Life in Spain
6 articles
Las Fallas in Valencia: the city that builds itself to burn
Every March, Valencia stops behaving like a normal Mediterranean city. Streets become temporary galleries. Intersections become stages. Brass bands turn ordinary neighbourhood corners into processions. Children set off…
Public holidays in Spain: the calendar is part of the culture
Spain is very good at stopping. Not always completely, not always predictably, and never in exactly the same way from one region to the next. But throughout the year the country repeatedly reminds you that time is not…
Regional holidays in Spain: why the country does not take the same day off
One of the first signs that Spain is not one uniform country is the holiday calendar. You may open your laptop on what seems like a normal Tuesday and discover that your colleague in Valencia is off, your gestor in…
Sant Jordi in Barcelona: the day the city gives itself flowers and books
There are days when Barcelona feels staged for visitors, and there are days when it feels completely itself. Sant Jordi belongs to the second category.
Semana Santa in Spain: the week when cities remember out loud
Semana Santa is not one festival. It is Spain revealing, city by city, how differently a country can carry the same story.
Spanish local culture after moving: the quiet rules that make a place feel like home
Most people prepare for Spain by studying the visible things: documents, housing, healthcare, tax, schools, bank accounts, perhaps a little Spanish. That preparation matters. But it is not the part that makes Spain…