Exclusive Cultural and Architectural Attractions in Spain

Spain or the Kingdom of Spain is the country famous for Flemanco music, Guitar play, bullfights, Spanish horses, glorious past, beautiful culture, historical architecture, eye-catching monuments, La Tomatina festival, soccer, islands, art and literature and a lot more.

There are countless things that are exclusive about Spain. There are no words in the National Anthem of Spain which makes it exclusive. Spanish (The language of Spain) is the second most spoken native language of the world. Spain comes under the list of top 5 countries having largest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Spain is the only European country to have a physical border with an African Country, Morocco. At the closest point across the Strait of Gibraltar, Morocco is also only 13 kilometers away from Spain by sea.

Spain is the only country in the world that hosts world’s biggest fight of tomato. Spanish author, Miguel de Cervantes is considered as one of the few authors, who is known for writing first modern novel ever. His novel named “Don Quixote”.

In Spain, each person has two surnames. The first surname comes from the paternal family while the second surname comes from the maternal family. Another interesting tradition in Spain is about eating 12 grapes exactly at the time of midnight of New Year.

According the famous tradition, there is a saying in Spanish, if you eat 12 grapes exactly at the time of ringing of bells at midnight of year than you will have prosperous year as luck will favor you throughout the year.

BARCELONA:

Barcelona is also known as “The City of Artists” as Barcelona has produced countless famous artists like Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró and Salvador Dalí and we can explore the work of those famous artists in the art galleries of Barcelona.

The City of Barcelona is incomplete without Antoni Gaudi.  Barcelona City is also known as “The Masterpiece of Gaudi Architecture”.  The most successful and all time famous Spanish Architect  Antoni Gaudi provided this city with some unique style architectural buildings which became an eye-catching attraction for everyone who ever visits Barcelona, from his time till date.

His famous works in Barcelona includes Casa Mila, La Sagrada Familia, Park Guell, Guell Palace, Casa Calvet, Torre Bellesguard, Fountain at Parc de la Ciutadella, Casa Vicens, Colonia Guell, Casa Batllo.

Barcelona gives you an opportunity to explore countless things while walking around the streets of the city, you can explore local delicious Catalonian traditional style cuisines, Gothic corner, architectural monuments and a lot more.

MADRID:

Madrid is a city that has a lot to offer which cannot be discussed in just few lines. Madrid is considered as the centre of entire country as Puerta De Sol, one of the most famous plazas in Spain is exactly at the centre of the country.  Spain’s famous “Kilometre Zero” is in the middle of the Puerta De Sol. Several commercial and main streets of the country passes or ends at this point. This point is exactly the starting point of 6 National Highways. This place is also known as hub for public transportation of Spain.

Other attractions in Madrid includes “Prado Museum Madrid”, one of the most popular art galleries of the world. Apart from that Avila Walls are another eye-catching masterpiece, built almost 900 years ago by Raimundo De Borgona. It is one of the UNESCO World heritage sites in Spain.

FLAMENCO:

Flamenco is considered as one of the most famous art from Spain. Flamenco is a particular type of song, dance along with the instrumental play (most preferably the guitar). Nobody really knows the exact origin from where flamenco began but most of the historians believe that it began from Andalusia in Southern Spain.  Flamenco is generally associated with the Gypsies of Andalusia.

Lyrics of the flamenco are sometimes sung in Spanish or the combination of Spanish along with Arabic which results in attractive Hispano-Arab music. 

When we talk about the famous Flamenco singers in Spain, two famous legendary names always come in our mind. Ose Monje Cruz, who was famous all over with his stage name Camaron De La Isla. Secondly, the famous Flamenco guitarist   Francisco Sanchez Gomez also known as Paco de Lucia.

ACCORDING TO THE AUTHOR MARTA LOPEZ RODRIGUEZ FROM SPAIN:

LA TOMATINA FESTIVAL:

La Tomatina is a famous festival of Spain. Countless tourists schedule their visit in Spain just to attend this famous festival. La Tomatina festival held on a Wednesday towards the end of August in the town of Buñol in the Valencia region in Spain. It a harmless and delightful battle where tons of tomatoes are thrown in the streets after being smashed in a particular way as prescribed for the festival exclusively.

BULL FIGHT:

As a tourist you should be very clear that there are two types of bull fights in Spain. Both have their own followers and fans. The first one is the running of the bulls that takes place yearly from July 6th-July 14th in the city of Pamplona in the Navarre region of Spain. The festival consists of participants running through the streets with red cloth while being followed by countless of bulls.

The second form of bullfight is a single bullfight, which typically lasts for 20 minutes in bullring. It is often described as “A Tragedy in 3 Acts.”

THE NATIONAL DISH OF SPAIN – PAELLA:

Paella basically originates from Valencia but it is known as the national food of Spain with several different varieties and variations. The most common types of paella are chicken paella, seafood paella, or mixed paella with a combination of seafood, meats, and vegetables.

VALENCIA:

Valencia is the city known as the city of arts and sciences having the largest aquarium in Europe known as oceanographic park.

Valencia is famous these days for conducting famous “Fallas Festival”. The city has some new high-tech attractions as well as some old historical attractions. The place where you meet new and old simultaneously.

Among the historical attractions you can visit Valencia Old Town, The National Ceramic Museum, 100 years old Valencia Central Market.

Note: We are thankful to the following for guide in our research.

Paella

https://www.thediscoveriesof.com/interesting-facts-about-spain/

https://www.britannica.com/sports/bullfighting/The-spectacle

https://www.swedishnomad.com/gaudi-buildings-barcelona/

https://www.touropia.com/best-places-to-visit-in-spain/