"Going for tapas" is an essential part of life in Spain. It isn't so much what you eat but how - that is, a morsel food with every drink, and each each one in a different bar. Lots of bars, lots of drinks, lots of great food.
They say you don't get anything for free in this life. In much of Spain this is indeed the case, but in Granada (and a few select other cities) your tapas come free with your drink.
Animal rights activists will be up in arms about bullfighting's inclusion in this list, while many Spaniards will groan - bullfighting is no longer anywhere near as popular as it once was. However, bullfighting is an inescapable part of Spain's history and remains an anachronistic curiosity - ritualized animal cruelty in a progressive Western democracy. Choose carefully which city you go to see your bullfighting in - just because a city has a bullring, doesn't mean the city has a tradition of bullfighting.
Antoní Gaudí's architecture is famous, daring and unique - but that doesn't mean it is actually any good. I met a Swedish man who described La Sagrada Familia as "the most ghastly thing I have ever seen". But even he admitted that everyone should see it.
Gaudí has no doubt brought quite a large number of people to Barcelona just to see his ridiculously over-the-top basilica, but there is a lot more to Gaudí's work than just a pointy church. He made a number of private buildings in the center, as well as the magnificent Parc Guell.
In the hills of Granada is the Alhambra Moorish fortress, which protected the city's inhabitants from invasion by the Christians for hundreds of years. It certainly worked - Granada was the last city to fall during the Reconquista, the Spanish leg of the Crusades. You can image what to expect at the Alhambra with this simple equation: take the most beautiful gardens in the world, add a beautiful fortress and multiple by ten. Most people get around the Alhambra in under four hours, but many have been known to stay longer. Avoid busy times of year as tickets are in short supply.
Flamenco is virtually unique in present day music - a traditional form of folk music that is still as alive today as it has ever been. Flamenco can be heard backed by a full orchestra in the gardens of Seville's Alcazar, played by a pair of drunken gypsies in a seedy tavern or blaring from the stereo of a youth's turbo-charged sports car.
The best flamenco is to be found at a gypsy wedding, a spontaneous bar sing-a-long or in one of Spain's prisons. These are hard to come by, so you'll need to go and see a show. Unfortunately, it is difficult to find a flamenco show that is not aimed at tourists - ask your hotel where you should go. As a general rule, if a venue has several shows in one night, the last one will be the most 'authentic'.
Spain produced two of the most important artists of the past hundred years: Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali. Find work by both artists in the Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, one of Madrid's three essential museums.
But many would say that these two artists are not the best that Spain has to offer, and even more would say that the Reina Sofia is not the best museum in Madrid. Instead, that accolade goes to the Museo del Prado, which houses excellent art from the 14th to the 19th centuries from the likes of Velázquez, Goya and El Greco.
The Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza completes the triumvirate of essential Madrid museums.
Most cities can only claim to have one truly iconic sight - Segovia has two. Its 2,000-year-old Roman aqueduct is still in immaculate condition despite there being no mortar to stick it together, while its Alcazar is said to have inspired Disney's Sleeping Beauty Castle (well that's what the locals say, anyway).
Another cliché, but when in Spain, you have to try the paella. Unfortunately, unscrupulous Spanish restaurants know this and often serve paella which is frankly unpalatable. For this reason, you have to choose your restaurant carefully. Click on the link for help with this. One last piece of advice: paella comes in many styles - bypass the seafood version and go for paella Valenciana. Made from meat instead of seafood, it was the original paella and is the most 'authentic' version.
Seville is a treat, providing you can avoid the sweltering heat in August and that they've finished the Metro by the time you get there (should be sometime this century). But Seville at its best is truly captivating, including its cathedral with its Giralda tower, the neighboring Alcazar castle and garden complex and the Plaza de España.
The north-west of Spain is different. For a start, it's green. Secondly, they drink cider (something you won't find in the rest of Spain). You can't say you know Spain until you've seen this part of Spain. Don't forget to try the seafood in Galicia, in particular pulpo a la gallega (octopus).
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