Visiting Spain provides many opportunities for visitors and tourists. Since the country is blessed with so many landmarks, travelers could not just leave without taking a leg to the must see places there are in Spain. Madrid is a paradise for art lovers. Explore the city’s three superb art museums. The Prado has one of the most remarkable art collections in the world. The Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia focuses on modern art and is where Picasso’s famous Guernica is on display. The Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza is one of the most important private collections of western painting in the world. Discover Madrid’s Royal Palace, which dates from the mid-18th century and has more than 20 rooms open to the public. Enjoy the atmosphere in the area around Puerta del Sol, the heart of the city, and on Madrid's most historic and popular square, the Plaza Mayor.

Alcalá de Henares, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the birthplace of the writer Miguel de Cervantes and the English queen Catherine of Aragon is indeed a must see place in Spain. The main points of interest are the university, founded in the 16th century by Cardinal Cisneros, and the oldest surviving public theatre in Europe - as important to Spain as Shakespeare's Globe is to England. Absorb the lively atmosphere of Barcelona, Spain's second-largest city. A major commercial and industrial centre, it is graced by several of Antoni Gaudí’s architectural masterworks, the most famous being the still incomplete church of the Sagrada Familia (Holy Family). Visit the Barri Gótic (Gothic quarter), where the buildings date back to the 14th and 15th centuries. Highlights include the Seu (old cathedral), the Episcopal Palace, the Palau de la Generalitat and the Plaça del Rei. Frank Gehry’s marvellous Guggenheim Museum has turned Bilbao, the main city of the Basque region, into a very successful tourist destination.

Check out the newest tourist attraction in Valencia, Santiago Calatrava's City of Arts and Science Park. The Hemispheric, an amazing glass structure, houses a planetarium, IMAX dome and laserium, and the Palace of Arts boasts the largest oceanarium in Europe. While in Valencia, visit the cathedral. It claims possession of the Holy Grail. The Fallas (Mar 15-19) is a major festival culminating in the burning of papier-mâché effigies satirising famous Spanish figures and a magnificent fireworks display. To the south of Madrid is the ancient Spanish capital of Toledo. The city is dominated by the magnificent cathedral and Alcazar. Toledo is justly proud of its collection of paintings by El Greco, who lived and painted here. Go and see his most famous painting, The Burial of the Count of Orgaz, which is preserved in the Santo Tomé Church. There are more El Grecos as well as works by Goya and other artists in the Hospital y Museo de Santa Cruz, a magnificent Renaissance building with a Plateresque façade. Superbly situated on a plain overlooked by the Sierra de Gredos.

Danny Wirken
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