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Spain is a wonderful country for vacation and an interesting country for bike tours, due to its mountains. There is the Pyreness in the north, the mountains of Gallicia at the rugged Atlantic shore, and the Sierra Nevada in the south. The interior is dominated by a plateau, the Meseta, which in part is flanked by mountains all around.
Spain’s shore line stretches over a length of 3000 km. That also means there is an endless diversity of motorbike routes along the shore. At the Mediterranean Sea one can enjoy the "wild coast" Costa Brava, the "gold coast" around Tarragona, the "white coast" Costa Blanca or "sunny coast" Costa de sol around Malaga and Marbella.
If you want to trace Spain’s ancient past you’ll have a rich choice: Madrid (Prado, Picasso), Toledo (ancient town center), Salamanca (splendid center), Granada (Alhambra) etc.
The "white villages" at Andalusia look fine to the eyes and the air dried ham will top any feast.
Talking about food: Spain is famous for his intermediate meals. Tapas are offered with cheese, meat, olives and cuttlefish in all possible variations. Everyone knows Paella from back home. Basque specialties are fish of all types. Asturia offers a bean soup called Fabada and different kinds of cheese. Snails and mussels are prepared especially tasty at Galicia. Partridge with cabbage also count as Catalonian specialties. Andalusia’s kitchen is famous for its Gazpacho (cold vegetable soup), fish and Jabugo-ham from Huelva.
Anyone traveling through Spain, can’t avoid trying its native wine, Sherry and Cider. The Spanish mineral waters taste excellent, too.
Some geography:
The kingdom of Spain stretches over an area of about 500.000 square kilometers. It takes up perhaps four fifths of the Iberian Peninsula. About 41 million people live here. There are acknowledged languages of autonomous communities, e.g. Catalenian and Basque, besides Spanish, the official language.
The predominant part of the population is of Roman Catholic belief.
National holiday is on October 12th. |
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