{"id":465052,"date":"2025-10-01T06:19:19","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T06:19:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/465052\/"},"modified":"2025-10-01T06:19:19","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T06:19:19","slug":"ive-seen-more-of-spain-than-most-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/465052\/","title":{"rendered":"I’ve seen more of Spain than most people"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve spent an enviable amount of time in Spain<\/a>. The truth is, I\u2019ve seen more of the country than most Spaniards. From lush northern pastures to the desert-strewn south, there\u2019s barely a corner of this seductive land I haven\u2019t eaten, drunk or clicked a castanet in. So why, then, do I continually return to Zaragoza<\/a>?<\/p>\n

In essence, it\u2019s always a thrill to discover something that wasn\u2019t meant for you. Zaragoza gives me that feeling in spades. It\u2019s just getting on with the job, minding its own business \u2013 and sometimes the most compelling places are the ones that couldn\u2019t care less about compelling you.<\/p>\n

Halfway between Madrid and Barcelona, Zaragoza is Spain\u2019s fifth-largest city and the capital of Aragon, yet it exists in a curious blind spot for international travellers.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe old town of Zaragoza, a city that was known as Caesaraugusta during the Roman era (Photo: Sami Auvinen\/Getty)<\/p>\n

This former Roman colony, once known as Cesaragusta, offers a distilled essence of Spain without the exhausting crush of tourism that plagues its more famous counterparts. It\u2019s a city that somehow remains deliciously uncrowded, despite possessing architectural riches that would cause stampedes elsewhere.<\/p>\n

The Basilica del Pilar is a case in point. While Santiago de Compostela\u2019s cathedral lures crowds with its pilgrimage pedigree, Zaragoza\u2019s baroque masterpiece sits quietly by the River Ebro, its domes reflected in water that\u2019s more acrid than azure.<\/p>\n

Inside, locals light candles under Goya frescoes with the same casual efficiency they\u2019d apply to buying milk. It\u2019s a vast aerodrome of devotion and a salient reminder of Spain\u2019s conspicuously Catholic past.<\/p>\n

\"AA carved entrance to the Aljaferia Palace (Photo: Asier\/Getty)<\/p>\n

The layers of history are tangible. You can trace Roman footsteps at the Museo del Teatro Romano, then pivot forward a millennium at the Islamic Aljafer\u00eda Palace, a fairytale fortress whose honeycombed arches and delicate stucco work rival Granada\u2019s Alhambra. Go early enough and you might even have the place to yourself.<\/p>\n

\u201cTen years ago, people stopped for lunch, maybe,\u201d says waitress Elena at El Real bar<\/a>, presenting me with a reassuringly cold local Ambar beer. \u201cNow they stay for days.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gesturing across the vast Plaza del Pilar \u2013 the largest in Europe after St Peter\u2019s Square in Rome \u2013 she\u2019s optimistic about the city\u2019s future. \u201cWe\u2019re almost like Spain\u2019s secret handshake. Suddenly, Zaragoza is no longer a layover; it\u2019s the escape.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been escaping here for years. My partner lives in Caspe, a modest town in the wider region, so Zaragoza feels like the closest point of culture in a fairly barren patch of land. Recent improvements, such as better transport links and a clutch of fantastic restaurants, only make it better.<\/p>\n

At the heart of the city\u2019s evolution is Natalia Chueca, the engaging, perma-smiling mayor. \u201cWhat truly sets us apart is the combination of human scale, high quality of life and the ambition of its people,\u201d she tells me. \u201cWe are building a city that is sustainable, digital and connected, but also deeply proud of its roots.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheThe art nouveau Mercado Central de Zaragoza (Photo: ivotheeditors\/Getty)<\/p>\n

Despite the hi-tech ambitions, this remains Spain without filter. At the art nouveau Central Market, vendors call out prices for vegetables I can\u2019t identify, while elderly women inspect tomatoes with the intensity of sommeliers. If the chips are digital, they\u2019ll still come smothered in bravas sauce.<\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s the El Tubo district, a fragrant, labyrinthine pocket of medieval Zaragoza that never sold its soul. Here, tapas bars cling to alleyways barely wide enough for conversation.<\/p>\n

At El Meli<\/a>, a smart, adventurous joint manned by handsome waiters, I\u2019m fed small plates of counterintuitive wonder that would make Madrile\u00f1os green with envy.<\/p>\n

The standout dish is a strange thing indeed: cave ovum are crunchy sacks of filo pastry, filled with a runny carbonara sauce made from egg, bacon and, unusually, ground-down pork scratchings.<\/p>\n

While these little morsels are solid enough on the fork, they explode in the mouth \u2013 and they\u2019re surprisingly tasty.<\/p>\n

\"ElEl Tubo is a network of narrow streets where you\u2019ll find tapas bars (Photo: Jose Luis Zueras Marco\/Getty)<\/p>\n

Things take a surreal turn when the area, like the whole country, suddenly experiences a nationwide power outage. Despite the unprecedented circumstances, no panic ensues, just quiet laughter and impressive calm. \u201cNo pasa nada,\u201d a man beside me shrugs, telling me it\u2019s no problem, raising his glass. \u201cThe wine still works.\u201d<\/p>\n

I stumble into El Truco<\/a>, a gluten-free tapas bar and seemingly the only place in the city with a gas stove. In the kitchen, b\u00e9chamel-oozing croquetas sizzle in near-darkness, lit only by the chef\u2019s iPhone. This is Spain at its most resourceful, where red wine and a shred of ham cure all of life\u2019s ills.<\/p>\n

With that in mind, I honour the day with a glass of chilled Garnacha in Plaza de San Felipe, one of Zaragoza\u2019s hidden plazas, where blossom falls like confetti. Squint and it could be sun-dappled Paris in the 1940s.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, it\u2019s the Zaragozanos themselves who shape the city\u2019s character. Known across Spain for their fierce independence, they embrace what\u2019s known as terquedad \u2013 a type of hard-headed stubbornness that refuses to bow to convention. I\u2019ll be back soon, stubbornly smitten, power bank at the ready.<\/p>\n

\n

Getting there
<\/strong>Ryanair operates direct flights from Stansted to Zaragoza. Trains from Madrid take around one hour 20 minutes.<\/p>\n

Staying there
<\/strong>Hotel Palafox<\/a> in the city centre has doubles from \u00a370. <\/p>\n

More information
<\/strong>Rutica 41<\/a> offers walking tours of old Zaragoza and El Tubo tapas trail.
zaragoza.es<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I\u2019ve spent an enviable amount of time in Spain. The truth is, I\u2019ve seen more of the country…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":465053,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5312],"tags":[41594,2000,299,5510,104,8879,183],"class_list":{"0":"post-465052","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-spain","8":"tag-city-break","9":"tag-eu","10":"tag-europe","11":"tag-europe-travel","12":"tag-spain","13":"tag-spain-travel","14":"tag-travel"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115297463202243583","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=465052"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465052\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/465053"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=465052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=465052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=465052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}