This was a seven week road trip that would result in an impossibly long single piece so, as with other long trips, for convenience it has been divided into eight separate posts. The several Parts will be published, in order, at regular intervals over successive weeks.
Part 1: Prelude, Structure of the Trip and Practicalities
Part 2: Catalonia (Aiguablava) and Madrid
Part 7: The North West: Puebla de Sanabria, Cambados and Pontevedra
Part 8: The North West: Ferrol, Santiago de Compostela and Heading Home
Prelude
We had not visited Spain, other than intermittent city breaks (Madrid, Seville, Bilbao and Barcelona) for around twenty years. However, pulling out fond memories of driving trips that took in some fascinating cities (such as Avila, Segovia, Leon and Granada) and the intervening landscapes, gave us a hankering to return. The excuse of a house party in Catalonia for a special occasion allowed us to plan an extended seven-week trip encompassing a number of places we had not been – and to take in a bit of tennis-spectating along the way. We were blown away by the depth of history and the variety of the places we visited, not only the obvious places like Toledo and Santiago de Compostela but also in smaller cities like Teruel and Ferrol. And not just in the cities, for the diverse, and often empty, landscapes of the regions we drove through, eschewing the autopistas for cross-country routes, harboured vistas and sights that so often surprised us.
As is the case with many a country, it bears repeating that there is far more to Spain than the stereotyped and the obvious, beyond the coastal resorts on the Costas, the ancient cities and mountainous landscapes of Andalucía or the busy tourist centres of Barcelona, Madrid, Granada and others of that ilk.
Structure of the Trip
We had, years before, used the Paradors on our drives around Spain and found that this system of state-owned hotels offered us comfortable places to stay in intriguing buildings both ancient and modern and in places both historical and engaging. So after the week in Catalonia in a rented villa with a group of friends and a week in Madrid, centred around the Madrid Masters 1000 tennis tournament, we rented a car and set out to take in the landscape and cities of the Meseta Central and the north-western region of Galicia.
We booked the entirety of the trip ourselves: flights, hotels, trains, car rental and those tennis tickets. We chose our destinations from places within the Parador network, occasionally choosing hotels from outside that network if these seemed to better fit our needs in a particular place. Key to our choices was usability, given our mobility constraints, which included availability of lifts and accessibility to activities or transport. We booked well ahead, so lack of availability of accommodation was not a factor at the time of year we were travelling.
Itinerary
Seven weeks started with a week in rural Catalonia in a converted mas (in effect a farmhouse) equidistant from Girona and the coast. This piece will not cover that time as the nature of the occasion (a house party of nine people) does not fit with the overall concept of this blog. From there the high-speed train took us from Barcelona to Madrid. Only after our week there did we pick up our rental car and set off south to Toledo. Broadly our trip was a figure-of-eight loop that headed east from Toledo, taking in the cities of Cuenca and Teruel, before hitting Zaragoza. The drive then headed westwards across the Meseta Central to Salamanca before progessing north-west to just above the Portuguese border and the small town of Puebla de Sanabria. A final push west took us to the Atlantic coast of Spain at Cambados and then the naval port of Ferrol. A return to Madrid to drop the rental car preceded a return journey by train to Barcelona for a flight home.
As is our wont, we spent three to five nights in each place to allow space for slowing down and taking in the atmosphere of town and countryside as well as visiting some of the sights.
When and Weather
The trip ran from the last week in April through to the second week in June. This meant that we left before the temperatures heated up to their, occasionally uncomfortably hot, summer norms when they can rev up to well over 30°C (86°F), occasionally peaking around 40°C (104°F). Too hot for comfortable travelling and visiting as far as we are concerned. At the time of year of our trip the temperatures are more moderate, usually, in the low to mid 20s centigrade (68°F and upward) with nights cooler and occasionally downright chilly. We had rain, but it rarely set in for extended periods.
Inevitably the weather at this time of year is a little more changeable, but that very variety in weather added another dimension to our experiences.
Reading
We try to approach some of our reading for these trips on the basis of a mix of fiction and history from the region we are visiting. For this trip that meant these books, amongst others.
The Spanish Civil War – Paul Preston
https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-spanish-civil-war/paul-preston/9780007232079
Preston is a history professor who has written several books on The Spanish Civil War era. This single volume history was excellent. Updated in 2016 it not only has a clear explanation and narrative recounting of the key events of the Civil War but, as its subtitle ‘Reaction, Revolution and Revenge’ suggests, it brings the impact of the conflict forward to the current century. Thus it reflects upon the approach the Spanish government has chosen to the activities (perhaps atrocities is a more apt word) carried out during the conflict and its Francoist aftermath, which approach might be paraphrased as ‘live and let live’. The book examines the resulting undercurrent of continuing pain felt by those affected, exemplified by the continuing discovery of mass graves in recent years (https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/mass-grave-exhumation-daughter-spanish-civil-war-victim-seeks-closure-2023-08-13/). It is a compelling read, especially when you are actually travelling through the landscape of the Meseta.
The Peninsular War – Charles Esdaile
https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-peninsular-war/charles-esdaile/9780140273700
This war from 1808 to 1814 was an episode in European history of which I was woefully ignorant. Maybe I knew Napoleon and the British (and Wellington) were involved but, shamefully, no more. This dreadful conflict scarred the Iberian peninsula and, reading this, I came to understand why Goya’s etchings, Los Desastres de la Guerra, (which we saw, amongst many other of his etchings, in the Goya Museum in Zaragoza), are so nightmarish. The inhuman cruelty practised by all sides does not make this an easy read and you need to be prepared to work at the convolutions of the domestic and international politics that make unscrambling motives so difficult in this war. It does give equal weight to both the political context and the military and there is mercifully little over-boosting of Wellington’s role. Definitively one for those with time to embed themselves in this aspect of the peninsula’s history.
Practicalities
Eating Out and Opening Hours
The Spanish eat late, later even than the Italians. For the most part the Parador dining rooms will not take bookings before 20.30 and even bar-food was often not available before a similar time. In the most popular cities, some tourist-orientated restaurants (and the fast-food chains) are open earlier but, for the most part, reckon on a later start than you might be used to in northern Europe or North America. Conversely, lunch is a meal whose start times can extend into the middle of the afternoon. The extended lunch time break remains a feature of Spanish life with restaurants and also shops closing through the afternoon before re-opening in the evening and staying open late.
Cafés and bars are often open all-hours but, even there, you will find the kitchen closes down for the afternoon, although hot and cold drinks are to be had at any time. I pause here to mention the Spanish café/bar as a place to take a break on wandering drives across Spain and here I mean those that function as stopping points for the driver traversing the central plain. Crudely, I divided these into two broad categories. One was the stand-alone roadside halt that, set in an area of hardstanding beside a main highway, announce themselves as multi-functional (hotel, restaurant and bar) and serve the passing trade and, in the smaller places, the occasional local. The hotel designation is complemented by a spacious restaurant area, often laid out in the expectation of groups of travellers such as the coach party, and the separate café/bar with an outside space for those seeking fresh air or a nicotine fix. The second category are those found in the smaller towns and villages which are just shop-front bars that focus on the local clientele. In both cases, many are quite unprepossessing to the eye. Interiors tend to the functional in furniture and décor. There will be a long bar topped with its glass cabinet of tapas-style food, whose contents vary with the size and levels of popularity of the place. There may be no more than a few basic tapas – olives, tortilla, cold sausage (chorizo and salchichon), the classic cured pork (jamon Iberico) and a hard cheese (queso) – or there may be a far more elaborate display. These offerings may be complemented by a separate menu of hot tapas-style dishes, posted on a nearby wall. At the back of the bar a bank of bottles shares space with the Spanish cousin of the Italian espresso machine. The bar may have stools or just standing space but, in either case the floor below the bar will be decorated with the minor detritus of previous customers – the tiny paper napkins and breadcrumbs from the baskets of bread that always come with even the smallest dishes – all of which simply gets swept away at intervals during the day. Whatever the location do not be put off, as they usually contain some slice of local life that catches the attention – a raucous mid-afternoon card game or an extended family, all smartly dressed, heading for a leisured lunch in the restaurant area.
For those not familiar with the language of tapas you need to know the difference between tapas, raciones and pinchos (or pinxtos) so take a look at the Paradors’ own guide https://paradores.es/en/blog/tapas-pintxos-and-raciones-oh-my. And, given that the chain outlets for coffee are almost non-existent outside the very largest cities, you also need to be familiar with the language of ordering coffee in Spain, so – https://theculturetrip.com/europe/spain/articles/9-essential-ways-to-order-coffee-in-spain.
Language
Without wishing to teach well-travelled grandmothers to suck eggs, Spain is such a visited tourist destination that the international lingua franca, English, is spoken in so many, many places, with menus sharing the same linguistic trait. Less so in the smaller towns and villages of the Meseta Central where a smattering of Spanish and Google Translate came to our aid. Less so too in the cities that do not have to kow-tow to tourists for quite so much of their commercial existence. Thus in Zaragoza, Spain’s fourth largest city, dining options in many places are, first and foremost, for locals and the menus are determinedly Spanish.
Time Zone
One hour ahead of time in the United Kingdom which made for lovely long evenings of daylight, especially in the north-west where you are actually further west than Land’s End in Cornwall.
Cards or Cash?
Well, for us, for the most part, cards accepted almost everywhere including taxis in the main centres but carrying Euros is necessary for tipping and for some small shops, for laundromats and for taxis in smaller towns.
Mobile and Wi-Fi
For British holidaymakers using mobile signals is not an expensive exercise and I cannot recall an occasion where the signal was lost for any significant time. There may have been short periods during drives that took us through the countryside where it disappeared, but never to the point of it being a problem – or even an inconvenience.
I hereby resolve to stop mentioning the availability of free Wi-Fi as it is no longer a subject worthy of note for holidaying, rather than business, travellers. At nearly all relevant stopping places, such as overnight hotels and city restaurants, it is there if you need it at no cost.
Car Rental and Driving
I have said before that we prefer to use the international hire companies for car rental on these sort of trips on the basis that we know what to expect and what we get. Here we went with Enterprise because their offer seemed to be a good bit cheaper than some of the other companies. With five weeks of leisurely driving ahead, comfort took priority and, as a tall, ageing man, I have found that the SUV-style vehicles provide better driving positions and easier access than today’s small cars and saloons. For some reason in recent years car designers seem to have lowered roof lines to such an extent that the driving position becomes one where you feel you are looking out through a letter-box slot. Another consequence is that getting in and out, for stiff bodies, becomes more of an effort.
Mobility Access
In Madrid we rented our car at Atocha Station, simply for its seeming convenience on our return journey, where we had to get from Madrid to Barcelona by AVE (the high speed train) for our afternoon flight to London from Barcelona. Just be aware that the car-collection lot, which has all the main car rental companies squeezed onto it, is a 500 metre walk in the open air down a slope from the high-speed lines arrivals hall. Ergo a trudge up that slope to get to the same place. With luggage to haul this can be hard work, especially if the rain is drizzling down. It is actually a little bit further if you are coming into the main domestic lines arrivals hall or getting out of the Metro.
Driving in the parts of Spain we travelled through is a relatively relaxing experience, if you are not rushing to get from A to B. Outside the cities, traffic is light compared to the clogged roads of southern Britain, sparse even on the main autopistas/autovias (motorways/freeways) except for those running out of, and circling, the main cities. I was surprised to read that the Spanish autopista/autovia network is the third longest in the world, which means that getting around quickly is easy and far from stressful. However we deliberately avoided the network so as best to take in the countryside between the cities, keeping our inter-city drives shorter the better to allow time for diversions to scenic and historical locations. To do this effectively, in my view, you need to use a paper road atlas that allows you to consider route and road options that simply will not come up when using a map app.
In the cities, like in cities around the world, the traffic moves to a certain rhythm and it is not difficult to fall in with it. Madrid is all wide boulevards and one-way cross streets with the usual urban pitfalls: cyclists and electric scooters toying with drivers and pedestrians alike, manic taxi drivers and kamikaze pedestrians. Take it calmly and don’t panic if you get into the wrong lane on the boulevards as there is always a way to retrace your steps from the next big roundabout. In towns elsewhere the greatest hazard is often the narrow, steep street pattern in the old medieval centres. If you get in the wrong place or get stuck, just take your time. If you got in, you must be able to get out!
Trains
Spain has an extensive and effective rail network, with high-speed trains linking many of the main cities and extensive local and suburban services. Madrid being at the centre of the country means that most high-speed lines radiate out from this hub. Theoretically, with a journey time of just over 2 hours 30 minutes, Barcelona is close enough for a rushed day trip, if that is your thing and you can avoid water-pistol toting locals (https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/10/world/europe/barcelona-tourism-squirt-guns.html).
We used the network not only for linking Barcelona to Madrid but also for a couple of longer trips where we separated, one driving and the other taking the train, to give more scope for one of us to have space to stretch out and time to relax. Travel by train, like in so much of Europe nowadays, can be organised easily from the comfort of your laptop, PC or smartphone. In this case we used the website of Renfe, the Spanish national rail company. It has a full English service for timetable checking, ticket purchases and live service news – https://www.renfe.com/es/en. And, as I have said before, there is no better place to read about the details of which services to use, how to use the main stations and how to buy tickets than the comprehensive service at the rail travel website, The Man in Seat 61.
Paradors – The state-owned hotel network
We stayed in six Paradors on our sojourn. They attract some grumbles online about their service, food and facilities but we found that they remain an excellent option, especially in the more out-of-the-way centres. Indeed one of the two main objectives when the network was established by the Spanish government in 1928 was to promote tourism in areas that lacked any suitable accommodation. The other objective, perhaps more renowned, was to re-purpose unused historical structures. Hence the proliferation of former castles, monasteries, convents, manor houses and the like that now house many of the nearly 100 hotels in the network. Just as many are also now in modern structures that may blend elegantly with the landscape, as with the Mudejar-inspired hillside parador at Toledo, or offer an elegant modern structure in a glorious coastal location, such as that at Aiguablava.
As far as we were concerned the facilities were broadly consistent, being of the four, occasionally three, star quality of other places. Rooms were comfortable, often large, the food actually much better than some of the online gripes give them credit for and the staff generally helpful, if a little rushed in some of the busier places. Each en-suite bathroom comes equipped with that European speciality, the bidet, as well as the other given elements, which usually meant a tub and a shower. Given how steeply global hotel pricing seems to have risen since the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the best thing about them is that they seem to us to represent real value for money. They are top of our accommodation wish list when we next return to unvisited parts of Spain.
We booked with the Parador network direct, online. They have a pretty comprehensive English language website (https://paradores.es/en) and a helpful telephone service. Our suggestion is that you become an ‘Amigo’, as they call their loyalty programme, before you book any Paradors – see https://paradores.es/en/amigos-de-paradores. This entitles you to immediate discounts on accommodation costs making them even more of a bargain in our eyes.
A brief note on facilities, particularly the swimming pools that many Paradors seem to have. The pools are often seasonal and not always heated. And the Spaniards cannot imagine that anyone would be silly enough to swim until the weather gets warmer. We found that in most places that we stayed the season did not begin until 1st June or later. No pools nor other outdoor sports facilities, such as tennis courts, were ready for use until we reached Cambados just as May was turning to June, even though the weather had been warm to hot in many places well before that.
Mobility Access
Do take special care when reviewing whether or not to stay in a particular Parador. Many of the older buildings may lack a lift (elevator) that accesses some or all of the rooms. There is a section on the website in the entry for each individual Parador headed ‘All the comforts you need’ which you can find if you scroll down the relevant page. That tells you if the Parador has a lift. With the older buildings our advice is to double check with the Parador direct because that room at the top of the tower may seem romantic but the lift that is mentioned may not reach that floor, leaving you to struggle up a few flights of stairs. The modern buildings are usually well set up for those with mobility constraints so, if a lift is mentioned, access to the rooms and other facilities is probably straightforward.
Flights
This was a European short haul so, for us, that means BA. And our mobility issues mean taking business class for the extra room and the ease of moving through security. The flights were outward from Heathrow Terminal 5 and inbound to London City. I have spoken of the service and the mobility concerns at London airports elsewhere (Air Travel from London et al). So this entry will focus on some aspects of the Barcelona end of the flights. I confess that the passage of time has blurred my memory of our use of the mobility service on arrival and departure. This may be a good thing as it suggests there were no problems. On arrival at Barcelona’s Terminal 1, we were picking up a rental car for our week in Catalonia, which was straightforward enough. Walking distances were not too great, with the rental garages being in the multi-storey car park quite close to the arrivals area. Getting away from the airport by car did not seem too troubling, although you soon reach the maelstrom of traffic along the Autovia B-20 (the main Barcelona ring road/beltway), which can be intimidating as an introduction to Spanish roads. Less so if you are heading south or west, as you are heading away from the city.
For those who are heading into the city itself and do not have a car, there are the usual options available and plentiful supporting information exists on line (e.g. the airport’s own website, in English of course – https://barcelona-bcn-airport.com/transportation/airport-transfer-to-city/).
Mobility Access
After our week in Catalonia we dropped our car rental back at the airport. Therefore we had to get from the airport to Barcelona’s main railway station, Barcelona Sants, to begin the main part of the trip and return from that same station to catch our final flight home. We used public transport to get in and then, because of issues faced for the mobility constrained, a taxi for the return. The first point to note is that the airport’s main link to Barcelona Sants is by a fast train. However the airport’s train station is linked to Terminal 2 which manages largely domestic flights. As most international flights arrive at the newer Terminal 1, you need to get a shuttle bus between the terminals. To me this bus is not well set up for airline passengers as it lacks a designated space for luggage. Passengers have to find a way to store their luggage in a way that does not inhibit access for other shuttle users, not an easy matter if you add in mobility concerns as well. The second point to be aware of is that the airport station is actually a walk of around 400 metres along a high-level walkway from the shuttle drop-off point. So be prepared. On the day we passed through the train wasn’t working so we used the metro instead: an added frustration as there is no direct line to Barcelona Sants which meant more walking and lugging of luggage at the interchange station.
The taxi is more expensive but, for us, it was worth it for the convenience of being dropped at the door of the Terminal 1 departure hall on our return to Barcelona at the end of the trip. As Barcelona Sants is a modern station (with that shopping mall feel inside), the only mobility issue here is the possibility of longer walks on flat surfaces to get from one part of the station to another. Taxi rank access is very straightforward, the queue was short and there were plenty of taxis. And our driver’s English was good enough for a reasonable conversation to be had.