Spain

Bold, breathtaking and brimming with beautiful life, Andalucia is the beating heart of Spain’s sublime south. A soulful rhythm that enlivens the spirit and stirs the senses, the region sings a song of blazing light and sultry shadows, brilliant colors and stark contrasts. A robust allegro of unwavering joy, the Andalusian identity is rooted in a centuries old synthesis of culture, from the ancient Iberians, Romans and Visigoths, to the Moors of North Africa and the monarchs of Castile. It is a mystical land where folkloric traditions are held close to the faithful heart, where rural customs are celebrated with festive zeal in city streets, where an unforgiving mountain terrain has cradled civilization, and the capricious sea has steered wary explorers home. From the dazzling alcazars of the Moorish kings to the towering cathedrals of the Castilian crown, and the delicious serenity of a hilltop pueblo at noon to the romance of an artisan flourish, Andalucia is a luminous dance through time.

A land of vast contrasts and untamed landscapes, where the highest peaks of the Pyrenees are met by green pastures and Romanesque castles stand watch over plains divided by rushing rivers, Aragon weaves together a tale of age-old kingdoms and powerful dynasties. A collision of ancient empires, from the Celts and Romans to the Arabs and Franks, the region has been a cavalcade of culture marching through the course of history. Where agriculture flourishes across great expanses of unblemished terrain, Aragon remains largely unpopulated, with its great cities of Zaragoza, Huesca, and Teruel rising like burnished sandcastles from a supine horizon. Sweeping and timeless, the region’s almost boundless spaces have stoked the imagination of both ruler and artist, from King Ferdinand II to Goya, Buñuel, and Saura. The story of Aragon is told in the solitude of a medieval village, within the depths of a craggy river valley, along the graceful arch of a palace door, and rustling across the vineyard-laden foothills of the Somontano.

They shimmer like lustrous pearls emerging from a sapphire sea. A dreamy archipelago of four exquisite Mediterranean jewels, where history and romance marry beneath a brilliant sun, an unspoiled paradise that has called home seafarers and adventurers, artists and bohemians, for time eternal. The Balearic Islands are a mythical crossroads of ancient civilization, whose very origins remain a delicious mystery. A sparkling assemblage of heritage, from the ancient Greeks, Phoenicians and Romans, to the Arabs, Aragonese, Catalan, and Spanish, the islands celebrate the joys of the earth on every corner of Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera. Groves of olive and orange lead dramatically to a striking coastline as honeyed stone villages sit perched along spectacular cliff sides of the Serra de Tramuntana. Secluded coves of aquamarine are watched over by picturesque fishing villages. A rugged dream of pristine white sand beaches and crystalline waters stretching beyond the horizon and kissed by the golden Mediterranean sun, the Balearics are paradisiacal lands of plenty destined to enchant.

Its jagged coastline plunges into a capricious cauldron of swirling azure. Where sand and rock and sea spray cease, mountains of misty emerald forests slope gracefully into creamy pastures below. Gradations of green melt into shades of saffron and ochre as cool breezes and warm sunlight coddle vast plateaus of vineyards. Euskadi (Basque Country) is an autonomous community situated within the border of northern Spain, with a people that proudly retain their own distinct culture and language, magnificently navigating between two identities: that of their ethnic homeland and of their nation. Like the delicious complexities of a stellar Txakoli vintage or an artfully constructed pintxo, the Basque Country of northern Spain is best savored note by note, allowing time for each flavor to reveal itself slowly and luxuriously.

A vast expanse of sun baked land stretches toward the horizon line where medieval fortresses rise like chess pieces from an earthen board. A warm wind whispers across the landscape rustling the sails of mythical windmills as they cast long shadows across the infinite plain. This is a land of fables and folklore, of ancient villages and rustic traditions, a place where echoes of Don Quixote seem to reflect from every hilltop and mountainside. Fields of wheat, barley and oats are flaxen islands amidst a verdant sea of vineyards and olive groves. Veritable treasure blooms from beneath this windswept terrain, where saffron crocus flowers cultivate their fiery and flavorful stigmas. Castilla La Mancha is the very heart of Spain, where the lifeblood of legacy pumps steadily through the veins of its nation.

Honeyed stalks of wheat gild sweeping plateaus of clay as legions of sunflowers lift their heads in salute of an ever-present sun. The angular peaks of distant mountains pierce the skyline while rivers of sapphire serpentine through the landscape and disappear into ancient juniper forests. A magical realm of riches, where architectural marvels and romantic burgs punctuate the terrain and the allure of legend permeates the atmosphere, Castilla y León is an epic region characterized by a legacy of history kept alive by an unparalleled series of breathtaking castles, Roman aqueducts, medieval villages, Romanesque and Gothic cathedrals, and ancient institutions of learning. A place of mythic proportions, the home of knights and legends, of saints and kings. Castilla y León is the cultural motherland of Castilian Spain, where Roman, Spanish and Moorish traditions incubated in a womb of civilization that birthed a golden empire.

A bold flourish of sunshine and sea, where dramatic cliffs meet the watercolor blue of the Mediterranean and craggy coves outlined with pine punctu­ate powdery stretches of beach, Catalonia is a glorious union of coastal beauty, ancient culture and modern ingenuity. Catalonia is an explosion of sensory pleasures, where the perfume of the sea and the heat of the sun kiss the air and temper the land, imbuing the region with its unique flavor and singular identity. A palette layered with the most vivid of hues, only such a rare and intoxicating landscape could be the inspirational playground for such vanguards of culture as the Surrealists and the Modernists. Catalonia’s energetic colors appear in the works of Joan Miró, as the sea­side villages of its Costa Brava influenced the dreamscapes of Salvador Dali’s canvases, and the region’s natural, celestial beauty, informed the genius of Antoni Gaudi’s magnificent architecture.

A vast dehesa of green pastures and monumental oak rambles through an ancient land of Roman ruins and misty riverside vineyards. Extremadura is where the tale of Spain’s past is still told in the region’s hidden Baroque palaces and medieval fortified villages, and savored in the rich flavors of its landscape, from luscious Jamón Ibérico de Bellota and creamy Torta del Casar to scarlet Pimentón de la Vera and the succulent Tempranillo vintages of the Ribera del Guadiana DO.

A shimmering watercolor of seascapes, Galicia is an ancient realm of misty stone villages and emerald hillsides, rugged vineyards and meandering Rias, converging at the mighty Atlantic and its Cantabrian Sea. Echoed in the waves that swell along its endless coastline of capes and islets, the region is a Celtiberian melody of earth and sea, where the sacred Way of St. James ushers pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela, and a Roman tower guides wary sailors home. In Galicia, delicate gardens abloom with Camellias whisper to Baroque squares and narrow medieval lanes, mystical Iron age settlements slumber in quiet valleys, and ruddy sunsets illuminate a landscape of antique mariner’s houses along estuaries of indigo.

The fiery Mediterranean sun beats down on a rugged landscape of oak and stone, where lush vineyards flourish between the mighty Ebro and Oja rivers and stoic Iberian mountain ranges shade fertile plains beneath. Arid gusts of wind breathe life into the stillness of the day, seasoning the terrain with the aroma of land and vine as fabled monasteries speckle the scenery like coordinates across the map of time. Born of ancient feuds and intrigue, La Rioja has resiliently weathered the changing storms of invasion by transmuting the blood of ages into coursing springs of scarlet vintages. A center for the flourishing of Spanish culture and the first words of the Castilian language, the intertwining of the earthly and the spiritual is a bold thread that runs through La Rioja’s heritage just as the region’s Way of St. John weaves through its landscape.

She stands undaunted, defiant to the changing tides of political ideology and the wounds of an empire subdued by the patina of time. Her vitality is her people, coursing through her boulevards and plazas like blood rushing through veins, enlivening her with the strength to thrive and evolve. She is her nation’s emboldened compass. She is a shrewd protagonist in the history of her continent. She is undeniably Madrid. To walk along Madrid’s imposing boulevards is to witness a thriving city of ideas and inspiration, thrusting its people into the promise of a progressive tomorrow while relishing the ingenuity, heroism and hard work of past generations. While observing the glowing faces of Madrileños as they passionately enjoy their city it no longer remains a question of why they fiercely love this plot of land once inhabited by bears and covered in wild strawberries, but rather, how could anyone not?

Where the mighty River Ebro converges with the majestic Pyrenees rising to the sky like ancient towers, and surreal desert landscapes form the Bardenas Reales, Navarra is a land of folklore and feasts, festivals and family. A charming patchwork of hearty mountain villages, scenic towns, and expanses of green, the heart of Navarra lies within its vibrant communities proudly upholding the traditions of old. Bordering Basque Country, La Rioja and Aragon in Spain, with Aquitaine, France to the north, Navarra is a proud land of Basque Kings and Camino de Santiago pilgrims, awe inspiring abbeys and quaint country houses, splendid town halls and stark natural wonders. Where reminders of a rich past remain steadfast in the present, Navarra is alive with the passion and customs of its people, from the fervor of Pamplona’s Running of the Bulls and the handcrafting of a fine Idiazabal cheese, to the careful cultivation of precious produce from its fertile lands like the delicate white asparagus.

A tapestry of sunbaked beaches and golden horizons, fragrant orange blossoms and the shade of palms, Valencia calls to the soul with its compelling coastal song. One of Spain’s most vital regions, the Valencian Community is a flourish of sophistication and simplicity, elegance and energy. Caressing the Mediterranean on the south eastern side of the Iberian Peninsula, Valencia is a magnificent melange of heritage from the Greeks and Romans to the Visigoths and the Arabs. Glorious character revealed in a morning walk through a bustling market, the sweet smell of almond, tiger nut and saffron hanging in the air as sea breezes caress the skin like a silk ribbon. Valencia’s varied landscapes are the precious threads that weave together a stunning brocade of Modern architecture and medieval fortresses, Moorish date palm orchards and Gothic treasures, fervent festivals, and fertile rice fields of plenty.