Travel report: Spain

Country ranking by area: #52
Country ranking by population: #30

Date of visit: July 2002

Here is my love story about Spain!

Seriously, the country on the Iberian peninsula is one of my favorites. That sounds a bit like a boring cliché, as Spain is one or perhaps THE most touristy country in Europe. For a good reason though! I have traveled to Spain nine times now. The only country I have visited more often was Germany (at least 20 times without the usual hops over the border, as I only live a few kilometers away from the country).

Here is a list of all my trips to Spain:

1. Lloret de Mar (2002)
2. Barcelona (2008)
3. Majorca (2010)
4. Majorca (2011)
5. …and again Majorca (2015)
6. Marbella (2015)
7. Madrid (2017)
8. Seville (2018)
9. Barcelona (2018)

All of these trips were excellent and I am 100% sure that number 10 will follow soon.

2002-2011: The early days – cheap booze & long nights

The first time I went to Spain were also my first vacation without my parents. Together with a group of friends I went to Lloret de Mar in 2002, an ugly party destination for under-aged party people. After a short trip to Barcelona in 2008, my trips #3 and #4 got me to Majorca. And no, not to the beautiful parts of the island but to El Arenal also know as the “Ballermann”.

The first time I went to Majorca was when I graduated from college. Our class decided to do a farewell-trip after three years of (more or less) hard studies. The second time was with other friends. All three trips to Lloret de Mar and Majorca were a collection of long nights with cheap booze and puking on the dance floor. Or in other words: things that young party animals do.

Yeah, these trips weren’t traveling. But they were still fun when I was younger. I still have many pictures from these vacations but I don’t think that posting them is a good idea.

2015: Majorca and Marbella

Four years after my last trip to Majorca, I revisited Spain’s biggest island in 2015. The family of a colleague bought a house there and my colleague was so kind to invite me and someone else from work for a long weekend on the island. This was the first time I saw how beautiful this island is. And I fell in love with Palma, the island’s capital, an absolutely fantastic city. We enjoyed the beautiful old town, delicious food and amazing nightlife there. It was also a bit a posh place. So dress up if you go there.

Only one month later, I headed to Marbella. Again, another friend of mine, who has a house there, kindly invited me and another friend for a long weekend. I didn’t have to pay a lot for hotels in the summer of 2015. 🙂 Although the beach in Marbella wasn’t very spectacular, I loved the nightlife near the harbor. Marbella is also a posh place even to a stronger degree than Palma. You will see plenty of yachts as well as rich Russians and Arabs with big bottles of vodka on their tables in the bars.

Marbella is also a great destination if you want to do day trips. Granada or Ronda are not very far and you can also go to Malaga (most people arrive there anyway, as Marbella’s nearest airport is in Malaga). Plus, you can even go Gibraltar, but this story is reserved for the United Kingdom travel report.

Majorca (the nice parts at least) and Marbella are both places that I really enjoyed, and it’s only a matter of time until I will be back.

The now: Madrid, Seville and Barcelona

In the past 1.5 years (March 2017 – October 2018) I’ve traveled to three major cities on the mainland of Spain. The first of these three cities was the capital. Madrid is often a rather overlooked city, as many skip the capital and visit Barcelona. That’s a mistake in my opinion.

Although we had extremely bad luck with the weather (it was 0°C at night in late March), our group had a sensational weekend in Madrid. The city is not a beauty in my opinion, but it’s vibrant and fun. Plus the nightlife is among the best in Europe. Did you know that Madrid has the highest bar-per-capita in Europe? You will find watering hole after watering hole, what makes the city also perfect for a stag party or just a good night out with friends.

Madrid is also a perfect city for foodies. Tapas bars, food halls, bakeries etc. as far as the eye can see. Cities in Spain are generally a paradise for food lovers, but Madrid stands out among the bunch.  Unfortunately, I didn’t have that kind of luck in Seville when it comes to food…

…but I loved everything else of that city. Seriously, you must see Seville! The capital of Andalusia is by far the best city I’ve visited in Spain and also one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. Although the city is not too big, you have plenty of sights and attractions, one more beautiful than the other. I didn’t manage to see all the sights, but that gives me a reason to revisit Seville soon.

Seville’s only downside is the extreme temperature. It’s not unusual that temperatures are above 40°C in summer, what makes the city hard to visit during this period. The good thing is, however, that you can travel to Seville in early spring or late autumn and still have good weather. That’s not a bad deal I guess.

Oh, and before I forget: I criticized the food in Seville, but that’s because I had bad luck with the restaurants I chose. I am sure that Seville has nice places to eat as well.

…and then there is Barcelona. I have been to Barcelona twice now, but the first time in 2008 didn’t really count, as the only thing I saw was Las Ramblas. Seriously, I was walking up and down Las Ramblas for two days. However, the priority was not sightseeing but attending a football game. I didn’t like the city back then, but as I haven’t seen much I knew that I have to comeback for a better judgement.

Now, after the second visit, I am still not into this city. What bothers me the most is that Barcelona is terribly overrun by tourists from all over the world. I already knew that before my visit, that’s why I chose to come back in mid-October, but alas, it didn’t make a difference.

Another thing I don’t like is how spread out the city is. Rome for example is also spread out, but it’s still worth walking from the Vatican to the Collosseo, as you can see many nice things on your way. It’s different in Barcelona. Let’s say, you want to walk from the harbor to Sagrada Familia and after that to Park Güell. There isn’t much to see between these places (okay, the first part between the harbor and Sagrada Familia isn’t that bad…) and you will walk through many ugly districts.

Don’t get me wrong, Barcelona is not a bad city and a city that offers a lot. However, it’s not a city that blows me away and I would never call it one of the best cities in Europe like many people do. But tastes are different and that’s okay.

If I had to compare the three cities, I would say that Seville is a combination of the best elements that all three cities have to offer. Madrid is the least beautiful of these cities, but the capital has the best nightlife and is also the best city for delicious food. And Barcelona is certainly not a bad city but just not my taste.

What I love about a Spain

As I said, I have been to Spain nine times and all of these trips were excellent. What’s best about Spain is the people’s way of living. Tapas, siesta, sangria, wine… you name it. The way of living is also the reason for the lowest productivity within the European Union, but why should a tourist care about that.

Of course, the weather is another great asset of Spain. You are not spoiled with amazing weather when you live in Central Europe so that you really appreciate the temperatures in Spain. Summer starts earlier and ends later. It’s absolutely possible to enjoy a weekend with temperatures above 20°C in March or November. Not many European countries can offer that.

One thing that could be better is the communication between the Spanish and people from other countries. Spaniards usually speak one language only: Spanish (surprise, surprise). But I don’t blame them, because almost half a billion people in the world speak that language. That means they have an excuse at least. In contrast to the Italians…

My travel experience in Spain

Although I have been to Spain nine times, I have only seen seven different places. This isn’t much in a country with this size. Needless to say that I will revisit Spain many more times. Valencia, Bilbao and San Sebastian are the cities I would like to see next. Plus I always wanted to visit Ibiza, however, I think I need to do this before I turn 35. I’m not sure if I can a handle a weekend in Ibiza when I’m older.

Long story short: I will definitely revisit Spain many times. The only places that never interested me were the canary islands though. I can’t really explain why, but maybe because these islands are rather all inclusive destinations and not intriguing destinations for me

If I had to rank the places in Spain from best to worst, the ranking would look like this:

1. Seville
2. Palma de Mallorca
3. Marbella
4. Madrid
5. Barcelona
6. El Arenal
7. Lloret de Mar

All in all, Spain seems to be the total package. It’s a country with nice weather, great food, cool nightlife, beautiful cities, interesting things to see and do etc. It doesn’t come to a surprise that many Europeans choose Spain as the country where they want to enjoy their retirement. For me, Spain remains one of the best countries to visit, and I’ll be back soon.

 

Find the travel reports of the other countries I’ve visited here!