Chris Atkin, author of his new book, (Just As Well) It's Not About The Bike: A Journey Across Southern Spain, joins me in this episode to chat about his experience pedaling 1300 kilometres from Valencia to Gibraltar on a basic bike with only seven gears and barely enough room for panniers.

Chris describes some of his favourite stops on his six week journey, including a grueling ride across Spain´s Sierra Nevada, Gandia´s ghost town vibe, picturesque Altea versus the untamed tourism of Benidorm, discovering morcilla in a tiny pueblo of Almócita in the province of Almeria, Granada and the Alhambra and the final destination of Gibraltar, bursting with civic pride.

On the ride Chris shares with us some interesting anecdotes, for example Franco´s favourite singer (She despised him!), a little known nuclear catastrophe that happened in Palomares in the 1960s and the heartwarming story of why Mónica was daubed in giant white letters on a Málaga chimney.

Chris also offers some practical advice for cycling in Spain, finding accommodation and improving your Spanish.

Get your hands on a copy of his book (Just As Well) It's Not About The Bike: A Journey Across Southern Spain here

Find out more about Chris Atkin on his website https://chrisatkinonline.com/

Join Karina, me and friends, Adam and Ollie, for a day trip to the charming medieval town of Brihuega and its beautiful lavender fields. A slice of Provence right in the centre of Spain!

Brihuega is famous in Spain for its lavender cultivation and surprisingly, it is one of the world's major producers of lavender products, including lavender oil which is used by one of the big Spanish perfume brands.

But, away from the lavender fields, we discovered that Brihuega has much more to offer than Instagramable photos of purple hillsides. Find out about the town's turbulent history, Moorish past, former royal cloth factory, secret tunnels and relaxing fountains. The perfect day trip from Madrid!

We also stop off in the city of Guadalajara to explore what it has to offer. (Compared to Brihuega, not very much we discovered!) Listen for yourself in the episode...

Sarah Willats joins me to talk about Madrid's public transport network, how to get the best out of it, tickets, passes and trips whether visiting for a holiday, business or making the Spanish capital your home.

Sarah, aka Sarah la Viajera (check out her Spain travel blog!) has recently published her book, The Ultimate Guide to Madrid’s Transportation Networks which she spent two years researching and which involved riding every Madrid Metro line, many of the city's buses, commuter trains and bike and scooter sharing schemes. Sarah is an expert on Madrid's public transport system after spending five years riding it and painstakingly testing and researching the network to make life easier for anyone visiting the Spanish capital.

In the episode we talk about the transport network's different systems and the differences and pros can cons of each one. Sarah walks us through some facts and figures about the Madrid Metro and some curious history, including its 'ghost stations'. We also share our favourite journeys using Madrid's public transportation and run through some suggestions for day trips out of the city without using a car. Then it's onto practicalities. Sarah guides us through the different tickets and passes and how to buy them and how to get to the centre of Madrid from Barajas Airport and onwards to Atocha train station.

 

 

Join us for all the sights and sounds on a road trip along Spain's rugged Costa Brava. Discover the beautiful seaside towns and villages of Tossa de Mar, Calella de Palafrugell, Platja Fonda, Roses and of course Cadaqués, home to Salvador Dalí's former house, now a wonderful, eccentric museum. We explore the coves of turquoise waters, the back streets of fishing villages and the stunning medieval fortress village in Tossa. Tune in to hear about the Costa Brava's turbulent history and a slice of Catalan culture, food and drink. At the end of the episode I offer some practical advice for a visit to this beautiful corner of Spain.

Writer, historian and guide, Nick Lloyd walks us through Barcelona to explore the history of the Spanish Civil War and the city's relationship with this dark chapter from Spain's past.

Nick guides around the key locations in the Catalan capital which hold historical significance and reveals some chilling stories of death and destruction. He also describes the walking tour that he runs in Barcelona and how some of his guests inspired him to start collecting fascinating artefacts which help him tell the story of the Spanish Civil War.

Nick gives us a comprehensive overview of the key events, players and locations and talks about themes such as the defeat of the military rebellion in Barcelona, the militias, the libertarian revolution, revolutionary violence vs Francoist violence, anarchism, George Orwell and the bombing of Barcelona.

We also talk about the lack of a museum dedicated to the Spanish Civil War and talk about whether plans to create one in the future will ever come to fruition.

You can find out more about Nick Lloyd on his websites: http://thespanishcivilwar.com/ and https://www.iberianature.com/

If you would like to get a copy of his book Forgotten Places: Barcelona and the Spanish Civil War you can find more information here and buy a copy on Amazon here

Think you can speak Spanish? Think again if you move to Andalucía! Adam Harrison moved to Huelva province seven years ago and realised that the local dialect was very different to the Spanish he had learnt.

So on a quest to share is observations and frustrations learning Andaluz Adam set up InglesAndaluz on TikTok and Instagram where he compares English, Spanish and Andaluz through humourous videos. His content recently went viral and he was invited onto a number of Spanish TV programmes to talk about speaking Andaluz as a non-native.

In the episode Adam gives us a crash course in the Andaluz dialect and shares some of his favourite vocabulary and expressions that will make you sound like a native of Andalucía. He also shares his thoughts on living in Andalucía compared with his native Newcastle in northeast England.

Want to lean to speak Andaluz? Check out Adam's videos on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/inglesandaluz/?hl=en and on his TikTok channel https://www.tiktok.com/@inglesandaluz?lang=es

If you would like to get your hands on a copy of the Andalusian Dictionary you can find it here: https://www.plateroeditorial.es/libro/andalusian-dictionary_119406/

Travel journalist and writer Tom Chesshyre joins me to talk about his slow train adventure all around Spain.

As research for his latest book Slow Trains around Spain: A 3,000-Mile Adventure on 52 Rides, Tom spent 35 days on the tracks and clocked-up 95 hours and 20 minutes onboard all manner of different types of trains, from funiculars, cog trains, narrow gauge, metros and even an aluminium mine train.

Tom shares his experience of going unprepared and traveling in an ad-hoc way with a rucksack and an armful of books. We look at the history of Spain's railways, train stations, train museums, George Orwell and the trenches near Huesca where he fought in the Spanish Civil War. Tom shares some anecdotes about his fellow train passengers, hostel owners and station managers and talks the politics of the Spanish train network.

Hola Spain fans! This is a kind of hybrid episode. Lots of sounds of Madrid as I wander its squares, shops and markets and stop off in a few cafes and bars. Along the way I talk all about the cost of living in Spain.

I look at renting and buying property, utility bills, groceries, healthcare costs, running a car and average salaries. I make lots of comparisons between costs in a handful of different Spanish cities and also compare the cost of living in Madrid with London and New York.

So join me to find out some useful facts and figures as well as immersing yourself in Madrid on a sunny Friday afternoon! Check out the amazing market atmosphere towards the end of the episode. A very immersive and colourful experience!

For more detailed show notes head over to wheninspainpodcast.com

We transport ourselves to the majestic olive groves of Jaén to talk all about Spanish olive oil with special guest and olive oil aficionado, Lucas Soler.

Lucas was born in Barcelona but even though he has spent nearly all of his life in the US, olive oil has always remained in his blood. Since a young age 'liquid gold' has been a staple of his diet. When Lucas's mother bought an olive grove for the family in Almería 25 years ago, his passion for olive oil was re-ignited. Faced with a lack of good quality EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil) in the US, Lucas spotted a businesses opportunity. He set up his own company called Olive Oil Grove oliveoilgrove.com where he imports the best possible quality Spanish Extra Virgin Olive Oil to the US market.

In the episode Lucas talks us through the different grades of olive oil, the health benefits and what you should look for when choosing great quality Spanish olive oil. We even do a virtual transatlantic olive oil tasting where we compared notes on the Picual Extra Virgin Olive Oil that Lucas has sourced from a grove in Jaén following a trip there last year in the midst of the lockdown - a story he also shares in the episode. Lucas also dazzles us with some truly incredible facts and figures about Spanish olive oil and I run through the ancient history of olives and olive oil to find out how it became so popular in Spain.

Find out more about Lucas, his business, Olive Oil Grove at oliveoilgrove.com. 

Also find him on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/oliveoilgrove/

and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/OliveOilGrove/

In this episode of the When in Spain podcast I explore the Balearic island of Mallorca. Joining me to scratch beneath the surface of the island is guide and long-time Mallorca resident, Gina Vasquez who runs Visit My Mallorca https://www.visitmymallorca.com/

Gina talks us through the ancient history of Mallorca and recommends things to see in the island's capital, Palma, including the city's impressive gothic cathedral, La Seu. It has one of the world’s largest stained glass windows. 

We also get out across the island and look at Gina's favourite towns, villages, beaches and natural beauty spots to include on a visit.

We talk about the artist and sculptor Joan Miró who lived and worked on Mallorca - Gina's husband knew Joan Miró personally and she recommends a visit to the the Fundació Joan Miró where you can see Miró's workshop and numerous pieces of his work. https://www.fmirobcn.org/en/foundation/ 

Gina also tells us about a fascinating slice of Mallorcan history. The small town of Petra is the birthplace of St. Junípero Serra (1713-1784), a Franciscan friar who founded the first nine of 21 Spanish missions in California from San Diego to San Francisco.

Places and other things we mentioned in the episode:

La Seu Cathedral, Palma

Santa Catalina neighbourhood, Palma

Plaza d'Espanya, Palma

Olivar Market, Palma

La Llotja de Palma

Across the Island

Sineu (with its 15th Century market)

Sóller

Portopetro

Portocolom

Cala Figuera

Biniaraix

Banyalbufar

Sa Calobra

Formentor

Mirador Es Colomer

Parc natural de Mondragó

Estellencs

Deià (Robert Graves called it his home)

Drach Caves (Porto Cristo)

Sant Elm (San Telmo)

Pollença (Family beaches)

Bakery in Palma to buy Ensaimada - Fornet de la Soca https://fornetdelasoca.com/

TV Series - The Mallorca Files https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9204128/

RESOURCES 

Miró

https://miromallorca.com/en/

government tourism site

https://www.illesbalears.travel/experience/en/mallorca/sant-antoni-and-sant-sebastia

transportation island-wide

www.tib.org

Palma city bus.

http://www.emtpalma.cat/en/home

One of Gina's favorite restaurants in Palma,

http://www.larosavermuteria.com/en/restaurants