A non-beach holiday in Tenerife? Why not? There are more than 1,500 kilometers of rural walks, along with the Tenerife Walking Festival, a five-day hike fest that takes place between March 29 and April 2 this year and includes guided tours of some of the island’s areas of outstanding natural beauty, such as the Anaga forests or the spectacular Teide volcano. Information: www.tenerifewalkingfestival.comAndrés CamposThe six-kilometer cable car route over the Cabárceno wildlife park is set to open in March. It will have two lines and 60 cabins that can each seat up to eight people. Aside from the chance to glimpse animals from up high, there are spectacular views of the nearby Peña Cabarga peak and the bay of Santander. Information: www.parquedecabarceno.comJosé Antonio HernaizAdvertising itself as the last paradise in the Mediterranean, the smallest of the Balearic islands is going sustainable, with companies offering electric-powered transportation that can be parked for free at the Ses Illetes beach. Pictured, the Cap de Barberia lighthouse. Information: www.formentera.esAnna SerranoJuan Roig, the chairman of supermarket chain Mercadona, is behind this sustainable tourism initiative. Thirty minutes inland from the Costa Blanca, the environmentally friendly Vivood offers 27 suites with spectacular views of the Guadalest Valley, each with their own plunge pool, along with a slow-food restaurant. Information: www.vivood.comJabalí StudioWitching and Bitching, Eight Basque Surnames, Anacleto… the region of Navarre has become one of Spain’s most popular movie locations, and the regional tourism board has just launched an app that allows visitors to see excerpts from movies filmed here. Information: www.turismo.navarra.esGonzalo AzumendiThese spectacular paintings, less well-known than Altamira but equally important, date back 10,000 years and provide a fascinating insight into daily life during the Stone Age, backed up by an impressive on-site museum and guides. Information: www.cogul.catOnly fully excavated a decade ago, this fortified encampment in the area known as Daimiel was built 4,000 years ago to protect access to what is believed to be the earliest-known well ever dug in the Iberian peninsula. Information: www.motilladelazuer.esAndoni CanelaAnybody planning to visit San Sebastián during its tenure as joint European Cultural Capital this year should also take in the nearby town of Pasaia, where a 16th-century whaling vessel, the San Juan, which sank in Canada’s Red Bay in 1565, is being rebuilt using materials and technology from the time. Information: www.albaola.com and www.dss2016.eu.Mendi UrruzunoClosed in 2014, one of Spain’s largest coal mines has now been opened to the public. A five-hour trip more than half a kilometer underground takes visitors from the El Entrego pit along to Sotondrio, providing an insight into what was once the lifeblood industry of this northern region. Information: www.visitapozosoton.es.This year will see a series of events to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the death of Miguel de Cervantes, arguably Spain’s most celebrated writer. Anybody visiting the birthplace of the creator of Don Quixote should take in the Corral de Comedias (pictured), which dates back to 1602. The best time to do so will during Cervantes Week, in early October. Information: www.museocasanataldecervantes.org and www.semanacervantina.comAndrés CamposThe fifth centennial of the death of Ferdinand, the Catholic monarch who along with Isabel oversaw the unification of Spain and the expulsion of the Arabs, will be celebrated this year in his birthplace, Sos. The Sada palace, where he was born, has been turned into an impressive museum tracing his life. The high point of the celebrations will be the first two weeks in March, when this beautifully preserved village will recreate life as it was 500 years ago. Information: www.sosdelreycatolico.com.María GalánFishermen in the Spanish exclave city of Ceuta, across the Strait of Gibraltar, still use the ancient and sustainable almadraba method of nets invented by the Phoenicians to capture blue fin tuna and flying fish, which they then dry and cure. The regional tourism authority has now organized gastronomic tours of this millenarian culture. Information: www.salazonesdeceuta.comThis range of hills in western Spain is known above all for its manzanilla cacereña variety of olive oil, one of Spain’s most appreciated. A good place from which to explore the area is Robledillo, a charming little village which has refurbished its ancient almazara, or olive press, into a museum. Information: www.sierradegata.org and www.molinodelmedio.comAndrés CamposAnother reason to visit the wine capital of Spain: Teatrisso, a 1920s-style hotel complete with movie house and theater that has just opened in the nearby village of Cuzcurrita del Río Tirón. Each room is themed in this hundred-year old former dance hall. Information: www.teatrisso.comThe Ages of Man exhibition of religious art has been touring Spain for more than a decade, and this year it will be stopping in Toro, with its beautifully preserved 13th-century collegiate church. It is also the perfect excuse to savor the heady wines produced here at the Pagos del Rey winery, which has a very modern Wine Museum. Information: www.toroayto.es and www.pagosdelreymuseodelvino.comAndrés CamposThe Spanish exclave of Melilla’s border with Morocco was not drawn in an office, but based on the distance that the cannon in the Victoria Grande fortress could reach. Recently restored, the fortress charts Spain’s involvement in Morocco over the centuries. It is also where feminist writer Carlota O’Neill was imprisoned during the Civil War. Information: www.melillaturismo.comJesús GranadaDiego Gallegos came to prominence at the Madrid Fusión gastro-festival in 2015. His use of caviar has made him one of the best-known chefs on the Costa del Sol. Visitors to the holiday town should take in a tour of his new restaurant, Sollo (pictured), as well as the opportunity to swim with the sturgeon that produce the caviar at a nearby marine harvest farm. Information: www.sollo.es.Garcia-SantosCartagena already boasts some of Spain’s best-preserved Roman ruins, to which has recently been added a temple close to the Forum. The whole complex has now been covered and protected by a spectacular construction designed by the architects Atxu Amann, Andrés Cánovas and Nicolás Maruri. Information: www.cartagenapuertodeculturas.com
