10 Reasons to Visit Spain

1) Beaches

Let's start with the obvious. Spain is blessed with some of Europe's most beautiful beaches, if not arguably the world and with 5000 miles of coastline there are plenty to choose from. From the (sometimes) quieter beaches of San Sebastian in the northern Basque Country to the touristic chaos of the Costa del Sol in the south, anyone who fancies a beach holiday should have Spain high up on their list of possible holiday destinations.

2) Food

Eating is part of Spanish culture, a social occasion to be enjoyed and savored - for this reason their food is infinitely better than anything we manage to produce in Britain. Their meals can be huge, especially lunch (la comida), and they generally eat their evening meal (la cena) extremely late by other western standards. Yet despite the quantity, they don't have the same obesity problem as is currently sweeping Britain, I wonder why?  From (occasionally) free tapas with your drinks to gigantic paellas as pictured above to Iberico ham for which you can pay over £1000/$1500 Spain's food is an eclectic taste filled treat for any pallet. 

3) Architecture

As you may have read in my previous posts, Barcelona is a long way from my favourite city in Spain, however you can't mention Spain's architecture without giving an honorable mention to the genius of Gaudi and his creations that can be found throughout Barcelona. But these aren't the only unique creations to be found in this historic country - For example there's the Alcazar in Seville, or the stunning architecture of Granada, including the famous Alhambra Palace. 

4) Legendary Fiestas

The Spanish know how to throw a party. A real party. I'm sure you've all heard of the running of the bulls in Pamplona, for example. Or the great international food fight in the streets of Bunol near to Valencia. But, speaking of Valencia have you hear of Las Fallas? To my mind the biggest and best party I am yet to find in Spain. What is it? Valencia, essentially turns into an endless, days long, city-wide party. This includes, somewhat akin to Bonfire Night in the UK, the burning of huge bonfires constructed of figures current celebrities and well known people from current news stories. There are constant fireworks throughout the city all through the night, marching bands in the morning and dancing in the streets in the afternoon. Visiting Las Fallas has to go down as one of the most surreal and unique moments of my life. 

An excellent article on Las Fallas including photos and its historic significance can be found here.

5) Waterparks

Spain is home to many of the largest and most popular aqua and water parks in Europe, if they are something you enjoy (my girlfriend loves them, which explains their inclusion in this article), then this is the place to come. Perhaps most well known, to British tourists at least, are Aqualand near Magaluf, Siam Park in Tenerife and Aqualandia in Benidorm, but a more extensive list is available here.  The photo above is of a waterpark I visited just outside of Madrid last Summer with my aforementioned girlfriend. 

6) Wine

You probably think of France and Italy as the world's premier wine producers, a notion that is difficult to disagree with, but the Spanish produce some world class wines. Spain, due to its size and diversity of climate boast a huge variety of different types of wines, but for me, it's the Cava and the Sangria that should entice wine lovers to visit.  No trip to Spain is complete without sharing a jar of real Sangria with friends as you watch the sun go down.

7) Madrid

To my (admittedly biased) mind Madrid is the most wonderful city on earth, which is why I left everything I knew to go and live there - now I work between Madrid and the UK - the best of both worlds. If it isn't on your bucket list to visit the beating, cosmopolitan heart of Spain, then it should be. 

8) Scenery 

Spain's unspoiled landscape is hauntingly beautiful. The photo above, for example was taken from Granada, near my grandfathers ancestral home. The beautiful Alhambra Palace towers over the sizzling hot Granada city center framed by the year-round snow capped Sierra Nevada mountain range in the background. You can literally sunbathe on golden beaches in the morning before skiing in the evening.  

9) Lifestyle

The Mediterranean lifestyle is famous for its relaxed nature, its healthy foods and its emphasis on social occasions, and it was one of the main reasons I took the plunge to relocate to Spain. It's no surprise to me that the Spanish live longer, look healthier and don't suffer the same obesity epidemic that we do in Britain.

10) Football

Football's coming home, as we like to say in England, but god knows we can learn a thing or two from the Spanish. La Roja, the national team of recent years have become the only national team in history to win 3 successive major tournaments and are routinely compared to Pele's Brazil as the greatest team of all time.  The English Premier League is often described as "the best league in the world", it isn't, not even close, it's just the best brand - La Liga is.  La Liga has the 2 biggest and most successful clubs in world football - Barcelona and Real Madrid and all of the Premier Leagues greatest players (Ronaldo, Bale) move there, smashing transfer records as they go. Read more about football in Spain here.

Getting Around

Britain and Spain each have their advantages over the other, but one area where The Spanish are undisputed champions, is in public transport.

For such a large country, coming from the UK, I am constantly astonished by how cheap, easy, and comfortably it is to traverse the long distances. Are Spain doing it right? I've got a feeling that it is Britain doing it very, very wrong.

Train

Picture the scene in the UK, you buy a ticket from London to Birmingham, you've purchased a super family day-saver special, but that particular ticket can't be used on this service, so you fork out another £100 to spend an hour standing up, with your face pushed into the toilet door. Whereupon half way there you are all shipped off the train to finish your journey on the now infamous 'replacement bus service'. You arrive in Birmingham 4 hours late, having missed your meeting you repeat the whole journey home again only to find the London Tube drivers on strike so you have to walk home in the inevitable rain.

Not in Spain, because they have this:

The high-speed, state owned 'RENFE' railway, connecting all the major cities of Spain in what, if you are British, passes for relative comfort. They don't even sell more tickets than there are seats, what an innovative idea.

Many international route connections are available from major cities in Spain, most popular are between Madrid and Lisbon and between Barcelona and Paris.

In comparison to British trains the Spanish equivalents are cheap, reliable and comfortable. You can book tickets (with guaranteed seats, unlike in the UK) on the RENFE website.

Buses/Coaches

Another area where Spain rules supreme is with its bus and coach services. There is nowhere in Spain which you can't reach via coach. Smaller bus companies run between towns and villages while faster, national services run betwee n major cities. These services are often cheaper than trains but are, for obvious reasons, less comfortable and a lot more time consuming. 

TIP - Often, tickets sold on popular, shorter routes, for example Madrid to a nearby city, like Toledo, are sold automatically for the next bus to leave, and are non-transferable. Whereas tickets sold on longer routes, such as the obviously popular Madrid - Barcelona route are sold in advance. 

Major cities will have an estacion de autobuses, a main, and often large bus station where all departures will leave from, and tickets (billetes), can be purchased.

All major cities, to my experience at least are blessed with decent local bus services, tickets are usually cheap, and money can be saved, in Madrid and Barcelona by purchasing a 'ten trip' ticket, which can be used for Metro journeys too. Tickets can be purchased from most tube stations, and the automatic ticket machines can easily be changed into English. (Are you listening, London?!)

Car Hire

A popular option in Spain due to the relatively large distances is to rent a car. Personally, I wouldn't advise this in larger cities, as the large volume of traffic makes public transport a much quicker, and cheaper, option. 

For exploring Spain's simply stunning natural beauty outside of these main population areas car hire is probably your only viable option. The most trusted and well known company is Europcar who have a presence at all main airports throughout Spain.

If a fly-drive holiday is your thing may I suggest you visit the Sierra Nevada region of Andalucia and the surrounding cities - the views are breathtaking. 

Domestic Flights

Some people prefer to fly domestically within Spain as opposed to get the train. I don't. Since the introduction of high-speed trains throughout Spain there is very little difference in times, in fact, in some cases, due to the check-in times, the train is quicker (and cheaper). There is one possible exception to this - Madrid to Barcelona. This is due to the fact you can buy open flight tickets 15 minutes before the flight and hop on the plane there and then - space permitting, but I've never had a problem.