Spain
Our Top Picks For Spain
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1 Santiago de Compostela
The object of pilgrimage for centuries and still so today, this beautiful medieval city marks the end of the Camino de Santiago
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2 Madrid
With its grand boulevards and art museums and outrageous nightlife till dawn, there’s no time for boredom
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3 San Sebastián
The elegant old centre of this Basque city, sited on a crescent-shaped beach, is a hive of nocturnal activity
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4 Barcelona
Spain's Mediterranean jewel sparkles with its Gaudí and gourmet delights, a buzzing waterfront scene and 2000 years of history
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5 Balearic Islands
From Menorca's crystal coves and Mallorca's dramatic mountain coast to Ibiza's clubs and Formentera's chilled scene, these islands offer it all
Fast Facts about Spain
- Average life expectancy
79 years
- Highest point in peninsular Spain
Mulhacén at 3479m
- GDP
€840 billion
- Area
505, 000 sq km
- Unemployment rate
9.1%
- Inflation
3.9%
- Population
44.1 million
- GDP growth
3.4%
- GDP per head
€20, 020
- Biggest paella
Made in Valencia in 1992 in a pan 20m in diameter; it was eaten by 100, 000 people
Our favourite Spain Blogs (beta)
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Want snow? Come to Mallorca, of course!
Blog: 501 Places - 30 June 2009
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Quimet and Quimet – Barcelona’s Best Tapas
Blog: GoBackpacking - 30 June 2009
So I’m lounging on my couch after two late nights of partying in Medellin, waiting to be picked up by some new friends to spend the night at a finca (country house) for the first time, when Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations comes on the TV. It’s an episode on Spain, and the second segment is [...] Related posts:Walking Barcelona By Day And Night
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Top tips for a great holiday in Puerto Pollensa - Majorca
Blog: Heather on her travels - 20 June 2009
My guest post today takes you behind the package holiday image of the beautiful island of Majorca and the northern coastal town of Puerto Pollensa. Ross Fraser has visited the holiday town of Puerto Pollensa many times over the last 15 years and runs the popular holiday website puertopollensa.org.uk. Majorca (or Mallorca in Spanish) can often [...]
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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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Tips & articles
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Jump the queue! Get straight to Europe’s classic sights.
12 June 2009
Summer can spell trouble for the traveller in Europe. The weather may be gorgeous, but queues for popular...
Latest headlines for Spain
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Bull gores man to death in Spain
10 July 2009 2:18PM
A young Spanish man is fatally gored at Spain's Pamplona bull run - the first such death at the event for 14 years.
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Blues captain vows to clear name
6 July 2009 7:15PM
A Belfast footballer charged with counterfeit currency offences in Spain, says he will fight to clear his name.
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Spain spy chief quits in cash row
2 July 2009 4:24PM
Spain's spy chief, Alberto Saiz, resigns amid allegations he used government funds for hunting and fishing trips.
