Ready to explore Spain's top cities? From Barcelona to Bilbao, here's a selection of the most popular places to go.
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Spain is a popular destination for beach holidays as well as adventure, educational and business trips. Its coastline has beautiful beaches and there are striking mountains across the country, especially in the North. There are many tourist attractions, such as impressive architecture and art galleries, demonstrating Spain’s unique history and culture. Visitors can choose their travel destination according to their interests as the country’s cities and rural areas are quite different from one another. Here is a selection of the most popular places to go to.
Barcelona
Barcelona is situated in northern Spain and its inhabitants are Catalan, which is also the language they speak. Although it is a big tourist destination it maintains its local identity of being a stylish place with a laid-back café culture. The architecture in Barcelona is famous for being designed by Antoni Gaudi and is unusually rounded, swirly and colourful. The Sagrada Familia church is his most ambitious project and years after his death it is still being built.
Granada
Granada is located in south Spain and is a great place for art and experiencing a bohemian, care-free environment. Most of Spain was under Muslim rule for some time in the 8th century and this is most evident in the South. Granada has a mix of Christian and Muslim architecture and is known for its palace-fortress, the Alhambra, the world's biggest remaining medieval Islamic palace. Granada is a melting pot of cultures and artists and worth a closer look.
Madrid
Madrid is Spain’s capital and its financial and political centre. It is also an excellent place for culture with the Prado, Reina Sofía and Thyssen-Bornemisza art museums. Madrid has small winding streets in its medieval section and spacious boulevards in more modern parts. The central area between the Palacio Real and Puerta del Sol is known as ‘mile zero’ and is popular with tourists. It is a short walk away from the city’s main street called Gran Vía.
Alicante
Alicante is a very popular tourist destination because of its beautiful coastline and long sandy beaches. It has long wide seafront promenades that locals and tourists like to walk up and down at night. Often there are cafes on one side and street markets on the other. There are a considerable number of Africans in Alicante who work in the street markets selling their goods. Baroque buildings stand in the city’s historical central area.
Bilbao
Bilbao is in Spain’s Basque region and has a unique culture and cuisine. The restaurants in Bilbao are renowned and very popular. Basque Cider is often drunk in Bilbao and the city has beautiful art and architecture. There is the Euskalduna Palace and the famous Guggenheim museum. The Old Town is also an interesting place to see as it full of busy streets, historic mansions, a gothic cathedral and pretty little boutiques and bars.
What is your favorite Spanish city? Tell us why your love it.
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