Entertainment
Food & Drink
Spain offers a variety of cheap and delicious meal options. The local favourite is tapas, or snacks that are commonly served in almost every eatery in Spain. They can be any of the following – squid, meat, cheese and olives – and are priced accordingly.
Most restaurants offer separate tourist menus (menu del dia) and table service. The hotel bills include service charges and other taxes. Tipping is customary and range from 5-10%.
National Specialities
1. Seafood: Angulas and the tasty baby eels (Aguinaga), cod vizcaina or cod pil-pil (Basque provinces), shellfish and hake a la Gallega (Galicia), Paella based on meat or seafood (Eastern provinces), fresh anchovies (Andalucia), and lobster Catalan (Catalonia)
2. Roasted Meats: Beef, suckling pig, and veal (Castile) and Jabugo ham (Huelva)
3. Drinks: Sherry, amontillado, oloroso and dulce
4. Wine: Valdepenas (midway between Madrid and Cordoba), Rioja (Logron), Ampurdan; Cava (sparkling wine), Chacoli (Basque Country) and Perelada (Catalonia), Codorniu and Freixenet
5. Spanish Brandy: Font Vella, Vichy Catalan, Lanjaron, and Malavella
Nightlife
Spaniards call their evening stroll, el paseo. Street theatre is a common pastime in the evenings of large cities. The streets rock at night during fiesta time or when the local football team has won a match. The celebrations include firecrackers, honking of car horns, flag waiving, and team regalia.
Most people assemble at Tapas Bars to enjoy relaxed evening. Nightclubs of Madrid, Barcelona, and Ibiza are vibrant and jazzy. Spaniards also like to spend their late nights watching flamenco or other regional dance displays.
Shopping
Spanish shopping is definitely a value for money experience with most items cheaper than the UK. The Rastro Market of Madrid is definitely a place you can flock to for extreme shopping. On Sundays, half of the marketplace is in the open air affording a good shopping experience to the locals and the visitors alike.
Spain is internationally renowned for textile goods from Catalonian region, and the leather goods that are of extremely high quality and available at remarkably low prices.
Handcrafted wooden furniture is also one of the major highlights of Spain and the annual international furniture fair at Valencia draws huge crowds. Alicante has some excellent facilities for toy manufacturing units that produce exquisite toys.
Shopping Hours: Mon-Sat 0930-1330 and 1630-2000
Major commercial stores and shopping malls are open from 1000-2200.
SPAIN
