links and other useful bits and bobs
things to buy       reading matter       travel web links   spanish websites

Things to buy in Spain

Food hard turronTurron - Spanish nougat.  Two traditional types - hard (turron de Alicante) and soft (turron de Jijona).  Great presents!

soft turronOlive oil - of course!

Olives/Caperberries  - buy in jars or tins to bring home, but do experiement at the market - ask to try - 'puedo probar?' - before choosing.

Gin - still £5 a litre for Larios which some prefer to Gordons.   Rives is also good.  Wrap in a towel and tie in a plastic carrier before packing in hold luggage - never had a broken one yet!Tinned razor clams

Tinned fish - Navajas (razor clams), almejas (clams), calamares in su tinta (squid in ink) and pulpo (octopus) are all good

Saffron - much cheaper than here - buy on the market stall.

Paprika - ditto! .. especially the wonderful smoked paprika(picante); normal is dulce.

Paellero - useful flavouring to have to whip up a quick paella (obviously not as good as saffron, but a good alternative.)

Chorizo - the spicy sausage Delia was hooked on a couple of years back!  Look in the supermarket or on the market for whole sausages.

Ensaimadas (Mallorca)ensaimada - Big, fluffy catherine wheel of a pastry, plain or filled with sweet cream or 'angel hair' jam (cabello de angel).  Buy them at Palma airport, boxed - the ideal last minute pressie.            
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Kitchen stuff Cazuelas - the brown earthenware cooking pots you see for next to nothing everywhere.  You can use them in the oven and on direct heat.   Stuff them with dirty washing and pack them in your case to bring home!   Before use, submerge in water for 24 hours to minimise the risk of cracking.

Knives - buy a knife or 2 on the kitchen market stall - they may not be as pretty as the knives here (steel as opposed to stainless steel), but are they sharp!  You'll buy a cook's knife as sharp as a razor for around £6!  Buy also the stone to sharpen it on.

Paella pan - So cheap it's unbelievable.  Again the best place to buy is the market.  If it won't fit in your case, just put it in the hold as it is!

Gas burner - For around £15-20 you can buy a portable gas ring and legs - just right for your garden paella party.  Beats a bbq hands down.

Other stuff Sheepskin slippers - On the market, from baby size to adult.

Leather handbags and wallets

Shoes - If in Mallorca, visit Inca's leather factory outlets for bargains. Mallorca is the home of Camper shoes.

Tablecloths - You have to know you want one of these before you even ask at the market!  Try to pay around half the original asking price at the market by nonchalence, walking away, pretence at no money!  Same goes for the fake Gucci watch stall!                                             up Top

 

Spanish products in the UK

Garcia & Sons Delicatessen, Portobello Road, London W.  Tel 0207 221 6119
Good range of Spanish foodstuff - turron, olives, deli counter - as well as paella pans and some ceramica.

Brindisa Spanish Foods - based at London Borough Market, by Borough Tube Station.  Tel 0207 407 1037.  www.tapas.co.uk 



Travel to Spain                            up Top

www.easyjet.com - Flights to Malaga, Madrid and Barcelona from London Luton and Palma from Luton and Liverpool; Bilbao, Alicante, Palma de Mallorca (summer only), Malaga and Barcelona from London Stansted;

www.ryanair.com - Spanish destinations include Valencia, Jerez, Granada, Almeria, Murcia, Reus, Gerona, Sevilla, Valladolid, Zaragoza and Santiago (mainly from London Stansted)

www.bmibaby.com - Flights to Barcelona, Ibiza, Malaga, Murcia and Palma from East Midlands airport

http://www.fly-crown.com/ - Monarch's scheduled flights to Malaga, Gibraltar, Alicante, Menorca. They will take unaccompanied children, aged 8-16.

www.hotelsearch.com - find a hotel in Spain - good discounts on direct prices.

www.renfe.es/hir/index.html - train timetables and prices (in Spanish)

www.owners-direct.co.uk - villas and apartments to rent
www.accommodationguide.com/spain.htm

www.carjet.com - car hire with online booking - pick up and return to different airports in Spain
www.holidayautos.co.uk

www.easyrentacar.com  - car hire from Barcelona (down town) and Malaga (on airport)

Spanish Websites

http://www.SpanishIndex.com
http://www.SpanishArts.com
http://www.Spanish-Books.net
http://www.Radio-Flamenco.com
http://www.Spanish-Goumet.com
http://www.studyspanish.com/tutorial.htm


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Recommended Reading 

Facts

Click here to go to Amazon Books

The Complete Spanish Cookbook
By Jacki Passmore

Recipes by region.

 

Click here to go to Amazon Books

Special Places to Stay in Spain and Portugal
By Guy Hunter-Watts

Hotels and B&Bs all over Spain with good descriptions, and prices.

Click here to go to Amazon Books

The New Spaniards
By John Hoope
r
Unravels the mysteries of the Spanish people.

Click here to go to Amazon Books

Time Out Guides
Any Time Out Guide is worth getting - Unfotunately there are only Madrid and Barcelona at present.

FICTION up Top

Click here to go to Amazon Books

Driving Over Lemons
By Chris Stewart

Ex-Genesis drummer buys derelict farm in the Alpujarra.
 

Click here to go to Amazon Books

As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning
By Laurie Lee

Adventures of the writer when he left Gloucester in the 1930s to walk through Spain

Click here to go to Amazon Books

Voices of the Old Sea
By Norman Lewis

The writer's time staying in a fishing village on northern Costa Brava in the 50s.
Click here to go to Amazon Books

South From Granada
By Gerald Brennan

The writer's life in the Alpujarra in the 30s.

Out of print books - try your local library!

The Inspector Alvarez novels (various) by Roderic Jefferies - all based in northern Mallorca

The Day Guernica Died by Gordon Thomas - graphic recount of the day the Nazis razed the Basque city to the ground as a practice run for the'Blitz Kreig' aerial bombings of the 2nd World War.