Spain

Spain is a Western European country. The country consists of Peninsular Spain which is located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, two archipelagos, one in each sea, and two autonomous cities in North Africa. The Spanish mainland is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the south and east, by the Cantabric Sea that includes the Bay of Biscay to the north, and by the Atlantic Ocean and Portugal to the west. Spanish territory also includes the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean and the Canary Islands off the African coast. It shares land borders with Portugal, France, Andorra, the British colony of Gibraltar, and Morocco.

I've been to Spain several times and was never disappointed. The sunny beaches of Benidorm turned out to have an interesting hinterland (Elche, Guadelest). The Andalusian cities of Cordoba, Sevilla and Granada were hot but impressive. Salamanca was a good place to learn Spanish. And I even went cycling in the Pyrenees, to taste Spain's nature. Still there is more I want to see, in what is my favourite European country.

List of world heritage sites in Spain

Site name	Entered
Alhambra, Generalife and Albayzin, Granada	1984
Monastery and Site of the Escurial, Madrid	1984
Burgos Cathedral	1984
Works of Antoni Gaudí	1984
Historic Centre of Cordoba	1984
Old Town of Avila with its Extra-Muros Churches	1985
Santiago de Compostela (Old Town)	1985
Monuments of Oviedo and the Kingdom of the Asturias	1985
Old Town of Segovia and its Aqueduct	1985
Altamira Cave	1985
Garajonay National Park	1986
Historic City of Toledo	1986
Mudejar Architecture of Aragon	1986
Old Town of Caceres	1986
Cathedral, Alcazar and Archivo de Indias in Seville	1987
Old City of Salamanca	1988
Poblet Monastery	1991
Route of Santiago de Compostela	1993
Royal Monastery of Santa Maria de Guadalupe	1993
Archaeological Ensemble of Mérida	1993
Doñana National Park	1994
La Lonja de la Seda de Valencia	1996
Historic Walled Town of Cuenca	1996
San Millán, Yuso and Suso Monasteries	1997
The Palau de la Música Catalana and the Hospital de Sant Pau, Barcelona	1997
Las Médulas	1997
Pyrénées - Mount Perdu	1997
Rock-Art of the Mediterranean Basin on the Iberian Peninsula	1998
University and Historic Precinct of Alcalá de Henares	1998
Ibiza, Biodiversity and Culture	1999
San Cristóbal de La Laguna	1999
The Archaeological Ensemble of Tárraco	2000
The Archaeological Site of Atapuerca	2000
Catalan Romanesque Churches of the Vall de Boí	2000
The Roman Walls of Lugo	2000
Palmeral of Elche	2000
Aranjuez Cultural Landscape	2001
Renaissance Monumental Ensembles of Úbeda and Baeza	2003
Vizcaya Bridge	2006
Teide National Park	2007

Tentative list of Spain

Almadén on the Mercury Route of the Intercontinental Camino Real

Ampliación del Monasterio y Sitio de El Escorial a su entorno natural

Ancares-Brañas

Arte rupestre paleolitico de la cornisa Cantábrica (ampliación de Altamira)

Bulwarked Border Fortifications

Dinosaur Tracks in the Iberian Peninsula

El Ferrol of the Illustration Historical Heritage

Granada (extension)

Greek Archaeological ensemble in Empúries, l'Escala, Girona

Historic City-Centre of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

Industrial Mining Routes

Loarre Castle

Manifestations of Rupestrian Art in Siega Verde

Mediterranean Wind Mills

Mesta Livestock trails

Ribeira Sacra

Roman Ways. Itineraries of the Roman Empire

Romanesque Cultural Enclave in the North of Castile-Leon and the South of Cantabria

The Architecture of Dry Built Stone

The Mediterranean Facet of the Pyrenees (France-Spain)

The Northern or Primitive Route (extension of the Route of Santiago de Compostella)

The Tower of Hercules, La Coruña

The Tramuntana Sierra, Cultural and Natural Landscape

Universal Itinerary of St. Francis Xavier

Via de la plata, Extremadura

Wine and Vineyard Cultural Itinerary through Mediterranean Towns

Visits

Extremadura

March 2008
Extremadura is an autonomous community located in western Spain, bordering Portugal. This used to be the core of the Roman province Lusitania. It also was the birthground of many of the most famous Spanish conquistadores in America, like Hernán Cortés, Francisco Pizarro, Pedro de Alvarado and Pedro de Valdivia. This way many towns in America came to carry a name from the Extremaduran homeland.
Modern Extremadura sees mainly Spanish tourists, you won't find many signs or menus in English. I used Mérida as a base and easily visited all 3 WHS from there by car via the excellent highways.

Andalusia

March 2008
Andalusia, in the south of Spain, is famous for its Moorish monuments which attract steady streams of visitors from all over the world. When my planned trip to Syria fell through at the last moment, I quickly booked a ticket to Malaga from where there's easy access to the Andalusian sites. I already 'did' the cultural triangle Sevilla-Cordoba-Granada in 1991, so this time I focused on the lesser known sites. To my own surprise, Doñana came out as the clear favourite.

Toledo

July 2007
Having worked very long hours the last couple of months, I desperately needed a break and some sun. Comparing the lists of available flights and the WHS still to be visited, my choice fell upon Toledo (Spain).

I spent three nights in this compact World Heritage city just south of Madrid. There are a lot of things to see here, without any rush or crowds. It's a pleasure to just walk around or enjoy one of the many street side terraces.

Barcelona

August 2006
The Catalan capital Barcelona receives its fair share of visitors every season of the year. Now, in August, the locals were away for their own holidays. Together with my mother I admired the city's fabulous architecture. We also made a rewarding daytrip to Tarragona and Poblet. Another great visit, and three new WHS!

Around Segovia

December 2002
I just had to get away, again. Last weekend I spent in Segovia, a city 88 km. northwest of Madrid. Besides Segovia itself there are two other worldheritages in the immediate vicinity, Ávila and El Escorial, which I visited both.

New entries for 2000 announced

December 2000
The first days of December are always a bit exciting: what will be the new entries on The List? This year, there were 61 new additions to the list. Belgium got a few more, Azerbaijan, Surinam, Nicaragua and Malaysia got their first. No really big names though: the awarded sites seem to get more and more obscure. Of these 61, I already visited one: the Palmeral of Elche in Northern Spain.