Product Description

INTRODUCTION

If you are coming to Spain for the first time, be warned: this is a country that fast becomes an addiction. You might intend to come just for a beach holiday, or a tour of the major cities, but before you know it you’ll find yourself hooked by something quite different – by the celebration of some local fiesta, perhaps, or the amazing nightlife in Madrid, by the Moorish monuments of Andalucia, by Basque cooking, or the wild landscapes and birds of prey of Estremadura. And by then, of course, you will have noticed that there is not just one Spain but many. Indeed, Spaniards often speak of Las Españas (the Spains) and they even talk of the capital in the plural – Los Madriles, the Madrids.

This regionalism is an obsession and perhaps the most significant change to the country over recent decades has been the creation of seventeen autonomías – autonomous regions – with their own governments, budgets and cultural ministries. The old days of a unified nation, governed with a firm hand from Madrid, seem to have gone forever, as the separate kingdoms which made up the original Spanish state reassert themselves. And the differences are evident wherever you look: in language, culture and artistic traditions, in landscapes and cityscapes, and attitudes and politics.

The cities – above all – are compellingly individual. Barcelona, for many, has the edge: for Gaudí’s splendid modernista architecture, the lively promenade of Las Ramblas, designer clubs par excellence, and, not least, for Barça – the city’s football team. But Madrid, although not as pretty, claims as many devotees. The city and its people, immortalized in the movies of Pedro Almodóvar, have a vibrancy and style that is revealed in a thousand bars and summer terrazas. Not to mention three of the world’s finest art museums. Then there’s Sevilla, home of flamenco and all the clichés of southern Spain; Valencia, the vibrant Levantine city with an arts scene and nightlife to equal any European rival; and Bilbao, a new entry on Spain’s cultural circuit, due to Frank Gehry’s astonishing Guggenheim museum.

Monuments range just as widely from one region to another, dependent on their history of control and occupation by Romans and Moors, their role in the "golden age" of Imperial Renaissance Spain, or their twentieth-century fortunes. Touring Castile and León, you confront the classic Spanish images of vast cathedrals and reconquista castles – literally hundreds of the latter; in the northern mountains of Asturias and the Pyrenees, tiny, almost organic Romanesque churches dot the hillsides and villages; Andalucía has the great mosques and Moorish palaces of Granada, Sevilla and Córdoba; Castile has the superbly preserved medieval capital, Toledo, and the gorgeous Renaissance university city of Salamanca; while the harsh landscape of Estremadura cradles the ornate conquistador towns built with riches from the "New World".

Not that Spain is predominantly about buildings. For most visitors, the landscape holds just as much fascination – and variety. The evergreen estuaries of Galicia could hardly be more different from the high, arid plains of Castile, or the gulch-like desert landscapes of Almería. Agriculture makes its mark in the patterned hillsides of the wine- and olive-growing regions and the rice fields of the Levante. Spain is also one of the most mountainous countries in Europe, and there is superb walking and wildlife in a dozen or more sierras – above all in the Picos de Europa and Pyrenees. Spain’s unique fauna boast protected species like brown bears, the Spanish lynx and Mediterranean monk seals as well as more common wild boar, white storks and birds of prey.

One of Spain’s greatest draws is undeniably its beaches although with infinitely more variety than you would be led to believe from the sun-and-sand holiday brochures. Long tracts of coastline – along the Costa del Sol, in particular – have been developed into concrete hotel and villa complexes but delightful pockets remain even on the big tourist costas. On the Costa Brava, the string of coves between Palamos and Begur are often overlooked, while in the south there are superb windsurfing waters around Tarifa and some decidedly low-key resorts along the Costa de la Luz. In the north, the cooler Atlantic coastline boasts the surfing sands of Cantabria and the unspoilt coves of Galicia’s estuaries. Offshore, the Balearic islands have some superb sands and, if you’re up for it, Ibiza also offers one of the most hedonistic backdrops to beachlife in the Mediterranean.

Wherever you are in Spain, you can’t help but notice the Spaniards’ infectious enthusiasm for life. In the cities there is always something happening – in bars and clubs, on the streets, and especially at fiesta times. Even in out of the way places there’s a surprising range of nightlife and entertainment, not to mention the daily pleasures of a round of tapas, moving from bar to bar, having a beer, a glass of wine or a fino (dry sherry) and a bite of the house speciality.

The identity and appeal of each of the regions is explored in the chapter introductions, where you’ll find a rundown on their highlights, while in the following pages you’ll find a selection of the very best of Spain.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1114981 in Books
• Published on: 2002-03-04
• Released on: 2002-02-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 1128 pages

Review
AUTHORITATIVE AND OPINIONATED, THIS SERIES CAN'T BE BEAT

Chicago Tribune

About the Author
Updated by regular contributors who are resident in Spain to give insiders' reviews to suit all styles of holiday

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
WHEN TO GO

Overall, spring, early summer and autumn are ideal times for a Spanish trip – though the weather varies enormously from region to region. The high central plains suffer from fierce extremes, stiflingly hot in summer, bitterly cold and swept by freezing winds in winter. The Atlantic coast, in contrast, has a tendency to damp and mist, and a relatively brief, humid summer. The Mediterranean south is warm virtually all year round, and in parts of Andalucía positively subtropical, warm enough to wear a T-shirt by day even in the winter months.

In high summer the other factor worth considering is tourism itself. Spain plays host to some thirty million tourists a year – almost one for every resident – and all the main beach and mountain resorts are packed in July and August, as are the major sights. August, Spain’s own holiday month, sees the coast at its most crowded and the cities, by contrast, pretty sleepy.

Customer Reviews

Head and shoulders above the rest of the guides on Spain
Here's why

1. Has tons of information on Spain, above and beyond the other guides - culture, history, architecture, cinema, you name it.
2. Not too many illustrations/pictures to distract you.
3. Maps of hotels/hostels and restaurants.
4. Detailed information even on remote/small towns.
5. The dictionary appendix is very helpful if you don't know Spanish (not many Spaniards know or even understand English/other languages, especially in areas that see few international tourists).
6. Precious info on finding budget accomodation if your budget is tight or you just arrived w/o a reservation.

This is not a guide that you can stick in your pocket - it's 1000+ pages after all! But the sheer wealth of information makes it well worth the money. A few days ago I came back from a 2-week vacation in Spain - went there w/o any knowledge of Spanish and w/o reservation in most cities i visited - just improptu decided to visit the country, although I would not recommend doing that. The guide saved my vacation, and then made it a great one. This is the first book from the 'Rough Guide' series I've ever bought - if the rest are as good as this one, I won't even look at the other guides out there..

Head and shoulders about other guides on Spain
I just came back from a 2-week vacation in Spain and let me tell you - this guide was well worth the money. After comparing it to all other guides on Spain I could find in stores, I decided to buy this one, because it seemed to have the most information. One guide that came close in that respect was 'The Illustrated Guide to Spain' - I already own 2 books from the 'Illustrated Guide' series and originally thought about sticking to it - but it's too picture-heavy, which in my opinion is a distraction.
Boy, was I glad to have had chosen 'The Rough Guide'. Here are the reasons:
1. It has detailed information about all cities/places of interest in each of Spain's regions, incl. getting there, and accomodation choices - especially valuale is the budget accomodation info, which most guides don't have
2. It provides historical background on all sites that are worth seeing
3. The city maps with highlights on hotels and restaurants were quite valuable while visiting small towns that did not have a tourist office.
4. The menu dictionary was also very helpful, because in certain regions there aren't very many non-Spanish tourists and the waiters don't understand another language and may not give you a non-Spanish menu.
5. I also found the contexts/appendixes to be a very nice surprise - no visit to another coutry is complete w/o gaining at least a bit of knowledge of its history and culture, and the guide's content was excellent in that respect as well. Also, the mini-dictionary which is in one of the appendixes was very helpful as I went to Spain w/o any knowledge of the language.
6. The guides on eating and drinking were also quite valuable, as each region of Spain has it's own 'indigenous' food and vines.
7. Finally, I liked the layout of the guide - some guides will throw in huge fonts to try to fill in 200-300 pages - this one did not make that mistake.

It is true that the guide is voluminous (1000+ pages) and won't fit into your pocket. But if you want a guide that will tell you the most about Spain, this is the book. I went to that country impromptu - w/o reservation in most cities I was planning to visit and not knowing the language (not a good idea) - and still head a smooth trip around the country and great time.