Region of Spain

Spain is not the second most visited country in the world for nothing (the first is France). Spain's attractions are matchless. But how you enjoy your trip to Spain will depend very much on where you decide to take it, for Spain is not a single, homogeneous country, but many countries in one.

Spain's beaches, of course, the famous sun, sea and s... (insert your own word beginning with 's'), are the foundations on which Spain's tourist industry rests and absorb the bulk of the fifty-odd million visitors it receives annually. The Mediterranean costas need no introduction from me, though I must mention that, although it is true that much tourist development in the Med has been inadequately planned, or not at all, it is still possible to find unspoilt coves and beaches even somewhere as popular as Majorca. And Spain's other coastlines, its Atlantic coast north of Portugal, the Costa de la Luz in the Bay of Cadiz, and its Cantabrian Costa Verde, green coast, are yet to be discovered by international mass tourism. Spain's cities, towns and villages are fascinating, from great historical cities like Toledo or Granada to the bustle of modern Barcelona, or the white villages of Andalusia, or the black towns of the unknown Alcarria, or... Rummage around in Spain and Portugal for Visitors for more. And while we are thinking of historical places, the history of Spain is an immense subject, unique in the world, and largely visible on the ground. The Segovia aqueduct illustrates the Roman occupation perfectly, the streets of Toledo take you back to the time of the "city of three cultures," Christian, Muslim and Jewish, the Alhambra palace tells of the opulence of the Moorish conquerors and the castles of the two Castiles show how Spain was inexorably retaken, kilometre by bloody kilometre.