Spain Landmarks

Cadaques and Figueres

The famous Costa Brava in the Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia on the Mediterranean Sea is not only known for its numerous dream beaches. Numerous villages and small towns in the region have long made a name for themselves as a paradise and source of inspiration for artists and intellectuals from all over the world. In the fishing village of Cadaqués, among others, the most famous Spanish artist, Salvador Dalí, was inspired by the Mediterranean nature and the unique coastal landscape. In the nearby village of Portlligat, Salvador Dalí’s house, which has now been converted into a museum, is one of the most important sights in the region. The Gothic church “Santa Maria” should not be missed when visiting Cadaqués.

Tourist stronghold “Teatro Museo Salvador Dali”

Like Cadaqués, the 45,000-inhabitant city of Figueres, the birthplace of Salvador Dali, is an extremely popular meeting place for artists from all over Europe. The Teatro Museo Salvador Dali is one of the most visited museums in Spain. Dali’s pictures were exhibited for the first time in the former theater. Dali was buried in the crypt under the museum’s famous large glass dome. One of the other great attractions of the region is the International Circus Festival, which takes place every February at the Figueres exhibition center and attracts thousands of visitors from all over the world.

Picasso Museum

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), the most famous Spanish artist, spent some important years in his youth in Barcelona. Around 1900 he studied here at the art academy “La Llotja”, and it was in Barcelona that he exhibited his works for the first time. The “Museo Picasso” (Catalan “Museu Picasso”) shows a rich selection of Picasso’s works. If you are on holiday in Catalonia or take a city trip to Barcelona, ​​you should definitely plan a day for the great Picasso Museum!

Five palaces

The “Museo Picasso” was opened in 1963 and has been enlarged several times since then. Today it comprises five urban palaces that stand side by side on Montcada Street. The museum is well worth a visit just because of the interesting architecture of these five photogenic structures. All five palaces are many centuries old. Two of them, namely the “Palau Mauri” and the “Palau Finestres”, were even built on ancient Roman foundations. The visitors to the museum admire the representative stairwells of the palaces and like to take a look into the shady inner courtyards.

The permanent exhibition and the temporary exhibitions

No less than 4,251 works of art by Picasso are distributed across the five palaces. They form the permanent exhibition. Most of the works are drawings and paintings, for example portraits of Picasso’s parents (from 1896), a “Still Life” from 1901, a Harlequin from 1917 and “The Embrace” (1900). But sculptures and porcelain can also be seen. The focus is on the works that the artist created in his youth. In addition, temporary exhibitions are always shown in the “Museo Picasso”, which are usually intended to illustrate the relationship between Picasso and another artist. So far, Salvador Dalí and El Greco have been the focus of the temporary exhibitions.

Souvenirs

In the souvenir shop of the “Museo Picasso” visitors will find a rich selection of art books about Picasso and his era, as well as postcards and posters, of course – who wouldn’t want to hang up a Picasso work of art at home as a reminder of the trip to Barcelona?

Opening hours

The “Museo Picasso” is open daily from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Thursdays from 9:00 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Mondays are closed.

El Teide National Park

The El Teide National Park is a protected landscape area on the Canary Island of Tenerife. The national park is located on the Pico del Teide, the highest mountain in Spain, the highest volcano on the Atlantic islands and the third highest volcano in the world. The huge area was opened as a national park in 1954, making it the third oldest national park in Spain. The Pico Viejo, also included in the national park boundaries here on Tenerife, is the second highest volcano in the Canary Islands at 3,135 m. The Pico del Teide and the Pico Viejo are the only mountains in the Canary Islands that rise above 3,000 meters.

The park has an area of ​​almost 19,000 hectares and is undoubtedly Tenerife’s greatest attraction. El Teide is the most visited national park in Spain and Europe and was the eighth most visited in the world until 2015, with 3 million visitors annually. In 2007 UNESCO named the park a World Heritage Site. Ten years earlier, at the end of 2007, the fascinating terrain was included in the list of the 12 treasures of Spain. There are really enough reasons for this remarkable award. On the one hand, the park has one of the most impressive volcanic landscapes in the Canary Islands and the whole world, and on the other hand, there is an astonishingly diverse vegetation in El Teide National Park. Visitors to the holiday island of Tenerife should definitely not miss this enchanting national park. Here tourists experience strange landscapes as if from another world. During mountain hikes, stressed relaxation seekers can breathe the pure air of Tenerife’s highest peaks. The impressive volcanic and forest landscapes of this natural wonder manage to inspire both locals and tourists. The frozen lava flows on the mountain slopes, the lush fauna and flora of the park and the snow-capped peaks are a connection that cannot be forgotten.