España

Comida

Celebraciones

Lugares de Interés

Información Adicional

La Comida Española• Tapas

• Gazpacho

• Paella

• Tortilla Española

• Sangría

• Tapas are found in Tasca bars. They are small snacks eaten between meals.

• Gazpacho is a cold vegetable soup originating in Andalucía.

• Paella is a rice, saffron, and seafood dish originating in Valencia. It is the national dish of Spain.

• Tortilla Española is an egg omelet with fried potatoes.

• Sangría contains red wine, sliced fruit, carbonated water, sweetener, and other spirits. Sangria blanca can be made with white wine. It gets its name from sangre - blood.

Comida Española

Celebraciones

• La Tomatina

• El Festival de San Fermín

(Running of the Bulls)

• El Gordo

La Tomatina• Valencia on last Wednesday of August

• 1 hour - begun & ended with the firing of a water cannon

• plastic for storefronts

• protective googles and gloves.

• smashed before throwing for safety – over 90,000 pounds .

• clothing usually ripped – not uncommon to end up naked.

La Tomatina

Running of the Bulls

• held in Pamplona and is from July 7-14• 6 bulls and 2 groups of oxen run streets for a ½ mile heading to a bullring.• People run in front to guide the bulls to the ring – usually lasts 3 - 4 mins.• barricades along sides of street for people to slip in and out, but not bulls.• 1 rocket launched for opening of gate, another for release of bulls, a third

when they enter the ring and a forth when its officially over.• against law to touch bull b/c it distracts them, but some do for good luck.• dressed in white shirt, trousers, and red sash at waist and neck

El Festival de San Fermín

El Gordo

“The Fat One”

• is the Spanish Christmas lottery

• tickets go on sale in the summer

• drawn every December 22

• takes in excess of 3 hours to draw winners

• drawn by hand in front of a live audience in Madrid

• children sing out the numbers while the crowd chants “gordo, gordo”

• is the biggest and oldest lottery in the world

• 1 big ticket is $310(U.S.), but its split into 10 for $31 each.

• total winnings is over 3 billion U.S. dollars with multiple winners

• use the verb tocar for winning the lottery, not ganar.

Lugares de Interés• La Alhambra in Granada, Andalucía

• was home to the Moorish kings.• has over 30 impressive towers, but some are in ruins now

Lugares de Interés• La Mezquita in Córdoba

• one of the largest mosques in the world – Moors arquitecture

Lugares de Interés• El Parque de Retiro in Madrid, the capital city

• a very large lake in center of park with paths to many monuments, a rose garden, and the crystal palace

Lugares de Interés• La Plaza de Toros in Sevilla

• Seats 14,000 spectators and is the largest and oldest bullring in Spain

Información Adicional- Spanish nightlife starts around midnight and extends until sunrise.

- Most other businesses close for a “siesta” between 2 and 5 pm.

- Big meal of day is considered lunch around 2 pm.

- Dinner is not eaten until 9 pm at the earliest.

- Equivalent of tooth fairy is “Ratoncito Perez”, who leaves treats or $.

- Bonfires on Christmas eve to cleanse the spirit of illness and evil.