Spain holidays: "Spain is Fiestas"
When we say that “Spain is Fiestas”, that’s no exaggeration! On top of the ten national holidays, all over Spain, from small villages to large cities, the local populace devote a few days each year to their own local festivals.
You can land in Spain on any day in the year and there’d be a festival of some sort on.
So, a holiday to Spain is not only about the sun, sand and sea, but the opportunity to enjoy some of the local celebrations, learn about their festivities and cultural events and soak up the festival atmosphere.
Spain is Fiestas!
Whether it’s joining in the Rioja Wine Harvest Festival in Logroño, dancing to the rhythm and passion of Tango in Granada, getting into the swing of Barcelona’s International Jazz Festival or watching contestants trying to outdo each other in the Flamenco Biennial Festival in Seville (home of flamenco), the atmosphere is bound to be electric.
The Spanish are passionate about their fiestas and you can be assured of a very colourful and exotic experience.
But Spain is also more than just fiestas and the sun, sand and sea. There’s excellent spicy food here, entertainment, arts and culture and the opportunity to visit some of the world’s greatest heritage sites.
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Comment by Rampant Ignorance Denounced
No Spanish food is “spicy”, but you must have really enjoyed your trip to MEXICO. And the Bienal flamenco program contains no sort of contest.
We all know Americans are culturally iggerant, but no need to flaunt it.
Comment by Tony
Hmm, I think you may be making the all too prevalent mistake of equating “spicy” with “hot”. Spanish cuisine is Mediterranean/Middle Eastern based and not Latin American. Cooking in Spain uses plenty of spices, such as garlic, paprika, oregano, rosemary and basil, and these days you’ll find more chilli as tastes become more international.
Dishes like “Patatas Bravas” have always used a hot sauce, and Chorizo sausage, especially the “picante” variety can be quite spicy, as can Gazpacho, especially in country Andalusia.
Perhaps if you substituted “flavoursome” for “spicy” you might be happier.
Tony
P.S. Your gratuitous insult to Americans and, if I may say so, rather feeble attempt at sarcasm are somewhat misplaced, as the owners of Travel Signposts are English/Australian, easy to see from the contact address and footer. Perhaps the inclusion of “Rampant Ignorance” in your pseudonym was eminently suitable.
Comment by Helen
Thanks for your feedback. From your reference to Mexico, I gather you understand “spicy” to mean “hot” only. However, spicy can refer to food that’s tasty and include usage of spices like rosemary, thyme, oregano, paprika, cumin, saffron and pepper, etc.all of which are used in Spanish cooking. Some examples of spicy Spanish dishes include champiñones al ajillo, gambas pil-pil, pinchos marunos and chorizo.
As regards the Flamenco festival, please see following by the Spanish tourist authority:
“The event combines a flamenco competition with a range of performances, both song and dance, of this typical Spanish art.”
http://www.spain.info/TourSpain/Eventos/Eventos/1/Bienal%20de%20Flamenco.htm?Language=en
Comment by spanish fiestas fan
I recommend the April Fair in Sevilla, it is one of the most international and popular of Seville’s fiestas.
Comment by Helen
Thanks for sharing the April Fair in Sevilla.
Helen
Comment by Rampant Ignorance Denounced
Dear Helen:
It’s not going to work. I’m a native American, and know well what the word “spicy” means to Americans and Brits. I’ve also been living in Spain for many years, so I know from experience when an American says they don’t want to try Spanish food because they’re sure it’s too “spicy”, it’s the same cultural ignorance that makes them buy Mexican hats when they visit this country. They’re thinking of enchiladas and tacos, not paella. Furthermore, you will be interested to know that for the most part, native Spaniards loathe spicy food, and exceedingly few dishes contain even the faintest hint of cayenne, it’s very rare.
As a professional journalist, I was paid to attend and review each of the 54 shows of the Bienal de Flamenco de Sevilla, and have been covering it for many years, so I don’t need to read what Spanish tourist authorities say. The Bienal most definitely does not include any sort of flamenco competition.
Thank you for trying to research the topic, but your sources failed you.
Comment by Rampant Ignorance Worse than Thought
No Tony, it’s not a “prevalent mistake”, it’s the actual meaning of the word spicy. As I just wrote Helen, I’m a native speaker, so there’s no point in what you’re trying to do. I also know that Americans are permanently confused between Mexico and Spain, which is why you sometimes see flamenco danced in a western that is supposed to be taking place in Mexico. Spaniards do the same thing with Britain and the U.S. and often ask me if it’s true we Americans carry umbrellas all the time!
Gazpacho never ever contains any “spicy” ingredients, unless you want to count salt, which is, after all, a “spice”. If you like, I’ll send you a good recipe.
You need to research your topic better before protesting any sort of perceived “insult”.
Comment by Tony
Come on, Rampant Ignorance, are you seriously saying “spicy” just means “hot”? As you’re American, here’s Webster’s definition: “1: having the quality, flavor, or fragrance of spice 2: producing or abounding in spices”. Please.
Anyway, this is really not what I was getting at. I’m from England, and like you, I’m sometimes appalled at the cultural insensitivity of my countrymen. However, I avoid making “smart” comments denigrating them when I’m in an international forum, where it’s all too easy for others to misinterpret them as cultural arrogance and deliberately insulting. For example, I took you at first to be British, as your use of “iggerant” is a typically British inflection. If I was American, I’d probably find that pretty insulting, more so than if I knew you yourself were American. And we really try to avoid flamebait on Travel Signposts.
BTW, I still get the impression you think we’re from the US, or that this website is only concerned with our American users, who actually are less than half our visitors (we’d like more!). I appreciate that you as an expatriate American are particularly concerned about the level of knowledge about other cultures in the US, but when we put stuff up we have to consider all our visitors who come from many countries (although especially from Europe).
Anyway, thanks for livening things up!
Tony
PS On gazpacho, classic recipes are one thing, what local people do can be another. I owned a finca in the Alpujarras for a few years, and I can assure you that you’ll find a varied selection of spicy versions served up in many homes and local restaurants in Andalusia! It surprised me, when I first went there.
Comment by Rampant Ignorance Worse than Thought
Dictionaries notwithstanding, American usage of the word “spicy” is reserved for “it burns your palate”. Fines herbes, dillweed, anise seed, cumin, and dozens of etceteras do not add up to “spicy”, but perhaps in Britain you use the word in this way (my Scottish and Irish friends don’t, but I don’t know about English).
Nor was I talking about recipe books. Hot, spicy gazpacho would be a culinary oxymoron. The dish is intended to be light, cool and refreshing. Anything else you’ve had is a chef’s experiment or something dreampt up at one of the designer restaurants that are becoming popular here. Wait! If you don’t let the gazpacho “rest” after it’s made, you might confuse the burn of raw garlic with a spice…I’ll bet that’s what happened.