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Spain is one of the most fun and exciting countries in the world to visit. From snowcapped peaks and ski resorts down to the palm treed semi-tropical shores of the blue Med, Spain will delight your senses and keep you coming back.
Cosmopolitan cities like Madrid and Barcelona are rich with art and culture. The extraordinary coastline along the Mediterranean hosts dozens of resort towns where guests from all over Europe stay for weeks on end in high rise hotels, condos and villas. It’s not hard to find the sun, sand and surf in Spain. Yet hundreds of quaint villages in the interior wait to be explored far from the hustle of cities and tourist destinations.
This site will help you explore all Barcelona and Spain have to offer the visitor including 1000+ Hotels, restaurants, museums, shopping, Spanish Recipes, Tips for Tourists, Spain Forum and our Spain Photo Gallery. We even have a Bookstore with a good selection of travel books about Spain. Browse around our site and let us know what you think!
People will finally be able to worship in La Sagrada Familia, Antonio Gaudi’s beautiful church in Barcelona, after the Pope dedicates it this Sunday. The church has been under construction for 128 years, and will require many more years before completion.
Lanzarote – the eastern most Canary Island – is home to some of the most unusual real estate on the planet. Thanks to a cataclysmic volcanic eruption – which lasted six years from 1730. Which covered one quarter of the island in solidified lava – so forcing a serious re-think about how to construct homes and houses.
This unique architectural approach is today best epitomized by the incredible home of the island born artist and architect Cesar Manrique – owner of what is undoubtedly the most famous and surreal property in Lanzarote.
Back in the 1960´s Manrique created a house within a series of five volcanic bubbles, which still blows visitors away to this day. This ingenious feat of architecture was Manrique´s first major piece of work on Lanzarote and encapsulates his organic approach and desire to create a perfect symbiosis between man, art and nature.
In the early 1960´s Manrique was studying art in New York and rubbing shoulders with the likes of Andy Warhol. But as tourism started to take off back on his native island he felt the urge to return. Afraid that his beloved Lanzarote could be buried beneath a sea of four star hotels and apartments. As had happened in other Spanish sun spots.
Manrique discovered his site by walking the lava fields that surround much of Tahiche. A small village, which is centrally located on Lanzarote. Here, the green tip of a fig tree caught his eye growing just above the sea of black volcanic rock. And on closer inspection he found that this emerged from one of five large bubbles that had been created within the flow.
Work commenced, the five underground chambers were interconnected, and by the end of 1968 Manrique´s creation was complete. Providing him with the perfect work and exhibition space and Lanzarote with a blueprint for future development.
Gandia Winery makes my favorite Spanish wines, from the Utiel-Requenna area northwest of Valencia. Smooth, deep, and delicious, they produce reds, whites and rosés.
Founded in 1885 by Vicente Gandia Pla, the more than 100 years of experience as a family-run winery shows in the beautiful wines they make.
According to their publicity, “the passion, effort and care that we put into making high-quality wines are the result of knowledge passed down from father to son for four generations.”
Thanks to this spirit of constant growth and renewal, Bodegas Gandía is one of the leading Spanish producers of bottled wine, doing business in more than 75 countries on four continents.
With more than 200 hectares at the Hoya de Cadenas estate and other facilities in Valencia, the firm employs more than 100 professional winemakers. All of their wines are aged in American oak casks for that special flavor.
The grapes they produce and make into wines are Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot, Tempranillo and Bobal. I can attest to the fineness of the Tempranillo from drinking many, many bottles of this wine during the winter of 1994-1995 while staying on the Costa Blanca. The wines produced during the year 2003 are exceptionally fine, and two years later are quite drinkable, and enjoyable, indeed. Good thing it was a majorly prolific year for the grape harvest in Spain, in 2003. They say global warming is only making the European wines better and better. Small consolation I suppose.
So when in Spain, be sure to visit Valencia for the Feria, some Paella, and then venture into the mountains to the cool heights of Utiel-Requenna, and visit the Hoya de Cadenas estate of the Gandia family winery. You won’t forget it. And I guarantee you’ll enjoy the wine.
This home-made Paella is actually made with chicken and vegetables, as there are many variations of Paella.
Paella comes in many flavors, and always is made with that fat-grained rice from Valencia. Valencia is where Paella is from anyway, so with a few examples of the local Paella under my belt so to speak, I ventured forth to make Paella myself, while living on the Costa Blanca.
So here is my most recently favorite variation, Paella con Pollo y Verduras.
Located 45 kilometers northeast of Alicante, it’s a convenient and inexpensive place to fly into from just about anywhere in Europe. Benidorm is known for it’s white sand beaches and nightlife, albeit Las Vegas-style.
If you’d like to visit Spain, but don’t want to stay in hotels or apartments, you should consider renting a villa. If you’re going to stay in one place for a week or more, we highly recommend Spanish villas because they provide a more unique experience and can usually save you a lot of money, especially in the off-season. It’s also a good idea if you’re looking to buy property in Spain to rent a villa in the area you’re considering first, to see what it would be like living there.
Most rental villas are located along the beautiful Spanish coast, and usually have stunning seaviews, a swimming pool, lots more room than apartments, and normally can accommodate six or more persons. While there are some older style villas available, more and more villas are relatively new or have been recently remodeled. This means a modern kitchen with a big refrigerator, and sometimes a dishwasher. All villas have a washing machine, but few have dryers as drying your clothes outdoors is one Spanish tradition that’s hard to change.
The Barcelona Picasso Museum was donated to the city of Barcelona by the artist. He trained as an artist here, and what he experienced here opened him up for him the path that he followed in the modern art world.
The museum has a collection of works by Picasso from between 1895 and 1904, the years in which the he lived in Barcelona.
The Picasso Museum occupies five medieval palaces: Aguilar, Baró de Castellet, Meca, Casa Mauri, and Palau Finestres, which have been restored various times throughout the centuries.
Located in the Ciutat Vella district of Barcelona. Taking a cab is the best way to get here.
Address: C Montcada, 15*23
08003 Barcelona
Phone: 933 196 310
Fax: 933 150 102
Website: https://www.museupicasso.bcn.es
Email: museupicasso@mail.bcn.es
This wonderful museum displays more than 150 works by the noted surrealist/abstractionist, Joan Miró, including paintings and sculptures. The museum is itself a work of art and stands on a hill overlooking Barcelona, surrounded by beautiful views of the city.
Miró’s works stand alongside those of his contemporaries and friends like Calder, Moore, and Max Ernst. The foundation also features temporary exhibitions and concerts.
This museum is a must for those who love abstract art!
Location: Avinguda Miramar 71, Parc de Montjuïc
08038 Barcelona
Phone: +(34) 93 329-1908
Fax: +(34) 93 329-8609
Open Tues,Wed,Fri,Sat – 10am-7pm
Thurs – 10am-9:30pm
Sun – 10am-2:30pm
Entrance adults: € 7.20 reduced rate: € 3.90
Website:https://www.bcn.fjmiro.es
High above Barcelona in Parc Montjuic is the Palau Nacional de Montjuic, home to the Museu Nacional D’Art De Catalunya, and filled with 19th and 20th century artworks.
This elegant palace is home to a permanent collection of Romanesque art, Catalunyan Gothic art, European masters collections including the renaissance and the baroque periods. Modernisme, Noucentisme, Avant-Garde and more are to be found here.
Temporary exhibits of paintings, coins, sculpture, photography and more come and go, supplementing the extensive collection of art in the palace.
Take the time and spend a day on Montjuic exploring the world of art in Catalunya.
Open: Daily except Mondays. 10 am til 2:30 pm Sundays. 10 am to 7 pm other days.
Phone:936 220 360