1027 Best Sights in Spain

This pedestrian bridge on the western edge of Toledo dates to 1203 and has splendid horseshoe arches. At 40 meters (131 feet) long, it was one of the longest bridges in the world at the time of construction.

A masterwork in Churrigueresque (Spanish baroque) architecture, this impressive granite bridge over the Manzanares connects Arganzuela and Carabanchel. Felipe IV commissioned its construction in order to shorten the route from Madrid to Toledo in the mid-17th century (hence the bridge's name), but floods destroyed the initial structure. The bridge you can walk across today (it is pedestrian-access-only) was completed in 1732 by architect Pedro de Ribera and contains nine arches buttressed by rounded columns. At night, these are uplit and look particularly magical from below on the Madrid Río esplanade. Midway across the bridge, don't miss the niches adorned with richly carved limestone statues of Madrid's patron saints, San Isidro Labrador and Santa María de la Cabeza.

Immediately south of the Plaza de España, this is Ronda's most famous bridge, an architectural marvel built between 1755 and 1793. The bridge's lantern-lighted parapet offers dizzying views of the awesome gorge. Just how many people have met their ends here nobody knows, but the architect of the Puente Nuevo fell to his own death while inspecting work on the bridge. The visitors' center shows its construction. During the civil war, hundreds of victims were hurled from it.

Next to this bridge is an Iberian stone bull, and opposite the bull is a statue commemorating the young hero of the 16th-century picaresque novel The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes and of His Fortunes and Adversities, a masterpiece of Spanish literature. There's also a 300-meter track and a network of paths on the south side of the bridge ideal for jogging.

A high, humpback medieval bridge (also known as the Puente Romano, or Roman Bridge, because of its style) spans the Río Sella gorge with a reproduction of Pelayo's Victory Cross, or La Cruz de la Victoria, dangling underneath.

In 1903, four caves were discovered in this 16th-century hamlet in the Pas Valley, under the 350-meter (1,150-foot) peak of Monte del Castillo. Two of these—Cueva del Castillo and Cueva de las Monedas—are open to the public. Bison, deer, bulls, and humanoid stick figures are depicted within the caves; the oldest designs are thought to be 35,000 years old. Most arresting are the paintings of over 50 hands (some 35 of them remain). The painters are thought to have blown red pigment around their hands through a hollow bone, leaving the negative image. Online reservations are essential.

This triumphal arch, a popular backdrop for photos, was built by Carlos III in 1778 to mark the site of one of the ancient city gates. You can still see numerous bullet and cannonball holes on its exterior, left intentionally as a reminder of Madrid's tumultuous past. Conservationists are thrilled that the €3 million, 11-month restoration ending in 2024 "saved" the structure, which was beginning to crumble due to pollution and structural issues.

Outside this old Moorish gate at the northern entrance of the Judería is a statue of Seneca, the Córdoba-born philosopher who rose to prominence in Nero's court in Rome and was forced to commit suicide at his emperor's command. The gate stands at the top of the narrow and colorful Calle San Felipe.

Marbella's wealth glitters most brightly along the Golden Mile, a tiara of star-studded clubs, restaurants, and hotels west of town and stretching from Marbella to Puerto Banús. A mosque and the former residence of Saudi Arabia's late King Fahd reveal the influence of Middle Eastern oil money in this wealthy enclave. About 7 km (4½ miles) west of central Marbella (between Km 175 and Km 174), a sign indicates the turnoff leading down to Puerto Banús. Though now hemmed in by a belt of high-rises, Marbella's plush marina, with 915 berths, is a Spanish answer to St. Tropez. Huge yachts and countless expensive stores and restaurants make for a glittering parade of beautiful people that continues long into the night. The backdrop is an Andalusian pueblo—built in the 1960s to resemble the fishing villages that once lined this coast.

Occupying a meticulously preserved royal customhouse from the 17th century, the tourist office is outfitted with balconies, an interior patio, and intricate wood carvings.

There's no more striking introduction to Extremadura than the Puerto de Tornavacas—literally, the point \"where the cows turn back.\" Part of the N110 road northeast of Plasencia, the pass marks the border between Extremadura and the stark plateau of Castile. Its elevation of 4,183 feet affords a breathtaking view of the valley formed by the fast-flowing Jerte River. The lower slopes are covered with a dense mantle of ash, chestnut, and cherry trees, whose richness contrasts with the granite cliffs of Castile's Sierra de Gredos, blanketed in garnacha grapevines. But cherries, of course, are the principal crop. Camping is popular in this area (contact the tourist office for more details), and even the most experienced hikers can find some challenging trails.

The three-hour walk down the mountain from Vall de Núria to the sleepy village of Queralbs follows the course of the cogwheel train on a rather precipitous but fairly easy route (provided there's no snow). The path overlooks gorges and waterfalls overshadowed by sheer peaks before exiting into the quaint village of Queralbs, where houses made of stone and wood cling to the side of the mountain. There is a well-preserved Romanesque church, notable for its six-arch portico, marble columns, single nave, and pointed vault.

Designed by José Benito de Churriguera in the waning baroque years of the early 18th century, this museum showcases 500 years of Spanish painting, from José Ribera and Bartolomé Esteban Murillo to Joaquín Sorolla and Ignacio Zuloaga. The tapestries along the stairways are stunning. The gallery displays paintings up to the 18th century, including some by Goya. Guided tours are usually available (check the website for times). The same building houses the Calcografía Nacional (National Prints Institute), which sells limited-edition prints from original plates engraved by Spanish artists. There are often classical concerts and literary events in the small upstairs hall: tickets can be purchased on the website.

The 16th-century seafarers' basilica has lovely, sinuous vaulting and, at the back of the nave, a Romanesque portal. There's also an 18th-century Christ by the Galician sculptor Ferreiro. Entrance to the basilica is free, but a pop-in to the museum and tower will set you back only €1.

Built on the orders of King Sancho VII el Fuerte (the Strong), the Collegiate Church houses the king's tomb, which measures more than 2.1 meters (7 feet) long.

This seminary, with its church, cloister, and library, is the crown jewel of Valencia's Renaissance architecture. Founded by San Juan de Ribera in the 16th century, it has a lovely Renaissance patio and an ornate church, and its museum—Museum of the Patriarch—holds artworks by Juan de Juanes, Francisco Ribalta, and El Greco.

Tired of previous monarchs' dependency on Belgian and Flemish thread mills and craftsmen, King Felipe V established the Royal Tapestry Factory in Madrid in 1721. It was originally housed near Alonso Martínez and moved to its current location in 1889. Some of Europe's best artists collaborated on the factory's tapestry designs, the most famous of whom was Goya, who produced a number of works on display at the Prado. The factory, the most renowned of its kind in Europe, is still in operation—you can tour the workshop floor and watch weavers at work. They apply traditional weaving techniques from the 18th and 19th centuries to modern and classic designs—including Goya's. Prebooking online is required, and all visitors get a tour (English tours usually begin at 12:30 pm weekdays).

Boat trips can take you up the river, stopping at various points in the park; the Real Fernando, with bar and café, does a 3½-hour cruise up the Guadalquivir to the Coto de Doñana and a combined 2½-hour boat trip with a jeep tour in Doñana. Book ahead.

You don’t have to be a horticulturalist to appreciate the breadth of the exotic plant collection here. Opened in 1781 and emblematic of the Age of Enlightenment, this lush Eden of bonsais, orchids, cacti, and more houses more than 5,000 species of living plants and trees in just 20 acres. Its dried specimens number over a million, and many were brought back from exploratory voyages to the Americas.

In an unlikely location—among apartment blocks a good 10-minute walk from the walls—is one of the most important religious institutions in Castile. The monastery was founded by Fernando and Isabel with the backing of Inquisitor-General Tomás de Torquemada (who is buried in the sacristy), largely responsible for the expulsion of the Jews per the Alhambra Decree. Further funds were provided by the confiscated property of converted Jews who were dispossessed during the Inquisition. Three decorated cloisters lead to the church; inside, a masterful high altar (circa 1506) by Pedro Berruguete overlooks a serene marble tomb by the Italian artist Domenico Fancelli. One of the earliest examples of the Italian Renaissance style in Spain, this work was created for Prince Juan, the only son of Fernando and Isabel, who died at 19. After Juan's burial here, his heartbroken parents found themselves unable to return.

Given the world’s current flux, visiting one of Barcelona’s largest Civil War air raid shelters feels humbling, if not a little unnerving. In 1937, with men involved in combat and the threat of aerial attacks unabating, it was left to Carrer Nou de la Rambla’s women, children and elderly to carve their street’s 1,000-person-capacity emergency bunker. Reaching the council’s required 40-foot depth was aided by both the existing cover of Montjuïc mountain and the soft rock it’s made of, but the task was still no mean feat. The tunnels snake for over 1,300 feet, and the Sunday-morning guided tours inside offer a fascinating insight into how shelter life played out. For instance, there were rules forbidding anything that could provoke below-ground coming-to-blows, such as bringing food inside, or debating—yep, you guessed it—politics and religion.

Cartagena suffered through much aerial bombardment during the Spanish Civil War, since it was the base for most of the Republican fleet. For the safety of its citizens, shelters with a capacity of 5,500 were built into the sides of the Concepción Hill. At the museum, visitors today can see the conditions people had to endure during those harrowing days.

This former palace, at the bottom of Portal de l'Angel, where it divides and leads off left to the Cathedral, is now a private fine-arts society. There is a gallery that features paintings by Salvador Dalí among others, as well as a restaurant and bar open to the public. It also offers drawing and painting classes and occasional film showings and concerts. Note the elegant Gothic details of the main entrance, with its heavy keystone arch, the stone carvings inside to the right in the Sala Güell, and the stairway sculptures. The El Cercle restaurant upstairs has an intimate feel. Tables on the outdoor terrace overlooking the passing throngs are hard to come by on busy days, but well worth the view.

From Camprodon, take the C38 north toward Molló and the French border. After 3 km (2 miles), turn east toward Rocabruna, a village of well-preserved stone houses at the source of the clear Beget River. Rocabruna is famous for two attractions: its 11th-century castle (now in ruins), built on a hilltop with superb views of the Beget Valley, La Garrotxa, and the Pyrenees, and the idyllic Can Po restaurant, a worthwhile stop on the way to Beget.

Discovered in 1968, the cave here has 20,000-year-old paintings on a par with those in Lascaux, France, and Altamira. Giant horses and deer prance about the walls. To protect the paintings, no more than 150 visitors are allowed inside each day, so reservations are essential. The guided tour is in Spanish. There's also a museum of Asturian cave finds, open year-round. Audio guides for the museum are available in English.

At the western edge of town 900 tombs were placed in underground chambers between the 4th and 2nd centuries BC. The necropolis walls, decorated with leaf and bird motifs, have niches for burial urns and tombs such as the Elephant Vault and the Servilia Tomb, a complete Roman villa with colonnaded arches and vaulted side galleries.

Little do many science buffs know that La Palma boasts the second-best astronomy observatory in the Northern Hemisphere, outdone only by Mauna Kea in Hawaii. Situated within the Caldera de Taburiente National Park, it has three extremely powerful telescopes and sits above the clouds at an altitude of 2,396 meters (7,861 feet). Though the site is operated by an astrophysics institute, small-group visits, lasting 70–90 minutes and always held at dawn, are subcontracted to a company called Ad Astra. The tour with a certified guide includes entry into one of the telescopes.

The Axarquía has a number of tourist trails that take in the best of local scenery, history, and culture. Two of the best are the Ruta del Sol y del Vino (Sunshine and Wine Trail), through Algarrobo, Cómpeta (the main wine center), and Nerja; and the Ruta de la Pasa (Raisin Trail), which goes through Moclinejo, El Borge, and Comares. The trails are especially spectacular during the late-summer grape harvest or in late autumn, when the leaves of the vines turn gold. A visit to nearby Macharaviaya (7 km [4 miles] north of Rincón de la Victoria) might lead you to ponder this sleepy village's past glory: in 1776 one of its sons, Bernardo de Gálvez, became the Spanish governor of Louisiana and later fought in the American Revolution (Galveston, Texas, is named for him). Macharaviaya prospered under his heirs and for many years enjoyed a lucrative monopoly on the manufacture of playing cards for South America. Gálvez was named Honorary Citizen of the United States in December 2014, and his portrait now hangs in the Foreign Affairs Committee room in the Capitol. A sculpture of the family around a fountain stands next to Málaga train station.

On the seafront west of the Plaça de la Reina, the 15th-century Llotja connects via an interior courtyard to the Consolat de Mar (Maritime Consulate). Its decorative turrets, pointed battlements, fluted pillars, and Gothic stained-glass windows—part fortress, part church—attest to the wealth Mallorca achieved in its heyday as a Mediterranean trading power. The interior (the Merchants' Chamber) often hosts free art exhibitions.

The Plaza Vázquez de Molina, in the heart of the Casco Antiguo, is the site of this building, which is photographed so often that it's become the city's unofficial symbol. It was built by Vandelvira, but he based his design on several plans drafted in 1536 by the architect of Granada's cathedral, Diego de Siloé. Considered one of the masterpieces of Spanish Renaissance religious art, the chapel was ransacked in the frenzy of church burnings at the outbreak of the Civil War but retains its ornate western facade and altarpiece, which has a rare Berruguete sculpture.