When I heard about Ticket to Ride’s new “cycle surfari” from Bordeaux to Bilbao – cycling 300 miles over seven days and surfing en route – I jumped at the chance to join. OK, so I only ever cycle a few miles to work. And sure, I’ve never been on […]
Some find it a bit of a mystery that Almería has been named Spain’s gastronomic capital for 2019. The modest city in the south-eastern corner of the peninsula is often overlooked and draws fewer visitors than the rest of Andalucía. Yet it boasts Europe’s largest Islamic fortress, after Granada’s Alhambra, […]
My pizza dough is stuck to the table. It couldn’t be more steadfastly attached if I’d superglued it. I forgot to put flour on the surface but, in my defence, I was distracted by the view. I’m in the Sierra Nevada at a sourdough baking retreat, run by E5 Bakehouse’s […]
Beach bar Es Cavallet – a kilometre of beautiful sand, dunes and wild rolling waves – is one of Ibiza’s official nudist beaches. It is home to the Chiringay bar, the high-end La Escollera restaurant and also one of my favourite places to eat, El Chiringuito, which has DJs, views […]
Some of the best places in Seville are found by taking a wrong turn. Like when you stumble into a time-worn taverna peddling crisp local sherry or come across the rickety home of Seville-born painter Diego Velázquez. Which makes it all the more of a shame that many visitors to […]
I’m bored! Málaga’s redeveloped Muelle Uno port area is full of distractions: not only is the waterfront promenade dotted with playgrounds and a maritime museum (adult €7, child €5, family 2+2, €20), but a multicoloured glass cube also houses the city’s Centre Pompidou (adult €9, children free, adults free on […]
An eight-metre monolithic sculpture of reddish steel stands before me in the middle of a hilly field. Solid and grounded, the structure’s 22 tons contrast with the upward-reaching movement of its lines. As it soars towards the sky, the whole thing speaks of time and space in epic proportions. […]
Wander the old city I love the maze of Moorish-feeling little streets in the historic district between Plaça de Cort and the seafront. If you just wander towards La Seu, the cathedral, you always come across something surprising. A lot of the old mansions have been done up and are […]
In this compulsively fly-drive, time-crunched era it may seem implausible to travel by rail to the southern extremity of Europe – but the craziest trips are sometimes the best. You can forget about ferries, car-hire rip-offs, driver fatigue, traffic jams and parking problems; and enjoy instead a variety of scenery […]
Sunset beach Cadiz’s most famous beach, Playa de La Caleta, is right in the old town. Get there an hour before sundown and watch the sun dip gently into the Atlantic, as the small fishing boats are painted gold by its final rays. This beach imitated Havana’s craggy harbour in […]
Hotel kids’ clubs have traditionally been a site of crayons and anxiety, a place for parents to guiltily deposit their children in order to desperately try and pour an entire holiday into two short hours. No more. As the tourist industry begins to recognise the growing family travel market (with […]
Morning It’s peak holiday week, 28C on the coast of Almería, but I am one of only six people on the beach. Why? Because I am unfashionably – freakishly – early. The small resort of San José, the most accessible of the Cabo de Gata bays, is packed, but in […]
Castilian cuisine Eating out in Burgos is a delight. The restaurants are generally very affordable and for a small city there is a lot of variety. But for something classic, it’s hard to beat Ojeda. Slap-bang in the city centre this much-loved restaurant was founded in 1912, and its main […]
Such is the dazzle of Seville, Cordoba, Granada and Málaga that few visitors to Spain’s south-west pause to explore the space between them. Part of it, La Campiña, a region of Seville province, appears largely empty. But over ploughed fields and olive groves there are towers and ramparts, the hazy […]