There are many different types of vacations and holidays a couple, family or individual travelling alone can take. All may be equally enjoyable as long as they take into account the preferences of the traveller. Destinations around the world may offer beach front accommodations or city skyscrapers with a view, but a holiday in Spain is one place that you can get both, and not even have to leave the region.

City or Sea?

Spain is filled with old cities rich in art, culture, entertainment and filled with great food. The beauty of this destination however is that you can be in such an exciting and interesting city and just a few minutes later be relaxing at the beach or taking in a round of golf.

When you travel to the Costa Blanca region on Spain’s east coast you are within dipping distance of the beautiful waters of the Mediterranean Sea. The Alicante Airport is central to this region and a short driving distance to all the quaint cities along this coast. The climate is perfect just about any time of year, although it can get quite hot in the city in the summer. Other than that, you can expect sunshine and moderate temperatures just right for swimming and comfortable for sightseeing.

The Big City Life

Museums and culture abound in any of Spain’s cities, but the large metropolitan capital of Madrid is a world centre for finance and commerce. Madrid is the kind of city where you can take care of business and then spend the holidays in Spain without feeling like you got stuck on some business trip when you’d rather be sightseeing.

In Barcelona you can experience the second largest of Spain’s cities and a city that is the capital of the autonomous Catalonia community. It lies on the north east tip of Spain along the Mediterranean Sea and at the mouth of both the Llobregat and Besos rivers. Just above is the Pyrenees mountain range about 100 miles to the north.

Barcelona was host of the 1888 World’s Fair (called Universal Exposition at the time) and welcomed the 1992 Summer Olympics.

What to Do During Holidays in Spain

Spain is well known for its festivals and fiestas. You can party hard and relax equally as hard. Any time of year you can visit the Merida Theatre, but the festival is every summer. It is then that the Greco-Latin authors show off their works on the stage in a classic Roman-style theatre.

Other events in Spain include:

Flemenco in Andalusia where this traditional dance is performed like never before.

The Battle of Wine. Held in Haro this fiesta dates back to a village scuffle over who owned some of the local crags. The re-enactment begins with a Mass and concludes with a calm but odd pouring of wine over the opposing sides.

Fiestas de San Fermin. This takes place in the city of Pamplona and is better known as the running of the bulls. Here thousands of people run with bulls, trying to outrun them without being trampled. It all begins on the 6th of July at noon at the town hall. It is the next day where the actual run takes place as the doors to the Santo Domingo corral open and the bulls begin their relentless chase of people running in front of them. The craziness goes on for the next week from July 7-14th with a run repeated each day. The total run takes no more than 3 short minutes and covers only 825 metres. It is followed by other parades and festivities meant to honour the Patron Saint of Pamplona.

Jerry Blackburn
Writes for http://www.alicante-spain.com