If you’d like to learn more about this avant-garde movement, the best idea is to visit Barcelona. In the Eixample district, and more specifically in the area known as the “Quadrat d’Or” or “golden square”, you’ll see the largest cluster of modernist buildings in the city. And everywhere you look you’ll observe the spirit of Antonio Gaudí, the movement’s greatest exponent and an icon of Barcelona.
In southern Spain you’ll find yourself transported back in time to the tale of the thousand and one nights. The Great Mosque located in the historic heart of Cordoba. Its maze of columns and the Christian cathedral that emerges out of their midst is a sight that will linger in your mind’s eye. After your visit you can relax in the Orange Trees Courtyard outside the building where admission is free. The place where you’ll really experience the legacy of eight centuries of Arab presence in Spain is in the Alhambra in Granada, once the political and aristocratic heart of the Muslim world in the West.
The ground-breaking design by the Canadian architect Frank O. Gehry makes the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao the perfect place to enjoy contemporary art. Built in 1997, it is the foremost exponent of the acclaimed urban transformation of the city.
In only one kilometre you can visit the past, present and future of painting. You can do so in the “Paseo del Arte” or “Art Walk” in Madrid. It is home to three of the world’s most important collections:
Toledo, the city of the three cultures. Explore the city that for centuries was the spiritual and administrative centre of the Jewish community in the West. As you stroll through the narrow alleyways you can conjure up the supreme influence and power the Jews latterly enjoyed in this place.
Every summer the Roman Theatre in Mérida (Badajoz) hosts the International Classical Theatre Festival: an event that transports this magical venue back in time to the 1st century B.C. to recover all its splendour and its original purpose. Hidden for centuries, it was literally dug out of the ground at the beginning of the 20th century. Travel back in time and take a seat in the best preserved Roman theatre in Europe.
Visits to the original Altamira cave are tightly restricted for conservation reasons, but don’t worry –the Altamira Museum is home to the Neocave, a stunning life-size replica of the entrance and interior of the most important series: the Hall of Polychromes. This vault is 18 metres long by 9 metres wide and contains over thirty figures depicting bisons, horses, wild boars and deer.
The best way to understand the work of the eccentric and brilliant Dali is to explore the Dali Triangle that links Púbol, Portlligat and Figueres (Girona), the three places where he lived all his life.
Burgos Cathedral is one of the finest examples of Spanish Gothic art. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1984.
The highlight of its main facade, known as the Puerta del Perdón, is the rose window framed by a Gothic arch that sends light into the nave, from where you can admire the beautiful stainedglass windows. Its loveliest sculpture group can be found on the Puerta del Sarmental, with the image of a Pantocrator surrounded by apostles and evangelists.
Can you imagine listening to a classical music concert in some underground caves with more than 5,000 years of history? You can enjoy this experience in the Drach Caves in Manacor. These are four interconnected caves, in which you can see thousands of different shapes created by enormous stalactites and stalagmites.
Rhythm, colour, abandon and –of course– breathtaking spectacle. Come and enjoy the fun and high spirits in the Carnival in Santa Cruz de Tenerife: the most “Brazilian” of all those held in Spain and one of the most popular in the world. For a whole fortnight you can experience the high spirits, gay abandon and imagination that invades the streets of this city in the Canary Islands, as it welcomes hundreds and thousands of people coming from every corner of the planet.
Enjoy some local Albariño wine in a traditional manor house set amid camellias, stroll through historic gardens and above all, discover the beauty of this flower, chosen by Chanel as the symbol of elegance. The route of the camellias wends its way through Pontevedra and along the Rias Baixas, from Vilagarcía de Arousa to Vigo, through some spectacular gardens where you can discover the over 8,000 varieties that are grown in Galicia.
If you choose a Parador as your hotel in Spain, you’re guaranteed an unforgettable experience. You can spend the night in an ancient castle, monastery or palace with centuries of history. You’ll sleep where kings and queens have slept before you.
The Pritzker is regarded as the Nobel prize for architecture. Rafael Moneo was the first Spanish architect to win the award in 1996, and you can see his work all over Spain. The Kursaal Conference Centre and Auditorium in San Sebastián; the remodelling of Atocha Station in Madrid; the Town Hall in Murcia; the Science Museum in Valladolid and the National Roman Art Museum in Mérida are just a few examples of his legacy.
Would you like to see for yourself what a city was really like in the past? In Spain you’ll find original visits and dramatised routes in a multitude of destinations. Join the one organised by the Lope de Vega House Museum to explore the Barrio de las Letras quarter in Madrid and learn all about the writers of the Golden Age. In Alcala de Henares (Madrid) you can relive the adventures of its most famous inhabitant: Miguel de Cervantes, the author of Don Quixote.
How do Andalusian horses dance? With consummate skill. You can see for yourself in places such as the Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art in Jerez de la Frontera (Cadiz). In the show “How the Andalusian horses dance”, you’ll be amazed to see the horses move and perform dance steps and choreography to the rhythm of popular Spanish melodies.
You can do anything you like in Salamanca. Wander around the old town, a UNESCO World Heritage site, go out for tapas in its bars and taverns and enjoy the city’s university atmosphere. Visitors won’t want to miss the New Cathedral, the Old Cathedral, the Casa de las Conchas, the Clerecía, the Las Dueñas convent and the Plaza Mayor square.
