First of all, let me say this: Spain is a very safe country to travel for the majority of people. Now that’s said, we all know how unpredictable life can be, especially when you’re in unchartered territory. Covering yourself with travel insurance is just as important in Spain as anywhere else, and here’s why.

Pickpockets abound

The first thing that anyone will tell you about travelling in Spain is the professionalism of pickpockets, particularly in the big cities such as Madrid and Barcelona. Usually working in pairs, they have a range of tricks to distract you, like waving a map in front of your face while their partner makes off with your valuables.

Theft is one of the major reasons that people take out travel insurance before leaving home. It’s extremely inconvenient to say the least, to lose your luggage with all your valuables, but it’s just downright heartbreaking when they can’t be replaced.

Sadly tourists also make good targets for muggings. In the extreme case where theft can turn violent, you will be thankful for having health cover as part of your travel insurance package, especially if you need to be flown home at costs of up to $50,000!

Of course, it might not be all that bad and you could save the hundred-odd dollars it costs to take out travel insurance, but really why would you not have the peace of mind?

How to go about choosing the right travel insurance

It’s all relatively simple. You can either speak to your travel agent directly, or if you would like to choose from a wider range of policies, there are an increasing number of online travel insurers that cut out the middleman (that is, your travel agent and their commission).

The average travel insurance policy for Spain will include Europe, and often provides unlimited medical cover, as well as cover a range of other incidents such as theft, rental car excess, loss of income, delayed or cancelled flights or tours, permanent disability payouts and personal liability. For a month, the average cost is around $150. Considering most cameras are worth more, it seems like small change.

Travel Insurance Direct (http://www.travelinsurancedirect.com.au) are an example of how easy it can be to get a travel insurance quote online, as are Insure 4 Less (http://www.insure4less.com.au) and the site Lonely Planet recommend, World Nomads (http://www.worldnomads.com.au). For people wanting to stay a little longer, Knights Insurance is a Spain-specific insurer (http://www.knight-insurance.com/travel_insurance.htm).

So whether your trip includes sunning yourself on the Costa del Sol or hiking the mountain of the Valley of Laguart, the trip will be made all the more relaxing if you don’t have to worry about ‘what if’.

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There are many reasons to travel to Spain. Holidaying, shopping, relaxing, fiesta’s, food and wine, maybe romance. Did you know more and more people from all over Europe and even the world are traveling to Spain just to get married?

Surrounded by beautiful rural scenery, vineyards and olive groves, imagine your own wedding ceremony and reception in the perfectly manicured gardens of an ancient stone walled castle. Warm weather, friendly people, whatever it is that’s taking you to Spain you can be assured of one thing…

You will love it…and you will want to go back!!

So let’s start with the shopping.

Spain has a long tradition in making leather goods (shoes, luggage, bags, coats, dresses, gloves, etc.). Spain also has some of the worlds most revered clothing designers offering original fashion-designed or ready-made. Embroidery and lace, Jewellery (classical or modern-design, as well as artisan gold and silver works) is also popular in Spain. Shopping in Spain is also fashionable for ivory objects, blown glass, pottery, antiques (some of the antique galleries in Madrid, Barcelona and Seville are among the best in Europe) and furniture.

Interior-decorating items (the famous Lladro porcelains, iron grille designs, silver and other metal objects such as candelabra, trays, bowls, etc.) are also widely found in many shops around Spain. Toys, musical instruments (Spanish guitars are known to be the best in the world)… the list is endless. Shopping in Spain is not only exciting but practical as well as Spain offers some of the best prices found anywhere today.

Next let’s look at what you can get up to in the evenings.

Let’s face it if you’re going to Spain and not prepared to spend some time out after dark then sorry you’re missing most of Spain. Perhaps because of the great climate and the long hours of sunshine in Spain, Spaniards tend to get up later in the morning and stay out later at night than the rest of their European neighbours. No matter where you are in Spain there is a certain atmosphere that begins after sunset and continues through to the small hours of Mañana (tomorrow) that will excite even the most introverted.

If you’re looking to dine out at a restaurant then you should be aware that as far as eating out in Spain, the general rule is that you must expect meals to be served late – at least later than what we usually know. It may be possible to start lunch at around 1 pm; but late lunches, starting at 2 pm at the earliest and going on until nearly 4 pm, are more common. This also makes for a very late dinner, which lighter in content than lunch. Dinner may start at 8:30 in the evening but, more often than not, at 9 or 10 pm. Often you will not eat dinner until 11 pm and then go out afterwards to the bars or clubs. Before Dinner most Spaniards will have Tapas.

Given the long gap between meals, a snack is almost essential. In the evening, this takes the form of tapas, which are served from 7 pm onwards at bars and tascas (which serve soft/ alcoholic drinks and tapas). If a late meal and drinks only fuels your appetite for Spanish night life then depending upon where you are in Spain the club scene is generally not for the light at heart.

Once again some of the worlds most respected DJ’s have come out of Spain in particular many of the Spanish islands such as Ibiza. If you ever will visit any place anywhere without needing instructions on how to find boiling nightlife, then it is Ibiza. You only need to leave one of the numerous pubs or discotheques, specially in the calle Barcelona, only to enter the next one next door. The best will be to follow the mass of tourists passing through the streets, and automatically you will be pushed to a local that is “en vogue” in this very moment.

So you’re into partying day or night? For all ages you have to experience a traditional Spanish Fiesta. Every body has heard of the running of the bulls in Pamplona Festival and La Tomatina (tomato throwing) fiesta in Buñol. Truth is there is a festival to be found everywhere in every village all year round. Most festivals run all day and well into the night (all night for some) and often for many days. Expect the usual at most fiesta’s to be fireworks, parades, music, dances, bullfights, and religious ceremonies, wine and very many happy people.

Another popular tourist draw in Spain is casino’s and can be found all over the country. Below is a list of local casinos: torrelodones (madrid), sant pere de ribes (barcelona), villajoyosa (alicante), puzol (valencia), el puerto de santa maria (cadiz), lloret de mar (girona), benalmadena costa (malaga), marbella (malaga), calvia (isle of mallorca>, alfajarin (zaragoza), isla de toja (pontevedra), coruna (galicia), santander (cantabria), playa de san agustin (south gran canaria), santa catalina (gran canaria), puerto de la cruz (tenerife), adeje (tenerife), ibiza (isle of ibiza), san sebastian (guipuzcoa), peralada (girona), la manga (murcia), boecillo (valladolid). Get the picture? Casinos are big in Spain!

Learning the language is not as difficult as many might think. In fact some good courses that teach by using linguistics’ training offer 12 day immersion Spanish courses. Some of these are a free download but be aware it is difficult to learn any language without actually hearing the pronunciations so try and find a course with an audio file with it. The Spanish language is really one of the most romantic languages. Apart from that if you learn Spanish or at least enough to understand and speak the basics before you go to Spain your experience will be so much more fulfilling.

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It’s easy to learn Spanish if you begin with the basics. Just get down the simple verbs, some foods, and perhaps a few descriptive terms. Usually people learn Spanish by beginning to say the alphabet and rehearsing greetings such as “hello” and “goodnight,” but studying the facial features will allow you to have a bit of variety and spice as you learn Spanish.

It’s good to be able to speak about someone’s facial features in Spanish because if you meet someone in a Spanish-speaking country you may have to describe that person to another person who speaks Spanish. Also, describing people’s facial features in Spanish will help you to learn Spanish in a fun a creative way.

To begin with, if you meet someone who has a thin face, you would say “una cara delgada”. Translated into English, this means “She has a thin face.” If you meet someone who has a chubby face, you would say “una cara regordete.” If you meet someone you would like to describe as having had a face lift you would say un lifting or un “estiramiento facial.” If someone has wrinkles you would say “arugas.” If someone’s face is happy, you would say “una cara alegre.” If someone has a big nose you would say “una nariz grande.”  If someone has sunken eyes you would say “ojos hundidos.”  In the event that you meet someone with shifty eyes you would say “ojos furtivos.”

Those are just some Spanish words that you can you use to describe people’s faces as you continue to learn Spanish. Now, you will not be at a loss for words when you meet people on the street. See how fun it can be learning Spanish?

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