Culture Spain – for all things Spanish

I saw an interesting comment in El Pais recently, which stated that the President of Catalonia, Artur Mas, was justifying significant spending cuts as a way of ‘preventing Madrid from meddling with Catalan finances’.  This would, a colleague said: “blow away our financial autonomy” and “violate the rules of the game set down in the Constitution.” Yes, indeed! However, one [...]

  Spain’s capital and its largest city, Madrid is a wonderful place for tourists to enjoy an environmentally friendly trip. The foothills of the Sierra de Guadarrama act as a scenic backdrop for this young, dynamic city which has seen huge growth since the end of the Franco period. Madrid has more green surfaces and trees per resident than any [...]

An institution that makes me consistently proud to be British is the wonderful Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) which has just produced a fascinating portrait of Spain as part of their new and quite extraordinary Hidden Journeys series.  If you like spectacular views of the Spanish landscape – then you really must have a look at what the RGS/IBG has [...]

Madrid, of course, is the capital of Spain and the largest city in Spain with some 3.4 million people.  The next biggest cities in Spain are Barcelona and Valencia. Interestingly, Madrid is also the third biggest metropolitan area in the EU (with a population of some 6.2 million) after London and Paris and its importance within Spain as a cultural [...]

The demonstrations in Spain continue with many town hall squares still full of Indignados (the Indignant) surrounded by banners expressing their wrath and dismay at the current situation in Spain.  Indeed, it would seem that the current protests in Spain are set to run for some time to come. But what are the Indignados actually saying and how extensive is [...]

I am faintly amused by the fuss that is being made about the ‘Spanish Revolution’. I say ‘faintly’ because something of importance may actually happen – in which case I may find myself somewhat embarrassed. The thing is that the ‘Spanish Revolution’ (if it can really be called that) is, to my mind, somewhat odd. Politicians in Spain have always [...]

A few days ago I wrote an article here about the general disenchantment of Spaniards with politics in Spain.  This had become increasingly apparent to me over the past month or so as the Spanish prepared themselves for the forthcoming local and regional elections in Spain (due to be held on the 22nd May). However, political matters have accelerated considerably [...]

I had an interesting conversation today about living in Spain – with a removals professional who lives here but who works for one of the biggest removal companies in the UK.  What this man had to say was enlightening and (rather gratifyingly!) confirmed what I have written in my book about buying Spanish property and moving to Spain. Worryingly, my [...]

Recently, I wrote a couple of articles about the potential for a rise in demand for holidays in Spain.  Well, my predictions look as though they may have been accurate. Figures just produced by the Ministry of Tourism in Spain show that tourism in Spain increased by 2.9% in comparison to the same time (the first quarter) of last year.  [...]

One of the most notable aspects to any Easter holidays in Spain is the appearance of the Capuchins. All of a sudden, throughout Spain, you can see gorgeous religious processions with the people concerned resplendent in costumes that mimic the Klu Klux Klan – albeit far more colourful! Semana Santa (Easter week) is a very important time for anyone religious [...]

There was an interesting article about tourism in Spain today in Levante (a Spanish newspaper covering the Levant). In January Exelter, a Spanish tourist association, predicted a growth in tourism in Spain, this year, of 1% – which they have now revised to 2%.  This is almost two and a half times greater than that predicted by the Bank of [...]

Spain is one of the most popular destinations in the world, and over 53 million people came here last year. This is great news for the tourist industry, but if you take a moment to think about that number it begins to seem a bit overwhelming  - not least because Spanish tourist spots are becoming incredibly crowded. This works for [...]

One of the extraordinary things about Spain is the sheer number of people who come, annually, from abroad to take their holidays in Spain.  In fact, some 53 million people visit Spain each year and, of course, the vast majority are holidaymakers. To put 53 million people into perspective – you have to appreciate that the total population of Spain [...]

The conumdrum for anyone thinking of taking a summer holiday in Spain is: do I book now – or wait until later and then pick up an ultra-cheap deal? Obviously, getting a ‘good’ deal on your summer holiday in Spain is important but this year it is more difficult than ever to predict what will happen about the number of [...]

So, airport strikes in Spain are planned for 22 days starting from the 20th April (Easter!!) and then ending on August the 31st – right through the main holiday periods.  For the planned dates: see this Post. What a disastrous prospect for Spain – a country reeling within an economic crisis that has led to unemployment in Spain being over [...]