Like many Irish people, I have visited Spain numerous times. I’ve partied in Puerto Banus, cruised into Barcelona, and Camino-ed in Galicia. Down the decades I’ve enjoyed romantic weekends in Sitges and Salou, house parties in Ibiza, a family trip to Tarragona and a golden holiday on the Costa Daurada with my mother three weeks before she died.
One of my most memorable Spanish sojourns was a tour of the central plain, the territories of Castilla y Leon and Castilla La Mancha, bordering Madrid. In the heart of Don Quixote territory, we sampled the paradors of the ethereal cities of Toledo, Cuenca, Avila, Segovia and Siguenza: unique to Spain, these are the palaces and monasteries, convents and castles that have been renovated and restored, and are now run by the state as hotels..
