The Rough Guide to Spain (Travel Guide eBook)

Rough Guides

Description

Practical travel guide to Spain featuring points-of-interest structured lists of all sights and off-the-beaten-track treasures, with detailed colour-coded maps, practical details about what to see and to do in Spain, how to get there and around, pre-departure information, as well as top time-saving tips, like a visual list of things not to miss in Spain, expert author picks and itineraries to help you plan your trip.

The Rough Guide to Spain covers: Madrid, around Madrid, Castilla-La Mancha and Extremadura, Andalucía, Castilla y León and La Rioja, Euskal Herria: the País Vasco and Navarra, Cantabria and Asturias, Galicia, Aragón, Barcelona, Catalunya, Valencia and Murcia, the Balearic Islands.

Inside this travel guide you'll find:

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR EVERY TYPE OF TRAVELLER
Experiences selection for every kind of trip to Spain, from off-the-beaten-track adventures in Las Alpujarras to family activities in child-friendly places, like Parque Nacional Coto de Doñana or chilled-out breaks in popular tourist areas, like Segovia.

PRACTICAL TRAVEL TIPS
Essential pre-departure information including Spain entry requirements, getting around, health information, travelling with children, sports and outdoor activities, food and drink, festivals, culture and etiquette, shopping, tips for travellers with disabilities and more.

TIME-SAVING ITINERARIES
Carefully planned routes covering the best of Spain give a taste of the richness and diversity of the destination, and have been created for different time frames or types of trip.

DETAILED REGIONAL COVERAGE
Clear structure within each sightseeing chapter includes regional highlights, brief history, detailed sights and places ordered geographically, recommended restaurants, hotels, bars, clubs and major shops or entertainment options.

INSIGHTS INTO GETTING AROUND LIKE A LOCAL
Tips on how to beat the crowds, save time and money and find the best local spots for hiking, African-style safari, visiting art museums, bar-hopping and clubbing or sherry tasting.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THINGS NOT TO MISS
Rough Guides' rundown of Barcelona, Madrid, Andalucía and  Castilla y León's best sights and top experiences help to make the most of each trip to Spain, even in a short time.

HONEST AND INDEPENDENT REVIEWS:
Written by Rough Guides' expert authors with a trademark blend of humour, honesty and expertise, to help to find the best places in Spain, matching different needs.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Comprehensive 'Contexts' chapter features fascinating insights into Spain, with coverage of history, religion, ethnic groups, environment, wildlife and books, plus a handy language section and glossary.

FABULOUS FULL COLOUR PHOTOGRAPHY
Features inspirational colour photography, including the stunning Camino de Santiago and the spectacular Cala d'Hort.

COLOUR-CODED MAPPING
Practical full-colour maps, with clearly numbered, colour-coded keys for quick orientation in Segovia, Toledo and many more locations in Spain, reduce need to go online.

USER-FRIENDLY LAYOUT
With helpful icons, and organised by neighbourhood to help you pick the best spots to spend your time.

Sujets

• Travel
• Spain
• Spain (groupe)
• Europe

Informations

• Publié par: Apa Publications
• Date de parution: 01 mai 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 3
• EAN13: 9781789196948
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 16 Mo

Extrait

Contents
Introduction to Spain
W here to go
W hen to go
A uthor picks
t hings not to miss
I tineraries
Basics
G etting there
G etting around
A ccommodation
F ood and drink
T he media
F estivals
C ulture and etiquette
S ports and outdoor activities
T ravelling with children
T ravel essentials
Madrid
M adrid de los Austrias
Ó pera and the Palacio Real
S outh of Plaza Mayor
E ast of Sol: Plaza de Santa Ana to Plaza de Cibeles
T he Paseo del Arte
P arque del Retiro and around
T he Gran Vía, Chueca and Malasaña
P laza de España, Moncloa and beyond
S alamanca and the Paseo de la Castellana
Around Madrid
T oledo
A ranjuez
C hinchón
S an Lorenzo del Escorial and El Valle de los Caídos
T he Sierra de Guadarrama
Á vila
T he Sierra de Gredos
S egovia
A round Segovia
A lcalá de Henares
Castilla-La Mancha and Extremadura
C astilla-La Mancha
E xtremadura
Andalucía
M álaga
G arganta del Chorro
A ntequera and around
P arque Natural El Torcal de Antequera
N erja & Almuñécar
T he Costa del Sol resorts
G ibraltar
A lgeciras
W hite Towns southwest of Ronda
R onda
A round Ronda
W hite Towns northwest of Ronda
S eville (Sevilla)
T he Sierra Morena
T he Costa de la Luz
C ádiz
E l Puerto de Santa María
S anlúcar de Barrameda
J erez de la Frontera
H uelva province
S eville to Córdoba
C órdoba
J aén province
G ranada
P arque Nacional Sierra Nevada
L as Alpujarras
A lmería province
Castilla y León and La Rioja
S alamanca
C iudad Rodrigo
S ierra de Francia
Z amora and around
V alladolid and around
P alencia and around
T he Ribera del Duero
S oria and around
L a Rioja province
B urgos
S outh and east of Burgos
T he Camino de Santiago: Burgos to León
L eón
A storga
C astrillo de los Polvazares
P onferrada
L as Médulas
V illafranca del Bierzo
Euskal Herria: the País Vasco and Navarra
S an Sebastián
H ondarribia
I nland from San Sebastián: Gipuzkoa
T he Costa Vasca
B ilbao
V itoria-Gasteiz
R ioja Alavesa
P amplona
S outhwest of Pamplona
T he Navarran Pyrenees
S outhern Navarra
Cantabria and Asturias
S antander
E ast to Castro Urdiales
S antillana del Mar and around
S outh of Santander: Reinosa and the Ebro
T he western Cantabrian coast
T he Picos de Europa
T he Asturian coast: Llanes to Lastres
G ijón
A vilés
O viedo
W est to Galicia
Galicia
S antiago de Compostela
T he Rías Altas
A Coruña
T he Costa da Morte
R ía de Muros e Noia
R ía de Arousa
R ía de Pontevedra
R ía de Vigo
I nland Galicia
Aragón
Z aragoza
S outh of Zaragoza
N orth of Zaragoza
W est of Zaragoza
T eruel
A lbarracín
S ierra de Gúdar
E l Maestrazgo
H uesca
A round Huesca
S ierra de Guara
B arbastro
T he Aragonese Pyrenees
Barcelona
A long the Ramblas
B arri Gòtic
S ant Pere
L a Ribera
E l Raval
P ort Vell
T he Eixample
M ontjuïc
P arc de la Ciutadella
B arceloneta
P ort Olímpic
D iagonal Mar
G ràcia
L es Corts and Pedralbes
T ibidabo and Parc de Collserola
M ontserrat
Catalunya
T he Costa Brava
G irona and around
F igueres
L a Garrotxa
V ic
T he Catalan Pyrenees
S outhern Catalunya
Valencia and Murcia
V alencia
A round Valencia
N orth of Valencia and the Costa del Azahar
T he Costa Blanca
A licante
A round Alicante
M urcia
T orrevieja and the Murcian Costa Cálida
C artagena
M azarrón
L orca and around
The Balearic Islands
I biza
F ormentera
M allorca
M enorca
Contexts
H istory
W ildlife
F lamenco
B ooks
L anguage
Small print


Introduction to Spain






First-time visitors be warned: Spain is addictive. You might book a city break, villa holiday or hiking trip, but soon you’ll find yourself distracted by something quite different – swept up in the excitement of a fiesta, hooked on the local cuisine, or stunned by Barcelona’s otherworldly architecture. Even in the best-known destinations – from Madrid to the costas , from the high Pyrenees to the Moorish cities of the south – there are genuinely surprising attractions at every turn, whether that be cool restaurants in the Basque country, the wild landscapes of the central plains, or cutting-edge galleries in the industrial north. Soon, you’ll notice that there is not just one Spain but many – and indeed, Spaniards themselves often speak of Las Españas (the Spains).
This diversity is partly down to an almost obsessive regionalism, stemming from the creation in the late 1970s of seventeen comunidades autonomías (autonomous regions) with their own governments, budgets and cultural ministries, and even police forces. You might think you are on holiday in Spain but your hosts are more likely to be adamant that you’re actually visiting Catalunya, and will point to a whole range of differences in language, culture and artistic traditions, not to mention social attitudes and politics. Indeed, the old days of a unified nation, governed with a firm hand from Madrid, seem to have gone forever, as the separate kingdoms that made up the original Spanish state reassert themselves in an essentially federal structure.
Does any of this matter for visitors? As a rule – not really, since few tourists have the time or inclination to immerse themselves in contemporary Spanish political discourse. Far more important is to look beyond the clichés of paella, matadors, sangría and siesta if you’re to get the best out of a visit to this amazingly diverse country.
Even in the most over-touristed resorts of the Costa del Sol, you’ll be able to find an authentic bar or restaurant where the locals eat, and a village not far away where an age-old bullfighting tradition owes nothing to tourism. The large cities of the north, from Barcelona to Bilbao, have reinvented themselves as essential cultural destinations (and they don’t all close down for hours for a kip every afternoon). And now that the world looks to Spain for culinary inspiration – the country has some of the most acclaimed chefs and innovative restaurants in the world – it’s clear that things have changed. Spain, despite some lingering economic uncertainty, sees itself very differently from a generation ago. So should you – prepare to be surprised.


Fact file Spain’s land area is around half a million square kilometres – about twice the size of the UK or Oregon. The population is almost 47.5 million – some eighty percent of whom declare themselves nominally Catholic, though religious observance is patchy. Politically, Spain is a parliamentary monarchy ; democracy was restored in 1977, after the death of General Franco, the dictator who seized power in the Civil War of 1936–39. Spaniards read fewer newspapers than almost any other Europeans – tellingly, the best-selling daily is Marca , devoted purely to football. Spanish (Castilian) is the main official language, but sizeable numbers of Spaniards also speak variants of Catalan (in Catalunya, parts of Valencia and Alicante provinces, and on the Balearic Islands), Galician and Basque , all of which are also officially recognized languages. A minority of Spaniards attend bullfights ; it doesn’t rain much on the plains ; and they only dance flamenco in the southern region of Andalucía. The highest mountain on the Spanish peninsula is Mulhacén (3483m), and the longest river is the Rio Tajo (716km). Spain has 48 sites on UNESCO’s World Heritage list – more than twice as many as the US. Between them, Real Madrid and Barcelona have won the Spanish league title sixty times and the European Cup (Champions League) eighteen times and counting.
Where to go
Spain’s cities are among the most vibrant in Europe. Exuberant Barcelona , for many, has the edge, thanks to Gaudí’s extraordinary modernista architecture, the lively promenade of the Ramblas, five kilometres of sandy beach and one of the world’s best football teams. The capital, Madrid , may not be as pretty, but nor is it quite so over-run with tourists. Its many devotees have seen the city immortalized in the movies of Pedro Almodóvar, and it is shot through with a contemporary style that informs everything from its major-league art museums to its carefree bars and summer terrazas. Then there’s Seville , home of flamenco and all the clichés of southern Spain; Valencia , the vibrant capital of the Levante, with a thriving arts scene and nightlife; and Bilbao , a not-to-miss stop on Spain’s cultural circuit, due to Frank Gehry’s astonishing Museo Guggenheim.
Not only are Spain’s modern cities and towns lively and exciting, they are monumental – literally so. The country’s history is evident everywhere, adding an architectural backdrop that varies from one region to another, dependent on their occupation by Romans, Visigoths or Moors, or on their role in the medieval Christian Reconquest or in the later Golden Age of imperial Renaissance Spain. Touring Castilla y León , for example, you can’t avoid the stereotypical Spanish image of vast cathedrals and hundreds of reconquista castles, while the gorgeous medieval university city of Salamanca captivates all who visit. In northerly, mountainous Asturias and the Pyren