| | Madrid is an anomaly. A capital before it was a city, a center of trade without a navegable river, a hodgepodge of architectural styles, Madrid’s fortunes have risen and fallen as often as she has changed masters, which, given the tumultuous history of Spain, is quite often. In the 20th century alone, Madrid was home to two kings, two dictators, and two democracies, and the site of devastating... |  |
| Marbella is one of Spain's ritziest resort towns with exclusive restaurants and clubs and upscale hotels. |
| One looking for a sampling of all that Spain has to offer in one locale could do worse than traveling to Aragon, an autonomous community located in northeastern Spain. From the peaks and forgotten valleys of the Aragonese Pyrenees to the high-desert plains of Aragon's south, from the imposing majesty of the castle at Loarre to the UNESCO World Heritage Site mudejar architecture in Zaragoza and... |  |
| Rome's stamp is pressed firmly into the foundations of Segovia. Unlike the Eastern 'architecture of ephemerality,' the Romans believed in permanence, in an unending Pax Romana, and they built accordingly. Their dreams of eternal empire may not have been realized, but their infrastructure and monuments are remarkably intact in central Spain. Bookending Madrid to the north like Toledo does to... |  |
| The cold, deadly rasp of Spanish steel. Narrow, shadowy corridors. Silver crosses and murals of monstrous oversized men with elongated features -- Toledo is a time-travel treat. Located like a bullseye in the dead center of Spain, Toledo's Spanishness radiates outwards like an ole' epicenter. Just 70 clicks south of Madrid, this fantastically preserved Medieval city retains much of its... |  |
| Even if you haven't trodden the ripe fields of La Rioja, chances are, with any luck, you've tasted its terra. Last but not least in terms of total land area for an autonomous region, La Rioja take that limited soil and turns out some of the planet's best wines. Bold, rich noses, earthy flavors; La Rioja is Spain's white gloved slap to France and antiquated Bordeaux's of yesteryear. La Rioja is... |  |
| If Mallorca is the loud older brother and fraternity president, and Ibiza is the wild child younger sister with something to prove, than Menorca is the more balanced, tempered middle child. Menorca still knows how to have a good time, still has those flashy good looks that get his siblings into so much trouble; but Menorca doesn't need to wake up on his own beach every morning with a different... |  |
| A German official approached Pablo Picasso, he was standing in front of his enormous, black and white magna opus, Guernica. It was the 1937 world's fair, the Spanish Civil War was raging, and the German Wehrmacht was gaining strength. "Did you do this?" He said, motioning with obvious disgust at the giant mural, Picasso's shocking portrayal of the destruction of the Basque village of Guernica... |  |
| Said to be the prettiest mountains in Spain, the Picos de Europa are perfect for hiking or touring in a convertible. The weather can be variable but it's great when the sun shines, especially out of the busiest times (summer). At Fuente De there's a cable car that takes you way up high - still some snow in May/June. Potes is a pretty little place to stay. |  |
| If Ibiza were a woman instead of an island, she would play a central protagonist, her wild antics driving the plot as a catalyst for the new Almodavar film. But Ibiza is not a woman. Fortunately, for the name of women everywhere, Ibiza will not serve as a direct representative of that fair gender. As mentioned, if she could, Ibiza would play a part in Pedro's cannon of quirky feminine paeans,... |  |
| Palma is the major city and port on the island of Mallorca and capital city of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. It is situated on the south coast of the island on the Bay of Palma. As of the 2007 census, the population of the city of Palma proper was 383,107, and the population of the entire urban area was estimated to be 517,285, ranking as the 12th-largest urban area... |  |
| Medieval pilgrims used to come to Santiago to absolve their sins. Even contemporary pilgrims make the trek to Spain's most famous sanctuary for a variety of reasons, not least of all the garlic cheese fries in the rectory. Europe's answer to Plymouth Rock, Santiago de Compostela is the pilgrim capital of Europe. Y2K witnessed this beautifully interesting Spanish city being lauded as a... |  |
| Goggles, check. Flippers, check. Passport, check. I.D, che...Wait a second, it's Mallorca! Thank God Mallorca is not as close to the United States as Cancun. Mallorca, like Cancun is a popular (European) party destination, a place of throbbing club beats, wet lunches, and late nights. Unlike Cancun however, some people in Mallorca still speak Spanish...that and there's no Senor Frogs. ... |  |
| The rocky crags of Galicia's windswept, wave-battered shores, the thick unforgiving green of her forbidding forests, the storm clouds that often darken her mysterious skies--all are signs that lead to a singular conclusion: Toto, we're not in España anymore. More spiritually in tune with its Gaelic neighbors to the north (with whom it shares not just its namesake but a love for bagpipes and... |  |
| Cadiz, pronounced Cadeethz- is a pearl on the Atlantic coast. Originally a Phoenician settlement, the Spanish nickname of the delightful little city is "la Tacita de plata" or, little silver cup. In a charming display of Spanish provincialism, Cadiz's fierce but untalented futbol club aspires towards winning the tacita de plata rather than the World Cup, a modest but more readily achievable... |  |
| Every 4th grader worth his weight in Lunchables can tell you that "In fourteen hundred and ninety two Columbus sailed the ocean blue." That student may fail to mention that in the same year Ferdinand and Isabella completed their reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula and seized power from the Moors by recapturing the Alhambra, the last fortified stronghold of the Moors' Muslim empire. 1492 was... | |
| This group of seven volcanic islands off the coast of Africa has become a favorite winter destination for tourists all over the world because of its warm climate. Because it is part of Spain many Europeans come here for their winter vacations looking for a break from cold and gloom. And that you can be fairly sure to get here since there is generally very little rainfall as well. If you look... |
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