The 17 regions of Spain, ranked from worst to best

Spain as we know it is a relatively recent construct. There are officially 17 regions, but most of the boundaries were only drawn up in 1833. They were then revised in the post-Franco era, creating the country in its current form.

Some are enormous. Andalusia, at 33,821 square miles, is bigger than Austria. Getting to know it well might make months, if not years. Others, such as the pint-sized Rioja, can be thoroughly explored in a long weekend.

The following ranking of Spain’s 17 regions is entirely subjective. These are my personal impressions, based on more than 25 years of visiting, writing and reporting from the length and breadth of Spain (including several years living there). Furthermore, there is no region that doesn’t warrant a trip – all are worthy holiday destinations, only some are worthier than others. No doubt you will disagree with my decisions – in which case, please let me direct you to the comments section at the bottom of the article…

17. Castile-La Mancha

Castile-La Mancha historically has had a bad press (and I realise I’m not helping.) Even back in the 17th century, Cervantes used it as a byword for the back of beyond when he made it the birthplace of Don Quixote.

Four centuries on, the land of windmills and manchego cheese still has vast tracts of nothingness – a feature which appeals to many, if not your typical tourist.

That said, it does also have some superb sights. This is, after all, the region that’s home to Toledo and the filigreed Gothic spires of its monumental 12th-century cathedral. It also has a Moorish fortress and a feast of El Greco artworks.

There are lesser-known splendours, too. The small town of Sigüenza in Guadalajara, with its Renaissance plaza mayor, also has a fantastic cathedral, teeming with towers, porticos and stained-glass windows.

There is decent wine too, in the southern Valdepeñas region. So all is not lost.

Unmissable sight: You’ve probably seen photos of Cuenca, the small town with gravity-defying “hanging houses” clustered on a clifftop high above the Huécar river. It’s as impressive in the flesh.

My favourite hotel: The Molino de Alcuneza (molinodealcuneza.com; rooms from £173), near Sigüenza, occupies a medieval flour mill. Now it has a Michelin-starred restaurant.

Emblematic dish: You’ll find manchego cheese everywhere. Pisto, a vegetable stew packed with peppers, is also worth trying. Tuck in at El Bodegón in Cuenca (0034 969 214029).

16. Navarre 

A contender for Spain’s least-visited region, Navarre, bordering the Basque Country to the west and France to the north, does have some claims to fame. Compared with other regions, however, they’re few and far between.

The most notable is undoubtedly Pamplona’s bonkers (even by Spanish fiesta standards) San Fermín bull-running festival, brought to the world’s attention by Ernest Hemingway’s 1926 novel The Sun Also Rises.

Further north, towards the Pyrenees, things get lofty, wild and remote, making it a magnet for walkers. The Irati forest, a vast tract of beech and fir, a fantastic spot for birdwatching and the setting for many old Basque legends, is one of Spain’s great unsung wonders.

Unmissable sight: The surreal, lunar-like Bardenas Reales Nature Reserve appeared in Game of Thrones. The best way to see it is on a twilight tour in a 4x4 (turismobardenas.com)

My favourite hotel: The minimalist Aire de Bardenas looks like something out of a luxury design magazine (airebardenas.com; rooms from £184).

Emblematic dish: Ajoarriero is the local classic of salted cod fried with onions, garlic, tomatoes and peppers. Try it at Hemingway’s old hangout – the grand Café Iruna in Pamplona (cafeiruna.com).

15. Balearic Islands

It’s a given that the Balearics have fabulous beaches, but like a Spanish Jekyll and Hyde, they exhibit something of a split personality.

Majorca, for example, has always attracted celebrities and the jet set. Chopin and George Sand wintered there in 1838, the poet Robert Graves settled there in the 1940s, and more recently Michael Douglas and Annie Lennox have bought homes there. But away from its smarter corners, the holiday boom of the 1970s brought the eyesore apartment blocks of Magaluf and these days few stories about Mallorca don’t include the word “overtourism”.

On Ibiza, the clubber’s paradise that came to the fore in the 1990s, you’re now as likely to find yoga retreats, walkers and cyclists as ravers, while the one-time hippy hotspot of Formentera is now a beacon of environmentalism with its Posidonia seagrass meadows creating spectacularly clear waters.

Unmissable sight: Watch the sunset over the prehistoric caves at the Cala Morell necropolis on Menorca, an island long favoured by discerning Britons (menorca.es/en/Cala_Morell_necropolis/8425).

My favourite hotel: You won’t find valet parking or sleek design at Hotel Llenaire on Majorca, but you will find quiet luxury and wonderful views overlooking the bay at Pollença (hotelllenaire.com; rooms from £244)

Emblematic dish: Menorca’s capital Mahón gave the world mayonnaise (“mahonesa”) and you’ll find it all over the islands. Berenjenas rellenas (stuffed aubergines), meanwhile, is the kind of hearty dish the islands are famous for. Try it at Celler Pagès in Palma de Mallorca. (cellerpages.com).

14. Murcia

Like Castile-La Mancha, Murcia is another region that’s often maligned – partly because its Costa Cálida coastline is an extension of the overdeveloped Costa Blanca and at built-up resorts such as La Manga, you can spend a week without hearing anyone speak any Spanish.

Fewer British tourists venture into the wild forests and towns of its hinterland, however, and that’s surely a selling point in itself. It is also considered the garden of Spain, supplying about 30 per cent of the country’s fruit.

The cathedral in Murcia’s eponymous capital dates back to the 14th century and the pleasant city’s university means its streets and bars are full of students rather than tourists.

Unmissable sight: Cartagena has an impressive Roman amphitheatre, art nouveau architecture and a Michelin-starred restaurant (teatroromano.cartagena.es).

My favourite hotel: The traditional Casa de la Campana sits in the lush Segura Valley amid peach, apricot and nectarine trees. Bring your walking shoes (casadelacampana.com; rooms from £83).

Emblematic dish: Arroz de la huerta, essentially a paella using Murcia’s plentiful vegetables. At Cuarentaytrés in Cartagena, you can sample it in style, overlooking the marina (cuarentaytres.com).

13. La Rioja

It may be Spain’s smallest region, but as the country’s most famous wine producer, its reputation is global. Along the Ruta del Vino (wine route) in the foothills of the Sierra de Cantabria mountains, you’ll pass showstopping, architect-designed wineries by the likes of Santiago Calatrava (bodegasysios.com) and Zaha Hadid (lopezdeheredia.com).

Visit the small town of Haro – Rioja’s wine capital – in June for its annual wine festival where locals (and visitors) wear white and liberally douse each other in vino tinto during an epic wine fight.

There are other things to see and do in La Rioja. The small town of Logroño has long been a tapas hotspot, and for spectacular architecture head to the monasteries of Suso and Yuso (monasteriodesanmillan.com).

Unmissable sight: The swirling titanium curls of Frank Gehry’s Marqués de Riscal winery make it look like aliens have stopped by for a tasting (marquesderiscal.com/en/the-marques-de-riscal-city-of-wine).

My favourite hotel: The Hospedería Señorío de Casalarreina, near Haro, in a former monastery, offers spacious and stylish rooms (hospederiacasalarreina.com; rooms from £75).

Emblematic dish: Menestra is a vegetable stew made with whatever’s in season – often artichokes. Try it at stalwart restaurant Terete in Haro, also known for its roast lamb (terete.es).

12. Madrid

Spain’s capital is one of Europe’s great cities, with world-class tapas bars and art galleries – you could spend a week in the Prado alone. Madrid has also dusted off its one-time fusty reputation and is now hailed as one of the world’s greenest cities, thanks to its unusually high ratio of trees to people.

As the seat of power since the 16th century, it’s no surprise that Madrid and its environs have royal palaces, parks, fortresses and hunting lodges aplenty. The lavish Palacio Real (patrimonionacional.es/visita/palacio-real-de-aranjuez) was partly inspired by Versailles (it shows), and the deer-filled Monte de El Pardo, on the edge of the city, is about 50 times the size of New York’s Central Park.

The countryside beyond the city is rewarding, too. The Sierra de Guadarrama National Park, (where Hemingway set For Whom the Bell Tolls) is awash with snow-tipped mountain peaks, alpine meadows and forests.

Unmissable attraction: The amazingly preserved 15th-century castle of Manzanares el Real, in the Sierra de Guadarrama, was used as a location for the 1961 film El Cid, starring Charlton Heston and Sophia Loren, and has tales of intrigue that make the Borgias look tame (manzanareselreal.org).

My favourite hotel: Just south-east of Madrid, the main square in the small town of Chinchón looks like a larger version of Shakespeare’s Globe, complete with wooden balconies. Stay in the Hotel Condesa de Chinchón, in an old building nearby (condesadechinchon.com; rooms from £56).

Emblematic dish: Cocido madrileño, a meat-and-vegetable stew served in different courses, starting with a broth. It’s one of the specialities at Madrid’s legendary L Hardy (lhardy.com).

11. Canary Islands

As with the Balearics, many people have the wrong impression about the Canaries. Yes, one of the best reasons to visit is the year-round sunshine, but they are much more than merely a cheap-and-cheerful winter sun option.

Tenerife in particular has recently reinvented itself as a foodie destination par excellence with Michelin-starred restaurants and prize-winning wines.

You’ll find spectacular volcanic scenery on Tenerife and Lanzarote, dramatic deserts and dunes on Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura, and wonderful walking country full of lush hills, forests and valleys on the others.

La Gomera, popular with Spanish holidaymakers escaping the heat of the mainland, is one of the most underrated, and then there’s also El Hierro, La Palma and La Graciosa (officially part of Lanzarote), all rather gorgeous in their own ways.

Unmissable sight: The artist and designer César Manrique built many of Lanzarote’s most extraordinary sculptural buildings, and you can’t beat the panoramic sea views from the Mirador del Río viewpoint. (cactlanzarote.com/en/centre/mirador-del-rio).

My favourite hotel: The peaceful countryside outside Las Palmas is a million miles from tourist-laden Canarian hotspots and the traditional 19th-century Hotel Rural Maipez even has its own sauna (maipez.com; rooms from £65).

Emblematic dish: Papas arrugadas con mojo (potatoes with mojo sauce, made with peppers and olive oil). Try it at the coastal village of El Golfo in Lanzarote’s south, before some fresh fish overlooking the sea (elgolfolanzarote.com).

10. Cantabria

Cantabria lies at the heart of what is called “Green Spain”, awash with the kind of lush green pastures and valleys that come courtesy of bucketfuls of rain.

In among the rolling countryside – the region claims to possess the highest density of cows in Europe (who knew?) – you’ll also find gorgeous villages including Potes and Liérganes.

But it’s not all bucolic bliss. Cantabria is also home to the dramatic limestone peaks of the Picos de Europa National Park, although it’s the beaches which are perhaps the biggest surprise for anyone who doesn’t know this nook of Spain.

A favourite with Spanish royalty at the turn of the last century, the Cantabrian coast has lovely, low-key resort towns such as Laredo and San Vicente de la Barquera, and more than 60 beaches.

They’re not without culture either, both old and new. Renzo Piano’s space-age Centro Botín Arts Centre in Santander looks like two giant concrete car wing mirrors on stilts and is worth a visit for the building alone.

Unmissable sight: The paintings in the prehistoric, Unesco-listed Altamira caves are 14,000 years old and have been called the Sistine Chapel of Prehistoric Art (cultura.gob.es/mnaltamira).

My favourite hotel: At Palacio Helguera, a stylishly restored 17th-century mansion, you can gaze out across the Pasiegos Valley and enjoy its fine-dining restaurant (palaciohelguera.com; rooms from £229).

Emblematic dish: Sorropotún, a hearty stew made with bonito fish, potatoes and tomatoes. Try it at Las Redes, in the fishing village of San Vicente de la Barquera, just beneath the Picos de Europa (restaurantelasredes.com).

9. Extremadura

Stuck out on a limb in Spain’s wild west, along the border with Portugal, Extremadura is yet another of Spain’s relatively unexplored but remarkably beautiful regions.

It hasn’t always flown under the radar. When the Romans founded Extremadura’s capital city Mérida in 25 BC, its architectural splendour was considered on a par with Athens. Centuries on, the superb Roman amphitheatre is one of the best preserved outside Italy (turismomerida.org/que-ver/teatro-romano).

Life is slow around these parts and while the striking National Parks of Cabañeros and Monfragüe are popular with birdwatchers, in small villages, as in Andalusia next door, you’re more likely to come across wizened chaps standing around in shirt sleeves and flat caps chewing the fat with their neighbours, than tourists.

Then there’s the food. The Pata Negra jamón, from the local, acorn-fed pigs, is legendary across Spain and you can still get a three-course menú del dia (with wine) for the price of a beer in a smart bar in Madrid.

Unmissable sight: The 15th and 16th-century mansions in the twin towns of Cáceres and Trujillo – both World Heritage Sites.

My favourite hotel: Casa Pizarro in Cáceres, a stylishly converted 18th-century townhouse with lofty ceilings and grand fireplaces (casapizarrohotel.com; rooms from £93).

Emblematic dish: Migas a la extremeña. Many Spanish regions have a variant of migas – essentially fried breadcrumbs with garlic and anything else to hand. In Extremadura it’s bacon, chorizo and peppers. Try it at El Figón de Eustaquio in Cáceres, where they’ve been dishing up regional classics since 1947 (elfigondeeustaquio.com).

8. Asturias

Closed off from the south by the Picos de Europa mountains, Asturians are a proud bunch. They’re especially proud of the fact that they were the only part of Spain not to be conquered under some 800 years of Moorish rule. Or as they like to sum it up in a local saying: “Asturias is the real Spain; the rest is conquered land.”

They’ve got other reasons to be proud too. Its Costa Verde (Green Coast), tucked in between Galicia and Cantabria along Spain’s northern Atlantic coast, has soft sand, horseshoe bays worthy of the Med, elegant cities – such as Oviedo, Gijón and Avilés, full of Asturias’s particular Pre-Romanesque architecture – as well as monumental mountains, valleys and forests.

While the rest of Spain was busy planting vines, here it’s all about the apple, with more than 70 cider mills. Cheese is also a big deal (cabrales is especially pungent, so bring it home at your peril).

Unmissable sight: The small harbour town of Cudillero, with its pastel-coloured houses built into a cliffside (spain.info/en/destination/cudillero).

My favourite hotel: La Casona de Amandi, a 19th-century villa near the cider-making town of Villaviciosa (lacasonadeamandi.com; rooms from £97).

Emblematic dish:  Fabada Asturiana, a stew made with plump white beans. Try it at Casa Morán in Benia de Onís (0034 985 844006).

7. Castile and León

The largest of Spain’s regions, landlocked Castile and León is slightly bigger than Hungary, mopping up huge swathes of Spain’s north-west. Yet it is another of those places that many non-Spaniards have never even heard of.

Not that it doesn’t have a wealth of cultural blockbusters. With their Gothic cathedrals and grandiose plazas, Segovia and Salamanca both have the sort of fabulously photogenic, Unesco-listed old towns that tourist brochures used to be made of (and Instagram is now clogged up with).

Beyond these big-hitters, however, this is proper, off-the-beaten track Spain. In the meseta central or inner plateau, you’ll find mile after mile of wheat fields and vast, seemingly empty plains. Wander at leisure, then, when you’re parched, quench your thirst in the bodegas and vineyards of the Douro Valley.

Unmissable sight: Segovia’s phenomenally intact Roman aqueduct (spain.info/en/places-of-interest/segovia-aqueduct).

My favourite hotel: With its own vineyards in a 12th-century Romanesque abbey, Abadía Retuerta also has a spa and a farm-to-table, fine-dining restaurant (abadia-retuerta.com; rooms from £470).

Emblematic dish: Cochinillo (roast suckling pig) is the big local dish around these parts. They roast it in a wood-fired oven until it’s so tender, waiters can cut it with the edge of a plate rather than a knife. Try it at Restaurante José Maria in Segovia (restaurantejosemaria.com).

6. Valencia

If Andalusia conjures up all the old Spanish stereotypes, Valencia embodies what ought to be the new ones.

Its eponymous capital – Spain’s third-largest city – is, like neighbouring Catalonia, a major player when it comes to all things art and design. Santiago Calatrava’s futuristic City of Arts and Sciences may be the headline attraction (and the 1950s rainbow-striped façade of the Ruzafa food market is almost as striking), but you can’t go far without finding bars, restaurants or hotels where style also takes centre stage.

It’s also got green, sustainability credentials in droves (miles of cycle lanes and pedestrianised areas) and top-notch cuisine (both traditional and cutting-edge). This is, after all, where they invented paella, and you’ll be hard pushed to find better rice dishes anywhere in Spain. 

Beyond the city there are miles of fabulous Costa Blanca coastline, while the almond, cherry and olive groves around Tàrbena and the lakes and marshlands of the Albufera Natural Park (Parque de Albufera) are crying out to be walked in.

Unmissable sight: The annual Las Fallas de Valencia in March is the fireworks display to end all fireworks displays (visitvalencia.com/en/events-valencia/festivities/the-fallas).

My favourite hotel: Hotel Alahuar, in the mountains near the small town of Benimaurell (hotelesposeidon.com/en/hotel-restaurant-alahuar; rooms from £53).

Emblematic dish: Paella, obviously. Look no further than Casa Carmela, a Valencia institution (casa-carmela.com).

5. Aragón

Wedged between Catalonia to the east, Navarre to the west and Valencia to the south, landlocked Aragón was for nearly 800 years (1035-1833) a kingdom in its own right.

Fast-forward to the 21st century and this once grand realm is often dismissed as little more than a nondescript backdrop to the route between Barcelona and Madrid. But that’s to do it a disservice.

Apart from its flatlands, the scenery is splendid, with castles and Romanesque churches, as well as fabulous little towns such as Tarazona, with its Mudéjar towers looming precariously over the cliffs. It even has ski resorts, in the Pyrenees (Candanchú and Formigal).

Zaragoza, meanwhile – Aragón’s capital, and Spain’s fifth-largest city – is, at the risk of embracing a cliché, a bit of a forgotten gem. Its monumental cathedral has ceiling frescoes by Goya (Aragón’s most famous son), while the Old Town is heaving with bars boasting the kind of tantalising, endlessly inventive pintxos that the Basque Country is more famous for, but with much less fanfare. There’s also wonderfully drinkable (and amazingly good value) local red wine, usually served in stylish but squat, contemporary glass tumblers.

Unmissable sight: If you assumed Spain’s Moorish palaces were all in Andalusia, the 11th-century Aljafería Palace with its filigreed stone arches and coffered ceilings will take you by surprise (zaragoza.es/sede/portal/turismo/post/palacio-de-aljaferia).

My favourite hotel: Tucked away in the gorgeous Matarranya countryside of eastern Aragón, the Relais & Châteaux Torre del Visco sits on a hilltop surrounded by a 200-acre estate and with an award-winning farm-to-table restaurant (torredelvisco.com; rooms from £290).

Emblematic dish: Ternasco (hearty, milk-fed lamb, slow roasted and served with potatoes). La Rincón del Lorenzo offers this Zaragoza classic, and others (larinconadadelorenzo.com).

4. Galicia

If bagpipes, folklore and damp weather sounds more like Scotland than Spain, that’s because the Celts settled in Galicia more than a millennium ago and the Gallegos arguably still have more in common with the Scots, Irish and Welsh than the Spanish.

Non-Galician Spaniards have been holidaying in Galicia for years (they rave about the stupendous seafood and beaches, before moaning about the weather), the rest of the world is only just beginning to cotton on.

Galicia has the country’s longest stretch of coast, and the cliff-lined beaches, inlets and archipelagos of the Costa da Morte, Rías Baixas and Islas Atlánticas National Park are spectacular.

Its cities are worth a look, too. Not just Santiago de Compostela, whose ornately towered Baroque cathedral has long been the spiritual gold at the end of the rainbow for pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago.

Savour a long lunch alongside locals on a plaza in Pontevedra or Ourense or snack on oysters at street stalls in la Calle de las Ostras (Oyster Street) in Vigo.

Unmissable sight: The extraordinary rock formations at Praia das Catedrals (Cathedrals Beach; turismo.gal/que-visitar/destacados/praia-das-catedrais).

My favourite hotel: Galicia has several serious wine-making regions, not least the striking Ribeira Sacra, where steep terraces seem to cling to the mountainsides. Stay at the Palacio de Sober (eurostarshotels.co.uk/aurea-palacio-de-sober; rooms from £107)

Emblematic dish: Shellfish is the star of Galician cuisine. Try nécoras rellenas (stuffed velvet crab) at Restaurante Alameda 10 in Pontevedra (0034 986 857412).

3. Basque Country

Long before Spain’s Costas lured millions of sunseekers, San Sebastián was a seaside favourite with well-heeled Spaniards: it was fabulous then and it’s fabulous now. Not only will you find vast swathes of sand overlooking the Bay of Biscay, it’s also arguably Spain’s greatest city for food, with more Michelin-starred restaurants than you can shake a star anise at.

Head west along the coast, stopping off for superb pintxos – the Basque country’s version of tapas – and you’ll be reminded that this is also the powerhouse of Spain’s industrial north. (As the Basques will lose no time in reminding you, should you veer into the potentially thorny subject of their identity.) Especially in Bilbao, which was miraculously transformed from a workaday iron-and-steel town to an international art destination thanks to Frank Gehry’s titanium-sailed Guggenheim Museum.

Venture inland, meanwhile, and you’ll find as green a countryside as you could hope for. Not least in oft-overlooked Vitoria-Gasteiz, yet another Spanish city embracing sustainability with miles of cycle routes.

Unmissable sight: The views from the hermitage atop the rocky island of San Juan de Gaztelugatxe are stupendous. However, this is another site that featured in Game of Thrones, so you’ll have to book a ticket beforehand (euskoguide.com/places-basque-country/spain/san-juan-de-gaztelugatxe).

My favourite hotel: The Hotel de Londres y de Inglaterra is the grande dame overlooking San Sebastián’s La Concha beach and can’t be beaten for sea views and old-world glamour (hlondres.com; rooms from £84).

Emblematic dish: Marmitako, a stew made with tuna-like bonito, potatoes and vegetables. At Kofradia Itsas Etxea in San Sebastian you can sample it with the day’s catch, virtually straight off the boat (kofradia.eus/en/eat).

2. Andalusia 

Spain’s second-largest region is massive, so it’s little wonder that there’s such a range of cultures and landscapes. On the one hand it’s home to every Spanish stereotype in the book. Flamenco dancers in polka dots, fringes and frills, bullfighting matadors in sequins and tight trousers, and blazing, siesta-inducing heat to name but a few.

But while Seville, Córdoba, Granada, Cádiz and Jerez may have all of the above, they’re also home to cutting-edge gourmet tapas and scene-stealing contemporary architecture (including Jürgen Mayer’s spectacular, curving Setas in Seville; setasdesevilla.com).

The legacy of several hundred years of Moorish rule is almost everywhere, from its palaces to magnificent mosques such as Córdoba’s (mezquita-cordoba.com).

And I haven’t even mentioned the countryside. From the snow-tipped mountains of the Sierra Nevada to the classic whitewashed pueblos blancos, to the mar de olivas (oceans of olive groves) in the unsung region of Jaén, to the wild beaches of Huelva and Almería, you could spend months, if not years, here and still find more to discover.

Unmissable sight: Granada’s Alhambra (alhambragranada-tickets.org) is simply exceptional.

My favourite hotel: At the Palacio Solecio in Málaga you can sleep in an 18th-century palacio with Moorish tiling. The restaurant is superb too (palaciosolecio.com; rooms from £155).

Emblematic dish: It’s got to be fried fish (pescaíto frito), and you won’t find any better than at the Freidor Casa Manteca in Cádiz (0034 956 213603).

1. Catalonia

Catalans never waste much time before telling you that they have everything you could want in their region – a world-class city (Barcelona), a spectacular coastline to enjoy in the summer and the snow-covered peaks of the Pyrenees in the winter.

I have to agree, although I am biased. I lived in Barcelona for years and fell in love with not just the magnificent Modernista architecture and leafy, tree-lined boulevards but also the exceptional, rugged coast of the Costa Brava, just a few miles to the north (the glorious, year-round sunshine and fabulous food didn’t hurt either).

OK, so Barcelona has become a bit of a hot potato recently in terms of overtourism. But that’s no reason not to visit Catalonia, nor indeed the city itself (just do it out of season, and consider where you stay).

The lush, wine-growing Empordà, just over an hour’s drive to the north, is awash with medieval villages and superb food. Elsewhere you’ve got two other wine-growing regions (the Penedès and the Priorat) to keep the most ardent oenophile happy. Art lovers, meanwhile, can follow in the footsteps of Picasso, Dalí and Miró.

Unmissable sight: The Greco-Roman ruins at Empúries are Catalonia’s own Pompeii, with floor mosaics and temples set against the backdrop of the Mediterranean (patrimoni.gencat.cat/en/collection/empuries).

My favourite hotel: The glamorous Hostal Empúries, right on the beach, yards from the ruins (hostalempuries.com; rooms from £122).

Emblematic dish: The traditional seafood stew suquet, rich with saffron and garlic and laced with potatoes. Restaurant Ibèric in the medieval village of Ullastret (restaurantiberic.com) serves one of the best.