El dia de los muertos (day of the dead) is celebrated on November 1st, throughout Mexico with variations seen in other Latin American countries and other parts of the world.

It is a joyous holiday commemorating the lives of those who have passed away. It is part of a three-day celebration honouring the dead, who are believed to return to their homes on October 31st, Halloween.

Here's a Spanish culture article prepared by don Quijote for the English language local press in Spain - with a bit of vocabulary and a few handy Spanish phrases waiting for at the end of the read. These are indeed people you will read about, sometimes daily, in the Spanish news:

Spain's most famous – Los más famosos de España

Smooth Latino crooners? Hip-swinging dance stars? Fancy-footworking football legends? These are probably the stereotypes you'd bet would top a list of most influential Spanish celebrities… and you wouldn’t be too far from the truth. But how about the King, a leading economist and a 50-something gay film director? Thought not. From politics to music and from sport to film Spain has an eclectic mix of rich and famous. Here is a short guide to the country’s ten most influential and revered….    more »

One of our don Quijote interns from the UK  prepared this cava "primer". She's included some pretty tempting cava cocktail ideas at the end:

Cava, the bubbly stuff

The last time you cracked open a bottle of bubbly, what was it?

Champagne? Asti? Sovetskoye Shampanskoye? Or cava? Producing over 12 million cases a year, Spain is the world's second largest producer of sparkling wine and although often mistakenly regarded as a “poor man´s champagne”, is actually a very acceptable and affordable alternative to the French drink.

Unlike the French producers, who struggle to keep prices down due to the high production costs – one hectare of vineyards in the Champagne region currently changes hands for one million euros – a good bottle of cava from one of the well known producers, Codorniu or Freixenet, can be found in a supermarket for as little as 7€....slightly better value than your average bottle of Moet!

Although EU law dictates that cava (or any other sparkling wine) cannot be referred to as “champagne”, Spain's bubbly shares many of the same features as its French counterpart, most notably the method by which it was made. The discovery of the méthode champenoise is famously credited to the French monk Dom Pérignon (c.1638 – 1715), who upon tasting it for the first time, is said to have shouted to his brethren, “Come quickly! I am drinking stars!” Literary references show that forms of sparkling wine have been produced in Spain...    more »

As published by don Quijote in the Costa Blanca News:

El Camino de Santiago

The pilgrimage is the new black. It's unlike anything seen since the 13th Century.

People are once again taking to the road and following the medieval Camino de Santiago (the Way of Saint James) across the north of Spain. Guided by yellow arrows, men and women of all nationalities head west from the French border on a 750km journey over mountains, wheat fields, forests and vine yards, taking in Pamplona, Burgos and León. Medieval pilgrims seeked faith and penance whilst modern pilgrims often do it for the architecture, the physical effort, the incredible landscape or to take “time out” and seek a new direction. But whatever their reason, the camino is undoubtedly an unforgettable experience unique to Spain.

The Origins of the Camino

Back in 44AD, the pagan Queen Lupa of Padrón, Galicia, recieved two Palestinian refugees bearing the headless and decomposing corpse of a Christian martyr, requesting to bury him there. The body...    more »

When is Spain's national hoilday and what does it celebrate?

What special events take place to commemorate this important historical date?

Here's a guide to Spanish wine, as published by don Quijote in the English language media in Spain. You'll find a little vocabulary and a few handy wine-ordering phrases at the end of the article. And should the article leave you craving more, our Salamanca school hosts the next don Quijote Spanish & Wine Tasting course October 15.

Spanish Wines

Spain is not only a nation of enthusiastic wine drinkers, but also vine growers. Spain has a long history of producing fine wines. Thanks to the sunny climate, Spanish vino is generally quite strong and the wine scene is thriving, with experimentation rife and competition fierce – in fact, Spain has the largest area of land dedicated to viticulture of any country in the world.

Spanish wine comes blanco (white), tinto (red) and rosado (rosé) and...    more »