Spain

Spain, for me, is two countries pretending to be one. There’s the loud, sun-baked postcard everyone knows, and then there’s the Spain I keep going back to: the green, rainy north, the Basque coast where people argue about pintxos like it’s a sport, and the empty desert of the Bardenas that looks like another planet. Additionally there’s a special place in my heart for the Balearic islands. I write about the Spain that rewards a rental car and a loose plan: honest food recommendations and the tourist traps to skip, where the scenery is actually worth the detour. Less sangria-on-the-beach (although sometimes I recommend this too), but more of “how is this place not full of tourists?”