·In the south extreme of Europe Spain is a country varied in geography. The north is wet and cold, it becomes from the joint of mountains and sea. Great for hikers like for seafood lovers. The Mediterranean area live in an almost permanent summer, they live in a different rhythm and enjoy fantastic meals. In the middle, the rich architectural cities with unique monuments.
·Our country was unified by Romans, conquered by Arabian, traumatized by a Civil War but under the reign of Juan Carlos the first it keeps its cultural diversity.
·Travelling to Spain is nice during the whole year but you must know that winter is great for going to “Pirineos” (mountains for skiing) and summer is good for sun lovers.
·There is also a big variety of craftwork, Toledo is famous since centuries ago for its steel. Andalucía has a heritage of Arabian craftworkers with wonderful fans and lace.
·After the 1978 Constitution Spain became a democratic country. The capital, Madrid, is the headquarters of the legislative power, the Congress and the Senate. The king and the President live in Madrid.
·The country is divided in 17 Autonomous regions which group 52 provinces. There are also 2 autonomous cities, Ceuta and Melilla, which are located in the North of Africa.
·Foreign visitors may think that timetables are special in comparison with the rest of Europe since we live a great nightlife. Football is a real devotion, every city has its own team with many fans.
·There are many famous Spanish people that you may know, Dali, Picasso, Cervantes (Who wrote “El Quijote”), Antonio Banderas and many more.
·During the weekend people use to go from bar to bar for having “tapas” which we can translate as savoury snack or appetizer with a good wine. This is an old tradition which we all enjoy, from older people to young people.
·There are celebrations every month in any place of Spain. It is typical the bullfighting, but not all the Spanish people like it or agree with it. We are also known in the world because of “Flamenco”, which is our identity sign, we have it inside. You may not like it, you may not dance it but if you are Spanish you feel something when you listen to flamenco music.
·What can we tell you about food? Mmmm…Did you ever try “paella” ? If not, you should go to Valencia and try it, you will be amazed!!! But there is a great variety of meals, we have the “cocido madrileño” (dish from Madrid), fabada from the north of Spain (cooked beans), seafood, Tortilla (Spanish omelette), Jamón (Spanish ham), chorizo and many more. Come and try!!!
·Well, we think it is enough about typical stuff, let’s show you how we live in Spain, specially in Madrid, our city.
Madrid is a big city, with different styles of life. It is in the intersection of the main roads in Spain, actually there is a big square called “Puerta del Sol” where we can find the “kilometre 0”, the place where all of them begin.
·There are many beautiful places to see in Madrid like:
Neptuno’s fountain.
·We have big buildings, nice fountains (like Neptuno’s one), nice parks, big Streets, shops, restaurants… Almost anything you may look for you will find it in Madrid.
Buitrago
Palacio Real (Royal Palace)
Cibeles Fountain
Oso y Madroño (Symbol of the city of Madrid)
Puerta de Alcalá
Kio Towers
·We like enjoying life, that’s why you will see people at any hour in the streets, the park, just walking and chating… People go to work 8 hours a day so we need to relax after work. If you get into a bar in Spain silence will be the only thing you will not find. People dancing, drinking, eating, talking, doing any of these things.
·We have been watching our families for analysing how Spanish people act and we discovered that we like to talk, we are not silent people. We are friendly and warm. We like enjoying and spending time with our families, that makes us happy.
·It is definitely a place to come and visit, you must see what we cannot tell you.
·We want to say hello to all the countries which are working in this project. Hope you like our little piece of Spain. Anything you will need to know just let us know, we will be glad of showing you something else. We will be happy if you contact us. Regards.
Ooooolé!