Spanish Culture
When you travel Spain, you'll notice a diversity between cities that is unlike anywhere else. Partly, this is down to an almost obsessive regionalism, stemming from the creation in the late 1970s of seventeen
comunidades autonomías – autonomous regions – with their own governments, budgets and cultural ministries, even police forces. You might think you are on holiday in Spain – your hosts may be adamant that you’re actually visiting Catalunya, and will point to a whole range of differences in language, culture and artistic traditions, not to mention social attitudes and politics. Indeed, the old days of a unified nation, governed with a firm hand from Madrid, seem to have gone forever, as the separate kingdoms that made up the original Spanish state reassert themselves in an essentially federal structure.
Food and drink in Spain
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to cuisine in Spain than paella, tapas, and Sangria. Of course, seafood dishes are popular on the coasts and inland, meat is the preferred option. Traditional dishes include croquettes, omelette, and
pisto. The Spanish celebrate good food, as with most Mediterranean cultures, so finding a huge market selling everything from chorizos to fresh prawns will be no problem. For more food inspiration, read further on
food and drink in Spain!On the tapas trail
Everyone thinks they know tapas – the little nibbles served up in bars – yet nothing can prepare you for the variety available on their home soil. If all you’ve ever encountered is deep-fried squid and spicy potatoes, then a treat awaits. That’s not even to say that those dishes aren’t authentic – but the truth is that your first beachfront plate of Andalucían
calamari or
patatas bravas in back-street Barcelona really make you sit up and take notice. The proper way to eat tapas is to wander from one bar to another to sample a particular speciality, since the best bars tend to be known for just one or two dishes… and the locals wouldn’t dream of ordering anything else. So you might duck into one place for
jamón serrano (cured ham), another for
pulpo gallego (pot-cooked octopus), a third for
pimientos de Padrón (small green peppers – about one in ten being fiery-hot), and then maybe on to a smoky old bar that serves just
fino (dry sherry) from the barrel along with slices of
mojama (dried, pressed roe). And that’s not counting the creative, new-wave bars where sculpted
montaditos (canapés), yucca chips, samosas, sushi-fusion titbits or artisan-produced cheese and meat are all vying for your attention before you sit down later to the serious business of dinner.
Spanish time
Spanish time is notionally one hour ahead of the UK – but conceptually Spain might as well be on a different planet. Nowhere else in Europe keeps such late hours. Spaniards may not take a traditional midday
siesta as much as they used to, but their diurnal rhythms remain committedly nocturnal. They'll saunter out around 8 or 9pm in the evening for a
paseo, to greet friends and maybe have a drink and tapas, and if they're eating out, they'll commonly start at 10 or 11pm, often later in Madrid, where it's not unusual for someone to phone around midnight to see if you're going out for the evening.
Like everything else, practices differ somewhat by region. Madrid – its inhabitants nicknamed los gatos or "the cats" for their nocturnal lifestyle – is famed for staying up the latest, with Andalucía a close second. In the north, particularly in Catalunya, they keep more northern European hours. And, of course, summer nights never seem to really end.
For further Spanish inspiration, check-out our guide to the gorgeous Canary Islands.
