Destination: Spain

LONELY PLANET'S OFFICIAL GUIDEBOOK INFORMATION

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TOP 10 FESTIVALS & EVENTS

Inspired in part by a deeply religious past, Spaniards have largely stuck to centuries-old traditions to this very day. Just about every town and village has at least one annual fiesta. Here are some of our favourites, but there are many more around which you could plan your travels.

• Carnaval (Sitges, Catalonia), February
• Las Fallas (Valencia), March
• Semana Santa (Seville), Easter
• Moros y Cristianos (Alcoy, Alicante), April
• Fiestas de San Isidro (Madrid), May
• Corpus Cristi (Toledo), May to June
• Romeria del Rocio (El Rocio, Andalucia), May to June
• Fiesta de San Fermin (Pamplona, Navarra), July
• La Tomatina (Bunol, Valencia), August
• Festes de la Mercè (Barcelona), September

TOP 10 SPANISH CINEMA

Spanish cinema has had an uneven run. A handful of classics slipped through the general drivel produced during the Franco era, but since the great dictator's demise Spaniards have been nothing if not cheekily adventurous with celluloid.

• Todo Sobre Mi Madre (Pedro Almodovar, 1999)
• Belle Epoque (Fernando Trueba, 1992)
• Amantes (Vicente Aranda, 1991)
• ¡Bienvenido, Mr Marshall! (Luis Garcia Berlanga, 1952)
• La Mala Educacion (Pedro Almodovar, 2004)
• Flamenco (Carlos Saura, 1995)
• My Life Without Me (Isabel Coixet, 2003)
• Un Chien Andalou (Luis Bunuel, 1929)
• Jamon, Jamon (Jose Juan Bigas Luna, 1992)
• Mar Adentro (Alejandro Amenabar, 2004)

TOP 10 READS

Spanish literature has known periods of greatness and bad patches. Writers past and present have enriched the world's libraries with a host of all-time classics and the following is barely a wink at the possibilities.

• La Familia de Pascual Duarte (The Family of Pascual Duarte; Camilo Jose Cela, 1942)
• Fortunata y Jacinta (Benito Perez Galdos, 1887)
• La Ciudad de los Prodigios (The City of Marvels; Eduardo Mendoza, 1986)
• El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha (Don Quixote; Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, 1605)
• Homage to Catalonia (George Orwell, 1938)
• Galindez (Manuel Vazquez Montalban, 1990)
• Invierno en Lisboa (Winter in Lisbon; Antonio Munoz Molina, 1987)
• Paris No Se Acaba Nunca (Paris Never Ends; Enrique Vila-Matas, 2003)
• El Arpista Ciego (The Blind Harpist; Terenci Moix, 2002)
• El Capitan Alatriste (Captain Alatriste; Arturo Perez-Reverte, 1996)

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