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Consider Spain and also you would possibly effectively think about tapas and paella, however it is a nation that’s as fervent about gastronomy as any in Europe. There’s a lot to select from, whether or not you’re in search of boundary-pushing Michelin-starred eating places or informal pintxo bars the place you’re nearly assured to face shoulder to shoulder along with your neighbour. And there’s an excessive amount of regional variation by way of what you’ll be able to eat and and the way it’s ready. Want some inspiration? Listed below are 9 of one of the best Spanish cities for meals.
Most important photograph: Las Teresas tapas bar in Seville (Alamy)
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1. Logroño
![Dining on Calle del Laurel, Logroño, one of the best cities in Spain for food](https://www.thetimes.co.uk/travel/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2024/01/Pinchos-Dining-On-The-Calle-Laurel-GettyImages-1129345589.jpeg?is-pending-load=1)
Greatest for tapas
One of many stops on the Camino de Santiago, Logroño has constructed a popularity for itself as a centre for tapas. It’s no shock — round its historic centre there are some 50 hole-in-the-wall joints to attempt, lots of them specialising in only one or two dishes. For selection, you’ll need to hop from one place to a different. An added attraction is that Logroño is the capital of the Rioja area, which signifies that vivid fruity reds and strong whites are low-cost, plentiful and really, superb. Calle del Laurel is on the centre of all this motion and will probably be filled with guests on most nights. Arrive after 9 and make an evening of it.
2. Oviedo
![Cider is poured in a bar on Calle Gascona, Oviedo, one of Spain's best cities for food](https://www.thetimes.co.uk/travel/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2024/01/USE_Barman-pouring-cider-from-high-up-bottle-at-a-sidreria-on-Calle-Gascona-Oviedo-Asturias-Spain_Credit_GettyImages-1485894685.jpg?is-pending-load=1)
Greatest for cheese
Surrounded by wealthy, agricultural land, Oviedo is a medieval metropolis on the coronary heart of the customarily under-appreciated Asturias area. There are two celebrated merchandise right here. The primary is cheese. Some 40 varieties are produced within the area however the most well-liked is Cabrales, a creamy blue cheese created from any mixture of cow, sheep and goat’s milk and aged within the caves of the Picos de Europa. The drink of option to go along with it needs to be sidra, or cider. In contrast to most ciders within the UK, this one is tart and flat, with the drink poured from nice heights to aerate it earlier than ingesting. It’s a flourish finest admired in Oviedo’s sidrerias, the place you don’t have to fret about splashing it throughout your self.
3. Madrid
![Bocadillos de calamares for sale in Madrid, one of the best cities in Spain for food](https://www.thetimes.co.uk/travel/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2022/05/1.-Shop-selling-Calamares-bocadillos-or-fried-squid-in-rolls-near-the-Plaza-de-Santa-Ana-in-the-center-of-Madrid.-Spain_Credit_Alamy_JERXKC.jpg?is-pending-load=1)
Greatest for roast suckling pig
Madrid is essentially the most dynamic metropolis in Spain for consuming and ingesting, with a staggering variety of eating places. Roast suckling pig and the chickpea-based cocido madrileno stew are the 2 regional favourites. A bocadillo de calamares (deep-fried squid rings in a roll) is a should, too — at all times scoffed standing up at a busy bar with a beer. Get into the groove with a vermouth at midday in a tiled tavern behind the Plaza Mayor, then maintain shifting, with a tapa in every place.
4. Barcelona
![La Boqueria market in Barcelona, one of the best cities in Spain for food](https://www.thetimes.co.uk/travel/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2022/05/2.-La-boqueria-Market-Barcelona-Spain_Credit_GettyImages-658188598.jpg?is-pending-load=1)
Greatest for variety
From old style taverns within the Gothic Quarter to modern connoisseur palaces within the Eixample, hip cafés within the Raval and the foodie strip alongside Parallel, consuming in Barcelona is at all times a cultural in addition to a gastronomic expertise. For paella and rice dishes, goal the Barceloneta neighbourhood by the ocean. Spend a morning in La Boqueria, the town’s spectacular market, however don’t simply look; use all of your senses and style your manner round — order a glass of cava at one of many bars and a few artichokes with clams, escalivada, roast greens and no matter is on the specials board.
5. Seville
![Hams hang in Las Teresas tapas bar in Seville, one of the best cities in Spain for food](https://www.thetimes.co.uk/travel/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2022/05/3.-Spain-Andalusia-Seville-Santa-Cruz-district-Bodega-Las-Teresas-tapas-bar_Credit_Alamy_2B36J03.jpg?is-pending-load=1)
Greatest for Iberico ham
The recipe for happiness? A glistening glass of fino sherry, just a few olives and a platter of expertly carved Iberico ham on the counter of a conventional bar in Seville. What extra might you need? Truly, quite a bit — there are such a lot of tapas dishes to attempt within the metropolis’s bars that you could be effectively by no means sit all the way down to a meal throughout your keep. Begin in fairly Santa Cruz then wander all the way down to the Arenal neighbourhood earlier than crossing the Betis river to the tiled bars of Triana — and you’re nonetheless solely scratching the floor.
6. San Sebastian
![Pintxos on a bar counter in San Sebastian, one of the best cities in Spain for food](https://www.thetimes.co.uk/travel/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2022/05/4.-Spanish-tapas-called-pintxos-of-the-Basque-country-served-on-a-bar-counter-in-a-restaurant-in-San-Sebastian-Spain_Credit_GettyImages-988644192.jpg?is-pending-load=1)
Greatest for pintxos
With scores of Michelin-starred eating places, elegant San Sebastian ranks among the many high gastronomic locations on this planet. However in the event you’re not able to splash the money, the town has one other providing: its pintxos bars. Discovered on the bar counters of the Parte Vieja (outdated city), these tapas-like finger meals are normally morsels of one thing scrumptious skewered onto a bit of bread utilizing a toothpick. Every place has its speciality, possibly pipas en tempura (prawns in fluffy batter), slow-cooked beef in purple wine or sweetbread ravioli. Cross the river for extra gastrobars in Gros and check out a glass of txakoli, the native white wine.
7. Valencia
![El Siglo horchata bar in Valencia, one of the best cities in Spain for food](https://www.thetimes.co.uk/travel/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2022/05/5.-Horchateria-El-Siglo.11-Plaza-de-Santa-Catalina.Valencia-Spain_Credit_Alamy_FDAGX8.jpg?is-pending-load=1)
Greatest for paella
Valencia is the house of paella so begin down by the seaside; set up your self at a terrace desk and order a conventional paella Valenciana with rooster or rabbit, or a paella de marisco with seafood. Subsequent, head to the exuberant central market, the place stained-glass home windows and mosaics adorn the ironwork construction, and near 1,000 stalls are piled excessive with produce from the market gardens across the metropolis. Get a refreshing horchata (tigernut milk) to drink as you stroll round. Then within the outdated fishermen’s district of Cabanyal, search out tiled bodegas that serve up scorching prawns, bowls of mussels and the native michirones broad beans.
8. Palma
![Sobrassada for sale in a market in Palma, one of the best cities in Spain for food](https://www.thetimes.co.uk/travel/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2022/05/6.-Sobrassada-mercadilo-Día-de-las-Islas-Baleares-Palma-Mallorca_Credit_Alamy_FCG0J6.jpg?is-pending-load=1)
Greatest for sobrassada
The Mallorcan capital has quietly become a little bit of a gastronomic hotspot. The island’s high cooks have gravitated to the town to open gastrobars in addition to elegant eating places alongside the medieval lanes within the Sa Llotja and Sa Gerreria neighbourhoods. The fishermen’s properties in Santa Catalina, behind the port, now home laid-back cafés with shady terraces. Strive sobrassada, a mushy pork and pimenton sausage, unfold onto bread with a glass of Mallorcan wine, and look out for tumbet — layers of aubergine and peppers with a tomato sauce.
9. Bilbao
![A café in Bilbao, one of the best cities in Spain for food](https://www.thetimes.co.uk/travel/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2022/05/7.-Interior-of-Cafe-Bar-Bilbao-Casa-Pedro-pub-bars-restaurant-on-Plaza-Nueva-or-Plaza-Barria-New-Square-Bilbao-Spain_Credit_Alamy_2HBPM7T.jpg?is-pending-load=1)
Greatest for bacalao a la vizcaina
Get up your senses on the Ribera market by the river. Any meals lovers who mooch across the stalls gawping on the seafood and greens will get an thought of why Basque nation delicacies is likely one of the finest on this planet. From elaborate pintxos within the lanes of the outdated city to gastrobars in Bilbao La Vieja and Michelin-starred locations within the Ensanche space, the standard is excellent. Order bacalao a la vizcaina — salt cod in a wealthy purple pepper sauce — with a velvety Rioja Alavesa.
Take me there
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