The most beautiful monasteries in Spain... 🧵

1. Monastery of San Juan de la Peña (Aragón) 2. Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial (Community of Madrid)

Today marks 7 years since the world lost Anthony Bourdain.

A chef, a traveler, and an enthusiast of Spain.

Here are my 20 favorite insights — on food, life, and Spanish culture — from every episode he filmed in Spain... 🧵 1. On the Irresistible Allure of Spain — and Granada

“Any reasonable sentient person who looks at Spain, comes to Spain, eats in Spain, drinks in Spain — they’re going to fall in love. Otherwise, there’s something deeply wrong with you. This is the dream of all the world. The dream is to live in Granada. Work in the morning, have a one-hour nap in the afternoon, and go out at night. Go out and see your friends, eat tapas, drink red wine, and be in a beautiful place.” - Anthony Bourdain

(Parts Unknown: Season 2, Episode 2: Spain)

The Italian Renaissance didn’t arrive in Spain through Madrid or Barcelona.

It took root in two tiny towns hidden in the hills of Jaén.

Their architecture changed the course of Spain. And I'll visit them for the first time next month...🧵 Úbeda and Baeza, just 9 km apart in Jaén province, flourished in the 16th century during Spain’s Golden Age.

Thanks to wealthy noble patrons and connections to the royal court, they became open-air showcases for Italian Renaissance ideals.

Spain isn’t just plazas, tapas, and wine —

It’s a gallery of ancient civilizations.

And these 20 artifacts bring its history to life... 🧵


1. Lady of Elche

A 4th-century BCE Iberian limestone bust featuring an elaborate headdress, possibly representing a priestess or goddess.

Discovered in 1897 near Elche, it is now housed in the National Archaeological Museum in Madrid.

I asked my audience a simple question...

Spain or Italy — and why?

Here are the 20 most thoughtful, hilarious, and balanced replies... 🧵 1. "There are around 250k Italians living in Spain, while around 20k Spaniards living in Italy. But we are brothers. We love each other. So wherever you choose to reside, you can vacation in the other."

They call it Dry Spain.

A land of sweeping plains, long shadows, and endless skies.

Today, Spain celebrates Castile-La Mancha — a region that is anything but empty... 🧵 As the country's third-largest region —

Castile-La Mancha sprawls across the heart of Spain.

Today, Spain celebrates the Canary Islands.

One of the most fascinating regions on Earth.

It’s hard to do a place like this justice, but here’s my best shot... 🧵 When people picture Spain, they think of flamenco, paella, and mainland cities.

But 1,000 miles southwest, off the coast of Africa, lie a series of islands that feels like an entirely different planet.

Can a building impose cosmic order on the chaos of the world?

Philip II of Spain thought so.

El Escorial was his answer — a palace, monastery, and royal tomb inside the largest Renaissance building in the world... 🧵 Built in the 16th century by Philip II, El Escorial was a project like no other:

To commemorate victory over France. Honor a martyred saint. Project Spain’s global power.

And serve as the king’s personal sanctuary.

The year was 722.

Exactly 1,303 years ago today.

A band of rebels made their last stand in the mountains of Asturias — sparking a resurgence that would shape European history forever… 🧵 A decade earlier, the Muslim armies of the Umayyad Caliphate had crossed into Iberia from North Africa.

In just a few years, they crushed the Visigothic Kingdom — defeating King Roderic and claiming nearly the entire peninsula.

Long before the Enlightenment, an intellectual revolution was already underway.

Rewriting the rules of war, empire, and economy.

This is the story of Salamanca. The oldest university in the Hispanic world... 🧵 Set in the golden sandstone city of Salamanca, the university’s Plateresque façade glows in the Castilian sun.

But what happened inside those walls is what made it legendary.

Think you know Spain?

Here are 20 things Spaniards say foreigners don't understand about their country... 🧵 1. "That total strangers can talk to each other in the streets as if they were friends or relatives. A friend of mine worked for 20 years in Brussels and when she came back to Spain she told me: 'You never feel lonely in Spain, even if you're on your own.'"

France gets the glory. Italy gets the flair.

But on this International Wine Day, it’s time for Spain to get the love it deserves.

Here’s to 3,000 years of winemaking... 🧵🍷 Spain’s love affair with wine began over 3,000 years ago.

The Phoenicians first brought vines to southern Spain around 1100 BCE.

The Romans expanded it. And after the fall of the empire, monks kept the tradition alive.

The oldest court in the world isn’t in Athens or Rome.

It’s in Valencia, Spain —

And it’s been settling irrigation disputes for more than 1,000 years… 🧵 This is the the Water Tribunal of Valencia.

Founded in the 10th or 11th century, it is not just the oldest court in the world...

But the oldest democratic institution in Europe.

The most iconic landmarks in Spain that no longer exist...🧵

1. Leaning Tower of Zaragoza 2. Palacio de Indo (Madrid)

Built nearly 1,000 years ago in a remote Catalan valley —

These churches form the greatest concentration of early Romanesque art in Europe.

Let’s walk through Vall de Boí’s 9 UNESCO-listed masterpieces… 🧵 1. Sant Climent de Taüll

The crown jewel of the valley.

Built in 1123, Sant Climent de Taüll is famous for its fresco of Christ Pantocrator — one of the most iconic religious images in all of Europe.

A hand raised in blessing. A gaze beyond time.

A love letter to the most famous museum in Spain... 🧵 The Prado opened in 1819 with just 311 paintings from the Spanish royal collection.

Today, it houses over 8,600 paintings, 7,600 drawings, and thousands of sculptures, prints, and historic documents.

But it was never supposed to be a museum…

Most visitors walk right past it.

A statue of the Devil — 666 meters above sea level.

In the middle of Madrid’s most beloved park.

But why?... 🧵 Most statues celebrate kings, saints, or gods. But this one captures Lucifer — the very moment he’s cast from Heaven.

Wings twisted, mouth open, eyes lifted in rage and sorrow.

Not evil.
Not grotesque.
Just… fallen.

You can’t name your child "Godzilla" in Spain.

Not Leo Messi, Chanel, or even Juanito.

Here’s a look at the country's banned names — and why they're rejected by Spanish law... 🧵 First, the basics:

Spain guarantees your right to name your child — but that freedom has legal limits.

Those limits are rooted in laws from 1957, updated in 2011, that aim to protect children’s dignity and avoid confusion.

In the 1800s, Barcelona was choking.

Walled in. Overcrowded. Rotting from the inside.

Until one man came along with a vision. And revolutionized urban planning in the process... 🧵 By the mid-1800s, Barcelona was a medieval prison.

Surrounded by 6km of stone walls, packed into 2 km², and overflowing with 187,000 people.

Epidemics ravaged the city. Life expectancy for the wealthy was 36 years. For the poor — it was 23.

In the 1970s, a quiet revolution began in northern Spain.

Led by young chefs with bold ideas — and a deep respect for tradition.

Today, it's a culinary capital of the world. And its movement is only getting started... 🧵 Spain's Basque Country isn’t just beautiful. It’s obsessed.

With food. With flavor. With getting it just right.

“There’s a mania for food here,” Anthony Bourdain said. “A secret society all centered around eating, cooking, and talking about eating and cooking.”

What if I told you one of Spain's greatest architectural minds never built a single monument?

He painted them instead... 🧵

1. View of the Interior of a Cathedral 2. La Iglesia de Santiago el Menor (Lieja)