Spain is a huge country, and although we often think of it as a cheap holiday destination with bullfights, in fact it’s a beautiful cultural country, and most Spanish people disagree with bullfights, and campaign against them (they are now illegal in some cities, and it’s mostly UK and American tourists that is the reason for them continuing).
UK tourists may want egg and chips, but Spanish food is more regional, based on seasonal produce, something we could learn from. It’s spicier than Italian food, and uses more peppers and chillies, so don’t rub your eyes if chopping them!
Spain has its own animal welfare and green parties too! Recently, the Sumar political movement has collaborated all progressive parties as one movement, to gain more power for better animal welfare laws. Learn more on how we can improve England’s animal welfare laws.
Speaking the world’s most second-widely used language, Spanish people are renowned for giving the best directions, if tourists ask! They also kiss once on each cheek whenever meeting someone!
Barcelona is often cited as one of the world’s best places to live, with a pedestrian-friendly central road and beautiful buildings. However, it’s also known as somewhere that is not very happy with the influx of tourists with many concerned that (like Venice) it is becoming cheap and tacky to sell rubbish to visitors, rather than preserve its national heritage. The mayor has even suggested a cap on the number of annual visitors to still promote and respect tourism, but to also look after its permanent residents.
And to protect its natural areas (10% of the city is made of up urban parks and its beach is listed as one of the 10 best on earth). Madrid also looks after the natural world, with the second highest-number of trees in a city (after Tokyo). Everyone is within 15 minutes walk of a green space.
