The Mezquita-Cathedral of Córdoba stops most visitors mid-stride the first time they step inside. You think you’re prepared – you’ve seen photographs of those famous red-and-white striped arches, read descriptions of the forest of columns, maybe watched a video or two. Then you actually walk in and the scale, the …
Gijón doesn’t pretend to be anything it isn’t, which makes it rather refreshing after Spain’s more self-consciously picturesque destinations. This is a working port city on Asturias’ Atlantic coast that’s been shaped by industry, maritime trade and coal mining as much as tourism. The beaches are genuinely excellent, the Roman …
I’ve been visiting Córdoba since the early ’90s, and honestly, people who allocate just one day here are missing the point entirely. The Mezquita is obviously the headline attraction – that forest of red-and-white arches genuinely lives up to its reputation and justifies the journey alone. But Córdoba rewards proper …
Santander operates in the shadow of its better-known Basque neighbours, and frankly, that’s worked rather well for it. Whilst San Sebastián deals with international food pilgrims and Bilbao manages Guggenheim crowds, this elegant Cantabrian capital gets on with being a proper functioning city that happens to sit on one of …
When the Guggenheim Museum opened in Bilbao in October 1997, urban planners and economists worldwide were watching. Would spending €100 million on a contemporary art museum really reverse decades of industrial decline? Could a single building catalyse comprehensive economic regeneration? Nearly three decades later, the answer is unambiguously yes – …
San Sebastián’s festival calendar reveals something fundamental about the city’s character – this isn’t a destination where culture exists solely for tourists or heritage gets preserved in aspic. The festivals matter to locals, draw genuine participation and reflect living traditions that have evolved whilst maintaining their essential spirit. From the …
San Sebastián has been pulling off this remarkable balancing act for over a century – maintaining Belle Époque elegance whilst remaining genuinely Basque, functioning as a sophisticated resort town without losing its soul, achieving world-class culinary status without becoming insufferable about it. The city sits on Spain’s northern coast just …
Valencia has spent decades playing third fiddle to Barcelona and Madrid, and honestly, that’s worked rather well for it. Whilst those two cities deal with overtourism and eye-watering prices, Spain’s third-largest city has quietly got on with being brilliant – developing one of Europe’s most audacious architectural projects, maintaining proper …
The decision to build the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao was, by any measure, audacious. Spend hundreds of millions on a contemporary art museum in a declining industrial city that most Europeans couldn’t locate on a map? The opposition was fierce and entirely reasonable. Why not spend that money on schools, …