Spain and Portugal for Visitors
by		The travel guide to the Iberian Peninsula.

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Spain - An Overview 1/2

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Although Spain often has a decidedly exotic, non-European feel, it affects visitors in a way few other places do, taking them in, making them feel part of the country. Because, although it has world-class sights like the Alhambra, some of the best walking and outdoor experiences in Europe, including wildlife you cannot find in other parts, an enviable climate and beaches which attract millions of tourists every summer, it is the people that leave the most lasting impression. The Spaniards seem to get so much enjoyment out of things: whether they are taking the paseo, evening stroll, having a glass of wine in a mesón or taberna, partaking with relish of a plate of jamón, or just spending time with friends, they seem so much more content with their lot than others. This is not the place to come for angst or navel-watching; Spaniards come to grips with life and get on with it.

What follows is my selection of sites dealing with Spain as a whole, from different perspectives. I have not included any sites which do not offer a goodly amount of their own content — specifically, I have excluded sites which steal it from elsewhere.

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TourSpain
The website of the Spanish Instituto de Turismo should be your second stop on the web (after this site, and do not forget to come back) for information about Spain. Recently remodelled, it is aesthetically more appealing now, at least to my eyes, and seems to have been simplified somewhat, I imagine to improve usability. It is not perfect (what is, on the Internet?), but is undeniably praiseworthy, as indeed it should be, considering how much it cost. In particular, it is of much more practical use than the Spanish Tourist Board site, OK Spain.

All About Spain
I am beginning to get a little annoyed about this. In its beginnings, All About Spain was a quite acceptable, even admirable attempt to commercialize a travel site. But its links tend to take you round in circles and it has, so far as I know, never been updated; in other words, there are now a number of much better sites on the subject, including my own, if I may say so. But the dreadful inertia that has set into the search engines means it consistently gets better placed in search engines than superior sites, and consequently does unjustifiably well in terms of visitors. This aside, it has some good photos and background information.

CyberSpain
This is another site which has failed to keep up. It has some nice content, though, and is breezy, cheerful and quite informative about some matters, such as Spanish art and artists.

Ideal Spain
This site is especially oriented towards those who are considering moving to Spain, but will be very useful for other visitors as well. Run "by Steve and Sandra from their base on the Costa del Sol," with content which is "all our own work" (and good work, too), it is highly informative and entertaining.

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Hotels
Hotel Club
This booking service covers a very wide range of places in both Spain and Portugal.

Venere.com
An on-line booking service with great discounts.

Car Hire
Auto Europe
Car rental, motor homes, minibuses... And an interesting short-term lease option.

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