Golf Holidays in Spain
Although not a traditional Spanish sport, golf is becoming increasingly more popular throughout the country. Several professional golfers, including Severiano Ballesteros, Sergio Garcia and José Maria Olazábal, are from Spain and have proven to be instrumental in promoting the sport within Spain, making it Europe’s premier golfing holiday destination. Of course, tourists from North America and the United Kingdom also enjoy a round of golf on holiday, so more and more golf holiday packages are being marketed.
The coastal area of Costa del Sol is the most popular golfing holiday destination in Spain simply because of the year round warm and relative dry weather, as well as the beautiful scenery. Even for non-golfing family members and friends, this is a perfect combination as golfers can spend the day on the links and the family can spend the day at the beach, shopping through the many villages and towns or visiting historical, cultural and family fun sites that are numerous along this stretch of coast. (more…)
January 24, 2008
Spain Vacation Packages
Spain is such a phenomenal country with almost any type of climate, landscape or type of activity you could imagine, so booking a travel package is usually a matter of narrowing down your choices. Many vacation packages to Spain feature a theme or central activity in the package, which allows tourists to focus on different areas of interest. Some of the most popular theme vacation packages for Spain include flights, accommodations and tours in the most popular cities such as Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia as well as Seville and Granada. In addition to the city vacation packages there are also multi-destination packages that feature travel in a particular region of Spain, such as the Basque Region or the areas making up Andalusia.
Spain vacation packages can also include specific types of activities such as a journey along the Mediterranean coast, the Costa del Sol or the Costa Blanca. Each one of these types of vacation packages provides flights, hotels as well as transportation and typically guided tours of the various areas along the route of the holiday adventure. Some of these packages are very structured while others allow more flexibility for individuals to travel somewhat on their own while still staying with the group for part of the vacation. (more…)
Tags: spain packages, spain travel package, spain-trip-planner
January 21, 2008
Barcelona
Barcelona Spain is often referred to as the City of Marvels due to the outstanding number of breathtaking and historical sites to see and activities to participate in. Barcelona is the capital city of Catalonia and is the second largest city in Spain - and definitely one of the major tourism areas for the country. Located on the warm Mediterranean coast, Barcelona has year-round attractions for visitors from all over the world. There is a wide range of both outdoor as well as sightseeing options for travelers and visitors, and the nightlife and social events in the city are second to none in Europe.
Originally built by the Romans, Barcelona is a mixture of ancient and modern architecture and development. Even through it is a business center for Spain and is one of the most important port cities in the area, cultural events are still considered to be equally important to the local economy. Emphasis is placed on the preservation of history without stopping modernization of the city. (more…)
Tags: barcelona, barcelona hotel, spain-cities
January 18, 2008
Camino de Santiago
The Camino de Santiago is also known as the “Way of the Saint” and is a pilgrimage to the Cathedral in Santiago de Compostela in northwest Spain, where pilgrims walk tracing the route of Saint James. It is believed by the devout that the remains of the apostle Saint James are buried at the Cathedral in Santiago de Compostela, and the event of participating in the Camino de Santiago is seen as a spiritual undertaking by many people throughout the world.
The Camino de Santiago was a popular pilgrimage throughout the Middle Ages and was considered to be one of the ways to earn a plenary indulgence. A plenary indulgence was a way for the pilgrim to earn a remission from the punishment of a sin after guilt has been forgiven. Each pilgrim on the walk could start at different locations, although the main route was considered to be the actual Camino de Santiago. In current times many thousands of pilgrims make the trip every year, some traveling by foot and others by bicycle, while still others make the trip either by horseback or donkey. (more…)
January 15, 2008
Maps of Spain
There are many different types of maps for Spain. Some of the common ones are physical, political and antique maps. Maps serve many different purposes and therefore need to be selected according to the purpose of the map. For example, the physical map will show that Spain is located on the Iberian Peninsula in the South Western part of Europe. The Balearic and Canary Islands, plus the Moroccan enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla belong to Spain. The country of Spain has France and Andorra on the northern border, Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean on the western border, the Mediterranean Sea on the southeastern and east border and the Strait of Gibraltar and Morocco on the southern border.
There are maps that explain the climate for Spain. These maps will show a Mediterranean type climate in the southern and eastern coastal regions, while the central Meseta area will be hot in summer and cold in winter. However, the foothills of the southern regions will have warm winter temperatures and the Atlantic coast will have cooler summer temperatures with the rains decreasing as they move inland. (more…)
Tags: detailed map of spain, getting-around-spain, road map spain
January 12, 2008
Spanish Recipes
Since the country of Spain has so many different areas and cultural food specialties, it is hard to identify the one food that is uniquely Spanish. The influence of Africa and Europe is evident in both the types of foods as well as the preparation of the food. Seafood is an important element in many Spanish dishes, as is olive oil, fresh produce and the cheeses and meats that are made within the country.
Two of the most popular places to find Spanish recipes are either through a regional Spanish cookbook or through online recipe sites. In most of these sites you will have to first identify the area of Spain you are interested in, then look through recipes that are common in that area. Since most Spanish recipes are simple, yet elegant and refined, it is easy to find what you need for the preparation in your local grocery store. (more…)
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