AVOID These 15 Tourist MISTAKES in Spain

It is true. They are thieves.

My Spanish professor years back told me that Flamenco originated in Flanders and was brought to Spain by the gitanos I think it was in the reign of Philip II.

Using Spanish pronunciation for names etc is part of practicing Spanish for me. It's also only the biggest tourist places that have English names. Neighborhoods, plazas, streets, smaller cities etc doesn't. To me it's almost weird to use English for a few names when you have to try Spanish on the rest anyway. Might as well just keep it consistent.

teeth question was outta pocket lmao

Barthelona is only pronounced as such in Spanish. In Catalan there is no such lisp sound for c/z, so it's pronounced Barselona, or Barsalona depending on how neutral the e is. The letter ç is there because c followed by a is pronounced like a k, so ç means a deviation from the grammatical rule, hence Barça. Barca is a small boat.

Awesome tips! Thanks! Btw, do you know if in Valencia there is Flamenco?

Spain dresses casual but don’t overdo it. please don’t do sandals and shorts… you’ll be noticed as a tourist quickly😅.

Pickpockets are a thing especially in tourist areas, the metro… but id you use your common sense and don’t walk around with a map on your hand, suntan cream etc, try to avoid standing out as a tourist you should be fine.

Finding a decent paella is difficult. I only ordered it once and it was bad. However, everything else was good to excellent. The fish is very good in Spain. In Sevilla we had dorado which is one of the best fish for eating. We happened upon a small restaurant in a back street to get it. The touristy places do not usually have good food. In Madrid I had an excellent salmon.

Tourist traps are tourist traps everywhere I ate my worst ever restaurant pizza in Milano once, but paella is an extremely difficult dish to understand and pull off, so this goes beyond that. Most Spaniards have actually never tasted a good paella. So I would recommend staying the hell away from paella except in the provinces of Valencia and Alicante (maybe including Castellón and Murcia). And even there make sure you find the right place, as you can definitely get a shitty paella in Valencia as well

That said, paella is an amazing dish that deserves eating and cooking (though it is somewhat impractical at home and requires dedicated apparatus)

Where can you get good Paella in Madrid?

I’ll say Barth💦elona whenever the f I want if you don’t mind

Most people dont know that Paella is a very local dish from the mediterranean coast of Spain. It has become popular all over the country (and abroad) of course, but it's more of a "summer dish" and even then you barely eat it (maybe once or twice a month in summer? depends on the family or the person). It also takes like 2 to 3 hours or more to cook. So it's not a daily dish. So, for me the most authentic spanish dish is the Tortilla de Patatas. You can find one in every local bar. That's common dish in all spanish houses and you can find it in any corner of the country. Paella for some reason has become the most well known dish abroad but it's not (for me at least) our national dish.

How easily are vegan/vegetarian food options available in Spain?

I’m heading to Spain and I’m glad to know in advance that so few establishments accept tap to pay which I’ve used literally everywhere in Italy and Denmark. Disappointed to learn, but glad I know in advance.