Storyline: Winter 2025: Portugal and Spain
This is a wrap-up on our Spanish part of the trip and a catch up for topics left out of previous posts. And although we did dash through Madrid, it wasn’t the main focus of our winter travel.
And as though we only spent four days in Galicia as opposed to fourteen in Andalucia (Andalusia in English) it was enough to tickle our curiosity and desire to return for more.
I am sure I can come up with many differences between these two provinces but on almost the anecdotal side: Oranges (naranja) are major topic for Andalucia.
Octopus (poblo) is the one in Vigo (because this was the only place we visited in Galicia).
The oranges had replaced the apples in some artwork representing the biblical forbidden fruit.
Yes, oranges were the main theme in Andalucia. Streets, plazas, town squares, gardens, all lined up with orange trees. As we were there, they began picking them.
These oranges are bitter and hard to eat without additional processing. Not knowing this, the first few days we were surprised that no one was touching them, even though they were plentiful and many were easily reached.
Our host Barbara gave us the clue – they are too bitter to be eaten fresh. People make marmalade of them. But I guess mostly they go to waste. We did try one and I figured I could come up with many recipes, not just marmalade. Think about drinks, all kinds of them, dried and used as spices, deserts etc.
Soon it will be time for the cities to pick them and dispose them. We notice signs posted on the streets about dates for collecting the oranges. This meant no parkin in the areas so the workers could do their job.
Walking on the streets of Andalucian cities one can’t miss the huge dry pork legs hanging down the small specialized stores (even on the streets), selling jamones (prosciuttos), quesos (cheeses) and vinos (wines).
Apparently, there are many jamones, coming from different regions. These stores are usually full of people tasting and buying variety of jamones. But how many flavours of salt one can taste? I don’t think I can make such difference. (But she has no problem discerning wines, or the variety of delicious olive oils we sampled at the festival in Córdoba – A.)
Typical dishes for the Andalucian cuisine are: salmorejo, gazpacho, pescaíto frito (fried fish), and of course jamones. Salmorejo is a traditional creamy soup made of pear tomato, bread, extra virgin olive oil and garlic and served cold. (We don’t have a photo of this soup, but it was way too thick for me to call it soup)
Together with the jamones and salmorejo, patatas bravas are served in most if not all tapas bars. But patatas bravas are not Andalucian. They originate from Madrid and are served all over Spain in bars and restaurants. Traditionally made with crispy fried or baked potatoes served with spicy tomato sauce (salsa), made of onion, garlic, tomato, guindilla pepper (chili), salt and pepper. Bravas is the sauce and lends to the term “spicy” and brava means brave.
Padrón peppers on the other hand can’t be found in the south. The first place we found them was in Madrid, but they are truly Galician tapas. Originating from the concello (municipality in Galician) of Padrón these are small green peppers that can be mild, hot or very hot. But only 1 in about 10 is hot, so it is fun to watch someone picking the hot lottery. They are picked unripe when the flavour is bitter-sweet. When they ripen to red, they have a sweet fruity flavour and almost all are spicy. Or at least my Google research says so, since we haven’t tried but the green ones. Also known as Herbón pepper or pimientos de Padrón.
While Andalucia has a heavy Moorish influence, Galicia is wrapped in itself. Sitting right on top of Portugal, it has historically been isolated from the rest of Spain by rugged mountain ranges that helped preserve its language and culture over the centuries.
It is said that Galician follows Portuguese in terms of lexicon and grammar, but standard Galician pronunciation mirrors Spanish. The beautiful coastal inlets (rías) shape Galicia’s landscape and play a critical role in the local economy: fishing, aquaculture farming, with mussels being a major product, and canning. They say that the rías are Galicia’s most defining features, with stunning beaches and fishing villages. We just have to come back for more exploration.
One other topic that I vaguely touched on was the feeling of being rushed in Seville and Ronda. So I asked our Ronda host Alejandro, who spoke English, about this. By then I had already published our Seville post. Below is his answer.
I had to laugh when you mentioned that sangria in Seville was bad. It’s funny because, despite Spain being known for sangria, I don’t know any Spaniards who actually order it! 😅 It’s something we mostly serve for tourists. Instead, locals usually go for “Tinto de Verano,” which is a mix of red wine and lemon Fanta (sometimes with a splash of vermouth, which really elevates it). If you want a lighter version, my wife prefers “Tinto con Blanca,” which is the same but made with “Casera” (a Spanish sparkling water with zero calories) instead of lemon Fanta.
Now, back to your questions:
Eating out in Spain is practically a national sport.
We take every opportunity to eat outside, whether it’s a quick beer and tapa with friends at lunchtime or a proper meal. That’s why Spain has so many bars—since a large part of the population eats out frequently, bars can afford to keep prices low. Lower prices attract more people, which means more bars open, creating a cycle that keeps the culture thriving.
Waiters tend to be very fast, especially on weekdays. They know that Spaniards are often taking a short break from work and can’t afford to spend an hour on lunch. The quicker they serve, the more customers they can accommodate, and the more tips they receive. Some tapas bars don’t even have coffee machines so that after lunch, customers move elsewhere for coffee, allowing the bar to serve more people.
If you saw Spaniards finishing their meal and rushing out, they were probably heading back to work, picking up their kids, or simply being mindful that the restaurant can seat another group. It’s part of our culture—we know that if we finish by, say, 2:45 PM, the bar can serve another round of customers, and we don’t want to overstay our welcome.
If most of the people eating at the places you visited were locals, that’s a great sign! You likely picked a good spot. Many tourist-focused restaurants serve big sangrias and small paellas, which can be fun to try, but if you always find yourself surrounded by tourists, you might be missing out on the authentic experience. That said, if you end up preferring the tourist spots, that’s totally fine too—after all, they’re popular for a reason! 😅
(Fun fact from Google: “Spain has more bars per inhabitant than any other nation in the EU, with one bar for every 169 residents. In Andalucía alone, there are more bars than in Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Ireland combined. The entire country has over 290,000 licensed establishments.”)
Thanks, Alejandro, for providing us with local knowledge.
Did I mentioned that in a province of olives one could not find bulk olives of all varieties as we are used to here in Canada and seen it many other places. They were all green and marinated in jars.
The first place we’d see them bulk was the Madrid markets and back in Porto, Portugal. Have no idea why. Perhaps the variety they have is used mostly for olive oils.
Oh, and another note – there was a heavy police presence everywhere we were. Not sure if this is because of some current threats or just the way it is these days. Police with sniffer dogs go through train stations. Before boarding a high-speed train (and perhaps others) luggage goes thought X-ray check and security staff have a metal-detecting wands.
Oh, I remember 2014. We flew to Paris, then Sofia, back to Paris from where we took the TGV to Barcelona and then TGV back from Barcelona to Paris. We had bought a small serrated kitchen knife in Sofia to cut some of our food, since not all of our accommodations at the time were short-term rentals supplied with utensils.
The knife was travelling in one of our suitcases all along from Sofia, through Paris to Girona and then Barcelona. Then we had to board the TGV from Barcelona to Paris and it was the first time our luggage was scanned. They made a big fuss about the knife, but eventually allowed us to keep it. So, we were not surprised this time by the airport-like scanning of us and the luggage. And we didn’t have the need of a metal knife. But in case you have such, be it your Swiss knife or a corkscrew, keep it in your pocket handy to show.
And this concludes the writing. The videos Alex took are still in a deep drawer, so we’ll have more posts coming during the next few months (Says she, with a look of hope in her eyes. To be fair, I’ve not been up to it since we came home but am on the mend at the time of writing – A.) Since I’ve already booked all the accommodation for our Scandinavian trip in June I can now begin planning and booking another month in Spain in September. Stay tuned.
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