Cities of Interest
in Spain - A General Overview
Spain is a treasure
trove of ancient cities awash with medieval castles, Moorish
palaces, stunningly beautiful architecture and some of the world's
most important art galleries. The vast majority of international
tourists make a beeline for the Costas to spend two weeks enjoying
the kind of "sun, sand and sangria" type holiday which
has made Spain one of the world' top tourist destinations. No part
of the coast is far from one of the country's great cities so try
to take at least a day or two to uncover the many cultural
delights to be found within easy reach of the all the main package
holiday centres.
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If you're
holidaying on the Costa
del Sol you'll be able to enjoy some fascinating day
excursions to the historic cities of Cadiz,
Cordoba,
Seville,
Malaga
and Granada.
Cadiz was founded more than 1,000 years ago and is credited with
being the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world.
Christopher Columbus started two of his famous voyages from here
and secured the city's glittering future as the major trading
centre for the Americas.
Seville is the
capital of Andalucia and is one of the most romantic cities in
Spain. It's also the hottest city in the whole of the Iberian
Peninsula. This is the place to go for genuine gypsy flamenco,
fabulous fiestas, bullfighting and medieval streets lined with
orange trees. Cordoba was once the biggest and most cultural of
all European cities after the Moors conquered Spain in the year
711 and made it their capital. Strong Moorish influences are also
to be found in Granada, home of the wonderful Alhambra Palace
which is one of the country's most visited tourist attractions.
Malaga is a cosmopolitan town where ancient streets rub shoulders
with modern shops and services - it was the birthplace of Pablo
Picasso and movie idol Antonio Banderas.
If your holiday
destination is the Costa Blanca, take the time to visit Alicante
which offers fine beaches, a wealth of entertainment, shops and
culture and one of the most impressive seafront promenades in
Spain. Valencia,
to the north, has some beautiful architecture, lovely palm-fringed
plazas and a fantastic new science centre and futuristic aquarium.
Visit in March and you'll be able to witness the extraordinary
spectacle of hundreds of giant papier-mache figures being burnt on
every street corner as part of the "Fallas" fiesta.
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Barcelona,
on the north east coast, is one of the most fascinating cities in
the world with its awe-inspiring Gaudi architecture which makes
you feel as though you've followed Alice into Wonderland. Bilbao,
on the north coast, is now attracting international tourists in
droves thanks to the fantastic Guggenheim Museum - a major work of
art in itself and home to some of the world's most priceless
paintings. Santander,
to the west of Bilbao, has been a favourite seaside haunt of well-heeled
Spaniards since King Alfonso XIII made it the summer retreat of
the royal court in the early part of the 20th century.
Madrid is home to
the Spanish government, the royal family and of course the revered
Real Madrid soccer team. It's a city of bullfighting and designer
boutiques, fiestas and flamenco dancing, gay bars and royal
palaces. It's in the central plain of the Iberian Peninsula with
the historic cities of Valladolid,
Salamanca
and Segovia
to the northwest, Zaragoza
to the northeast and Toledo
in the flat landscape of La Mancha, made famous by Don Quixote's
creator Miguel de Cervantes.
In the far north
west of the country, in Galician, lies one of Spain's most
beautiful cities of all - Santiago
de Compostela, famed throughout the world as the destination for
millions of pilgrims who have trodden the path of the Santiago Way
for more than a thousand years.
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