History, art, culture, traditions
Romans, Moors and Catholics, Velázquez and Goya, Cervantes and Lorca, flamenco and fiestas: three thousand years of culture.
History of Spain
Spain's history in brief: Iberians, Celts, Phoenicians and Romans, the Visigoths, al-Andalus and the Reconquista, the Catholic Monarchs, the Habsburg…
Prehistoric art
Prehistoric art in Spain: the paintings of Altamira and the caves of the Cantabrian coast, the open-air engravings of Siega Verde, Levantine rock…
Ancient art
Ancient art in Spain: the Phoenician and Greek colonies, Roman Hispania with Mérida, Segovia, Tarragona, Itálica and Lugo, villas and mosaics, and…
Muslim Spain
Al-Andalus, Muslim Spain from 711 to 1492: the conquest, the emirate and Caliphate of Córdoba, the taifa kingdoms, Almoravids and Almohads, the…
Caliphate of Córdoba
The Caliphate of Córdoba (929-1031): the Umayyads in Spain, Abd al-Rahman III and al-Hakam II, the Mezquita, the palace city of Medina Azahara, the…
Reconquista
The Spanish Reconquista from 722 to 1492: Covadonga and the kingdom of Asturias, León, Castile, Navarre, Aragon and Catalonia, the capture of Toledo…
El Cid
El Cid Campeador: who Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar really was, an eleventh-century Castilian knight, his exile by Alfonso VI, service with the Muslim king…
Way of St James
A guide to the Camino de Santiago: the history of the pilgrimage, the French Way and other routes (Portuguese, Northern, Primitive, English, Vía de…
Spanish Empire
The Spanish Empire from 1492 to 1898 and beyond: Columbus, the conquistadors, Mexico and Peru, the viceroyalties, Potosí silver, Charles V and Philip…
Civil War
The Spanish Civil War from 1936 to 1939: the Second Republic, the coup of 18 July, Republicans and Nationalists, the intervention of Italy, Germany…
The Spanish language
Spanish or Castilian: Latin origins, the Glosas Emilianenses, Alfonso X, Nebrija's grammar, the Royal Spanish Academy, Arabic words, pronunciation…
Spanish worldwide
The spread of the Spanish language: about 500 million native speakers and over 600 million speakers in all, the countries where it is official…
Spanish literature
A history of Spanish literature: the Cantar de mio Cid, La Celestina, the Golden Age with Cervantes, Lope de Vega, Calderón, Góngora and Quevedo…
Spanish classics
The great classics of Spanish literature in chronological order: from the Cantar de mio Cid to La Celestina, from Lazarillo to Don Quixote, from…
Picaresque novel
The picaresque novel, a genre born in sixteenth-century Spain: the pícaro, first-person narration, social satire, Lazarillo de Tormes, Guzmán de…
Lazarillo de Tormes
Lazarillo de Tormes (1554), the first picaresque novel: the plot in seven tratados, the blind man, the miserly priest, the squire, the ambiguous…
García Lorca
Federico García Lorca (1898-1936): childhood in Fuente Vaqueros, the Residencia de Estudiantes with Dalí and Buñuel, Gypsy Ballads, Poet in New York…
Art in Spain
A guide to the history of Spanish art: prehistory and antiquity, Islamic art, Romanesque, Gothic and Mudéjar, the Renaissance and El Greco, the…
Romanesque
Romanesque in Spain: Asturian pre-Romanesque in Oviedo, Mozarabic art, Romanesque along the Way of St James with Jaca, Frómista, San Isidoro in León…
Gothic
Gothic in Spain: the great cathedrals of Burgos, León and Toledo, Seville cathedral, the Catalan and Mediterranean Gothic of Santa Maria del Mar…
Mudéjar
Mudéjar art in Spain: who the mudéjares were, the features of the style with brick, ceramics, wood and stucco, the UNESCO-listed Mudéjar of Aragon…
Sixteenth-century art
Spanish art in the sixteenth century: the Plateresque style of Salamanca, the Italian Renaissance in Granada with the palace of Charles V, Jaén…
Seventeenth-century art
Spanish art in the seventeenth century, the Golden Age of painting: Velázquez and Las Meninas, Ribera, Zurbarán, Murillo, Valdés Leal, Alonso Cano…
Eighteenth-century art
Spanish art in the eighteenth century: the Churrigueresque Baroque of Salamanca, the Transparente in Toledo, the Obradoiro façade, the Bourbon royal…
Modern art
Spanish art from the nineteenth century to today: Goya, realism and Sorolla, Catalan modernisme with Gaudí and Domènech i Montaner, Picasso and…
Goya
Francisco de Goya (1746-1828): birth in Fuendetodos, the tapestry cartoons, court painter to Charles IV, the Naked Maja and Clothed Maja, the…
Picasso
Pablo Picasso (1881-1973): childhood in Málaga, youth in Barcelona, the Blue and Rose periods, Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, Cubism with Braque…
Dalí
Salvador Dalí (1904-1989): birth in Figueres, Madrid with Lorca and Buñuel, Un chien andalou, Surrealism and The Persistence of Memory, Gala, the…
Gaudí
Antoni Gaudí (1852-1926): training in Reus and Barcelona, Eusebi Güell, Catalan modernisme, the Sagrada Família, Casa Batlló, La Pedrera, Park Güell…
Famous Spaniards
The most famous Spaniards of yesterday and today: kings and queens, explorers, saints, writers, painters, architects, musicians, film directors…
Spanish cinema
The history of Spanish cinema: Buñuel and Surrealism, film under Franco with Berlanga and Bardem, Carlos Saura, the Movida and Almodóvar, Amenábar…
Luis Buñuel
Luis Buñuel (1900-1983): childhood in Calanda, the Residencia de Estudiantes with Lorca and Dalí, Un chien andalou and L'âge d'or, Land Without…
Spanish music
The history of Spanish music: Alfonso X's Cantigas, Tomás Luis de Victoria's polyphony, the Spanish guitar, zarzuela, Albéniz, Granados, de Falla and…
Flamenco
Flamenco, World Heritage: Andalusian and Gitano origins, cante, toque and baile, palos such as soleá, seguiriya, bulería, alegrías and fandango…
Spanish dances
Spain's traditional dances: Andalusian flamenco and sevillanas, the fandango, the Aragonese jota, the Catalan sardana, the Galician muiñeira, the…
Sardana
The sardana, Catalonia's national dance: origins in the Empordà, Pep Ventura and the cobla, the tenora and flabiol, short and long steps, its meaning…
Folklore
Spanish folklore region by region: the Andalusian flamenco dress, the Aragonese jota, the Celtic bagpipes of Galicia and Asturias, the Catalan…
Traditions
Spanish traditions and customs to know before you go: meal times, siesta, sobremesa, the paseo and tapas, greetings, New Year's twelve grapes, Three…
Spanish festivals
A month-by-month calendar of Spain's most famous festivals: Three Kings, the Cádiz and Tenerife carnivals, Valencia's Fallas, Holy Week, Seville's…
Holy Week
Holy Week in Spain: brotherhoods and nazarenos, pasos and costaleros, the saeta, Seville's Madrugá, Málaga and the Legion, Granada, Valladolid and…
April Fair
A guide to Seville's Feria de Abril: its origins as a livestock fair in 1847, the Real fairground with its portada and alumbrao, private and public…
Fallas
A guide to Valencia's Fallas, World Heritage: origins linked to St Joseph, the papier-mâché monuments and ninots, the plantà, the mascletà in Town…
Christmas in Spain
How Christmas is celebrated in Spain: the lights and markets, the El Gordo Christmas Lottery on 22 December, Nochebuena and the Misa del Gallo, the…
Nativity scenes
The nativity scene tradition in Spain, the belén: Neapolitan origins with Charles III, monumental and town-hall belenes, the living nativities of…
Christmas markets
Spain's best Christmas markets: Madrid's Plaza Mayor, the Fira de Santa Llúcia and the Sagrada Família in Barcelona, Seville's market, Valencia…
Christmas food
What Spaniards eat at Christmas: Jijona and Alicante turrón, Estepa polvorones and mantecados, Toledo marzipan, peladillas, roscón de Reyes, and the…
Bullfighting
Bullfighting in Spain: medieval origins and eighteenth-century bullfighting on foot, the three tercios, matador, picadores and banderilleros, the…
Spanish cuisine
A guide to Spanish food: the Mediterranean diet, olive oil, jamón ibérico, cheeses, paella and Valencian rice dishes, tortilla, gazpacho and…
Eating in Spain
A practical guide to eating in Spain: meal times, breakfast, the lunchtime menú del día, bars, tascas, tabernas and restaurantes, tapas and raciones…
Tapas
All about Spanish tapas: origins and legends, the difference between tapa, pincho and ración, the most famous tapas from tortilla to patatas bravas…
Churros
Spanish churros: what they are, origins between shepherds and Portugal, the difference between churros and porras, the thick dipping chocolate, when…
Spanish sweets
Spain's typical desserts and sweets: crema catalana, flan, arroz con leche, torrijas, tarta de Santiago, Majorcan ensaimada, churros, turrón…
Spanish wines
A guide to Spanish wine: the world's largest vineyard area, the Rioja and Priorat DOCa, Ribera del Duero, Rueda, Rías Baixas, Toro, Jumilla, Penedès…
Sherry
A guide to sherry, the fortified wine of Jerez: the Jerez, Sanlúcar and El Puerto de Santa María triangle, the palomino grape, flor and the soleras y…
Wine way
A route between wine and pilgrimage in northern Spain: the wine fountain of Irache monastery, Logroño and Calle Laurel, Navarrete, Nájera, Santo…
Madrid Fusión
Madrid Fusión, the international haute cuisine congress held every year in Madrid: its birth in 2003, the great Spanish and foreign chefs, live…
Italy vs Spain
Italy and Spain compared: GDP growth over the last ten years, GDP per head, unemployment and youth unemployment, real wages, public debt, tourism…
Shopping
A guide to shopping in Spain: shop hours, sales (rebajas), the big Spanish brands from Zara to Mango, El Corte Inglés, markets such as the Rastro…
Glossary
A small dictionary of Spain: words about food, festivals, towns, architecture, politics and everyday life, from alcázar and ayuntamiento to tapas…
UNESCO heritage
A guide to UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Spain, one of the countries with the most sites in the world: historic cities, Arab and Roman monuments…