Forget the flamenco. What about some stirring reels from a Galician piper? Far from the golden sands of Andalucia and beyond the great plains of Castile, a different Spain awaits along the Atlantic. A land of cloud-wrapped crags, apple orchards and fine beaches; a land traversed for hundreds of years by Christian pilgrims and more recently by gastronomes.
'Green Spain', as it's known locally, stretches from the stylish resorts of the Basque region on Spain's north coast and through mountainous Asturias to reach Galicia, with its lingering Celtic heritage.
All are distinct regions but hold a common zest for life, in particular a love of eating well and eating late - lunch, the main meal, never kicks off before 2pm; dinner is served some time after 9pm.
Travellers cross paths with devout Catholics who, for centuries, have followed the pilgrimage routes of the Camino de Santiago across northern Spain to Santiago de Compostela, where St James the Apostle supposedly lies buried. Today's pilgrims, about 100,000 each year, walk or ride various parts of the trails and stay in special pilgrim hostels.
San Sebastian, on the Basque coast, is an elegant 19th-century resort where Queen Maria Cristina used to bathe within the privacy of her transportable cabin. With its pair of perfect sandy bays and its fin-de-siecle charm, this could be the most delightful small city in Europe.
Apart from their ancient and inscrutable language, the Basques maintain a rich tradition of gastronomy and it remains a firm draw card for travellers from across the globe. Tapas is the best-known expression of Spanish culinary arts, and pintxos (the Basque equivalent), epitomises the best of Basque cuisine - albeit in contrast to the exquisite banquets conjured up by the likes of three-star Michelin chef Juan Mari Arzak at his world-famous San Sebastian restaurant, Arzak.
The pilgrims' route west continues through Guernica, the traditional Basque capital bombed by Hitler's aircraft during the Spanish civil war 70 years ago. The fishing towns, the hamlets and the homesteads of the Biscayan coast huddle around harbours filled with fishing fleets.