Spain tourist information
Tourism in Spain
Alhambra, Court of the Lions, Granada Tourism in Spain was developed during the last years of Francisco Franco’s dictatorship, when the country became a popular place for summer holidays, especially for tourists from the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Scandinavia. Since then Spain has been the second most visited country of the world after France. In 2007 almost 60 million foreign tourists were received, according to the World Tourism Organization, that has its headquarters in Madrid. Spain's tourism spending annually is over $46 Billion, the highest tourism spending in any nation worldwide except the USA with $74 Billion.
Transport
AVE train in Córdoba.Main article: Transport in Spain
Spain's national airline is Iberia (or Iberia Airlines), but the country can also be flown into on many international passenger airlines such as Spanair, Air Europa, Vueling, Airberlin, Clickair and charter airlines, both of which fly to many tourist spots in the region. The main train operator is RENFE, the AVE (Spanish high speed train) or Talgo are the main intercity services for tourists. Many freeways link the main touristic cities.
Summer Resorts and Beaches
Tenerife.This modality of Tourism was the first to be developed in Spain, and nowadays, is the one that more income grants to the Spanish economy. The mild climate during the whole year and the extensive sandy beaches of the Mediterranean and South Atlantic, as well as of its two archipelagoes (the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands respectively) have been attracting tourists from the cold territories of North Europe for decades. Summer resorts are popular between the Spaniards too.
The Spanish coasts suitable for summer vacations include, from north to south: The Costa Brava, the Costa Dorada and the Costa del Maresme, in the autonomous community of Catalonia, very popular between tourist from inland Spain and France, including famous resorts like Salou and the city of Barcelona, that also has the largest harbour of Spain.
The Costa del Azahar, Costa de Valencia, whose capital city is Valencia and the Costa Blanca, (one of the most developed coastal areas of Spain, extremely popular for tourists from the United Kingdom and Germany, with Benidorm as the leading summer city of Spain), all in the Valencian Community.
The Costa Calida in Region of Murcia, Mediterranean Coasts and the Mar Menor (Lesser Sea), a inner salt lake separated to the Mediterranean by a large sandy bank. The Costa de Almería, the Costa Tropical, the Costa del Sol and the Costa de la Luz, all in Andalucía. Some of its summer towns are worldwide famous, like Marbella, a tourist destination of tourist with big purchasing power. Málaga is also one of the largest harbours in Spain.
Spain also has two archipelagoes, the volcanic Canary Islands, in the Atlantic, and the Balearic Islands, in the Mediterranean, both very popular between Spaniards and foreigners.
Parallel to the summer tourism, other modalities like cultural and monumental tourism congresses, sport or fun tourism have been developed in these areas, including such famous cities as Barcelona and Valencia, both the biggest harbours of the Spanish Mediterranean coast.
The Beach Tourism also has had to do in the development of the nightlife, present in all the coastal or island cities, as well as their excellent gastronomy.
Many coastal or island places also have great ecological and natural importance. Theme Parks like Port Aventura or diverse Water-fun parks are also popular between Spaniards and foreigners.
Cultural Tourism, Business Tourism
Guggenheim Museum Bilbao.Spain is also a popular destination of cultural tourism because of its historical importance, including cities like Seville, Granada, Córdoba and Toledo. Thirteen Spanish cities have been declared World Heritage Cities by the UNESCO: Alcalá de Henares, Ávila, Cáceres, Córdoba, Cuenca, Ibiza, Salamanca, San Cristóbal de la Laguna, Santiago de Compostela, Segovia, Tarragona and Toledo. Cultural tourism contemplates too the two big metropolis of Spain: Madrid and Barcelona, both with great historical importance. In addition, there are more important cultural places in Spain, including several cities in North Spain, like A Coruña and Vigo, in Galicia, Santander in Cantabria, Oviedo and Gijón in Asturias, Bilbao and San Sebastián in the Basque Country. North Spain is usually called as "Green Spain" due to its lush green landscape, similar to the United Kingdom and Ireland. It has a lot of importance in terms of folklore, nature, cuisine and even summer holidays, although beaches of the North are notably colder than the Mediterranean's.
Religion
Spain is also an important place for Christianity and Judaism. In fact, some of the holiest places are in Spain: city of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia (North-West Spain), the third holiest place after the Vatican City in Rome and Jerusalem. It's also the end of the Way of Saint James or Camino de Santiago in Spanish. Santo Toribio de Liébana, Cantabria (also at the North) is the fourth, followed by the Sanctuary of Caravaca de la Cruz at the South-East, Region of Murcia (fifth holiest place). These places attract tourists from all the world.
Festivals
The running of the bulls in Pamplona.Also important are the numerous festivities and festivals in Spanish cities, such as the Holy Week in cities like Seville. Very popular are the Seville Fair or Feria de Abril in Spanish or the world-famous festival of San Fermin in Pamplona, the Fiestas del Pilar in Zaragoza and many more in every town.
Spain enjoys a lot of culture festivals too, including the Carnival all over Spain, but especially in the Canary Islands and Cadiz. Movie festivals can be found in San Sebastian, Malaga and Sitges. Music festivals includes: the FIB, Festimad, Primavera Sound, Bilbao Live Festival... among others. Several cities have hosted international events, including: Universal Fair of 1888 and 1929 in Barcelona, the 1992 Summer Olympics, also in Barcelona, the Universal fair of 1992 in Seville, the America's Cup in Valencia, and the Expo 2008 in Zaragoza.
Winter Tourism
Spain, as the second most mountainous country of Europe and is full of high mountains and good ski resorts, with famous ski slopes all over Spain, including the Pyrenees, the Cordillera Central, The Sistema Ibérico and Sierra Nevada.
Nature and Rural Tourism
The Picos de Europa National Park in the Green Spain.Spain enjoys a diverse landscape and is full of places with great ecologic value all over the Spanish territory, including the Ordesa Valley and Monte Perdido between the autonomous community of Aragon and France, in the Pyrenees. Spain is a very mountainous country, but also has plains. The largest plain is the Meseta Central, with a "castillian" landscape, full of prairies. There are also several wetlands with ecologic value, including the Doñana National Park, the Albufera of Valencia, the Lago de Sanabria (one of the largest lakes of Spain), the Lagunas de Ruidera and the Tablas de Daimiel National Park. North Spain is usually called the Green Spain because of its lush landscape, due to wet and rainy weather. However, the Canary Islands have an exotic volcanic landscape (including the Teide volcano, that is also the highest peak of Spain). Spain has a lot of importance in terms of archeology and paleontology including Atapuerca and the cave of Altamira. See also: List of National Parks in Spain
Spain is a beautiful and diverse country located in the southwest of Europe. It shares the Iberian Peninsula with Portugal, Gibraltar and Andorra. To the Northeast it borders with France and the tiny principality of Andorra. To the West its limits are defined by the Balearic Islands located in the centre of the Mediterranean Sea. Its Southern most territories are the picturesque Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean and the cities of Ceuta and Melilla located in the North of Africa. This is why travelling to Spain is likely to be a enriching experience since tourism in the country offers a wide variety of destinations, activities and landscapes.
Spain is a country of large geographical and cultural diversity, often a surprise for tourists who are expecting to find a country mostly known for beach tourism. Travel to Spain and you will find everything, from lush meadows, green valleys, hills and snowy mountains in the Northern regions to almost desert zones in the South. Its beaches are also famous and worth visiting, small and charming creeks in the North and wide white sand beaches on the South and Western parts of the country, without forgetting the exotic black sand beaches of the volcanic Canary Islands.
Every year millions of tourists decide to travel to Spain, the country has been one of the most important tourist destinations of the last decades becoming the third most popular travel destination in Europe.
One of the better known cities is Madrid, capital city of Spain. Due to its central location, in the heart of Spain it has excellent communications with the rest of the provinces and is seat to the Spanish government and to the Royal Palace where the kings of Spain usually dwell. The city features distinctly winding streets, all of which seem to be heading either up or down and gather in the central square in the centre of the city.
Barcelona is probably one of the favourite destinations for tourists, a worldwide known city whose name recalls the awesome art of the architect Gaudi, the celebration of the 1992 Olympic games, and the cosmopolitan atmosphere of its streets. Tourism in the city offers also the possibility of enjoying its beaches and water sports.
Area Total: 504,782 km2
Population 44,708,964 (January 2006)
Language Castilian Spanish (official) 100%, Catalan (also official in Catalonia, Comunitat Valenciana and Balearic Islands) 17%, Galician (also official in Galicia)7%, Basque (also official in Basque Country and Navarra) 2%
Electricity 230V/50Hz (European plug)
Calling Code 34
Internet TLD .es
Time Zone UTC + 1
Spain [1] (Spanish: España) is a diverse country in Mediterranean Europe, sharing the Iberian Peninsula with Portugal at the western end of the Mediterranean Sea. Among many places, Spain is the home of the thriving capital Madrid, the vibrant coastal city of Barcelona, the famous running with the bulls at Pamplona, and the city where flamenco was born: Sevilla.
Regions
Andalucía main cities: Seville (Sevilla), Malaga, Cordoba, Granada, Cadiz, America Aragón main city: Zaragoza. Asturias (Spanish: Principado de Asturias)main cities: Oviedo, Gijon. Balearic Islands (Spanish: Islas Baleares, Catalan: Illes Balears or Ses illes)It's in Catalonia. The principal cites are: Palma de Majorca/Palma de Mallorca and Ibiza/Eivissa. Basque Country (Spanish: País Vasco, Basque: Euskadi) main cities: Bilbao/Bilbo, Vitoria/Gasteiz, San Sebastian/Donostia. Canary Islands (Spanish: Islas Canarías) chief cities: Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Cantabria main city: Santander. Castile-La Mancha (Spanish: Castilla-La Mancha) main city: Toledo. Castile and Leon (Spanish: Castilla y León) main cities: Valladolid, Salamanca, Leon, Zamora. Catalonia (Spanish: Cataluña, Catalan: Catalunya) Catalonia is the one of the most visited regions of Spain, probably because of its own culture and tradition. The capital is Barcelona, one of the most famous cities in Europe, and an example of cosmopolitism. Barcelona is well known for its museums, like Picasso Museum, MACBA or MNAC, and also for its architecture. The other main cities in Catalonia are Lerida/Lleida, Girona/Girona. Catalonia is one of the richest parts in Spain, attending to economy, culture, society and education. Ceuta,an independent Spanish enclave city in north Africa. Extremadura, main cities: Badajoz, Merida & Caceres. Galicia (Spanish: Galicia, Galician: Galicia or Galiza) main cities: Vigo, Santiago de Compostella, A Coruna. La Rioja (Spain) La Rioja is the smallest of the Spanish regions but well known thanks to Rioja wine, one of the best in the world.Main city: Logrono. Madrid - the region includes the second, fourth and current capital of Spain Madrid with three world class museums (Prado, Sofia, and Thyssen-Bornemisza), and Aranjuez, the Escorial, Salamanca, Segovia, Toledo, and the Valle de los Caidos are also nearby Melilla,an independent Spanish enclave city in north Africa. Murcia main cities: Murcia, Cartagena. Navarra (Spanish: Navarra, Basque: Nafarroa) Main city: Pamplona/Iruna. Valencia (Spanish: Comunidad Valenciana, Catalan: Comunitat Valenciana) principal cities: Valencia, Alicante/Alacant, Castellon/Castello. Spain is now divided into autonomías or autonomous regions/ plus 2 independent cities. Some of the autonomías - notably the ones with languages other than Spanish as co-official (Basque Country or Euskadi -Basque language-, Galicia -Galician language-, Catalonia or Catalunya, Valencian Country or País Valencià, and Balearic Islands or Illes Balears -Catalan language-) and Andalucía - are historical regions. Travelers to these parts of the Iberian Peninsula will do well to respect their history and language. The Canary Islands are actually off the coast of Morocco and are properly in Africa and so are the two Autonomous cities: Ceuta and Melilla.
Spain has hundreds of interesting cities. In addition to its vibrant capital, Madrid, here are 11 of the most popular destinations:
Barcelona - Spain's second city, capital of Catalonia, full of modernist buildings and a vibrant cultural life, nightclubs, and beaches.
Bilbao - former industrial city, home to the Guggenheim Museum.
Cadiz - oldest city in Western Europe, celebrates a famous carnival.
Córdoba - The Grand Mosque ('Mezquita') of Cordoba is one of the world's finest buildings.
Granada - stunning city in the south, surrounded by snow capped mountains of the Sierra Nevada, home of La Alhambra.
Jerez de la Frontera - a beautiful city of Andalusial. Jerez is the capital of flamenco, horse and wine.
León - used to be a Roman colony, great monuments, nice food.
San Sebastián - wealthy city with a large sandy beach bay and bay of Viscaya.
Santander - well-styled city with beautiful coastal parks.
Seville - a beautiful, verdant city, and home to the world's third largest cathedral.
Valencia - paella was invented here, has a very nice beach.
Andorra - a principality nestling in the Pyrenees, and one of the smallest countries in the world.
Béjar - really nice place to visit.
El Arenosillo - rocket launch site near Mazagón in Huelva, Andalucia
Jerez de la Frontera - home of sherry wine.
La Rioja - Rioja wine and fossilized dinosaur tracks.
Peñiscola - nice town on the east coast with a medieval castle.
Rías Altas (comprising the province of Lugo plus the northern part of the province of Coruña) - beautiful beaches and food.
Rías Baixas (comprising the province of Pontevedra plus the southern part of the province of Coruña) - beautiful beaches and food.
Ronda - beautifully preserved old town in southern Spain with the oldest still-used bullring in Spain - it was the location for the film of Carmen with Placido Domingo.
Salamanca - home to the oldest University in Spain, the premier learning center during the middle ages.
Toledo - the first capital of Spain, the ecclesiastical capital of Spain
Valladolid - the third capital of Spain, a nice place to visit.
Sitges,a seaside resort near Barcelona.
Costa Brava, the rugged coast.
Merida, an historical city.
With great beaches, fun nightlife, many cultural regions and historic cities, Spain makes a great destination for any kind of trip. A country of large geographical and cultural diversity, Spain is sometimes a surprise to people who know its reputation for great beach holidays. There is everything from lush meadows, snowy mountains, huge marsh and salines and deserts in the south east.
Festivals
Spain has a lot of local festivals that are worth going to.
Córdoba en Mayo (Cordoba in May) - great month to visit the Southern city Las Cruces (1st week in May) - big flower-made crosses embellishing public squares in the city center, where you will also find at night music and drinking and lot of people having fun!
Festival de Patios - one of the most interesting cultural exhibitions, 2 weeks when some people open doors of their houses to show their old Patios full of flowers
Cata del Vino Montilla-Moriles - great wine tasting in a big tent in the city center during one week in May
Fallas - Valencia's festival in March - burning the "fallas" is a must
Seville's April Fair - flamenco dancing, drinking sherry, bullfights
San Fermines - July in Pamplona, Navarra.
Fiesta de San Isidro - May 15 in Madrid - a celebration of Madrid's patron saint.
Holy week - best in Seville and the rest of Andalusia; also interesting in Valladolid
Carnival - best in Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Cádiz
Cabalgata de los Reyes Magos (Three wise men parade) - on the eve of epiphany, 5th of January, the night before Spanish kids get their Christmas presents, it rains sweets and toys in every single town and city
La Tomatina - a giant tomato fight in Buñol
Moros y Cristianos (Moors and Christians, mostly found in Southeastern Spain during spring time) - parades and "battles" remembering the fights of medieval ages
Benidorm is particularly popular with Flemish, British and Dutch tourists, to such an extent that there are whole sections of the city where Spanish or Valencian are rarely heard. In addition, there is an abundance of pubs, each of which advertise an "authentic British menu". Benidorm's long row of skyscrapers also resembles the Belgian coast. Because of this fact, together with the many Flemish tourists and shops, Benidorm is often called the "11th Belgian province". Benidorm's intial growth in popularity can be attributed to the package holiday explosion, and continues thanks to the year round night-life based around the central concentration of bars and clubs. The large number of free cabaret acts that start around 9pm and continue into the early hours set Benidorm apart from other similar resorts.[citation needed] Until the tourist industry began in the 1960s, Benidorm was a small village. Today it stands out for its hotel industry, beaches and skyscrapers, which were built as a result of its tourist-oriented economy. Benidorm has three major beaches: Llevant, Ponent and Mal Pas; all of them have a blue flag, the maximum quality standard recognised by the European Union. The Gran Hotel Bali, a 4-star hotel located in this city since 2002, is a 186 meters tall building which stood as the tallest skyskraper in Spain for five years, until it was surpassed by the CTBA towers in Madrid. Benidorm has always been popular with working class British tourists [1] [2] However in recent years attempts have been made to attract a more upmarket clientele. [3]
Money
Euro: Spain is part of the European Union and the Eurozone; as such it replaced Spanish Pesetas(symbol: pts) with the Euro (symbol: €) in the year 2002. Since it has been only a few years since the introduction of Euro cash, a few people will still use the old national currency conversion. For example, it is entirely possible that a Spaniard would still refer to pesetas (166,386 pts = 1 €, 1.000 pts = 6 €) to convert into Euros later. This is much due to the huge presence of peseta, and "her" many nicknames in colloquial Spanish.
Cash euro: €500 banknotes are not accepted in many stores--always have alternative banknotes.
Sleep
What's the difference?
There are three different names given to hotel-like accommodation in large cities in Spain, they are Hotel, Hostal and Pension. It is important not to confuse a hostel with a hostal; a hostel offers backpacker-type accommodation with shared rooms, whereas a hostal is very similar to a guest house and is generally cheaper than a hotel.
There are many different kinds of tourist accommodations, ranging from hotels, pensions, rented villas, to camping or even monasteries. "7% VAT is not included" is a common trick for mid-range guesthouses and hotels: always check the small print when you choose your place to stay. VAT is IVA in Spanish.
Apartments
Some apartment-dwellers own their own apartments, either as co-ops, in which the residents own shares of a corporation that owns the building or development; or in condominiums, whose residents own their apartments and share ownership of the public spaces. Most apartments are in buildings designed for the purpose, but large older houses are sometimes divided into apartments. The word apartment connotes a residential unit or section in a building. In some locations, particularly the United States, the word denotes a rental unit owned by the building owner, and is not typically used for a condominium.
The word unit is a more general term referring to both apartments and rental business suites. The word is generally used only in the context of a specific building. E.g., "This building has three units" or "I'm going to rent a unit in this building", but not "I'm going to rent a unit somewhere."
Apartment types and characteristics
Apartments can be classified into several types. One is a Studio, efficiency, bedsit, or bachelor style apartment. These all tend to be the smallest apartments with the cheapest rents in a given area. These kinds of apartment usually consist mainly of a large room which is the living, dining, and bedroom combined. There are usually kitchen facilities as part of this central room, but the bathroom is its own smaller separate room.
Moving up from the efficiencies are one-bedroom apartments where one bedroom is a separate room from the rest of the apartment. Then there are two-bedroom, three-bedroom, etc. apartments. Small apartments often have only one entrance/exit.
Large apartments often have two entrances/exits, perhaps a door in the front and another in the back. Depending on the building design, the entrance/exit doors may be directly to the outside or to a common area inside, such as a hallway. Depending on location, apartments may be available for rent furnished with furniture or unfurnished into which a tenant usually moves in with their own furniture. A garden apartment has some characteristics of a townhouse: each apartment has its own entrance, and apartments are not placed vertically over one another. However, a garden apartment is usually only one story high and never more than two stories; they are often one-bedrooms and almost never more than two-bedrooms. Some garden apartment buildings place a one-car garage under each apartment, with pedestrian entrances from a common courtyard open at one end. The grounds are more landscaped than for other modestly scaled apartments. (Alternately, "garden apartment" can refer to a unit built half below grade, putting its windows at garden level.[citation needed]}
Small villages Besides the coasts, Spain is rich in tourists-friendly inland small villages, like Alquezar: with narrow medieval streets, charming silence and isolation, still good selection of affordable restaurants and accommodation.
Casa Rural, the B&Bs of Spain
For a more homely sort of accommodation consider the Casa Rural. A Casa Rural is the rough equivalent to a Bed and Breakfast or a Gîte. Not all houses are situated in the countryside, as the name implies. Some are situated in the smaller towns, and they exist in virtually every province.
Casas Rurales, throughout Spain, vary in quality and price. In some regions, like Galicia, they are strictly controlled and inspected. Other regions are not so thorough in applying their regulations.
Paradores
A Parador ("inn") [21] is a state owned hotel in Spain (rating from 3 to 5 stars). These are a chain of hotels founded in 1928 by the Spanish King Alfonso XIII. The unique aspects of Paradores are their location and their history. Found mostly in historical buildings, such as convents, Moorish castles (like La Alhambra), or haciendas, Paradores are the exact opposite of the uncontrolled development found in coastal regions like the Costa del Sol. Hospitality has been harmoniously integrated with the restoration of castles, palaces and convents, rescuing from ruin and abandonment monuments representative of Spain's historical and cultural heritage.
For example the Parador in Santiago de Compostella is located next to the Cathedral in a former royal hospital built in the year 1499. Rooms are decorated in an old-fashioned way, but nevertheless have modern facilities. Other notable Paradores are in Arcos de la Frontera, Ronda, Santillana del Mar (Altamira cave) as well as more than 100 other destination all over Spain.
Paradores will serve breakfast (about €10) and often have very good local cuisine typical for their region (about €25).
Accommodation prices are a good value, when you consider that the hotels are often found in the heart of scenic areas, varying from €85 for a double room to €245 for a twin room (like in Granada). Two of the most beautiful paradors are in Léon and Santiago de Compostela.
Hostels There are plenty of hostels in Spain, mostly in Madrid.