Spain

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Introducing Spain

Some clichés hold true. Spain, stretching sun-drenched and untamed to the south of the wild and majestic Pyrenees, is a passionate nation littered with glittering beaches where beach lovers soak up pitchers of sangria over steaming paella (at its tasty best in Valencia). Flamenco bailaors (dancers) stamp and swirl in flounces of colour, while toreros flaunt their bravado in the bullrings. Scratch this surface and a vast, unexpected panorama unfolds before you. It is extraordinary what splendours remain off the beaten track: the green hills and ocean coves of the north; proud, solitary castles and medieval towns, like Toledo, across the interior; the white villages of Andalucía; and mountain ranges such as the Gredos and Sierra Nevada (Europe's southernmost ski resort).

Few know that Spain has four official languages. Its regions differ vastly from one another but are held together by a national passion for drama, contrast and a noisy, live-for-today hedonism. If there is one thing all Spaniards love, it is to eat, drink and be merry, whether enjoying tapas over fine wine in Madrid, Seville or Barcelona, or the elaborate Basque Country equivalent, pintxos, over cider in the north. A day hardly goes by without one town or another celebrating a fiesta.

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Tomato fight during La Tomatina festival.
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Tomato fight during La Tomatina festival.

Lonely Planet photographer
  • Simon Greenwood
  • Lonely Planet photographer
  • Enclosed smoking area at Palma de Mallorca Airport.
  • Paddleboat and luxury yacht in Cala Sant Vicenc bay.
  • Sailboat and coastline.
  • Son Pont Agroturismo Finca Hotel seen through field of red poppy flowers.
  • Palacio de Cristal in Parque del Buen Retiro.
  • Crowds in front of Antigua Casa Angel Sierra on Plaza de Chueca.
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