Spain travel tips: 20 things that will surprise first-time visitors to Spain

BEN GROUNDWATER

Last updated 05:00, February 22 2016

Spain is not just a world unto itself – it's several worlds unto itself.  This sometimes-fractured nation of semi-autonomous regions is a fascinating one to spend time in, where cultures differ wildly from village to village. Just be prepared to learn several languages, and eat plenty of food.

1. The Spanish don't speak Spanish

OK, this isn't strictly true.  Everyone can speak Spanish. But for plenty of Spaniards, the language we know as Spanish is actually their second tongue.  In Barcelona, they speak Catalan. In San Sebastian and Bilbao, they speak Basque.  In Galicia, they speak Galician.  In other regions people speak Aragonese, Asturian, and Leonese.  Everyone will be able to communicate with you in Spanish – but they'd prefer to use their native tongues.

2. Barcelona isn't that dodgy

Despite its reputation for petty theft and street crime, Barcelona is really not that scary.  In fact, it has cleaned up its act significantly in the past few years, and visitors need only take standard precautions such as zipping up bags and leaving expensive jewellery at home to ensure a stay there is incident-free.

3. It's hot. Really hot.

Eating is not cheating in Spain. And nowhere more so than at the world's best restaurant, El Celler de Can Roca.

Go anywhere south of Madrid in summer and you'll find that the place is an absolute furnace.  Temperatures in cities such as Seville and Cordoba regularly nudge 40 degrees during July and August, making it pretty uncomfortable for travellers.  It makes you appreciate why siestas are so popular.

4. Every region could be a country of its own

There's an amazing amount of diversity in Spain – this is a country made up of 17 semi-autonomous regions, each of which clings fiercely to a unique culture.  From the Basques in the north to the Andalusians in the south, the Catalans in the east, to the Leonese in the west, to journey through Spain is to discover what feels like a new country at just about every turn.

5. Spanish food is amazingly good

You may arrive in Spain with low expectations of the food – after all, our only contact with the cuisine in Australia is overpriced tapas bars.  So it's a huge shock to find that Spanish food is not just good, it's the best in the world.  Seriously: the world's best restaurant, El Celler de Can Roca, is in Spain.  So is the sixth best (Mugaritz), the 13th best (Etxebarri), and the 17th best (Arzak).  But there's more to Spanish fare than Michelin stars – food in Spain is as cherished and richly enjoyed as it is anywhere in Europe, with regional specialties and home-style cooking showing the best of gastronomy across the country.

6. Foreign food is amazingly bad

While the Spanish are incredibly good at making their own food, they're almost equally bad at making other people's food.  Don't attempt to go out for Chinese, or Thai, or Vietnamese, or even Italian in Spain.  Stick to the local stuff.  (The only exception to this is cosmopolitan Barcelona, where pretty much everything is good.)

7. The Spanish don't speak English

You're in Europe, right?  Everyone speaks English.  Or at least a little bit.  Except in Spain, that is, where once you veer off the tourist paths of Barcelona and Madrid, you find that very few people are able to speak to you in English.  This doesn't mean locals are unfriendly – they'll go out of their way to attempt to help – but don't assume you'll be able to be lazy with language.

8. A little effort goes a long way

While few people might be able to speak English, any attempt you make at their native tongue will be hugely appreciated, especially if that language isn't Spanish.  Learn just the bare minimum of words in Basque, or Galician, or Catalan, and you'll find frowns instantly become smiles, doors miraculously open, and you've made friends for life.

9. It's not always European

In cities such as Cordoba, Granada, Alicante, and Seville, you could be forgiven for thinking you've crossed over into northern Africa.  There's a huge Moorish architectural influence in these cities, from the crowning glory of the Alhambra in Granada, to the Real Alcazar in Seville, and the amazing Mezquita in Cordoba.  It's a huge change from the rest of Europe.

10. La Sagrada Familia is probably the most stunning building you'll ever see

St Peter's Basilica and Notre Dame might hog most of the attention, but by far the most impressive church you'll ever see – in fact, maybe even the most impressive building you'll ever see, full stop – is La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona.  Gaudi's masterpiece is stunning from the outside, and even more amazing on the inside.

11. Siesta is the best and worst thing ever

Having an excuse to go for a guilt-free snooze after lunch is certainly a custom most people can get on board with.  However, on the off chance you don't go to sleep and instead attempt to get something achieved between the hours of 2pm and 4pm – say, going shopping – you'll be annoyingly thwarted by the fact that everything is closed and everyone has gone home.  This doesn't apply, thankfully, in Barcelona and Madrid.

12. It's cheap

While Europe on the whole can be pretty pricey, Spain is refreshingly affordable, particularly down south.  Head to Seville or Granada and a meal at a restaurant will only cost $20 or so; a beer at a bar will be a couple of bucks.  Accommodation, too, is surprisingly cheap throughout much of the country.

13. Eating is not cheating

Spaniards are passionate drinkers, whether they're tucking into wine from the Rioja or Navarre regions, or cider from the Basque country, or the cold beer that's so cherished in the south.  They drink during the day, and they drink during the night – but they always drink with food.  Maybe it's a tiny tapa; maybe it's a huge pan of paella.  Whatever: eating is not cheating in Spain.  It's part of the fun.

14. The cliches really happen

Hang out in any old bar in Granada and there's a reasonable chance that someone will pick up a flamenco guitar and start playing, and someone else will sing along.  Tapas bars exist, everywhere.  Bullfights take place, and some people love them.  Everyone is fiercely proud of the region they come from.  Siestas are popular. So is drinking.

15. Jamon is the best thing ever

To outsiders, it's just a cured leg of ham.  To the Spanish, however, jamon iberico is a work of art, from the breeding of the pig to the curing of the ham, to the way it's finely sliced fresh off the bone.  This is a true delicacy, and one that the Spanish are intensely proud of.  Don't even mention prosciutto, the Italian version of cured ham, in the same sentence.  (I have a Spanish friend who I once persuaded to try prosciutto.  Despite heavy skepticism, he was surprised to find that it wasn't all that terrible: "It's OK," he shrugged.  "It's just like bad jamon.")

16. The cities are great – but the countryside is stunning

It's easy to fall in love with places like San Sebastian, or Valencia, or Barcelona, or Seville, or Cadiz.  But some of the best parts of Spain lie outside of the cities: regions such as Galicia, with its valleys and cliffs, or Andalusia, with its barren rolling hills, or Rioja, with its vine-covered landscapes, or Malaga, with its jaw-dropping mountains … the list goes on.

17. You can't leave home without a scarf

Guys: want to fit in with the Spaniards?  Then you'll have to get yourself a man-scarf.  From casual observation, particularly in Andalusia, it appears that Spanish blokes consider themselves pretty much naked if they don't have something jazzy wrapped around their necks.

18. Only tourists eat before 9pm

Plenty of restaurants won't even open their doors before 8pm.  If they do, you'll find there are two dinner seatings: the tourist seating, which starts at about 7pm, and the Spanish seating, which goes anywhere from 9pm until midnight.  The Spanish like to go out late, and stay out late.  You'll need to adjust your body clock accordingly.  And embrace the siesta.

19. Spaniards swear ... a lot

The longer you spend in Spain, the more of the language you understand, and the more you realise that plenty of what the locals are saying is fairly crass. The Spanish love to swear. Surely that's something we Australians could understand?

20. There are far better festivals than San Fermin and La Tomatina

While everyone knows about the Running of the Bulls and the big tomato fight, the best Spanish festivals are the ones you've probably never heard of.  There's Semana Santa, or "Holy Week", during which huge street processions take place in every city; there's Las Fallas, a street parade and fire festival in Valencia; there's Moros y Cristianos, a recreation of an ancient battle in southern Valencia; and then there's Calcotada, a Catalan celebration of spring onions.  Don't knock it until you try it.

The Malaga brand takes off

As a fashionable cultural destination with the Pompidou Centre about to open, this is the ideal time for Malaga to build its city brand. But does it know how?

It is one of The Guardian’s top 40 places in the world to visit in 2015. It is in the Daily Telegraph’s Top Ten Spanish Cultural Destinations. It is the Spanish city that has attracted the most visitors in the past decade, and is mentioned in international culture and trend magazines for important happenings such as the Pompidou Centre and the graffiti of Obey and D*Face.

Yes, Malaga is definitely in fashion. After decades of being eclipsed by the Costa del Sol brand, the city is finally shining with a light of its own and is currently attracting extra media attention because of the arrival of the prestigious contemporary art centre, the Museum of Saint Petersburg and the re-opening of the Caminito del Rey (which is also being highlighted in guides such as The Lonely Planet). This is the perfect way to project its image abroad. In marketing language, now is the time to wrap the product and sell it. Obviously, to do that, it needs a brand.

Cities, and in general all regions, have a brand of their own. ‘Place branding’ or ‘city branding’ is on the increase. As Jordi de San Eugenio, a professor at the Universitat de Vic and academic director of the first Spanish post-graduate course specialising in this concept explains, “The competition between countries, nations, cities and regions to capture resources, talent and events has created competition for the unique, for recognition, for being different. That is why a place brand is necessary, because it implies a reinvention of those places through a process of brand construction based on highlighting their individual and collective identities.”

This brand should not be confused with a logo or a slogan: it is much more extensive than that. “It is something that comes to mind whenever you think of certain places: Italy is design, Germany is technology, Barcelona is modernity,” explains publicist Fernando Ocaña.

Does Malaga have a brand which is sufficiently powerful to attract tourism, talent and investment? One tool to help answer this question would be the ‘European City Brand Barometer’ drawn up by British consultancy firm Saffron.

It aims to measure the strength of the brand of each city and position it in relation to its real attractions, to determine to what extent the brand helps a city to sell itself or, on the contrary, results in it being undervalued. In the brand strength ranking, Malaga appears in 21st place, equal to Leipzig in Germany. It is the fifth Spanish city to be classified, after Barcelona, which is third, Madrid (seventh), Seville (16th) and Valencia (18th). On a European level, the winner is Paris.

In the category of ‘strength of assets’, Malaga is also 21st, but this time it is above Seville. But what type of ‘assets’ does the study mean? The authors refer to historic and artistic monuments, gastronomy, restaurants, the nature of the people, good places to shop, low prices, good weather and the ease of walking around or taking public transport.

Beyond the position of Malaga in these two rankings, which could be described as medium-high in terms of size, it is a good idea to look at a third comparison table produced by Saffron: the use of the brand. In this table, which is headed by Berlin, the European cities are positioned according to how well they sell themselves, in other words those cities whose brand is capable of sublimating its attractions.

Malaga is in 16th place, equal to Valencia and Zaragoza and behind Barcelona and Madrid. It shows a positive level of efficiency, but perhaps the most interesting conclusion is that there is still a large margin for improvement: the Malaga brand reflects 91 per cent of the city’s real attraction, while Berlin scores 137 per cent and Barcelona, the best-placed Spanish city, 112 per cent.

The creative director of the Sra. Rushmore advertising agency, César García, says Malaga is not doing badly: “A few years ago Malaga wasn’t even on the map, but it now has some very attractive features: the Film Festival, a football team in the First Division, the Picasso Museum, the AVE high speed rail service... And the Pompidou Centre is fantastic; they need to make the most of that to organise a good brand campaign.”

As an example, he refers to Bilbao and the miracle of the Guggenheim. “That was such an amazing move: it turned an industrial city into a place of pilgrimage for modern art,” he says.

For Fernando Ocaña, the capital of the Costa del Sol continues to be “a great unknown” and now is the time to sell it all over again. “Malaga has made a fantastic commitment to culture and its city centre has been completely transformed. It is now a very ‘walkable’ city, it is modern, and people need to know about it,” he insists.

One special focus

The question is, what should the Malaga brand be? Experts agree that there needs to be one special focus. “You can’t just say ‘Malaga has everything’. That is like not saying anything at all,” says Jordi de San Eugenio, who warns that building a brand means giving something up.

“You have to focus on just one point,” he insists. It is clear that the powerful legacy of Picasso and the city’s commitment to museums and films push it towards a focus on contemporary culture. “It lacks a direction, a focus, to stop it going in different directions. You get the feeling that Malaga wants to be many things at the same time. If it wants to be seen as a ‘cool’ and modern city, it can’t use Easter Week as a reason to visit,” argues César García.

Fernando Ocaña has his own recommendation: “I would define the Malaga brand as relaxed culture, culture to be enjoyed. A city in which you can visit museums but where you can do a lot more than that: walk, eat well; live, in other words.”

This idea of the good life would fit in with a brand concept that goes beyond tourism, given that the city also wants to attract talent and entrepreneurs. This is compatible with another aspect which Malaga is also making efforts to promote, that of the so-called ‘smart cities’.

Jordi de San Eugenio points out another important aspect when building an efficient brand: local people have to believe it. “Place brands have to be built from the bottom up, taking into account what the people of the city think and want,” he explains. When this expert is commissioned to design a place brand, he stresses that it will take two years: the first year is to find out what image local people have of the place, and the second is to work on a proposal.

The coherence that is demanded in building a city brand involves a complicated challenge: the different administrations need to agree to push in the same direction. “That is why Barcelona’92 worked,” says Jorge de San Eugenio, who believes the “major drama” of place brands is that each institution normally wants to go its own way.

In its favour, Malaga has some powerful ambassadors. The Goya awards are one example: Antonio Banderas and Dani Rovira took the opportunity to sell their city to an audience of nearly four million.

Dani García and Pablo Alborán are other celebrities who praise Malaga wherever they go. Experts say this is very useful, but there needs to be a clear strategy behind it. “These are valuable messages as long as the personalities are in line with the values the city wants to transmit,” says Fernando Ocaña.

http://www.surinenglish.com/

Malaga’s luxury seafront hotel receives planning permission.

A green light has finally been given for work to continue on what will be the first large-scale luxury hotel in Malaga city, the Gran Hotel Miramar. Hoteles Santos will fund the renovation at a cost of 65 million euros and the creation of 200 job posts.

Architects hope to have to the project completed by the end of 2016. The five-star hotel, located on Malaga city’s seafront, will consist of 196 rooms, 11 suites, a nursery, a capacity to hold events for over 1,000 guests, a spa, swimming pool and car park with 109 spaces.

“Obtaining planning permission has been difficult due to the strict regulations on this building,” said chief architect, José Seguí.

The news has created much excitement among locals who expect the construction to contribute to urban development within the area, with many checking progress daily as they pass by.

The hotel was originally opened in 1926. Seguí said the plan is to mix the past and present to create a “surprising and magical” result.

http://www.surinenglish.com/

Today is the first day...GO ON!!!

De hoy en adelante esperamos mostrar a todos nuestros usuarios, aquellas cosas de Málaga que deberían visitar y no perderse durante los días que estén en nuestra querida Costa del Sol.

This is the begining of our blog and from now to the end we will try to show everything about Malaga, all of you should visit and do not lost during your holidays in Costa del Sol.

And dont forget...to rent a car in Malaga... www.autosnavarro.es