From Southern Spain I worked my way north – Seville, Madrid,  Valencia, Barcelona. 

Valencia has an amazing Arts and Science City designed by Santiago Calatrava.

Catalonia has been in the midst of political unrest for the last month. There are a lot of protests, a lot of police, but very peaceful so far. There are fewer tourists than I’ve ever seen here in the last thirty years, which is nice.

From The Basque Country I headed south to Algeciras where I did some hiking along the coast and to the top of Gibraltar. 

Then I took the ferry 20 km across the Straight of Gibraltar to Tangier for a few days.

Back in Spain I spent a few more days hiking around Tarifa, then began heading g towards Barcelona for my flight home. 

I spent a few days in the Basque Country – Pamplona, Bilbao, and San Sebastian. This is where the Pyrenees Mountains meet the Atlantic Ocean just south of the French border.