Globalization has been a sometimes controversial mixed bag in different areas and different parts of the world, but I think we can all agree that on the plus side, one of its grooviest benefits has been to bring to spread many of the exciting cultu
When you come to the holiday resort town Magaluf on the east coast of Majorca in Spain's Balearic Islands, it’s likely that you here either on a booze cruise or just as a way to let loose and have some fun. Regardless of why you are here, though, y
When I was growing up in Donostia (aka San Sebastián), one of our family's favourite Christmas songs was Gabon Gabean, which lauds the family traditions of the Christmas season, sung in both Euskara (Basque language) and Spanish:
Christmas Eve one h
The home of Serrano ham, suckling pig, and a cornucopia of sausages has been a little late to the game when it comes to widespread dining and shopping options for vegetarians (especially those who eschew fish and ovo-lacto), beyond having to settle
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July 25 is the Catholic feast day of St. James, the biggest date along the Camino de Santiago(Way of St. James), Europe’s most famous religious pilgrimage route, whose endpoint is the majestic cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, believed by the fait
Autumn travel is already on the horizon! When you read about spectacular autumn foliage and leaf-peeping, the vast majority of the attention gets focused on places like the northerly regions of the USA. But many Europeans can tell you that large par
OK, I love you Italy and it’s been a fine romance but I’m breaking up with you. I haven’t done this lightly - it’s just that I have met Spain and spent some time there . . . and I’m in love.
Apart from short periods of time in my misspent youth, S
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It’s an undeniable trait of the Spanish national character that most everyone loves a festival. You can safely say that approximately every other week (if not every week) there is a festival, feria, or fiesta somewhere in Spain – including copi
A vast valley protected between two mountain ranges, northern Spain's La Rioja features terrain, wind conditions, and soil that differs from one village to the next. The River Ebro flows through it all from west to east flanked by the Cantabria Moun
Dry, fiery and dramatic: the landscapes of the Spanish island of Lanzarote are like no other. Born through volcanic eruptions millennia ago, the northernmost of the Canary Islands off the west coast of Africa has since been sculpted by the hands of M
Read more…Traveling to Spain soon? You'll be happy to know that Iberia has launched a high-tech program to make Madrid's Terminal 4 the world's most user-friendly airport terminal. Here's how we're doing it.
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Known for its ornate, golden-sandstone architecture of the Renaissance era as well as one of the world's oldest universities, the Castilian city of Salamanca is a delightful fount of a million details and delights for the visitor, as I discovered on
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A modest placard beside a storefront door announces the existence of the Beth Minzi Synagogue in Torrremolinos on Spain’s Costa del Sol. It is a Friday night in late February, and some twenty men, a few fathers with young sons, and three women assemb
A cruise to Spain on Holland America's Nieuw Amsterdam showed us there are many contemporary reasons to consider the ancient city of Valencia as a top-notch vacation destination.
Since the 8th century, Valencia has seen Christian and Muslim conque
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Cliffs plummet dramatically to beaches and crashing surf. Lush green hills rise and fall, then keep rising until they swell into the craggy, majestic Picos de Europa range. In the compact principality of Asturias, roughly midway along Spain's north
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Today, July 25, is the Catholic feast day of St. James, the biggest date along the Camino de Santiago(Way of St. James), Europe’s most famous religious pilgrimage route, whose endpoint is the majestic cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, believed by
Canyoning is a fast-paced adventure sport that's swiftly sweeping the world. The activity entails the utilization of various skills and techniques to conquer the world’s most challenging environments, as it prompts you to master jumping, running, cl
Throughout the Catholic world, this week is Holy Week (aka Easter Week), and nearly every city and town in Spain marks its Semana Santa with elaborate processions and pageantry dating back centuries. None, however, is older than the celebrations in
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Back in the 1960s and 70s, a famous and persistent Spanish tourism tag line proclaimed: “Spain is different.” And one of the things that does indeed make this country different in a key way from the rest of Europe is the fact that only the Iberia Pen
