Things to Do in Spain

Tenerife’s Loro Park is one of the island’s biggest attractions and makes an easy day trip from Gran Canaria. Home to over 200 penguins and 350 species of parrot (the largest collections of both animals in the world), the park has an enormous variety of animals including sharks, alligators, jaguars and silverback gorillas.

There’s a lot to see at Loro Park and you’ll easily fill a day. Visit Planet Penguin (the biggest replica of the Antarctic continent ever constructed) or watch the antics of the killer whales in the Orca Ocean. Plants lovers will enjoy the Orchidarium - home to more than 1,000 orchids year round. Kids are also well catered for at Kinderlandia – an African-style village and jungle dedicated solely to their enjoyment.

Málaga’s gleaming white-stone cathedral was built over many years on the former site of a mosque after Isabella and Ferdinand had expelled the Moors from Andalusia in the 1480s. All that is now left of the mosque is the pretty Patio de los Naranjos, still filled with sweet-smelling orange trees. The cathedral is affectionately known locally as La Manquita (the one-armed lady) as it only has one—granted very elaborate and Baroque – bell tower. The other tower stands stunted and half-finished and the cathedral façade was never completed due to lack of civic funds; no-one is sure why but it may have been that funds were diverted into other projects across the region after a massive earthquake in 1680.

The original architect of the cathedral was Diego de Siloe and construction began in 1528; it continued slowly over the next two and a half centuries and this can clearly be seen in the mish-mash of Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque architecture on the façade. The architecture José Martín de Aldehuela, who built the Puente Nuevo in Ronda, also had a hand in finishing this cathedral.

The interior is a mix of gleaming Renaissance and Baroque elements, with a lavishly ornate vaulted ceiling and two massive organs that boast 4,000 pipes between them. The fine 17th-century choir is of mahogany and cedar, adorned with 42 sculptures of saints designed by Luis Ortiz da Bargas and Pedro de Mena.

Adjacent to the cathedral is the smaller, 15th-century Iglesia del Sagrano. Only its original Gothic portico now remains as it was largely rebuilt in 1714 following the 1680 earthquake; it has a wonderfully over-the-top interior. There is a small open-air museum in the cathedral grounds scattered with sculptures by Málaga artist Jorge Rando.

South of Seville's main old quarter and extending along the Guadalquivir River, you'll stumble upon the city's main green getaway, Maria Luisa Park. Once primarily the land of the Palace of San Telmo (now home to Andalusia’s president), this patch of paradise was donated to the public in 1893, evolving over the years into the Seville escape that you see today.

Most of its transformation came about during preparation for the 1929 World's Fair: expansive boulevards were created, fountains erected, gardens planted. Today’s park is so robust in flora and fauna that it is actually considered a proper botanical garden. And expect not only diverse plants, but also birds too, including ducks and swans that float in the fountains and lakes, and even green parrots that live in the center of the park.

It's not all just grassy knolls, ponds and paths, either: Maria Luisa Park is also home to numerous monuments and sights. Don't miss the Fountain of the Lions, with its four stone felines spouting water into an octagonal pond, or the Mudejar Pavilion, which houses the Museum of Arts and Traditions. And most notably, be sure to spend some time wandering the colorfully tiled Plaza de España, which is crisscrossed by several bridges and lined by painted scenes of provinces around Spain.

An extraordinary collage of rocks, caves and lava tubes looming over Lanzarote’s west coast,  the coastal cliffs of Los Hervideros rank among the island’s most unusual geological attractions. Formed during the 18th-century eruptions of the Timanfaya volcanoes, the dramatic coastline is now adorned with sharp rock columns, oddly shaped archways and natural rock sculptures, created as the hot lava met with the icy waves.

If you’re in Malaga, chances are you’ve not missed the town’s citadel towering in the center of the city. Known as the Alcazaba de Malaga, and built around the middle of the 11th century to act as a palace to the region’s governors, today the Alcazaba receives visitors year-round and is noted for its impressive gardens and panoramic views of both the city and the sea.

La Alcazaba was built atop the vestiges of an old Roman fortress, and the proof of this is most evident in the Puerta de las Columnas gate (gate of the columns). Its name, in fact, refers and pays homage to the pre-existing roman structure used to help build the palace as it stands today. This gate and another lay before visitors on their way up to the structure which is actually two distinct architectural pieces: Alcazaba itself, and Gibralfaro Castle. Inside, you’ll see some of the noted gardens, fountains and towers in traditional Moorish design before entering the main lobby of the palace.

Marbella: the very name is enough to conjure an expensively scented whiff of the rich and famous who have flocked here since the 1960s and 70s. Sean Connery used to come here to play golf; Joan Collins lived here too. The cream of the stars may have moved on, but there's still plenty of money in Marbella - hence the prices.

The city still has a hearty whack of chic, despite the inevitable ugly over-developments and overcrowded beaches. And if you want to know why everyone started coming here in the first place, you have only to wander along to the old part of town, with its whitewashed houses, palm trees, jasmine and geraniums.