{"id":88653,"date":"2013-06-21T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-06-21T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/travelstartblg.wpenginepowered.com\/5-reasons-to-visit-spain\/"},"modified":"2025-11-04T13:51:20","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T13:51:20","slug":"5-reasons-to-visit-spain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.travelstart.co.za\/blog\/5-reasons-to-visit-spain\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Reasons to Visit Spain"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Spain is the land of cured meats and coffees, of siesta and sunshine, of warm people and ancient well-worn architecture. Here are a few of the highlights to look forward to (disclaimer: they mostly revolve around food!)<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Caf\u00e9 con leche culture<\/strong>
    \nIt seems crazy to me now, but before I went to Spain I didn\u2019t drink coffee much. I\u2019ve always been more of a tea person. Well, I soon found out that the Spanish don\u2019t really do tea (the way South Africans do tea), so I quickly had to start drinking the national drink: caf\u00e9 con leche. Luckily, it is absolutely delicious, so I really didn\u2019t mind. Caf\u00e9 con leche is typically served any time from breakfast throughout the day, in a short glass. It\u2019s a double shot of espresso, topped up with hot milk, and occasionally a little foam. It should be eaten with a pastry of some kind: croissant, sponge cake, what we call pig\u2019s ears, or a delicate baked marvel. What I love about caf\u00e9 con leche is not only the coffee (which is superb) but the culture of it: Spanish people sit down and drink coffee, slowly, a few times a day. We could do with more of that.<\/li>\n
  2. Beautiful bocadillos<\/strong>
    \nOh, the wonders of the jamon and queso bocadillo! A bocadillo is basically half a loaf of a baguette, filled with the most divine cured ham and cheese. Oh, the cheese! Often fresh (i.e. soft and semi-cured), always creamy, this is cheese like you\u2019ve never tasted it before. You can also have chorizo bocadillos (yum!) or really any kind of cured pork \u2013 they have a wide range.<\/li>\n
  3. Siesta time<\/strong>
    \nAlthough it can be frustrating if you\u2019ve timed your day wrong and you arrive somewhere just as the three-hour siesta begins, I love how laidback Spaniards are. They start the day late, take a three-hour break in the afternoon for a lazy lunch and a nap, and all the shops are closed on Sundays \u2013 even in big cities! They\u2019ve taken work-life balance to a whole new level, and I admire them for it. As long as I don\u2019t have to do business there\u2026<\/li>\n
  4. Generosity of spirit<\/strong>
    \nMany countries have warm people, but our experience of Spanish people really showed us an amazing generosity of spirit. This could have been because we were pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago, it is true. But the response from strangers was really quite wonderful \u2013 they welcomed us in, and helped us as much as they could, and didn\u2019t mind us speaking dreadful pigeon Spanish!<\/li>\n
  5. The astounding natural beauty<\/strong>
    \nIt\u2019s not just the beauty of Barcelona and the beaches \u2013 this is a country rich with natural beauty: mountains, rivers, fields and views that will take your breath away.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    \u00a0 Spain is the land of cured meats and coffees, of siesta and sunshine, of warm people and ancient well-worn architecture. Here are a few of the highlights to look forward to (disclaimer: they mostly revolve around food!) Caf\u00e9 con leche culture It seems crazy to me now, but before I went to Spain I didn\u2019t drink coffee much. I\u2019ve always been more of a … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":88654,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_destination_ratings":[],"_destination_review_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-88653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33"],"yoast_head":"\n5 Reasons to Visit Spain - Travelstart Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.travelstart.co.za\/blog\/5-reasons-to-visit-spain\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"5 Reasons to Visit Spain - Travelstart Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u00a0 Spain is the land of cured meats and coffees, of siesta and sunshine, of warm people and ancient well-worn architecture. 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