And finally, also by popular request, my last list of the week. Please feel free to add to it.
The BEST things about Spain:
1. The food – the variation in all the different provinces, from Salmorejo in Cordoba, to Fabada in Asturias, Pinxtos in San Sebastian, Arroz in Valencia, tapas in Leon, and everything else in between!
2. The outdoor lifestyle – who doesn’t love eating, drinking, and living outside?
3. The strong sense of family – Spaniards work hard to keep the family important, it’s a shame other cultures focus less on this as time goes on.
4. The climate. Of course!
5. Spanish wine!
6. The Spanish are generally happy people who take pride in showing others the best of Spain (in many other countries people are often too quick to criticise their own culture, and there us nothing wrong with a bit of national pride).
7. If I don’t say the pretty girls then someone else will! 
8. Small traders still giving ‘trato personal’ – the supermarkets haven’t put everyone out of business yet.
9. The landscapes – From the lush green north, to the mighty Pyrenees, the deserts of Almeria, the Alpujarras, the Rias in Galicia, the wilds of Extremadura… the variety is unimaginable until you start to see it all for yourself.
10. What would YOU put for number 10?
ValenciaSon
9 Apr 08 at 1:06 am
Maybe Mowgli needs to learn to look for those bear necessities and forget about his worries and his doubts.
German
13 Apr 08 at 5:41 pm
@ Mowgli
In your eyes Ireland might be stuck in 1988, but morons like you are truly timeless.
Do yourself a favor and stop embarrassing yourself. In other words, STFU!!
janette
16 Apr 08 at 12:55 am
i completely agree with the whole snowball effect of new friends…its great!
…that and the free tapas in granada! the only place in spain where they are free, not only that but they are delicious too!
spain is a sweet sweet place
Pablo
7 May 08 at 10:16 am
Oh my good! How can you say Janette that Granada is the only place in Spain where you can enjoy free tapas??????
Let’s go to León and you will find it. Actually the old town is one of the places in Spain with more bars, restaurants and pubs per square meter. You can visit more than 12 tapas bars in just one hour, and you will see just a 10% of the them! And cheaper than in Granada (beautifull town of course)
Let’s go to León and meet the undescovered north of Spain, you will not regret it!
Ben
7 May 08 at 10:34 am
@Pablo, I agree, Leon, and especially its tapas, are wonderful!
bill
7 May 08 at 5:49 pm
I’ve seen this crap about “Granada being the only place in Spain that serves free tapas” on a few expat sites.
Is it a rumour that has got round some of those close-knit expat communities that are full of expats who dare not wander more than an hour from the coast? (except to visit Granada of course)
luke
8 May 08 at 10:42 am
I know a bar in Madrid with a sign saying ‘comida gratis’ and two bars that constantly bring around free sizziling lomo or gambas etc, regardless of whether you’ve bought a drink.
marc
8 May 08 at 10:58 am
Honestly, don’t understand what is so significant about the climate in…Madrid, for example. Four seasons, cold and hot, rain and sun. It is really quite normal. Championing Madrid for its climate is empty praise.
maria
13 May 08 at 3:38 pm
hi Im maria…im spanish and im living abroad…already 2 years! i was living in ireland holland and germany…im really proud of my country and its culture, history and so on…im not agree with this comments about ireland and i think that everybody should learn a bit about other cultures…and protect your own…really nice to hear these sweet comments about spain!
Maarten
13 May 08 at 7:05 pm
As this subject rumbles on, albeit, sadly, with some abuse, I thought I might share my impressions of the Spain/UK comparisons. I am Dutch, retired, have lived most of my life in the UK (including education), but also in Holland and Germany. I now live 50:50 in the UK (South) and the Costa de la Luz so my comments are specific to these areas – it may well be different elsewhere.
1. Climate: no contest – Spain wins hands down, especially in the hours of sunlight. We live in a ‘white’ town and by contrast the urban scene in the UK is mainly pretty drab.
2. Attitude to children: A huge contrast is to observe the outdoor environment for young children and their interaction with adults. By contrast the UK is an increasingly paranoid society – media driven, mainly.
I suspect the statistics would not support such a contrast.
3. The media….not a totally fair comparison because of language limitations.
In the UK the media is relentlessly negative and adversarial – we have just had 10 years of growth, high employment and absurd house price inflation, followed by 6 months (so far) of readjustment: the world has come to an end and it’s the government’s fault!
I enjoy (trying to) read El Pais/El Mundo because I sense that they try to put stories in some sort of context – giving data etc for other EC countries and other spanish states.
4. Food
In this town the locals have not raised their game: to be sure of a good meal the expats, and many spanish, go across to the Algarve. Better standard, better value, more friendly. Pity. UK is expensive but higher quality.
5. Traffic management.
Spain is ahead in the pedestrianisation of its towns as far as we can judge. The UK sees public transport as a business rather than a service and this restrains the move out of cars.
6. Social attitudes.
UK is run by, and for, the middle classes and above especially in its attitude to tax and public services. The rest are basically inconvenient and the response is retributional – more police, more prisons. Certainly not an equal opportunity society.
In Spain I get a greater sense of community….is this right?..and more women in key jobs.
7. Efficiency and sense of time.
The Spanish have a more relaxed attitude to time – a double edged sword which, as a customer, takes getting used to. The efficiency of (say) the local tax office…oh dear!
In the UK the standards are higher but at the cost of a lot of stress.
I hope this comes across as reasonably balanced – we love both countries and their differences.
Maria de la O
14 Jun 08 at 11:56 am
Hola Mowgly, nos duele que se metan con nosotros cuando curiosamente vienen a visitarnos, quizá sería mejor que cambiaran de destino en vacaciones.
Aunque imagino que tu les conoces mejor que yo por vivir donde vives, se te ha olvidado hacer mención al malolor y la suciedad que dejan en las calles cuando se hacen pis después de las cogorzas.
Menos mal que no todos actuan de la misma manera, no se puede generalizar, pero los que si lo hacen son muy visibles.
¡Have a nice day!
amaia
19 Jul 08 at 6:00 pm
mi
amaia
19 Jul 08 at 6:19 pm
Mowgly,
Fist thing I want to tell you, if you are not happy in Ireland, go back to Spain and stop moaning! Your first point was that in Ireland people insults their wife, I dont know what kind of people are you around with, because Im living in Ireland and I have never experienced that around me, anyway dont say that in spain was like that 20 years ago, because this days… sadly enough in spain the percentage of men abusing women is very high, every single day you can hear on the news, that a husband killed the wife, so just think before you write anything. I dont agree with any of the points you wrote about Ireland but Im not going to waste my time. Ireland is not better or worst than Spain, they are just tow different countries and thats it. Im Basque (no spanish), Im from Donostia (san sebastian) and thanks for the nice comments about my city, but Im very happy living in Ireland but I love Donostia, I suppose, home is always home!
Maria, gente educada y mal educada en todas partes! tambien hay muchos espanoles, vascos, alemanes, franceses….que dejen suciedad en las calles, lo que no puedes es generalizar!
Have a good day!
Amaia
catalina
21 May 09 at 7:37 pm
I don’t know how I ended up here, but here I am. The best thing about Spain is that we’are a very old country with a very young spirit. The smooth political transition almost 30 years ago is the best testimony of that.
Mark
24 May 09 at 10:21 am
Ice cold Cruz Campo on a hot Sevilla night.
tracey
6 Aug 09 at 11:23 pm
I liked Maarten:”I hope this comes across as reasonably balanced – we love both countries and their differences.”
In his 7 comparisons Spain comes out on top in every one!
jakira
17 Nov 09 at 12:20 pm
spain is wiked and the food is the best and i am a big fsn of spain .