-stop sequence of visual jokes. Here it rains inside the car. See p. 526.

bullet.eps Museu Picasso, Barcelona: The artist who redefined art in the 20th century has whole museums dedicated to him in Málaga (his birthplace) and in Paris. The Barcelona museum, housed in five adjoining Gothic structures, lets you observe young Picasso becoming Picasso. See p. 437.

bullet.eps Museo de Santa Cruz, Toledo: Greek mystical painter Domenikos Theotokopoulos adopted Toledo as his home, and the Spanish renamed him El Greco. Some of his finest paintings—elongated religious figures depicted in luminous colors—reside in this beautiful Renaissance building. See p. 162.

bullet.eps Museo Carmen Thyssen, Málaga: The Baroness Carmen Thyssen (of the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid) endowed this institution with a sharply focused collection of Spanish paintings from 1825 to 1925 that document Spain’s transition from Romantic cliché to nation with a modern sensibility. See p. 368.

bullet.eps Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, Barcelona: Some of Europe’s best Romanesque and early Gothic art was created for Catalan churches. Thanks to heroic rescue efforts in threatened and demolished churches and chapels around Catalunya, much of it is collected here. See p. 452.

The best of Outdoor Spain

bullet.eps Hiking the Alpujarra de Granada: The ancient Moorish mountain villages south from Granada make for great town-to-town hiking on exposed rocky trails. The information center of the Parque Natural de Sierra Nevada in the village of Pampaneira is a good place to start. See p. 303.

bullet.eps Cycling to L’Albufera: The marshlands south of Valencia’s port are best explored on two wheels, and there’s even a bike path much of the way. See the rice farmers toiling in the marshes, enjoy the almost deserted beaches, and stop for a great paella. See p. 392.

bullet.eps Visiting the Illa de Cabrera Natural Reserve: Although Cabrera was a pirate base in the 13th and 14th centuries, now it is a Natural Reserve off Mallorca where you can see huge colonies of shearwaters and gulls as well as ospreys, falcons, and sea hawks. See p. 678.

bullet.eps Surfing the Left-Hand Break in Mundaka: The long rolling barrel curl in Mundaka on the Basque Coast is famous with surfers around the world. It’s also one of the most reliable breaks in Europe. Plan on wearing a wetsuit; the Bay of Biscay can be frigid. See p. 593.

bullet.eps Boating the Parque Doñana: One of Europe’s most important refuges for migratory birds, the Donaña marshes spread across the delta of the Río Guadalquivír as it reaches the Bahía de Cádiz. Naturalist-led boat tours leave daily from Sanlúcar de Barrameda. See p. 327.

A surfer tackles the barrel curl in Mundaka.

bullet.eps Walking the Fuente Dé Ridge: You’ll have to drive to the téleférico (cable car) station to ride up to a high ridge of Fuente Dé in the Picas de Europe. Walk the ridge, visit the cafe, and marvel at the mountains. See p. 629.

bullet.eps Birding in Monfragüe: This national park of untouched woodland and majestic river gorges is a birdwatcher’s nirvana, home to many protected species, including the Spanish imperial eagle, azure-winged magpie, and Europe’s biggest population of black vultures. See p. 738.

The best Small Towns

bullet.eps Trujillo: It’s said that 20 Latin American countries were born in this tough little Extremaduran town, which produced so many conquistadors who colonized the New World in the 16th century. The riches they sent home financed the lavish buildings on its beautiful square. See p. 730.

bullet.eps Ronda: Cleft in two by the dramatic El Tajo gorge, Ronda’s old and new towns are connected by a daring stone bridge. Romantic travelers in the 19th century fell in love with its edginess; you will too. See p. 304.

bullet.eps Zamora: When the Christian kings of Castilla took back Zamora from the Moors, they made sure they could hold it by building two dozen fabulous Romanesque churches in the 12th and 13th centuries. The town fortifications have great views along the Río Duero. See p. 211.

bullet.eps Elche: Boasting the largest palm forest in Europe and an archaeological museum devoted to the ancient Iberians, Elche also has the Pikolinos shoe factory outlet at the edge of town. See p. 408.

The hanging houses of Cuenca cling to their clifftop perches.

bullet.eps Cuenca: Spectacularly balanced between earth and sky, Cuenca is famous for its hanging houses, cantilevered onto a precipitous gorge. Abandoned after the Civil War, the upper town was reclaimed by abstract artists, who have regenerated it as striking venue for contemporary art. See p. 171.

bullet.eps Deià: Set on the western end of Mallorca, this high-country village of stone houses draped in bougainvillea was the favored retreat of English poet Robert Graves, who wrote his enduring historical novel I, Claudius here. See p. 685.

bullet.eps Santo Domingo de la Calzada: Established in the 12th century as a stopover for pilgrims heading to Santiago de Compostela, this little village in La Rioja eventually grew into a full-fledged pilgrim town where live chickens are kept in the cathedral. See p. 223.

The best Off-the-Beaten Path Spain

bullet.eps Toro: This dusty little wine town on the Río Duero east of Zamora huddles behind medieval walls. The carvings on the main entry of its 13th-century church are some of Spain’s greatest Gothic art. Most Toro shops sell wine—very, very good wine. See p. 216.

bullet.eps Cadaqués: Isolated along the coast over a steep range of mountains, Cadaqués remains the sweet fishing town that has drawn so many artists over the years. The stony beach is better for landing small boats than sunbathing. One cove north of the center, Port Lligat was the home and studio of Salvador Dalí, now open to the public. See p. 528.

bullet.eps Poblet: Once the greatest of Catalunya’s Carthusian monasteries, Poblet has retreated to near oblivion. Yet the fortified monastery village west of Barcelona has a medieval charm, as if it were plucked directly from Umberto Eco’s Name of the Rose. The kings of Aragón are buried beneath the church. See p. 506.

Spectacular stone carvings adorn a Gothic church in tiny Toro.

bullet.eps The Cantabrian Caves: Whether they were painted 10,000 or 30,000 years ago, the delicate deer and hunched buffalo on the walls of Cantabria’s limestone caves remain fresh and vibrant today. See p. 621.

bullet.eps Úbeda: In the 16th century, agricultural wealth financed Úbeda’s elegant churches and palaces. When fortunes declined, the building stopped, leaving an open-air museum of Spanish Renaissance architecture. See p. 298.

bullet.eps Bardenas Reales: These badlands lie midway between the Pyrenees of northern Navarra and its southern agricultural flatlands. Wind and rain have sculpted spectacular rock formations and if that’s not enough, sheep flocks graze here in winter … while the Spanish air force uses the area for target practice! See p. 568.

bullet.eps Teruel: The Aragonese city of Teruel northwest of Valencia is a treasure trove of Mudéjar architecture—a uniquely Spanish style that came about when Christian patrons engaged Moorish architects and workmen. The synthesis of cultures yielded some of the richest design of the late Middle Ages. See p. 550.

Casa Guell in Barcelona.

One of the few things that the French and English used to agree on was that Europe ends at the Pyrenees. Those mountains kept Spain in splendid isolation, where it developed along its own path. Consequently, Spain has evolved customs, art, architecture, and even cuisine that owe as much to Islamic North Africa as to its onetime sister provinces of the Roman Empire. The country does not look like, sound like, or even taste like the rest of Europe, and nowhere else is quite as rich or demanding. When you go to Spain, you must surrender to Spain.

You must accept the rhythms of daily life—so unlike the rest of Europe—and think nothing of going to dinner after 10pm and then closing down the flamenco bar after the 3am final set. You must spend the evening in a seafront promenade, walking and talking and nodding at the other walkers and talkers. You must elbow your way to the bar, pointing at the tapas to order, and having your fill. For that matter, you must resolve to eat something new every day that you would otherwise spurn: blood sausage, roasted suckling pig, squid in its own ink. In some places, shops and museums close in the heat of the afternoon, and you must be patient and while away the hours with lunch in a cool, shady courtyard. Do all that, and you will be ready for everything Spain will throw at you.

Rest assured, it will be a lot. The cultural renaissance that followed the 1975 death of dictator Francisco Franco continues to gather steam. Madrid, Barcelona, and San Sebastián have emerged as major European artistic and intellectual centers of cinema, fashion, and gastronomy, while Bilbao has provided a blueprint to the world for using art to transform an industrial backwater into a vibrant cultural capital.

Spain Today

Spain is a social, cultural, and economic bright spot in Europe. Unemployment is dropping, wages are climbing, yet inflation is low. In practical terms for a visitor to Spain, that means that the country is prosperous yet remains a very good bargain. The bills have been largely paid for the audacious infrastructure investments of the early part of the 21st century, and now Spain enjoys a network of new highways, a high-speed train system that is the envy of Europe, and thoroughly modernized airports.

There has also been a positive sea change in the national mood. When King Juan Carlos I abdicated the throne in 2014, Spaniards welcomed his son, Felipe VI, perhaps the best educated and most polyglot monarch in centuries. The king and his queen consort, Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano, a former television journalist with CNN, swiftly became symbols of the secularization and liberalization of Spanish cultural life. They were the first Spanish monarchs to enthusiastically welcome an LGBT delegation and Felipe did away with the requirement that office holders swear an oath on a Bible or crucifix.

Although Spain is a nominally Roman Catholic country, church attendance has fallen off from its historic highs. The true religion of most Spaniards—and particularly of residents of Barcelona and Madrid—is fútbol (soccer). It’s a red-letter day on the calendar whenever Real Madrid and FC Barcelona meet. The rivalry is known simply as El Clásico, and fills the home stadium, while tens of millions of Spaniards tune into the matches on television. Historically, Real Madrid symbolizes the hegemony of the Castilians who have ruled the country since the 15th century, while Barcelona represents the upstart rebelliousness of Catalunya.

In June 2018 Spanish voters elected a new government led by prime minister Pedro Sánchez of the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE). Spain did an about-face on environmental policy, setting new and higher goals for renewable energy. (Nearly 50% of the country’s electricity is generated by solar panels and wind turbines—a fact readily evident as you drive past vast wind and solar farms in rural areas.) The new government also took a more active role in European Union affairs. In a reversal of its historic xenophobia, Spain has become an open and immigration-friendly political system and society.

Spain’s popular new monarch, Felipe VI, and his queen, Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano, signal the liberalization of the country.

Sentiment in Catalunya for independence from Spain remains high, though the political quarrel has little consequence for visitors—even at the height of the independence protests in October 2017 and September 2018, the main inconvenience for visitors was having to detour around the crowds. The standoff remains, as Catalan nationalists control the regional government by a slim margin and the Sánchez government in Madrid does its best not to poke the bear.

Looking Back at Spain

To understand Spain’s accretion of cultures, simply look to any major religious site. The Christian cathedral is often built on the site of a Moorish mosque that was erected on the ruins of a Visigothic church built over the cellars of a Roman temple, which may have used the building blocks and columns from an even earlier Phoenician house of worship.

The peopling of the Iberian Peninsula began around 35,000

b.c.

, with the arrival of Cro-Magnon refugees from the glaciation of Europe. Traces of the first settlers are scattered and are found mainly in the sophisticated wall paintings in Altamira (p. 622) and other caves along the Cantabrian and Basque coasts. The Basque Archaeological Museum in Bilbao offers a good overview of what science knows about these first Spaniards.

Two Bronze Age cultures—Iberian and Celtic—had emerged in Spain by the time other Mediterranean cultures made contact. The Iberians are perhaps best known today through a few examples of sophisticated funerary figures, La Dama de Baeza and La Dama d’Elx, both on display in the National Archaeology Museum in Madrid (p. 105). Celtic culture flourished around the Atlantic rim of the peninsula; Tartessos, at the mouth of the Río Guadalquivír, became famous throughout the ancient world for its jewelry and for its dance and music. (Tartessans invented castanets.) Examples of exquisite Celtic gold work are in the National Archaeology Museum in Madrid (p. 105) and in the Archaeological and Historical Museum in A Coruña (p. 649).

Relics of the earliest Iberians were discovered on cave walls in Altamira.

Phoenician settlement began in Iberia around 1100

b.c.

, most notably in Málaga and in the peninsular city of Cádiz, where extraordinary Phoenician sarcophagi and some Phoenician jewelry are displayed in the Museo de Cádiz (p. 333). Within 200 years, Greek traders began to give the Phoenicians competition, founding the trading post at Empuriès (p. 531) on the Costa Brava and pushing into the Balearics and coastal Andalucía.

In 218

b.c.

, the Romans landed and changed everything. Establishing a beachhead to battle the Carthaginians in the Second Punic War, they proceeded to lay roads across Iberia and either conquer or co-opt everyone they met along the way. The Phoenicians and Greeks had already brought wine grapes and olive trees; the Romans brought wheat, law and order, a hunger for Iberian fish paste, and an insatiable need for soldiers to fight in the Roman legions. By the time of Julius Caesar, Hispania was under Roman law and began a long period of peace and prosperity. Tarragona (p. 497), a short trip south from Barcelona, became the administrative center for eastern Hispania while Mérida (p. 713) in Extremadura became the western capital. Both retain many Roman structures to this day. The Romans were superb architects and engineers; throughout the country, Roman roads still form the base for many highways. Segovia (p. 186), a short trip out of Madrid, boasts one of the greatest of the Roman aqueducts.

Mérida’s Roman theater is among Spain’s most complete Roman ruins.

Iberia was thoroughly Romanized during this period, although the Basques negotiated a fragile peace with Rome that allowed them to maintain their right of self-governance. Succeeding rulers granted the Basques the same autonomy until the late 19th century. The Pax Romana prevailed throughout the peninsula, and Latin became the Iberian language.

Detail of Moorish decoration in the Alhambra in Granada.

When the Roman Empire crumbled in the

a.d.

5th century, Iberia was first overrun by the Vandals (northern Germans who ultimately kept going south into the mountains of North Africa) and then by the Visigoths from Eastern Europe. Rome had invited them to drive out the Vandals, but local powers decided to keep Iberia for themselves. (The Visigoths’ 200-year rule plays out in a few country churches in northern Spain and some of the most sophisticated medieval gold jewelry ever crafted, including the royal jewels and crowns now housed in the National Archaeological Museum in Madrid; see p. 105).

Centuries of Holy Wars

In

a.d.

711, the game changed again. Led by the great Berber general Tariq ibn Ziyad, Moorish warriors crossed the Straits of Gibraltar from Morocco and set about conquering Iberia. Within 3 years, the Moors controlled all but the far northern fringe of the peninsula, where the Basques and the Asturian Visigoths held out in their mountain lairs.

The Iberian population had collapsed under the chaotic rule of the Visigoths, and the Moors began to repopulate their conquered land, which they called al-Andalus. While northern Europe was foundering in the Dark Ages, the Andalucían capital of Córdoba was a model of enlightenment. Religious tolerance was an official policy under the Umayyad Caliphate (

a.d.

929–1031). Córdoba’s Great Mosque (La Mezquita; p. 268) was erected in this period, and European, North African, Near Eastern, and Jewish scholars flocked to the city. Notable advances were made in agriculture, industry, literature, philosophy, medicine, and mathematics.

By the late 11th century, powerful local kingdoms had arisen in northern Spain with the single-minded goal of restoring Christian rule to Muslim Iberia. When civil war broke out in al-Andalus, the northern Christian warriors pounced. Alfonso VI of Castilla seized Toledo, Madrid, and much of central Spain in 1085; the great warlord and national hero El Cid won back Valencia and Catalunya (including Barcelona) in 1094. By 1214, only three major powers remained in Iberia: Castilla in the north, west, and center of Spain; Aragón in northeastern Spain; and the Moorish kingdom of Granada, which would flower a century later with the supreme example of Moorish architecture and decorative arts, the Alhambra (p. 283).

The Castilian and Aragónese bloodlines would finally meet in Spain’s first power couple, Isabel I of Castilla y León and Fernando II of Aragón. They married in 1469, bringing Toledo (and nearby Madrid) and Barcelona under the same joint rule. Isabel launched the Spanish Inquisition to ferret out heretics, and the Catholic kings (as the Spanish-born pope would dub them) made war on Granada and drove out its last ruler in 1492. Declaring the reconquest complete, Isabel and Fernando decreed that all Muslims and Jews must either convert to Christianity or leave the country.

A statue in Córdoba depicts Queen Isabel I and King Fernando II sending Christopher Columbus on his voyage to the New World.

Later that same year, they dispatched Christopher Columbus to find a westward passage to the Spice Islands of Asia, an event memorialized in statuary in the garden of Córdoba’s Alcázar (p. 237). He sailed from the mouth of the Rio Guadalquivír in Andalucía, and, in October 1492, made landfall instead in the West Indies. His voyages of discovery laid the foundations for a far-flung empire that would bring wealth and power to Spain throughout the 16th and 17th centuries.

Imperial Spain

The grandson of Isabel and Fernando, the Habsburg king Carlos I, became the most powerful ruler in Europe when he was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 1519 and took the title Carlos V. He ruled Spain and Naples and the Holy Roman Empire and was lord of Germany, duke of Burgundy and the Netherlands, and ruler of the New World territories. His son, Felipe II, inherited the throne in 1556 and 5 years later moved the capital from the closed hilltop medieval city of Toledo to Madrid, where the Habsburg kings had a hunting palace.

As Holy Roman Emperor, Carlos V ruled over a vast part of western Europe.

Madrid grew quickly from dusty outpost to royal city, setting Spain on its Golden Age of arts and letters, and Madrid on its domination of the national scene. Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616), a career petty bureaucrat, penned the adventures of Don Quijote and set the standard for Spanish prose. The rascal priest Lope de Vega (1562–1635) wrote poems and plays incessantly, redefining the Spanish theater in the company of Calderón de la Barca (1600–81) and Tirso de Molina (1579–1648).

The great painter El Greco (1541–1614) came to Toledo from Italy and brought the Italian Renaissance with him, although he could not curry favor at court and remained outside royal circles. Diego Velázquez (1599–1660) rose to become court painter to Felipe IV, and the two men were bound like brothers over several decades as Velázquez chronicled the royal family. His paintings, rarely seen in his own day, became public only when the royal art collection was installed in the Museo del Prado (p. 83) in the 19th century.

When the crown passed from the Habsburgs to the Bourbon line in 1700, Felipe V revoked the autonomy of Catalunya to quash his political foes and turned to re-making Madrid as a proper capital. His first task was to begin construction of the Palacio Real (p. 98). His son Carlos III transformed the face of Madrid with the aid of Spain’s principal neoclassical architect, Ventura Rodríguez (1717–85), who laid out the grand boulevard of the Paseo del Prado and worked with Juan de Villanueva (1739–1811) on one of Spain’s best neoclassical buildings, the Museo del Prado.

Spain in Chaos

Napoleon Bonaparte’s 1808 invasion of Spain set off 167 years of instability and political oppression. Noting that Catalunya existed as a buffer between the French and the Moors, Napoleon annexed the region (and the riches of Barcelona). The rest of Spain literally took to the hills to fight the French emperor in the War of Independence, finally driving his armies out in 1813. Francisco de Goya famously delineated the horrors of French occupation in a series of paintings now in the Prado (p. 83).

A monument in Madrid celebrates Miguel de Cervantes’ great literary creation, Don Quijote, with his squire Sancho Panza.

The Catalan territory was restored to Spain, along with the Bourbon monarchy, but something in Spanish governance was irreparably broken. Fernando VII regained the throne but proved to be no friend of the freedom fighters and spent two decades putting down revolts. His arrogance and inflexibility led to the loss of Spain’s most lucrative colonies in the Americas—and subsequent financial hardship for the country.

On the death of Fernando in 1833, civil war broke out between supporters of his daughter (Isabel II) and so-called Carlists who favored a more distant—but male—heir to the throne. Two more Carlist wars were fought, mostly in Navarra and the Basque Country, over the next 50 years, and Carlist sympathies festered into the 20th century, fueling both Franco’s Falangist movement and Basque separatist sympathies. During this period, Spain was coming apart at the seams, and separatist fervor ran high, especially in Catalunya.

Scholars began to reestablish Catalan as a language of serious letters, and the avant-garde design style known as Art Nouveau in France and Jugendstil in Austria found native expression in Barcelona in the radical architecture of Modernisme. Its most extreme practitioner was Antoni Gaudí (1852–1926), who seemed as much to grow his buildings as construct them. His masterpiece La Sagrada Familia (p. 440) integrates the impossibly soaring arches of High Gothic with a decorative style akin to melted candle wax. Other famous practitioners of Modernisme include Lluís Domènech i Montaner (1850–1923), known for the Palau de la Música Catalana (p. 438) in Barcelona, and Josep Puig i Cadafalch (1867–1956), who designed the Codorniù bodega in Sant Sadurní de Anoia (p. 494).

A stained-glass ceiling dome in Barcelona’s Palau de la Música Catalana shows the exuberance of the Modernisme architectural style.

Isabel II ultimately was driven into exile in Paris, but the shaky monarchy was restored in 1874 when her son Alfonso XII became king. His sudden death in 1886 left his unborn son as monarch. The child was crowned Alfonso XIII at birth; his mother, Queen María Cristina, served as regent until 1902, and her advisors botched both the Spanish economy and Spain’s international relations. Although he enjoyed immense personal popularity—he was the first Spanish celebrity king—Alfonso XIII exercised little real power. His chief legacy was to adopt the Real Madrid football club and to create the parador hotel system. In 1923, he allowed prime minister Primo de Rivera to take over the country as dictator for the next 7 years.

Civil War & the Franco Years

After Primo de Rivera was overthrown, in 1931 Spain declared the Second Republic. Initially progressive and left-wing in its politics, the new government broke into ever-smaller factions. Conservative, fascist-minded parties gained ground in the elections. When a group of right-wing generals declared a coup in 1936, the Civil War began. The world took sides, with Hitler and Mussolini backing Francisco Franco and the Nationalist generals. Most of the rest of Europe nominally backed the Republicans, also known as Loyalists or the Popular Front. Germany and Italy sent weapons and military assistance to the right, while the rest of the world sent a few volunteer brigades, including the American contingent called the Lincoln Brigade. (For those who want insight into the era, Ernest Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls is a good read.) It took time to turn untrained militias into an army fit to battle Franco’s forces, and time was something the Popular Front did not have.

In the winter of 1936–37, Franco’s forces slowly began to establish power, capturing the Basque country and demonstrating his ruthlessness by calling in the German Luftwaffe to destroy the Basque town of Gernika (Guernica in Castilian Spanish). The horror of the scene, which became the subject of one of Picasso’s most famous paintings, Guernica (p. 87), repulsed the world.

The Aragonese town of Belchite, reduced to rubble in the Spanish Civil War, has been left in ruins as a sobering reminder of the war’s destruction.

At the end of the first year of war, Franco held 35 of Spain’s provincial capitals, except for Madrid and Barcelona. In 1937, the Republican forces were cut in two, and Madrid was left to fend for itself. The last great offensive of the war began on December 23, 1938, with an attack by Franco’s forces on Barcelona, which fell on January 26, 1939, after a campaign of 34 days. Republican forces fled to France. On March 28, some 200,000 of Franco’s troops marched into Madrid, meeting no resistance. The war was over the next day, when the rest of Republican Spain surrendered. Lasting 2 years and 254 days, the war claimed 1 million lives. Spain lay in ruins, with Franco atop the smoking pile.

Steering Spain clear of alliances, Franco continued to rule until his death in 1975. He brought order, if not freedom, but he also isolated Spain from the rest of Europe.

Democratic Spain

According to advance provisions made by Franco, Juan Carlos de Bórbon, the grandson of Alfonso XIII, became king when the dictator died in 1975. Under the terms of a 1978 constitution, Spain became a constitutional democracy with a monarch whose power is limited to moral suasion. The constitution also devolved much of the government’s centralized powers to autonomous regions, addressing long-standing calls for self-government in Catalunya and the Basque Country.

Franco’s death was as momentous an event for society as it was for politics. The initial giddiness of Spaniards—dubbed La Movida—signified an explosion of freedom that brought to the fore such iconoclasts as filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar, who broke into the art-house circuit with his 1988 Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, a wild comedy about Spanish women and their man problems. He promptly became the flag bearer of contemporary Spanish cinema, with a body of work that in many ways defines modern Spanish sensibilities.

Flamenco had been suppressed under Franco but began to rise in popularity in the early 1970s as the dictator’s health declined. Young talents, such as guitarist Paco de Lucía and singer Camerón de la Isla (both now deceased), helped lead a popular revival of the art form. Their emergence as full-fledged international stars in the early 1980s encouraged other artists to come out of the peñas (private clubs for flamenco aficionados) where they had labored—some for decades—to play the bars and clubs of Madrid and the cities of Andalucía. Today, Madrid is the epicenter of flamenco, but Sevilla, Jerez, Cádiz, and Málaga remain traditional strongholds.

Hosting the 1992 Olympic Games brought striking redevelopment to Barcelona’s waterfront, including Frank Gehry’s massive sculpture El Peix.

In a similar vein, Spanish gastronomy underwent a sea change in the mid-1970s when Basque chefs Pedro Subijana and Juan Mari Arzak applied the principles of French nouvelle cuisine to Spanish food. They in turn inspired a young Catalan cook fresh out of military service named Ferran Adrià. In his quest for continuous reinvention of food at his restaurant elBulli, Adrià launched a worldwide gastronomic revolution that includes but is hardly limited to the chemistry-set pyrotechnics of molecular gastronomy. Adrià has since closed elBulli, leaving the frontiers of gastronomy to others, but it is nonetheless a great time to eat in Spain. Chefs have never been held in higher regard, finally achieving the fame and status of rock stars and star footballers. (Three-Michelin-star Madrid chef David Muñoz was, in fact, a footballer.) Yet not all the great dining in Spain costs 150€ and up (not including wine). The trickle-down of culinary aspiration reaches all the way to Spain’s bars, where complex and inventive tapas, or tapas creativas, are all the rage.

The Spectacle of death

Whether you love or despise bullfighting, the corrida is impossible to ignore. In Death in the Afternoon, Ernest Hemingway wrote, The bullfight is not a sport in the Anglo-Saxon sense of the word; that is, it is not an equal contest or an attempt at an equal contest between a bull and a man. Rather it is a tragedy: the death of the bull, which is played, more or less well, by the bull and the man involved and in which there is danger for the man but certain death for the bull.

We’re more conflicted about bullfights than Papa was. In Spain, lithe (and, yes, sexy) matadors have all the celebrity of rock stars—and we love a good spectacle. But as animal lovers, we’ve never attended a bullfight in person because we know that no matter how skillful and graceful the matador, we couldn’t stomach the baiting, wounding, and eventual killing of the bull. And, yes, we know that the animal is respected in death, and that some of its meat is even distributed to the poor.

Many Spaniards dislike (or simply have no interest in) the sport, and the autonomous region of Catalunya has banned it altogether. But the corrida persists as an element of Spanish identity. If you’d like to grapple with your own feelings about this confluence of culture and cruelty, the corrida season lasts from early spring to around mid-October. Fights are held in a plaza de toros (bullring), including the oldest ring in remote Ronda and one of the most beautiful in Sevilla. Madrid’s Las Ventas is arguably the most important in Spain. The best bullfighters face the best bulls here—and the fans who pack the stands are among the sport’s most passionate and knowledgeable.

The bullfighter’s greatest honor is to be awarded two orejas, or ears. The matador can claim the first by killing the bull with one thrust. The second is awarded by the crowd, with the consent of bullfight officials, for style and showmanship. In Madrid, those so honored are carried through the Grand Portal of Las Ventas by jubilant fans. Win two ears at Las Ventas and doors open at every bullring in the world. A top bullfighter can earn 5 to 6 million euros a year. Spaniards liken it to winning an Oscar in Hollywood—only much more dangerous.

A good alternative to attending a bullfight is to watch one in a neighborhood bar. We were once drinking happily in a small-town bar when the broadcast of a bullfight began on TV. Surrounded by intense fans, we found it impossible not to watch. As it played out on the small screen, the whole event was simultaneously moving and unsettling. Then again, the best travel experiences make you think—and sometimes make you uncomfortable.

In a way, Spain’s coming-out parties to the world were Expo ’92 in Sevilla and the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. The latter spurred the transformation of its host city, completely overhauling the waterfront and heralding Barcelona’s reemergence on the world stage. Spain quickly placed its cultural treasures on display as well, constructing new major museums across the country, from the Guggenheim (p. 601) in Bilbao and the City of Arts and Sciences (p. 388) in Valencia to Madrid’s Museum Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía (p. 87) and Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza (p. 89). Paris’s Centre Pompidou even opened its first satellite museum in Málaga (p. 366).

Spain finished its first high speed rail line in time for the Seville Expo in 1992, cutting travel time from Madrid to a mere 2 hours. Recently expanded lines now reach from the central hub of Madrid east to Valencia, north to the edge of the Basque Country, and northwest to A Coruña. Travel times are a fraction of what they once were, and relatively inaccessible parts of Spain are now a short drive or train ride away.

Spain’s 2002 decision to join the European Union spurred huge social changes. Pressure to abandon the afternoon siesta finally trimmed the lunch break to 2 hours or less, and many stores, especially in big cities, began to stay open without interruption. (Many museums have been reluctant to give up their midday break, however; check hours before visiting. Places that are chronically understaffed tend to close for lunch.) Perhaps the most radical sign that Spain had embraced European social norms came in 2011, when, bowing to E.U. health policies, the country banned smoking in all bars and restaurants throughout the country. Many Spaniards still smoke, but they do it outdoors.

Top 10 souvenirs of Spain

1.A tin of saffron. In most countries it is hard to find saffron in anything larger than 1-gram vials. In Spanish markets or specialty shops, you can buy it in containers of 5, 10, 20, and even 50 grams. It’s still a splurge, but much less expensive than buying it at home.

2.An embroidered shawl from Andalucía. While you’re in Sevilla, observe local women to learn how this accessory can become a major fashion statement.

3.A Basque beret. More structured than the French beret, a Basque beret is usually made of waterproof wool with a soft leather headband. Ideally, it should be purchased in Basque Country from a man who never takes his off.

4.A ceramic olive serving bowl. These bowls have a separate small compartment for placing the pits. Some also have another compartment to hold toothpicks. It will be a great conversation piece at your next dinner party.

5.A beautiful forged kitchen knife from Toledo. Toledo steel has been the standard to swear by since knights carried Toledo blades into battle during the Crusades. Blade makers in Toledo now make fabulous kitchen cutlery. Be sure to pack your purchase into a checked bag to fly home.

6.A bullfight poster. Any souvenir shop will print your name on a generic poster. Instead, go to the gift shop at a major bullring for exquisite reproductions of posters from recent seasons. A proper bullfight poster is a uniquely Spanish art genre.

7.A Lladro porcelain figurine. The firm is a 20th-century invention, but the style harks back to the fine workmanship of 18th-century porcelain.

8.Canvas espadrilles with rope soles. This summer classic never goes out of style, and Spaniards make them in both casual and high-fashion editions.

9.Team jersey from Barcelona FC or Real Madrid. Football (soccer) is practically a state religion, and these two teams are the most popular in Spain and among the best in the world. State your preference with your jersey.

10.Paella pan. It’s so flat and thin that it easily slips into a suitcase. Now you can use that saffron.

In April 2005, Spain became the third European country to recognize gay marriage. Contemporary Spain is an especially attractive destination for LGBT travelers, and some resort towns, such as Sitges (p. 507) on the coast south of Barcelona, have equal numbers of gay and straight visitors during the height of tourist season. Other popular resort areas for gay travelers are Torremolinos on the Costa del Sol and the island of Ibiza.

Perhaps no change of customs has been more dramatic than the decline in Spaniards’ traditional modesty. A generation ago, you could be arrested for going topless on the beach. Now the constitution guarantees that you can wear whatever you want—or not—as long as you don’t create a stir. As a result, most coastal regions in Spain now have naturist beaches where clothed sunbathers are the odd ones out. It’s made Spain a major destination for naturist tourism.

Spanish Art & Artists

Spain’s artistic tradition goes back around 30,000 years if you count the magical cave paintings in the mountains above the Cantabrian coast. (Picasso once quipped, After Altamira, everything is decadence.) Some of Europe’s greatest masters were Spaniards or did their greatest work in Spain. Here are some not to miss—and where to see their art.

Bernat Martorell (d. 1452) This 15th-century painter of retables and manuscript illuminations revolutionized Catalan painting with his complex composition and luminous handling of color and light. One of his greatest surviving works is the Altarpiece of the Saints John in the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (p. 452) in Barcelona.

El Greco (1540–1614) The Crete-born artist settled in Toledo in 1577 and spent the next 4 decades filling the city’s churches with his singular style. His phantasmagoric color and action-filled application of paint made him an inspiration to 20th-century Expressionists. His work is found extensively throughout Toledo and in the Museo del Prado (p. 83).

Francisco de Zurbarán (1598–1664) The Spanish master of chiaroscuro concentrated on painting ascetic religious meditations for monastery walls, often using the monks as models. Many of his major works are in the Museo del Prado (p. 83) in Madrid, but his greatest masterworks are found in the Museo de Bellas Artes (p. 242) in Sevilla.

Diego Velázquez (1599–1660) Becoming Felipe IV’s court painter at age 25, Velázquez created his greatest works—mostly portraits—while in the royal employ. When the paintings were later deposited in the Museo del Prado (p. 83), where they occupy several galleries, his genius was rediscovered by critics and artists.

When Diego Velázquez painted Las Meninas in 1640, he changed the psychology of European painting. This portrait of the royal household of Felipe IV, which focuses on the Infanta Margarita and her maids, includes a reflected image of the artist. It is the star of the Museo del Prado in Madrid and remains a touchstone of Spanish art. Pablo Picasso’s obsessive reinterpretations, painted 300 years later, hang in the Museu Picasso in Barcelona.

Francisco de Goya (1746–1828) Capable of both giddy pictorialism—as in his bucolic scenes created for the tapestries hung at El Pardo—and harrowing, nightmare images, Goya stands with Velázquez and Picasso in the triumvirate of Spain’s greatest artists. His late works painted during the French occupation carry a direct emotional force that was truly new in European art. The best of Goya’s work is found in the Museo del Prado (p. 83) and in the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando (p. 92), both in Madrid.

Joaquín Sorolla (1863–1923) Born in Valencia, Sorolla was Spain’s premier painter of light and saturated color. Adept at portraiture as well as landscape, his most heartfelt canvases depict his native Valencian shore of churning waves, sun-modeled rocks, and innocently erotic bathers. Although some of his work can be found in the Museo del Prado (p. 83), the best selection fills the Museo Sorolla (p. 106) in Madrid.

Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) The quintessential 20th-century artist did it all, inventing new styles when he’d exhausted old ones. Many of his early works as well as some seminal 1950s pieces are housed in Barcelona’s Museu Picasso (p. 437). The Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía (p. 87) in Madrid displays many Picassos, most notably the iconic Guernica. The Museo Picasso Málaga (p. 369) also features a broad selection of his work.

Juan Gris (1887–1927) Working with a brighter palette and more