¡ Visit Spain !




Spain is full of wonderful guitar music, guitarreros, and history.
Although we no longer offer our "Guitar Tour" of Spain, we want to encourage you to visit.

Below are some travel tips that we hope you find useful.

 

Madrid
In Madrid the Plaza Mayor is the center of the old town.
From a central hotel (in the Hapsburg District) you can walk to most of the major guitar shops.

Our hero in front of the historic Ramirez shop.
The Ramirez shop is on a little side street about 2 blocks from the Plaza Mayor.
You really have to go there. I mean really!

The Contreras shop is on the Calle Mayor that runs from the Royal Palace to the Plaza Mayor.
They will patiently let you drool over their historic collection of Contreras guitars.

Conde Hermanos has a nice little shop near the end of Calle Mayor near the Royal Palace.
Well worth the short walk to visit another known Madrid builder and see what he has cooking.

Check this list of guitar builders in Madrid, get a map, and have fun.
(Another luthier list.)

More Madrid Tips:
I have heard that the Hostel Macarena is a good place to stay, near the Plaza Mayor, and a good deal.

You can catch a taxi from the airport to city central for about 25 euros. After a long flight, it is worth it.
Some hotels offer a shuttle service from the airport.

One hotel I would avoid is Hotel Madrid on Carretas. It is right around the corner from the Ramirez shop,
so we stayed there last time. A little pricey for what we got, and the service was on the edge of rude.

As always, Rick Steves is a good source for lots of info and deals on clean hotels.

Eating in Madrid can get costly. The further you walk away from the Plaza Mayor, the better the prices are.
We usually take a glass of over priced mediocre wine in the Plaza ,
so we can enjoy the evening of activity in the Plaza. We eat our main meal a few blocks away.

Last visit we took a walking tour with Walks of Madrid.
This is more of a wine food adventure and light on the history. Even so, we found ourselves in a small group
of 4 people and went places that we would have never found without Andres.
He provided a killer 4 course meal with wines and a great explanation as to what wine to take with which food.

There is lots of history in Madrid.
If you are going to be there for a few days it might be worth joining the Wellington Society
and take advantage of his excellent excursions.

If you are only using Madrid for a jet lag recoup stop over, go to the tourist office in the Plaza Mayor.
You can get a free map and learn about short tours offered. A good one is a day tour bus pass.
You can ride a tour bus and jump on and off at the historic sites as you wish.
Get an info book and have at it. It is less than 20 euros a day.

We also were lucky enough to hear Carlos del Rio play in the Plaza Mayor one night.
He was just sitting out with his case open for tips... This guy is a great guitar player.
We really enjoyed it. These are the lucky things that make a great trip.
You might visit his website to see if you can hear him play while in Madrid.

 

Sevilla
If you were to spend your time in only one Andalucian city, this could be the one.
There is lots of flamenco, historic buildings, restaurants, museums, ...
It is flat and walking is easy.
We stayed with a family there for a week and just loved it.

You will enjoy visiting Cayuela guitar shop that is located in the old part of Sevilla.
Moises, pictured here with his son and Señora Everett, is a kind man filled with love for the guitar.
I bet you will find a good deal there. We are actually thinking of importing a few of his
new classic-electric thin body models. Check our "specials" section later this fall.

Sevilla is filled with these little plazas where you can find an open air restaurant with killer food for a good deal.
Santa Cruz area is the old part of Sevilla with narrow streets and lots of flamenco. Flamenco Sevilla.

Near the train station is the guitar shop of Bernal Guitars.
About a 5 euro cab ride from the center.
They have a large guitar production in Cadiz and make a range of guitars from $300 - $3000.
This is a small retail shop, which is the norm for Spain. But you will see a variety of instruments.
This is another friendly open shop where they will be happy to show you their guitars
and tell you about the best flamenco in town.

I do not include the smaller shops in my info, because it really is best to phone in advance
and speak Spanish before going to the one man shop. Although always polite and friendly,
they are not accustomed to having walk in traffic and unless you are actually looking to buy one of their guitars ...

In 1929 Sevilla hosted the Spain / Americas Exposition.
The beautiful buildings , gardens, and many of the museums from the exposition are still there.
We loved the gardens and architecture. In the basement of the Museum of "Arts and Popular Culture" you will see a mock Spanish Guitar Builder's Workshop with the guitar building process, tools, materials, ... well explained.

More Sevilla Info
Like Madrid, to really enjoy Sevilla it would be worth taking a tour. We rode on the double decker bus Tour por Sevilla. They have an info stand the Torre del Oro. This is an old tower next to the Rio Guadalquivir in the center of town. Easy to find.
The tour info is recorded in several languages. You can hop on and off the bus as it rolls through Sevilla. Also they offer an excellent walking tour that is included in the price. And it visits the Exposition grounds mentioned above. It is a deal.

Also while in Sevilla be sure to visit the Museo de Bellas Artes.
It is not too far from the guitar shop of Cayuela. In many ways I actually like it better than the Prado in Madrid.
It is smaller. Go after 6:00, and you will feel like you have a private art museum to yourself.
Perhaps the part I like best is the building that the museum is in.
It is a former convent and was restored in 1839. Today it is well maintained
and is a beautifully restored example of Spanish architecture.

Buy a Sevilla tourist map for 2 euros, and you will see lots of cool things in easy walking
distance form any hotel in the old city center area.

Discover Sevilla is a great website with interesting trips leaving from Sevilla.
(They also offer lots of other useful info.)

Abanico is a great Spanish school in Sevilla that offers courses as short as 1 week.

 

Ronda

Ronda is about 2 hours drive south of Sevilla. It is built on a cliff , has a wonderful city museum, lots of history, ancient Arabic baths, a "important" bull ring (if you like that kind of thing), a great Parador on the cliff,
lots of little art and artisan shops, ... in short, worth a day trip from Sevilla or a stop over on your way to Granada.

Can you see brave Sr. Everett at the Ronda bull ring?

 

Granada
30 minutes south of the city of Granada is the workshop and home of Rene Baarslag and Anna Rodriguez.
These are two talented guitar builders living in a beautiful country setting..
It is the top quality craftsmanship with rich Spanish tone that drew me to their work.

Be sure to contact them for an appointment before stopping by!
Their shop is their home.

Alhambra
The song will never be the same after visiting it. It is worth getting to Granada just to see the Alhambra.
The detail and beauty of the work is still inspiring to me.

John Ray builds great guitars and has an excellent site showing many of the guitar builders in Granada.

You will find the guitar builders in Granada to be private.
So be sure to be respectful. Their shops usually consist of a 20 foot square room and hand tools.

Many of the Granada luthiery legends live on Cuesta de Gomerez which is a street that will lead you up to the Alhambra.
A good start would be to stop by and look in the workshop windows on your way to the Alhambra.

Also Sacremonte is an Arabic walk uphill (and down) from Granada.
There is an interesting Flamenco School on the top of the hill.
They can certainly fill you in on the local flamenco activity for when you are planning to be there.
You may enjoy a walk up there, stopping along the way for a rest in the little patio cafes that line the streets.
The cafes provide a great view of the Alhambra, while you hear a street performer play flamenco
and enjoy a glass of rich Rioja. This is the home of traditional flamenco.

Here is a link to an interesting place to stay in Granada.
I have never seen this place. So, let me know how it goes if you brave it.

Liza Hurlong has lived in Granada many years, studied with Segovia, has a flamenco dance school,
is involved with Andalucian horses, and represents several guitar builders in the area.
She is a friendly interesting person who will be happy to meet you and help you find a great guitar to take home.

Linares & Ubeda
Ubeda is a little town with a great Parador north of Granada.
It happens to be near the birthplace of Segovia.
Why not stay there one night then visit Linares and the
Segovia Institute Museum on your way back to Sevilla?

The Segovia statue (on right, nut on left) in Linares.

 

Cordoba
I have to admit that we only have spent one day in Cordova. Cordova is know for it´s wood working,
has a killer mosque, has a rich guitar builder history, and would well be worth the visit.
It is on our "to do" list.

"For Spain in a nutshell, nothing matches La Mezquita de Cordova, an eight-century mosque with a 16th-century cathedral thrown up in the middle of it, two blocks from a synagogue built in 1315.
This blended cultural, religious, and ethnic heritages, for me, what make Spain today so open and exciting."
George Semler

 

If you look on the map, you will see that these cities make a nice little circle for your trip.

Basic Spain Tips

~ travel tips ~

Spain is hot, hot, hot in the summer. April is crowded with Easter celebrations, so we like to go in March.
You can get a good deal on a flight in early March, avoid the crowds, and heat. October is called the "shoulder season" by travel agents. It is still possible to find a good deal in the fall, but March is usually best for scoring a cheap flight.

Rick Steves offers lot of helpful tips about safety and travel in Europe.
Pickpocketing seems to be the national past time.
Simply do not carry anything with you that you could not live without: flight info, passport,
the bulk of your money, bank cards, ... stays in the lock box in the hotel.

Also here is another useful travel guide for Andalucia.

Parking is a joke. If you rent a car, find a parking garage near your hotel and leave the car.
Driving between cities is safe and easy, but finding a place to park and negotiating the city traffic is nuts.
I´m much happier if I can avoid the car altogether when we visit Spain.

Speaking of transport, here is a link to Gary, a nice English guy who is happy
to help you and your group get around Andalucia at a reasonable price.

If you want to avoid the typical tourist hotel,
here is a link to a company that can help you find interesting out of the way places to stay.

Need a phone in Spain?

We like to take advantage of the Spanish schools.
Although we both speak Spanish well the advantage of a school is that you can get a deal on excursions,
find a cheap place to stay (or even spend the week with a Spanish home stay family), spend time with local residents,
and actually learn a little Spanish too.
All this can be cheaper than staying in a hotel for a week and a lot more interesting.
We have seen the ages in the schools range from early 20s to late 70s.
(We are in our late 40s and have always felt comfortable and at home.)

~ guitar tips ~

You will find the guitar shops to be polite, helpful, and professional.
Most of the shops have their workshops at another location from the store that is open to the public.
They get covered with tourists everyday.
The best way to introduce yourself to the guitar builders is to play a short piece for them.
This shows them that you are not just another tourist, and that you are interested in buying a guitar.
Even if you do not speak Spanish, this will open the door for you like magic.
You do not have to be a great player, just show that you love the guitar.
(Tip - Avoid traditional Spanish pieces. The guy playing for change on the street corner
can blow you out of the water.)

I would encourage you to read a little history about the shops before you visit.
The builder's websites will give you all you need to know. They will expect you to know about their guitars.

Ron Fernandez has a great website with lots of Spanish guitar info. This is a link to his article about
guitar construction in the Spanish tradition. Be sure to read other helpful info in his "Articles" section.

Also here is a guitar study site that offers a nice short history of the guitar in Spain.
Print it out and read it on the plane on the way over. You will have time.

Want to go to Spain and build a guitar with one of the classical guitar masters?
Jose and Liam Romanillos offer a summer workshop located a little north of Madrid.

 

We visit Spain every year and enjoy introducing our friends to the magic of Spain.
We hope this has been of some help and that you have a great trip.

¡ Buen Viaje !