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The regions of Spain
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Spain is a
big country, and distances can be long; driving from
Northern Europe to Spain is a time consuming operation, which explains
why the majority of British or German tourists visiting Spain prefer to
fly and then use some form of local transport - hire
car, bus, or train.
Flying to Spain
Spain is very well served by flights from Britain and the north of
Europe. There are busy - or not-so-busy - airports all along the
Spanish coast, particularly on the Mediterranean. The major airports on
the Mediterranean coast are Barcelona,
Alicante
and Malaga,
all of
which are served by scheduled flights and charters from a whole range
of UK and north European airports. Smaller airports are located on the
Mediterranean coast at Girona and Reus - in Catalonia - , at Valencia,
Murcia, and Almeria. There are also two inland airports in southern
Spain, served by international flights; Sevilla (Seville) and Granada.
Naturally, all of the main Spanish islands also have well-served
airports; Ibiza, Palma de Mallorca, Tenerife, and others.
Along the north coast of Spain, there
are airports at Bilbao, Santander, Oviedo, La
Coruña, Santiago and Vigo - though these are not served as
well as the airports in the south.
To all intents and purposes, there is
only one international airport in central Spain, and that is Madrid.
Madrid is a major international hub, with worldwide connections, and
connecting flights to domestic airports throughout Spain, including
some not served by any international flights.
Driving in Spain
Spain can be a great place for driving, or else a nightmare; it depends
on the location. Most of the time, Spain offers a stress-free driving
experience, especially on long cross-country routes, where the roads
are frequently good, and the traffic sparse. Spain has received a lot
of EU funding, in order to develop its road infrastructure, and the
result is a network of top quality highways, and motorways, that are
free of congestion and in some cases almost empty. Take the A66
motorway, for instance, that will eventually run from Oviedo to
Sevilla, down the west side of Spain. Some long stretches of this are
open, but virtually traffic-free! There are plenty of other good roads
that offer the same kind of hassle-free driving.
At the other end of the scale, there are the
nightmare locations; between Girona and Valencia, the Mediterranean
Motorway can be hell on earth, specially at peak periods. The stretch
round Barcelona is particularly busy, with the added enjoyment of
perpetual roadworks and relatively poor signposting. In fact, motorways
in any suburban area of Spain can be pretty alarming, as they are often
inadequate for the volume of traffic they carry. Anyone thinking of
driving from the UK or northern Europe down to the south of
Spain should be prepared for some long tiring kilometres
along the north Mediterranean coast. It is not really until after
Murcia that driving conditions really begin to become more relaxed.
Autopistas
and Autovias
The busy parts of the Spanish inter-city motorway system are
toll-roads, called Autopistas, and relatively expensive; these are
designated by the letters AP, as in AP7, which is the Mediterranean
coast motorway on which you enter Spain if you come in from France at
La Junquera. However most of the network apart from the busiest routes
consists of free motorways, known as Autovias. For example the AP7
turns into the A7 after Valencia. The speed limit on Autopistas and
Autovias is generally 120 km/h.
Car
hire in Spain
Cars can be hired all over Spain, and there is plenty of choice
of car rentals at Spanish airports. Generally speaking, hire is relatively cheap
compared to many other parts of Europe - but take care if you rent or hire from
a cheap-o independent car hire company; While you may get a perfectly
good hire at a bargain rate, on the other hand the quality and safety of
the vehicles hired out is not always up to the mark. Watch out for
dangerously worn tyres, missing equipment, or even headlights that do
not work.
Public transport in Spain
The Train in
Spain goes fast across the plain.... or at least it does
if you can take the "AVE", the Spanish TGV or high speed train. AVE
lines link Madrid with Seville, via Cordoba, and with Saragossa and
Barcelona in the north east. The Barcelona AVE line opened in March
2008. With maximum speeds of 220 km/h, the AVE is fast, but not quite
up to the level of the French TGVs, which run at up to 300
km.h.
Where there is no AVE service, the train in Spain
is a relatively slow-moving beast, and many Spaniards will prefer to
use the country's good network of long-distance bus services. These
services - by air-conditioned coach - link most big towns and cities,
and offer fast and comfortable
transport, which is above all cheap and good value for money. You can
check out times and routes, and make bookings, here.
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