TABERNA MANOLO CATECA Tucked away in a corner alleyway, this hidden gem gives you the feel of being a local. Taberna Manolo Cateca dates back to 1920, when the Escobar family established a small despacho de vinos, a traditional wine shop. In 1952, it became Taberna La Goleta, a popular local bar specialising in wines from Huelva and the Jerez region. In August 2013, Manuel Rodríguez Navarro, better known as Manolo Cateca, took over Taberna Manolo Cateca Sevilla, giving the c

ASADOR BEDUA Asador Bedua Zumaia stands beside the Urola River, just outside Zumaia, in a beautiful old house with a long history. The building was once part of a medieval riverside trading area, where iron from the nearby Iraeta forge was brought down to the old Bedua quay for transport. The restaurant itself began around 1948, when the great-grandmother of the present family started serving simple food to visitors arriving from Zumaia by boat or bicycle. Her potato tortilla

LA CEPA DE CÁDIZ MÁLAGA This excellent local bar serves beer, wine and Manzanilla sherry, along with traditional chicharrones, a selection of cheeses and specialities from the Sierra de Cádiz, cured meats from Extremadura and an impressive variety of tinned seafood and other preserves. Bringing a little taste of Cádiz to the heart of Málaga, this charming tapas bar feels like home for gaditanos (people from Cádiz) and a great place for visitors to discover the region’s tradit

Marbella isn’t the easiest place for a traditional tapas bar crawl, as many bars are spread out. However, we were pleasantly surprised by what we found during an evening stroll in mid-January as we looked for the best tapas bars in Marbella. Marbella’s layout is rather unusual, with its bars and restaurants spread across different areas rather than concentrated in one place. This means a tapas crawl can involve a fair amount of walking. There's plenty of variety, from traditi

RESTAURANTE ESCÁNEZ We returned to an old favourite, Restaurante Escánez Garrucha, overlooking the fishing harbour in Garrucha on the Almería coast. Francisco (Paco) Escánez Collado established the restaurant in 1982 as a modest, family-run business. In 2004, Paco expanded the restaurant by acquiring the adjoining premises, doubling its capacity and creating a spacious dining room overlooking the Mediterranean. Over the decades, Restaurante Escánez has built an excellent repu

VENTA EL TORO Venta El Toro, Santa Lucía near Vejer de la Frontera, is a small, discreet, countryside Venta without any pretensions. Originally little more than a place to stop for a drink, the family business gradually developed into a traditional Andalusian venta. It became a popular meeting place for locals and visiting bullfighters, after whom it was named. The restaurant's reputation grew further thanks to María Luisa (Maruja) Gallardo’s cooking, whose celebrated eggs an

CASA EGEA Among Mojácar Playa’s many restaurants, Casa Egea stands out for authentic Spanish cooking, fresh seafood, and traditional tapas. This long-established, family-run restaurant is situated just off the beachfront road. It also has an attractive glass-enclosed terrace Established in 1995, Casa Egea is a long-standing family-run restaurant in Mojácar Playa, with a three-generation culinary tradition. Over the years, it has built a loyal following among locals and visit

A DAY TRIP FROM SEVILLA TO CARMONA Carmona stands on the Los Alcores ridge, overlooking the vast, fertile plains of the Vega del Corbones in Andalucía. The surrounding countryside is dominated by olive groves and fields of cereals, which have long played an important role in the local economy. The city also has a tradition of livestock farming and holds its annual fair, the Feria de Carmona, in May. Carmona is one of the most historic towns in southern Spain, with a history s

RESTAURANTE CABO NORTE - A Hidden Gem in Mojácar Playa, Almería. Among the many restaurants in Mojácar Playa, Restaurante Cabo Norte is a real hidden gem. This excellent little restaurant is tucked away down a side street just off the main promenade, Opened in 2015, Restaurante Cabo Norte, Mojácar Playa quickly built a reputation for imaginative Mediterranean cuisine under María Moreno Galdón, a largely self-taught chef with decades of experience. In October 2018, María and h

ES REBOST DE CAN PRATS We returned to one of our favourite restaurants, serving traditional Ibicencan cuisine in Sant Antoni de Portmany (San Antonio). Es Rebost de Can Prats Ibiza occupies a house dating from the early 20th century, which was once one of Sant Antoni’s first shops. It sold everyday provisions, including chickens, eggs, cheese, rabbits, vegetables, potatoes and pebrassos (wild mushrooms). The restaurant opened in 1994 in a house that had belonged to the curren