lettyg

Hello. <BR>I'm planning a two week trip to Madrid and Sevilla in March, and this will be my first time in the country. I speak fluent Spanish and will be going there with my boyfriend who speaks very little Spanish. We are both vegetarians and we do consume dairy products. We've only travelled throughout North America (mostly the US states and the southern Mexican states) and have always found suitable and delicious vegetarian food everywhere we've gone, especially in southern Mexico. <BR>I've read that the Spanish diet consists mainly of seafood and meat and am wondering if finding a healthy and delicious meal will be difficult since neither of us eats meat nor seafood... <BR>Has anyone travelled to Spain with a vegetarian, or been to Spain as a vegetarian? <BR>If so, what were your experiences? What types of food were available that did not use meat or seafood as an ingredient? <BR> <BR>

scigirl

Since you speak fluent Spanish it may be easier for you than it was for my husband and I. We ended up eating seafood some of the time because it was hard to find meat-free dishes. Some tapas (tortillas - like an omlett), for instance, are meat-free). However, even salads sometimes arrived dosed with meat (often tuna fish). I think being fluent in Spanish you should be able to successfully order dishes and request that salads (or whatever) be made without meat. You can also picnic from a grocery store for some meals. Overall we managed pretty well. We did find the diet in Spain to be more meat based than some other countries, such as Italy - but it was still possible to maintain a vegetarian diet. Enjoy your trip.

frank

I've travelled with a vegetarian in Spain.Its not easy - as scigirl says, even the salads tend to have a little tuna in them.Most bars will serve tapas such as potatoes in oil & garlic. <BR>They really aren't set up for vegetarians, you should make it clear (in a nice way) what you want so you aren't given any surprises. <BR>Fortunately: <BR> The Spanish a are friendly & helpful lot & will probably make you up something, so if you have problems finding a place with a menu you like, just ask if they'd do you X.Lots of eggy things available(revelutos?) <BR> Try a Morroccan restaurant esp. in the <BR>South - cous cous & veg. with a sauce should suit. <BR>

Mariarosa

Vegetables in Spain are usually tapas or side dishes. Fortunately in Spain it is the normal "thing" to sit in a tapas bar and order a whole bunch of tapas (potatoes, olives, spinach, green beans, omellettes, eggplant, cheeses, etc). In Madrid there are two restaurants that I can recommend for vegetarians: <BR>1) La Trucha - had a nice selection of vegetarian tapas. <BR>2) El Estragon - A lovely, delicious vegetarian restaurant. <BR> <BR>I don't know if you'll be visiting Granada, but it also had a great vegetarian restaurant. I can't remember the name but it had an Arab influence and it was listed in either Let's Go or Lonely Planet.

Julie

My husband is a strict vegetarian, no eggs, meat, seafood, etc. Never will make an exception!! <BR> <BR>We went to Spain and Portugal for two weeks and had no problem. Just tell them that you are a vegetarian then make it clear what you do not eat. Say it twice to make sure. When they bring your food double check. We had salads brought with meat or anchovies and we nicely said I am sorry but he cannot eat this it has ham in it. They always fixed the problem. <BR> <BR>At some restaurants they bring you unasked for tapas. They are not just being nice, you will be charged for it. So if they bring you a dish of meat, tell them immediately that you are a vegetarian and ask them to take the dish away. Otherwise you will have to pay for it. When this happened to us they removed the rolled meat tapas and brought olives instead. Thats fine we liked them.

Sheila

Whilst I myself have never had a problem as such, the Rough Guide says something like" In Spain generally it can be hard. In Catalonia, if you don't eat fish, vegetarians should reconcile themselve to a sustained period of weight loss"

indiancouple

Try the site www.holycow.net ; it is a great site that lists vegetarian restaurants in any city in the world, including all cities of Spain, along with traveller reviews. We are also going to Spain shortly, and were looking for the same information as you. We found this site extremely helpful

indiancouple

Sorry, the site is www.happycow.net, and not holycow as mentioned earlier. Hope you like the site