The Kingdom of Spain is located on the Iberian Peninsula to the south of France, east of Portugal and north of Morocco. Spain is the second largest country in Western Europe and the European Union, and has over 3,000 miles (almost 5,000 km) of coastline on the Mediterranean Sea and the Bay of Biscay (part of the Atlantic Ocean).
Spain’s rich history and culture, temperate climate and enviable living conditions make it one of the world’s top tourist destination, and tourism one of Spain’s main industries. People flock to Spain for the weather, the beaches, the scenery, the food, the architectural masterpieces, the art, the museums, the churches and cathedrals, major sporting events, and the unduplicated atmosphere.
Spain was Europe’s leading power throughout the 16th century and most of the 17th century following the Middle Ages, and some of the oldest and most fascinating archeological sites in the world are located there. The Spanish constitution recognizes different historic “nationalities” within the overriding Spanish nation, including the Basques, the Galicians, the Catalans and the Castilians.
Modern Spaniards enjoy a high standard of living and enviable quality of life. Spain is one of the warmest and sunniest countries in Europe, depending on the part of country you’re in. The predominant coastal Mediterranean climate is characterized by warm, dry summers. The northern regions of the country are rainier, with warm summers and mild winters. The southeastern part of the country is dryer, hotter and semiarid; while higher, mountainous areas experience hot summers and long cold winters, often with heavy snowfall.
The Canary Islands are also a part of Spain. Off the northern coast of Africa, the islands feature mild temperatures (average 22C) year round, with only a few degrees difference between night and day.
Spain has one of the world’s richest artistic histories, dating back to cave paintings from the Superior Palaeolithic age, progressing through Gothic and Renaissance art and the Baroque period, and including twentieth century Spanish artists Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró and Salvador DalÃ. The Prado museum in Madrid holds one of the most important art collections in the world. Spain boasts many other fine art museums, as well as science museums, archeological museums, maritime museums, and even a museum in Calle José MarÃa Goy celebrating the history of chocolate.
Spanish cuisine varies from area to area due to geographical and cultural influences, but many of the great variety of dishes feature seafood. Segovia is famous for Cochinillo Asado – roast suckling pig. Galicia’s signature dish is Pulpo a la Gallega (boiled octopus). Or sample some unforgettable Iberian ham, cured in a process that takes a couple of years – the best varieties of which are made from pigs fed a diet of acorns. Or take a guided “tapas tour” in Madrid, Barcelona or Seville.
Not surprisingly, Spain was TripAdvisor’s Travelers’ Choice® 2012 Winner. The city of Seville, for example, is described as “a contagiously romantic city whose celebratory ambiance pervades Seville’s winding streets and spills out of the bars and tapas parlors of Santa Cruz and Plaza Alfalfa”.
The large city of Barcelona boasts seven sensational beaches, on which you can swim, surf, cycle, rollerblade, jog, play beach volleyball or just lie in the sun – topless if that’s your preference. Come evening, join in a bar-hosted beach party and dance on the sand to live music.
Or join the tens of thousands that flock to the unusual La Tomatina Festival in the inland town of Bunol. Every year on the last Sunday in August, locals and tourists gather in the Plaza del Pueblo to throw tomatoes at each other. The event began with a disagreement between two young men in 1944, which resulted in them grabbing tomatoes from a vendor’s cart to use as weapons. Nowadays, an average 30,000 visitors and 9,000 locals pelt each other with some 150,000 tomatoes with wild abandon.
From the huge, cosmopolitan cities of Madrid and Barcelona to small towns and villages such as Cuenca (remarkable for its medieval masonry), the old Moorish town of Ronda (known for bullfighting) or the pretty beach town of Nerja, Spain has something to delight even the most jaded traveler.
Lovely Spain