Now what? You’ve gone through all that information to help prepare you for Spain, and so what’s next?
KEEP EXPLORING! The more you read-up on the cities you will be visiting, the more you will get out of your time abroad! Remember to bounce back to Module 1 and Module 2 of this online pre-departure information any time.
Here are a few more helpful resources for the four cities you will be visiting soon!
Madrid
Few cities can boast an artistic pedigree quite as pure as Madrid’s and many art lovers return here again and again, so rich is the city’s art collection. For centuries, Spanish royals showered praise and riches upon the great artists of the day, from home-grown talents such as Goya and Velázquez to a stunning pantheon of Flemish and Italian masters. Masterpieces by these and other Spanish masters such as Picasso, Dalí and Miró now adorn the walls of the city’s world-class galleries. Three in particular are giants – the Museo del Prado, Centro de Arte Reina Sofía and Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza – but in Madrid these are merely good places to start.
Granada
Seville may have the pasión and Córdoba a medieval charm, but Granada has an edge. Most visitors concentrate solely on the magnificent Alhambra, but if you explore further, you’ll find Andalucía’s hippest, most youthful city, with a ‘free tapas’ culture, innovative bars and intimate flamenco haunts.
Here the Islamic past feels recent, as Muslim North Africans make up some 10% of the population; there’s even a modern mosque in the medieval district of the Albayzín. And though Granada looks alpine, with the white-capped Sierra Nevada peaks startlingly close, you could just as easily go swimming down on the coast for the day and be back in time to enjoy the city’s nightlife.
Santiago de Compostela
Locals say the arcaded, stone streets of Santiago de Compostela are at their most beautiful in the rain, when the old city glistens. Most would agree, however, that it’s hard to catch Santiago in a bad pose. Whether you’re wandering the medieval streets of the old city, nibbling on tapas in the taverns, or gazing down at the rooftops from atop the cathedral, Santiago seduces.
Only since the 1980s, as capital of the autonomous region of Galicia and a rediscovered tourist and pilgrimage destination, has the city been revitalised. Today some 200,000 pilgrims and countless thousands of other visitors journey here each year. The biggest numbers hit the city in July and August, but Santiago has a festive atmosphere throughout the warmer half of the year. If you’d like to enjoy the place less than jam-packed, May, June and September are good months to come.
Barcelona
Barcelona’s architectural treasures span 2000-plus years. Towering temple columns, ancient city walls and subterranean stone corridors provide a window into Roman-era Barcino. Fast forward a thousand years to the Middle Ages by taking a stroll through the shadowy lanes of the Gothic quarter, past tranquil plazas and soaring 14th-century cathedrals. In other parts of town bloom the sculptural masterpieces of Modernisme, a mix of ingenious and whimsical creations by Gaudí and his Catalan architectural contemporaries, for which this city is so well known. Barcelona has also long inspired artists, including the likes of Salvador Dalí, Pablo Picasso and Joan Miró, whose works are in bold display in the city’s myriad museum
