The Traveller's Guide To: Going native in Spain

WHERE DO THE SPANIARDS GO ON HOLIDAY?

From a sunlounger on the Costa del Sol, surrounded by tourists chatting in English, German or French, it is hard to credit that most Spaniards also take their holidays in Spain. Although Spain is now a fully signed-up member of the affluent countries' club, most of its residents don't harbour any ambition to travel outside their own borders. They can find an abundance of beaches and mountains as well as two sets of widely contrasting island groups: the Balearics and the Canaries. More surprisingly perhaps, many Spanish holidaymakers don't even stray beyond the borders of their own region, particularly if it's one of the coastal holiday destinations like Catalonia or Andalucia.

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According to the statistics, Spanish nationals who visit Andalucia over the course of a year outnumber the foreign visitors by two to one. So why don't you see them sunbathing or in your hotel restaurant? There's no evidence that they are any more sensible about the potentially harmful effects of the sun than us, but it is certain that Spanish holidaymakers don't favour the all-in packages that are the staple offering of the resort hotels which dominate certain stretches of the coastline. Their preference, is for smaller hotels, rented villas and apartments or to stay at the homes of family or friends. In many cases they don't need to do any of these things because they have a holiday home of their own. Amongst the European countries, only France can boast more second-home owners than Spain.

WHEN DO THEY GO?

Apart from the key months of July and August, the main holiday periods are over Christmas and the week before Easter: Semana Santa, which is starting right now. Visiting family is an important part of these latter celebrations which can involve long journeys since Spain's recent history has seen huge migrations from rural areas to the major cities. Dotted across the rest of the year are the other festivals and public holidays for which Spain is renowned, and when one of these falls on a Thursday or a Tuesday the custom is to make "a bridge" (un puente) and take the intervening day off work. During the puentes, as well as the other main holiday dates, visitors should expect crowded trains, planes and roads.

One very civilised holiday habit that Spain has managed to keep is the long summer holiday. A recent survey comparing holiday habits across Europe found that a quarter of Spaniards who go on holiday, do so for a month. In the Sixties and Seventies, this custom gave rise to the so-called "Rodríguez" phenomenon in which Señor Rodríguez would leave his wife and children in an apartment or campsite for the summer, while he carried on working, popping down to visit at weekends. Sr Rodríguez's inability to cook, clean and generally look after himself, as well as indulge the opportunity to act out his macho fantasies has been the stuff of comic films. Spanish friends tell me that if this custom is still alive, women are at least as likely to be the ones staying on at the work while the men look after the children.

WHAT ARE THEIR FAVOURITE BEACHES?

Spanish people feel the lure of la playa as strongly as any other Europeans - and they have almost 5,000km of coastline to enjoy. So, despite the seasonal influx of foreigners, there are a numb-er of seaside resorts where Spaniards are likely to be in the majority. Conil, for instance, on the south-western coast, near the border with Portugal, is a fishing village which has made the most of its long sandy beaches and the charms of its old town. In summer, there are free discos on the beach and the kind of lively outdoors nightlife that characterise resorts popular with Spaniards. In fact, the whole of the Costa de la Luz is relatively free of the ravages of international tourism, starting with the city of Cádiz and extending along to Sanlúcar de Barrameda, famous for its dry sherry and its fish restaurants.

Travelling east along the southern coast, you'll also find an authentic local flavour to the Costa Tropical (in Granada province). Seaside towns such as Salobreña and Almuñecar, with their small hotels, wide esplanades for the evening paseo and hundreds of beach-side restaurants (chiringuitos), appeal more to traditional Spanish tastes than the packaged tourism of the adjoining Costa del Sol. Another very different stretch of coast which is little known beyond the Iberian peninsular is formed by the Rias Baixas on the west coast of Galicia. This series of long inlets provides inland Spain with much of its shellfish and Galicia with its main holiday destinations. New motorways have halved the time it takes to reach Galicia from Madrid, with a consequent increase in the popularity of resorts like O Grove, on a peninsula between two rias, with access to a variety of beaches and no shortage of hotels, campsites and seafood restaurants.

AND AWAY FROM THE BEACH?

The fastest growing part of the Spain's internal holiday market is turismo rural, which is bringing a piece of tourist action to unsung inland regions such as Aragón, Cantabria and Extremadura. Houses to rent and bed and breakfast on the farm are springing up in remote villages and are providing the stressed urbanites with a relaxing way of spending a weekend or a longer holiday. The fact that turismo rural is low impact and generally close to nature has an appeal for the ecologically aware younger Spaniards, who have reacted to the enormous environmental damage that was done to the coastline under the Franco dictatorship.

Except in Catalonia and the coastal belt of the north, known as Green Spain, turismo rural has remained pretty much a preserve of the Spaniards. However, the tourist websites provided by the regions can provide most of the information you need to book a place for yourself. Aragón, for instance, (easily reached from the UK via Zaragoza airport) which takes in a beautiful stretch of the Pyrenees and its foothills has a number of houses on offer, starting as cheaply as €18 (£13) a day for two people - plus one euro each for breakfast! - although that price doesn't include an en-suite bathroom.

AND WHAT'S A TYPICALLY SPANISH DAY OUT?

Escaping from the crowded and - in summer - sweltering cities is an important feature of Spanish life. Sundays will see an exodus to the countryside or into the mountains for a walk or a cultural visit, followed by a good long lunch or just the good long lunch on its own. An hour's car-ride north of Madrid is a town called Sepúlveda which is not only ideally placed for an excellent walk, but is also brimming with restaurants offering the Castillian speciality of roast suckling lamb. First the walk: along the top of the serpentine gorges of the river Duratón, with the unusual chance to look down on squadrons of griffon vultures that nest in the high cliffs. Then the meal: tender, pink lamb accompanied by roast potatoes with rosemary and garlic, crunchy salad, crusty country bread and lashings of red wine. Alternatively, family and friends will drive out of town for a large-scale picnic and will spend hours preparing and cooking over a wood fire. The meal is the focal point of an occasion which also involves fun, games and usually music.

Festivals and pilgrimages are another good excuse for a trip into the countryside. In Galicia, for instance, during the summer months, there are a number of traditional festivals during which the wild horses that roam the local hillsides are captured, herded into corrals, branded and have their manes shorn. Known as a rapa das bestas (the shearing of the beasts), a typical event involves some stunning displays of horsemanship accompanied by live music, grilled sardines and much general revelry.

ARE THERE ANY SPECIAL ATTRACTIONS?

Spain has its share of international theme-park fun, with Tarragona's Port Aventura and the Caribe Aquatic Park grabbing most of the headlines. Further south is Benidorm's Terra Mítica, which can at least claim some connection with Mediterranean culture, while the Isla Mágica amusement park, located on the original Expo site in Seville has as its theme Spain's 16th-century Spanish colonial adventure in the Americas. More educational attractions for the whole family are Granada's science museum and Valencia's Parque de las Ciencias, where the principle of hands-on experiment is taken to new lengths: the visitor is forbidden not to touch. Also very popular during the summer with Spanish visitors are the National Parks particularly Doñana in Andalucía and Ordesa in the Pyrenees.

AND WHAT GOES ON IN WINTER?

The central plateau, which occupies much of the Spanish mainland is renowned for its hot summers and bitterly cold winters. Luckily the east and south coasts, as well as the Balearic and Canary Islands are blessed with a much milder climate, making them an ideal destination for those who can afford to escape there or have family and friends to visit.

Skiing is also on the up and up, in the two major mountain ranges of the Pyrenees and the Sierra Nevada. The upmarket resorts of Benasque and Baqueira-Beret in the central Pyrenees are the best known. The latter is is famously patronised by the Spanish royal family. Families from Barcelona will also spend a few days in inns mountain village like Alins, with access to much smaller-scale and less sophisticated ski resorts. The Sierra Nevada provides Europe's most southerly ski resort and the chance to ski in surprisngly warm temperatures. Most of the visitors come from Madrid and the cities of Andalucia, with weekends and bank-holidays being particularly busy. Some of the wealthier yuppies from the capital will rent an apartment for the whole season, coming down to use it at weekends.

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