Culture and Romance in Spain
With its evocative guitar music, its sensuous flamenco dancers and its famed Latin lovers, Spain is a destination where romance is always in the air.
Not all beaches in Spain are crowded and noisy and there are hundreds where you can stroll under the hot Mediterranean sun in total isolation.
Image: Flamenco dancers. Photo by Pete Carr
Spanish brides traditionally carry bouquets of beautifully scented Orange Blossom, the white flower symbolising purity and the evergreen plant from which it came symbolising everlasting love.
Lifestyle & Culture
Spain has been colonised, invaded and ruled over by many cultures over the centuries, and all of them are represented in its unique and vibrant culture.
Larger cities such as Madrid, Barcelona and Seville are cosmopolitan and world class boutiques and store, galleries, museums, restaurants and hotels blend easily with the often very beautiful old buildings that surround them.
Spaniards have an innate sense of style and, especially in the main cities, dress very fashionably and well. Spanish made clothes tend to use beautiful fabrics and be very well made.
In more rural and remote areas people dress and behave more conservatively and you will be expected to do likewise. It is not the done thing for example to go into churches in clothing more suited to the beach.
Siesta & Fiesta
The old tradition of Siesta is dying out somewhat, in larger cities especially, but in many places stores still close for two, three or even four hours in the middle of the day and normally crowded streets become all but deserted.
Refreshed by their mid-day rest, in the early evenings people emerge and stroll around the streets, returning home for dinner rather later than in other places - it can be as late as 10pm before they eat.
Nightclubs start late too, around midnight, and bars stay open late. It is not unusual in Madrid to have a concert or other event scheduled as late as 1am.
Although Spain is not as deeply religious a country as it once was, people wholehearted join in with celebration of church holidays, which are often the occasion for a fiesta.
At fiesta time, streets are colourfully decorated and parades, street performers and musicians entertain the crowds.
Specially famous Fiestas include the Bull Runs in Pamploma,