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A Beginner's Guide to Valencia, Spain · GowayPro Travel Tales

• 0:00
  Hey there everyone, I'm Don, Professor Goay and welcome to the GoayPro Travel Tale Podcast.
• 0:13
  Travel far and travel often.
• 0:18
  Hello everyone, welcome to the Go Way Pro Travel Tales podcast.
• 0:22
  Valencia, Valencia, Spain.
• 0:24
  um Is it a city?
• 0:26
  Is it a province?
• 0:27
  Is it a state?
• 0:29
  I don't know.
• 0:31
  With all my travel into South and Central America, I've been to every country in that continent or continent and a half if you consider Central America.
• 0:39
  um But I've never been to Spain nor Portugal, which is just next door.
• 0:45
  um So today, I, with all of our travel agents and partners out there, I'm going to learn all about probably indirectly a of Spain, but also in particular, Valencia.
• 0:56
  Joining us today is Eva Fernandez from Valencia.
• 1:01
  Are you actually in Spain, in Valencia right now, Eva?
• 1:04
  Yes.
• 1:05
  um Thank you, Don, for the presentation.
• 1:08
  Yes, I am in Valencia, in Spain right now.
• 1:12
  Okay then.
• 1:13
  So I actually did a podcast interview yesterday.
• 1:17
  Well, the two yesterday, yesterday, it doesn't matter when yesterday was just yesterday.
• 1:21
  So I speaking to someone from Johannesburg who work in Uganda and I was speaking to someone from the UK and now I'm speaking to someone in Spain.
• 1:29
  This is a good fun thing about our podcast is we have people literally from all over the world.
• 1:35
  So Eva, as I mentioned in the introduction,
• 1:38
  I know very little about Spain.
• 1:40
  know some history, because I'm writing to my history as people will know.
• 1:43
  So I know historical aspects of Spain, but from a traveler's point of view, as I mentioned, I've not been there.
• 1:48
  We have a very good friend who goes there every summer.
• 1:51
  She air bees and bees it and learn Spanish in a Spanish school, all that type of thing.
• 1:57
  So today, let's have a conversation about Valencia, of course, and the basics, because I think a lot of people out there may not know a lot about it.
• 2:06
  So let's go back to my first statement.
• 2:08
  Is Valencia a city and is it a state or is it both?
• 2:12
  Well, actually, Valencia is the name for a city, for a province and for a region.
• 2:19
  In this case, the topic today is to talk about the Valencia city, which is the main capital of that area.
• 2:29
  And in fact, Valencia is the third largest city in Spain, located in the Mediterranean coast.
• 2:36
  It's one of the three big cities in Spain.
• 2:40
  OK, the other, what would the other ones, I Barcelona, Seville would be the other sort of.
• 2:45
  Madrid is the capital.
• 2:47
  Madrid is the capital, then Barcelona and then Valencia.
• 2:52
  Madrid is inland in the centre of Spain.
• 2:56
  Then Barcelona is northern Valencia in the Mediterranean coast and Valencia is in the middle of the Mediterranean coast.
• 3:03
  of Spain, just opposite the Bavarian Islands Ibiza, Mallorca.
• 3:09
  So that's geographically the location.
• 3:12
  it's close to Mallorca, which a lot of people will know.
• 3:15
  Yeah, yeah.
• 3:16
  Actually, we've got a lot of travelers combining different places like Mallorca, Valencia and Madrid, for example.
• 3:23
  So it is possible to combine many, many places.
• 3:26
  Actually, when Americans, especially when they come to Spain, they don't come to just one place.
• 3:32
  Usually they come, they enter in Spain through Madrid city.
• 3:38
  They spend there a few days and then they usually visit other cities.
• 3:43
  The connectivity between Madrid and Valencia is very fast.
• 3:47
  We have a fast train connecting both cities in less than 90 minutes, which is.
• 3:53
  which is very easy to move from one city to the other.
• 3:58
  And we've got a lot of Americans, though we don't have a direct flight connectivity between Valencia and the States, we've got a lot of Americans coming to Valencia.
• 4:09
  That was going be my question.
• 4:10
  So there are no direct flights into Valencia from the US or Canada for that matter, I would assume.
• 4:15
  Yeah, we've got a direct flight from Montreal, Canada.
• 4:18
  ah
• 4:21
  Now it's operating, it just finished and it's going to be resumed in February.
• 4:29
  Once a week on Saturdays, but from June we will have it twice a week.
• 4:36
  it's a direct flight Montreal-Valencia operated by Air Transat.
• 4:42
  So it's obviously a seasonal flight, but as you mentioned for next year, it's going to go up to twice a week.
• 4:47
  Excellent.
• 4:49
  for our US travel partners out there.
• 4:51
  So when they're looking at getting people into Valencia, as you mentioned, nine times out of 10, they fly into Madrid and then connect there.
• 4:59
  Is there any point in connecting by plane from Madrid to Valencia or is the train the best way to do it?
• 5:05
  I mean, it depends on what your plans are.
• 5:07
  If you are planning to fly to Madrid, spend there a few days and then move to Valencia, I think the easiest way is taking the train.
• 5:16
  However, if you want to fly directly to Valencia, the best way would be flying uh through Madrid with a connection flight to Valencia.
• 5:27
  Valencia Airport is very close to the city.
• 5:30
  It's just 10 kilometers away from the city center and it's connected by metro.
• 5:35
  So it's very easy to reach the city once you landed in Valencia Airport.
• 5:41
  Who would be the main carriers from the US to get you into Spain, into Madrid for the most part?
• 5:47
  The main carriages?
• 5:49
  I think we've got Delta and American Airlines, I think.
• 5:55
  Okay, they'd be the two to look at.
• 6:00
  From historical...
• 6:01
  Also the Spanish Iberia is also connecting both.
• 6:03
  Oh, of course.
• 6:04
  Yes, Iberia.
• 6:05
  As I mentioned, I like my history, so I did some...
• 6:07
  because I know very little about this area.
• 6:09
  I did some research, so...
• 6:12
  The city was founded in 138 BC by the Romans and as you mentioned it's on the Mediterranean.
• 6:18
  So two-pronged question here.
• 6:21
  Due to the history, the Roman history as that's where it was founded, uh when people go to Valencia the city, by being historically old and being on the Mediterranean coast, is the
• 6:33
  opportunity to have a mix of historic sites to see as well as famous Mediterranean beaches?
• 6:42
  It's the opportunity to see history and also Mediterranean lifestyle.
• 6:47
  Obviously, the Mediterranean lifestyle includes the Mediterranean coast.
• 6:52
  So you've got that diversity, being able to do city plans and beach plans, or also ah historical, if you are in love with history, discover all the old town in Valencia with
• 7:06
  the Romans, the Muslims, all the different civilizations.
• 7:09
  who lived in the city have uh left their input in the city and it's very easy to find it.
• 7:18
  But at the same time, it's a modern city and you can see quite uh a big contrast in between that old part of the city and modern complexes like the avant-garde city of arts
• 7:32
  and sciences, which is a huge...
• 7:35
  complex designed by the architect Santiago Calatrava, who's a very well-known uh architect all over the world, and he was born in Valencia.
• 7:46
  So he designed an enormous complex, architectonic complex, uh with different buildings, which main topic is science.
• 7:57
  Science, culture, music.
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  So you've got an IMAX cinema, there's an opera house.
• 8:04
  There's a science museum, there's an aquarium, which is the biggest one in Europe.
• 8:09
  The architectonic complex is one of the most iconic avant-garde complexes in Europe.
• 8:17
  And in Valencia, you can see that opposition of classical, but at the same time, modern and avant-garde.
• 8:24
  And it's a good opportunity to combine different plans.
• 8:30
  So with it being a modern European city, which is, think,
• 8:34
  to be expected and like most European cities there is history there.
• 8:40
  Choices of accommodation, I would gather that you have all your standard five-star hotels, four-star, three-star hostels if anyone had a backpacking client or budget-oriented
• 8:52
  client.
• 8:53
  And again, with your coastline of about 600 kilometers, there would be resort stay options as well.
• 8:59
  So have I summed up basically that whatever type of accommodation you can think of
• 9:03
  your city has it?
• 9:06
  Sorry, whatever the accommodation.
• 9:08
  Whatever type of accommodation that someone may need, you have it.
• 9:12
  Yeah, basically.
• 9:14
  mean, and that again depends on the on the visitors desire.
• 9:20
  If you want to be in the old town, for example, I would recommend those boutique hotels in historical buildings, all palaces that now have been converted into small boutique hotels.
• 9:33
  ah four five-star hotels but very small with 40-30 rooms.
• 9:39
  However, you also have big hotels and also beach resorts by the sea with the five stars of um big five-star hotels like Las Arenas, for example, which is on the Malabarosa beach,
• 9:55
  which is one of the most important beaches in the city.
• 10:00
  Depending on your likes,
• 10:02
  It's better being located central and then going to the beach or being in the beach and then go to the city center for more ah city plans.
• 10:14
  So if you are in either position, if you're in the central old town or new town or you're on the beach to get between both areas, it difficult?
• 10:23
  I guess in other words, is it hard to get around the city of Valencia and its beaches?
• 10:27
  Obviously private transfers go away can arrange, but if someone wants to do it.
• 10:32
  public transport, can you walk, you hire bikes?
• 10:35
  Is it easy to get around?
• 10:36
  The Valencia, it's, as I said, is the third largest city in Spain.
• 10:40
  It's got a population of 700,000 inhabitants.
• 10:45
  It's very flat and it's got a full system of public transport.
• 10:50
  ah It is very easy to move from one place to other.
• 10:54
  ah It doesn't take more than 20, 30 minutes by public transport.
• 10:59
  Whereas if you have a
• 11:01
  private transport might take 10 minutes, 15 minutes.
• 11:05
  Additionally, ah as I said, it's a very flat city and we've got more than 200 kilometers of bike lines.
• 11:12
  It's very easy to move from one place to another by bike.
• 11:16
  um And together with the weather we have, the Mediterranean weather we have all year round with an average temperature of 19 degrees centigrade ah as an average.
• 11:30
  I think it's a bike friendly city if you feel like moving from one place to other by bike and very safe at the same time.
• 11:39
  Okay.
• 11:39
  So a couple of things, questions I was going to ask.
• 11:42
  So the temperature on average is 19 degrees Celsius, which I, sorry to our American friends, I'm not very good at translating into.
• 11:48
  Yeah, I'm not good either.
• 11:50
  Yeah, sorry.
• 11:51
  But that is very mild and warmish throughout the year.
• 11:56
  Obviously there'll be peaks and we'll get into the high seasons in a minute.
• 12:00
  So that's one thing and I'm quite jealous when you say that because I'm sitting in our beautiful Go Way studio, but it happens to be in a basement in Toronto and it's winter
• 12:08
  here and it's horribly cold outside.
• 12:10
  So when you say the average is 19, it's like, yes, my heart goes there immediately.
• 12:14
  um It's a safe city.
• 12:17
  Most European cities are, but you're saying that walking around, biking around, whatever, or if you're out late at night, there's no overt concerns of safety other than common
• 12:27
  sense precautions.
• 12:29
  It's a very safe city.
• 12:32
  It's very normal to be in the city center having dinner, walking through the streets anytime, morning, afternoon, evening.
• 12:41
  It's very safe city.
• 12:43
  In fact, the city center, it's quite walkable.
• 12:47
  Most of it is walkable and it's very usual to find people walking from one place to other at any time.
• 12:54
  My time in South America, particularly, um
• 12:58
  Obviously the bulk of South America was colonized by the Spanish.
• 13:01
  Obviously Brazil is an exception.
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  That was Portuguese.
• 13:06
  But when we were traveling through what's turned the Andean countries, Colombia Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, to a less agree Chile, I learned over the years that Argentina seems to be
• 13:18
  a lot more, they associate themselves more with Spain than they do with Latin America culturally for certain reasons.
• 13:24
  But one thing I noticed, well I noticed two things.
• 13:27
  I'll ask you about a minute, which is the language.
• 13:29
  We'll get to that in a minute.
• 13:30
  Spanish.
• 13:31
  But it seemed in Argentina, they fold the more European Spanish thing of the afternoon siestas or breaks and dining.
• 13:40
  It's just what I was getting back to before you mentioned eating dinner at night in the city center.
• 13:44
  And I was getting into the sort of maybe it might be termed locally more the siesta, but that afternoon break where businesses close, people go home to have lunch and or be with
• 13:54
  their families.
• 13:55
  And that all leads to the fact that people, they dine in Spain, dine later at night than what a North American may be used to.
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  So that's what was my experience in Argentina.
• 14:06
  And I was taught what I just said about Spain.
• 14:09
  Is that true?
• 14:10
  Is there the afternoon siesta in Spain in general, in Valencia in particular, and do people generally dine later in the evening?
• 14:19
  That's more a topic than anything.
• 14:22
  And it's a luxury that you have, especially during your holidays.
• 14:27
  We are a modern European city.
• 14:30
  We have no siestas in working time.
• 14:33
  So we usually have regular schedules at work.
• 14:38
  And siesta is something for and not for everyone because not always everyone likes having siesta.
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  But it's more
• 14:47
  something for holidays.
• 14:49
  It is true that in South Spain, during the summer, because it's very, very hot, it's necessary um to use that time, siesta time to relax at home because there's no other
• 15:04
  opportunity to do anything on the street because it's literally boiling.
• 15:09
  But that's not the case.
• 15:10
  That's not the case in Valencia.
• 15:13
  But it's true that during the summer,
• 15:15
  some people do have a siesta.
• 15:18
  In my case, for example, I usually go to the beach.
• 15:21
  I spend my siesta time on the beach.
• 15:24
  But that's according to your preferences.
• 15:29
  We usually have, if you consider, for example, ah shopping activities, when you go to the city center, shops are open all day.
• 15:42
  So there's no break for siesta.
• 15:45
  The snow break.
• 15:46
  Only the smaller uh ships, they might have that break.
• 15:51
  But that's because we, Spanish in general, and in Valencia in particular, we love having our time to have lunch.
• 15:59
  So for us, uh lunch is not just a sandwich.
• 16:03
  It's at least an hour, 45 minutes during your working days, 45 minutes of time to have a proper lunch with a first course.
• 16:14
  or a dessert, I mean a proper thing, not just a sandwich and then continue at work.
• 16:20
  oh And that's what I experienced in Argentina.
• 16:23
  I was actually taken to lunch by some friends down there who I think were actually Spanish by birth or grew up in Spain but then lived most of their lives in Argentina.
• 16:33
  And yeah, the lunch was, I think we had to stop, it was like six courses in, they were still going.
• 16:38
  I said, I'm done, I can't do this.
• 16:40
  um
• 16:41
  Okay, so taking this yester out as in it's not a sort of, it doesn't happen as much as it used to or maybe people may think it does.
• 16:48
  And with respect to businesses and things being able to do things, going to museums or whatever, everything will be open sort of the nine to five type North American.
• 16:57
  Do the Spanish in general, and I assume if you say yes to that, it extends to Valencia.
• 17:03
  Do you eat later at night?
• 17:05
  Like do people eat at five or six for dinner, particularly knowing now that you say you have a bigger lunch?
• 17:11
  It makes sense that the cliche for one of a better term of you dining later at night makes sense.
• 17:18
  Is that the case?
• 17:21
  In Valencia or in Spain in general, we usually have late dinners because we also have late lunches.
• 17:26
  So our normal time for lunch could be around two o'clock, one thirty, two o'clock.
• 17:34
  During a working day ah on the weekends, we can have it a bit later, maybe two thirty three could be a good time to have lunch.
• 17:44
  That's why you can't have your dinner at eight o'clock or seven o'clock.
• 17:50
  Dinner time usually it's nine, nine thirty.
• 17:54
  That's our current time.
• 17:55
  However, ah Valencia and other cities in Spain, but in Valencia you have some options.
• 18:03
  of restaurants with kitchen open all day.
• 18:06
  So it is possible to adapt your dining time to your habits.
• 18:13
  Although it won't be able to mingle very much with local people if you have your dinner at six o'clock.
• 18:21
  that's my, and there was a lot of questions for a very simple thing about what time do people eat.
• 18:26
  But I think it's interesting because it's a cultural aspect of the country and obviously Valencia in particular.
• 18:32
  But I found this interesting ourselves, go back to Argentina.
• 18:35
  When I was a tour guide, we took a group into a parrilla, which is like a big barbecue house.
• 18:39
  And we went in at the normal sort of North American eating time, which was, I don't know, six, six thirty.
• 18:44
  We walked into the restaurant, it was open, but it was empty.
• 18:47
  There was no one there and they had, you know, the full sides of cow being prepared, barbecued.
• 18:53
  And we could eat, to your point, we could eat because they understood that Westerners eat a bit early.
• 18:59
  literally by the time we finished at 9.30 and we're paying a bill and leaving the restaurant filled up.
• 19:05
  And I just found that very interesting to your point that yeah, you might get to mingle with the locals.
• 19:09
  And it was just that cultural difference.
• 19:11
  And it was, it was interesting and fun and fun to experience.
• 19:16
  with the beaches, with Majorca being nearby, is Valencia a known party town?
• 19:22
  Is it a place people
• 19:24
  should go to if they want that sort of party environment?
• 19:27
  it a PlayStation avoid if that is the overall feeling of the region or the region being the city and its suburbs?
• 19:35
  It depends on the context of party that you have.
• 19:38
  mean, in Valencia we love, yeah, because there are many, many ways of doing party.
• 19:42
  In Valencia, we love being outdoors.
• 19:45
  So terraces are open all day.
• 19:48
  And we love socializing there and it's very easy, as I said before, to mingle with local people in a terrace, having drinks in the morning, in the afternoon, at night.
• 20:00
  That's the kind of party.
• 20:01
  Of course, there are clubs, nightclubs, and it is possible to have also discos, other kinds of parties.
• 20:07
  But it's not...
• 20:09
  a place like, for example, Ibiza that you would think of.
• 20:12
  That's the idea, the icon of the party city.
• 20:15
  That's not the case of Valencia.
• 20:17
  Valencia is more relaxed Mediterranean lifestyle with lots of activities outdoors, with lots of terraces.
• 20:25
  We have lot of concerts and activities open air, especially during the summer, but also in winter when we celebrate our famous Fallas Festival.
• 20:37
  which is an artistic festival on the street full of different activities and they are all open air.
• 20:44
  So that's the way we celebrate or the way we have our party.
• 20:50
  But yeah, I mean, if you're looking for a disco and nightclub, it's perfect.
• 20:55
  Big venues, for example, for big concerts, have just...
• 20:59
  um
• 21:00
  a big venue that just opened after summer, which is the Roche Arena.
• 21:05
  And it's one of the most modern venues, arenas in Europe.
• 21:10
  ah And it's full of activities with concerts, with activities.
• 21:14
  So it is possible to have to have party.
• 21:17
  But again, I mean, there is a big difference in between the idea we can have for Ibiza and what we have in Valencia.
• 21:26
  You may have answered my next question in
• 21:29
  Your answer there.
• 21:31
  Does Valencia have any particular famous festivals that are different from other cities in Spain now?
• 21:38
  Again, this is my ignorance speaking here.
• 21:40
  I know there's a very famous tomato festival, but I think that's across the country.
• 21:44
  So is there anything like that that you're famous for?
• 21:48
  Our famous festivity is the Fallas Festival, which is an open air festival that takes place every March.
• 21:57
  We have different points of that festival.
• 22:01
  The city gets full of papier-mâché monuments, enormous papier-mâché monuments, where you use criticism, satire, to criticize the Valencia daily life or daily issues.
• 22:17
  All those monuments are burned on the night of the 19th of March.
• 22:24
  All of them.
• 22:25
  This is a good example of the Valencian creativity and Valencian artisan network.
• 22:33
  There is a big group of artisans working all year round to build those big monuments that we show ah to all the visitors.
• 22:43
  And you can find uh
• 22:45
  along the city, almost 350 big monuments and 350 small monuments.
• 22:52
  So it's literally all the city is full with those monuments.
• 22:56
  But together with that, we have fireworks shows, we have music concerts, we have parades with people dressed in traditional costumes made of silk.
• 23:08
  So it's a true festival.
• 23:11
  uh
• 23:12
  I suppose is one of the biggest open air festivals, ephemeral open air festival, because that basically disappears on the night of the 19th of March.
• 23:23
  Off the back of that one in March, being a Catholic country or predominantly Catholic country, I would assume you have many religious based festivals and celebrations
• 23:33
  throughout the year as well.
• 23:34
  Obviously Christmas, Easter would be two of the bigger ones.
• 23:37
  Are there any other any other notable?
• 23:40
  religious based festivals, be it Catholic or otherwise, that people may be interested in timing their trip for?
• 23:45
  Yeah, the Fallas is connected in a way with a Catholic uh tradition because there is a flower offering to the patroness of the city, which is the lady for the forsaken.
• 23:56
  But additionally, we have other big festivities like Corpus Christi, Easter.
• 24:01
  ah
• 24:02
  which is a Mediterranean Easter is something Hollywood is something different from other from other Easter's that you can that you can find in in Spain.
• 24:13
  And in general, we have a lot of uh religious uh festivities, which are the origin of different activities happening during the year.
• 24:23
  Spain, historically, I can't remember the years, like probably pre 1400, before Columbus and that type of thing.
• 24:32
  um was made up of, well like most of Europe was, was made up of city states and each city state had its own identity and in turn probably cultural um practices.
• 24:45
  So when people look at modern day Spain, which is now one country, and I know most people will probably be familiar with the Basque region, which from a political point of view, we
• 24:54
  won't go there, but they sort of hang onto a very distinct ah history and culture.
• 25:00
  Does Valencia the city and by expansion the province uh province or state?
• 25:05
  I using the right word?
• 25:06
  have a province and we have a region.
• 25:08
  Valencia region.
• 25:11
  Okay.
• 25:11
  So the city, province and region, does that have its own cultural difference than central Spain, southern Spain?
• 25:18
  We have an own language, it's very similar to the Catalan language, same root, same as with the with Balearic language, it's same root as the Catalan, but we have our own
• 25:30
  language and it's very uh very important for locals.
• 25:38
  So most traditions are based in that language.
• 25:43
  When you come for the Fallas Festival
• 25:46
  those monuments that I explained before have an explanation and that explanation is written in Valencian language.
• 25:52
  ah So it's a very important uh and unique um distinguish between the rest of Valencia and the rest of Spain.
• 26:03
  Is Valencian a derivative of Castilian Spanish or is it a completely different language?
• 26:09
  ah Well, they've got the common root of the Roman.
• 26:14
  and then they have like different languages.
• 26:18
  So if someone speaks Spanish, will they understand Valencian or is it very different?
• 26:23
  Yeah, I mean, yes, they will understand.
• 26:27
  The only problem is that sometimes you've got like very strong accents, especially people coming from the small abilities with strong accents and sometimes it might be a bit
• 26:38
  difficult.
• 26:39
  But in general, it's easy.
• 26:40
  It's not the same case as, for example, what you have with the Basque Country, which is not, I mean, it has nothing to do the Euskera with the Spanish.
• 26:49
  It's different route and something completely different.
• 26:52
  Me speaking Spanish, I'm not able to understand a word of Euskera.
• 26:58
  wow.
• 26:59
  Okay.
• 27:00
  Someone traveling into Valencia and the region, or the city in particular, and they don't have any Spanish.
• 27:08
  um I would assume that getting around with only English won't be a won't be an issue, particularly within the tourist regions.
• 27:16
  But just if someone wants to do a long stay, like going, you know, rent a beautiful little house or a castle, as you mentioned, and spend our winter, North American winter there, or
• 27:30
  do as my friend does go over and want to learn Spanish or Valencian as the case may be.
• 27:34
  m
• 27:36
  Can they get around without any real drama with only English?
• 27:39
  Yeah, you can go around with no problems using your English, especially, mean, hotels, restaurants, shops, you usually have, uh are able to communicate if you speak in English.
• 27:54
  However, if you go to the more uh unique places, like for example, the Mercado Central, the central market, the food market,
• 28:03
  that you might have some problems in different schools if you only speak English.
• 28:09
  But then I guess that's sort of that's part of the course in any local market or in the world.
• 28:14
  They probably won't be speaking what your first language would be though speaking local.
• 28:19
  This is a purely curiosity question and I don't think I've ever in all my years of meeting people from Spain, etc.
• 28:26
  I don't think I've ever had this conversation or asked this question of them.
• 28:29
  ah My Spanish that I
• 28:32
  learned was in South America.
• 28:34
  I learned quickly that while I can probably speak Spanish, you will understand each other.
• 28:39
  There is a definitive accent with Castellano, Spanish, Spanish.
• 28:45
  And as you were, I have a few words right at beginning of our chat here, we in English, we would say you speak with the lisp, the sound.
• 28:54
  Why did it?
• 28:55
  And again, I think I know the answer because I'm from Australia and I don't speak
• 29:00
  I speak English, but not with an English accent.
• 29:02
  And that's where our heritage, white heritage is from.
• 29:05
  I'm assuming that the South American Spanish lost some of that pronunciation just because it was like outpost cities way back when.
• 29:15
  Is that the reason that the Spanish is not the same, at least in pronunciation?
• 29:21
  With the South American?
• 29:23
  Yeah.
• 29:24
  You mean?
• 29:25
  Well, again, like, in like
• 29:28
  In South America, don't use the...
• 29:30
  If I say, thank you, it's gracias.
• 29:35
  If you say it, I presume it's with a th, gracias.
• 29:39
  So that sort of pronunciation...
• 29:41
  That's we call ceseo and that's something accepted.
• 29:45
  You know, we have an institute for the Spanish language and accepts different variations from South American, for example, and it's completely accepted.
• 29:56
  It's just different, uh there are different options or variations of the Spanish.
• 30:02
  Obviously, Spanish has been spread like English, has been spread through many territories.
• 30:08
  So when you spread the language, it's usual to have those differences.
• 30:13
  But that's good.
• 30:14
  means that the language is alive and it's still using it.
• 30:18
  And it's obvious.
• 30:20
  Every year we have like new words entering our dictionary because the language we use, it's evolving and we are introducing the evolution.
• 30:29
  Yeah.
• 30:29
  Yeah.
• 30:30
  It was just a curiosity question of course it has nothing to do with...
• 30:33
  But we understand each other.
• 30:35
  It's not just a question of pronunciation.
• 30:38
  When we sometimes have some problems is in the use of specific words that might be a bit different.
• 30:46
  But again, I mean, if you get the context, then in the end, you understand each other.
• 30:49
  But obviously, you need a bit of context to understand it.
• 30:53
  again, yeah, basically to add to that with more my personal curiosity question, then anything to do directly with Valencia.
• 30:59
  But um as Eva's mentioned, if you have some Spanish, you'll be fine out there.
• 31:06
  So you mentioned the festival in March.
• 31:09
  You've mentioned that the average temperature is about 19 degrees Celsius.
• 31:13
  So I would assume because of Europe, the high season is summer time.
• 31:17
  There's a May to July, August.
• 31:21
  um Is it is the city of Valencia?
• 31:25
  Now there's a lottery have been a lot of reports.
• 31:28
  Not so much recently, recently, but definitely this year of Spanish people in general getting sick and tired of tourism and tourists taking over cities.
• 31:37
  So comparably speaking to your other big city neighbors is Valencia.
• 31:43
  You said it's the third biggest, I understand it's big, but compared to Madrid, et cetera, is it a quieter option for people?
• 31:49
  Is it less touristed or less traveled by people?
• 31:53
  So therefore, if they choose to go to Spain in summertime, where Europe in general is going to be busy, because it's just the way it is these days, is Valencia a good choice to
• 32:02
  maybe get away from some of those crowds, comparatively speaking?
• 32:05
  Valencia, one of the virtues of Valencia is that uh it's a big city.
• 32:10
  m
• 32:10
  But the atmosphere is like in a small city.
• 32:13
  We've got tourism, but the number of tourists we have compared to the inhabitants we have, it's quite similar.
• 32:20
  So you don't feel when you come to the city, you don't feel that you are like in an attractions park.
• 32:25
  You are visiting a true city where you, as I said before, you can mingle with local people.
• 32:31
  It's not a question of the size of the city.
• 32:34
  It's just a question of
• 32:36
  the number of tourists we are receiving.
• 32:39
  And at the same time, um Valencia, it's an all year round destination.
• 32:45
  So we don't have that big concentration like in Ibiza, for example, or Mallorca, that you have a big concentration between June and September.
• 32:53
  We've got visitors all year round, basically, except for maybe that our low season could be January and beginning of February, but that's it.
• 33:03
  So we all visitors are all over the year.
• 33:07
  So you don't have that idea of being a packed city.
• 33:12
  And at the same time, our tourist attractions or the point of uh interest for tourists are spread through all the cities.
• 33:21
  So you don't have the concentration just in the old town or just in the Mediterranean coast.
• 33:28
  For example, we have one of the most important uh spaces for me.
• 33:33
  It's the green.
• 33:36
  which was in the past a river, was a riverbed whose course was um diverted because we had problems with floods in the past, in the last century.
• 33:46
  So we diverted the course of the river and then in that space, which is a nine kilometer long space, we built a garden.
• 33:54
  That's just one of the most unique spaces in the city that crosses for nine kilometers from uh west to east all the city.
• 34:03
  And in that
• 34:04
  area, you, for example, have lot of facilities for sports, to walk, even the city of arts and sciences complex is there.
• 34:12
  So as I say, we've got like many different spaces or places to visit that is very, it's very difficult to find that you feel packed with lot of tourists.
• 34:24
  Know what I mean?
• 34:26
  I do know you mean.
• 34:27
  And that is to our travel partners.
• 34:28
  Heather, I think he was description and answer to my question there is very, very important because
• 34:34
  weird go away of finding more and more people being frustrated.
• 34:39
  is primarily, well, not just Europe, but most countries these days with the big sites, it's so popular now that the crowds are there.
• 34:47
  It's becoming a bit of a chore to visit, particularly in Europe, some of these big cities at during high season.
• 34:55
  So I think it's very important that if you have a client coming to you about a Europe trip or a trip to Spain, which in itself is very, very popular,
• 35:02
  that you based on Eva's comments here that you suggest Valencia as maybe not the entire trip, but definitely a place to focus on for the reasons Eva just mentioned in that it's
• 35:16
  spread evenly, which is a very positive thing.
• 35:19
  And that it's a year round destination due to its climate and the fact that you probably won't get, again, relatively speaking, those big crush crowds that you'll find elsewhere
• 35:27
  in Spain and um in Europe.
• 35:30
  um
• 35:32
  On the back of that question, most cities, when people look at visiting a city, they're going to allow two, maybe three days to see it.
• 35:41
  So if someone is obviously like you've convinced me that this would be a very beautiful city to spend extended periods of time where you'd get a long stay, as we would say, or if
• 35:52
  you're a snowbird wanting to escape the winter of North America, well, it just sounds like it's got it.
• 35:57
  I've just noticed, sorry, as I'm speaking, I'm watching uh Eva.
• 36:00
  get darker in my screen, because I assume the sun's going down where you are at the moment.
• 36:06
  So Eva, if someone's doing a combination of cities within Spain, how long if they're just looking at us to see the city, to experience some of the culture, the dining, the music,
• 36:18
  et cetera, how many days would you recommend they commit to Valencia?
• 36:23
  If you want to do a combination of different Spanish cities, would recommend to stay for three days in Valencia, which gives you the opportunity to know, experience like different
• 36:35
  areas in the city.
• 36:37
  As I said, the old town, the coast, the natural parks, mean, all different activities.
• 36:44
  However, if you want to have like an extended uh stay in Valencia,
• 36:51
  Then I would recommend like the nearby in the province, the nearby uh activities you can do like visiting the wine producing area, which is just a one hour drive from Valencia
• 37:02
  city, going to the Romans um castle that we have in a very tiny town close to Valencia, which is a half an hour drive from Valencia.
• 37:16
  I mean, I would say like three days in the city and two days
• 37:20
  Getting to know the surroundings is the best choice.
• 37:25
  If you want to combine just two cities, example, Madrid, uh Valencia, then I would say three days Valencia, three, four days Madrid, and you have a good combination of two
• 37:36
  different cities, but giving you like the two sides of what Spain is, one more uh big capital, European capital, very based in...
• 37:48
  culture and the other one is with the Mediterranean lifestyle, more relaxed, more something different.
• 37:57
  If I'm a client coming to you as a go away destination specialist and I say to you, I want to go to Spain, I want the sunshine over winter, I want to do an extended stay, I want to
• 38:09
  do like a home stay, learn some Spanish, et cetera.
• 38:14
  How would you convince me to go to Valencia versus Madrid?
• 38:18
  the Seville versus some of other big cities.
• 38:21
  What's your pitch to me and to our travel partners out It's not a question of convincing.
• 38:28
  can tell you that Valencia, it's a unique city that um has things that you won't find somewhere else.
• 38:36
  ah It gives you the perfect combination of relaxed life.
• 38:43
  an urban city with open air activities and also cultural, a big cultural agenda by the coast ah with a it's a Mediterranean weather.
• 38:58
  And uh we haven't talked about that yet, but one of the best cuisines in Spain.
• 39:06
  don't know if you know, but Valencia is the birthplace for the paella.
• 39:11
  I'm sure you know the
• 39:13
  paella recipe.
• 39:14
  oh Everyone considers it Spanish.
• 39:16
  Yes, it's Spanish, but it was invented in Valencia.
• 39:20
  So it's, really works it to come to Valencia and see the place where the paella was invented.
• 39:27
  Well, you might have convinced everyone to go to Valencia just because of the food and into the paella.
• 39:33
  There is your, there's the thing that makes it different.
• 39:36
  I think like you have, you have the, you have the original, you have the original paella.
• 39:41
  Okay, perfect.
• 39:43
  um So let me ask just some other basic questions and again this won't be too valencia per se.
• 39:50
  You're part of the European Union so the euro is the currency that's used in Spain correct?
• 39:55
  um Do North Americans need a visa to visit?
• 40:02
  I think you've got the, I don't know about the visa.
• 40:06
  I think you have like a European visa that has been approved and it's, um but I don't know if it's working right now or it's just next year, but it was in the way.
• 40:19
  Like one of the visa.
• 40:21
  to visit the Schengen um
• 40:50
  business or family visits.
• 40:52
  Potential checks.
• 40:54
  Border officials might ask for proof of onward travel, sufficient funds or accommodation.
• 41:01
  Future requirement, ETIAS.
• 41:05
  Starting in late 2026 US.
• 41:09
  Citizens will need to apply for an online ETIAS, European Travel Information and Authorization System.
• 41:17
  Authorization before traveling to Spain
• 41:19
  and other Schengen countries, but it's not a visa.
• 41:23
  When you might need a visa.
• 41:25
  Longer stays.
• 41:27
  For stays over 90 days or for specific purposes like extended study or work, you will need to apply for the appropriate visa from a Spanish consulate.
• 41:37
  We now return to our regularly scheduled programming.
• 41:41
  So from a financial point of view, it's the euro, but obviously it's a modern European city, so therefore...
• 41:47
  Credit cards, debit cards are fine.
• 41:50
  um I can't think of any other technical stuff other than what we just discussed because it's Europe.
• 41:57
  Europe is not the hardest.
• 41:58
  You need a passport.
• 42:01
  It's like any other European country.
• 42:04
  No other special...
• 42:06
  And it's as easy as visiting France or Italy or as easy as that.
• 42:13
  No special things to do.
• 42:16
  Yeah, and I think that's why Europe is so popular.
• 42:18
  Obviously for its history, its culture of food, wine, et cetera, without a doubt.
• 42:21
  um Let me finish off with this question for you.
• 42:24
  um You were reticent to compare the other cities to Spain, but again, you threw in the PA, which is uh an attraction.
• 42:34
  If someone is in Valencia and they want to use that as a base to get to the other part.
• 42:38
  Now you mentioned from Madrid into Valencia is like an hour and a half on a train.
• 42:42
  You can fly, could bus, you could drive.
• 42:45
  If people want to expand and explore outside of Valencia, you mentioned the wine district is only, I think, an hour away.
• 42:51
  Is getting to other nearby regions and other things to do easy from Valencia, if people want to use that as a base to explore?
• 42:58
  Well, you're referring to day trips.
• 43:01
  There are a lot of ah nice villages around where you can discover ah either tradition, historical small villages.
• 43:12
  You also have...
• 43:13
  coast abilities, are also very nice.
• 43:16
  And there are wonderful natural spaces and landscapes to do lot of activities in the nature.
• 43:24
  that really depends on what you really like.
• 43:27
  But there are lot of possibilities.
• 43:29
  The thing is that you have the possibilities, then you've got the opportunity to choose according to your likes.
• 43:35
  And of course, again, as we just mentioned, it's Europe, it's modern, it's all very switched on, etc.
• 43:40
  So obviously self-driving.
• 43:42
  and renting a car is a good option, particularly to explore.
• 43:44
  It's easy to get around.
• 43:47
  very easy to get around.
• 43:48
  And especially if you want to do those day trips, it's very easy.
• 43:52
  Although, as I said, in Spain, we've got a very good public transport system.
• 43:58
  You can move from one city to other by train, which is fantastic and very fast.
• 44:03
  As I said, it's connected Madrid and Valencia in less than...
• 44:07
  90 minutes and it's a very good option.
• 44:10
  I really recommend that when visiting Spain.
• 44:14
  sorry, I'm People who are listening to us won't see this but people who watching the video I've just I've just watched Eva over this last 45 minutes go from a bright room All I can
• 44:23
  really see now is the reflection on her glasses and the outline of her face.
• 44:27
  It's all spooky As I look at her through my monitor here Okay, even thank you very much for that uh
• 44:35
  to our travel professionals out there, think, again, like Spain, I want to get to, it's one of the countries I haven't done in Europe, and I've done many, and my Latin American
• 44:45
  experience- it should be on your list then.
• 44:47
  Oh, it is on my list for sure.
• 44:48
  And I have an affinity with Spain because one, history, and by extension, our Spain, know, colonized South America, and I love my Latin America stuff, so it's only natural really, I
• 44:59
  should go and visit Spain.
• 45:01
  And as I say, our friend goes over, she doesn't go to Valencia, but I'm going to recommend she goes to Valencia now.
• 45:06
  ah But it sounds like a perfect spot.
• 45:09
  ah I think all Spain is beautiful, goes without saying.
• 45:12
  But I think Valencia, I think it was that question on crowds and when to go that convinced me that I think it's a really good option where you won't feel the crush of people around
• 45:22
  you, ah which to me is very, important.
• 45:25
  And we are finding out there that a lot of travelers are looking for that.
• 45:28
  type of experience now and it's difficult to find in Europe, I think we have an opportunity here or you our travel partners have an opportunity to.
• 45:35
  Yeah, it's really it really is an opportunity for travel agents to uh show or offer their clients like an alternative destination where you've got a lot of things to see ah in a
• 45:50
  very comfortable way.
• 45:52
  um In a very living like local, which is fantastic.
• 45:57
  and trying to get a good effect of your visit.
• 46:04
  Remember that when you visit a city and you ah buy in their local markets, you eat in their authentic restaurants, you are contributing to economy.
• 46:16
  And we really appreciate when um visitors come to the city and they take part of our traditions, ah because for us, they are temporary citizens.
• 46:27
  It's not just a visitor who goes to a city and collects pictures.
• 46:31
  We really appreciate with those tourists come to the city to participate in our daily life.
• 46:37
  And that's a very important point that Eva's brought up there about any type of tourism to any country in the world.
• 46:42
  You put money back into the local economy, but if you can choose your accommodation, your activities and your experiences to be truly local, locally owned hotels, locally owned
• 46:52
  resorts, whatever it may be, local restaurants, et cetera.
• 46:55
  then not only do you get that real true cultural interaction, immersion, you get to live like a local, as Eva mentioned, but you're helping sustain the local communities and the
• 47:05
  economies and uh it keeps everyone happy.
• 47:08
  And again, we're finding, and we've heard this from you, travel partners out there, that more and more of your clients are looking for that more authentic, natural experience.
• 47:18
  And it sounds like to me Valencia within Spain is the place to focus on if your clients are looking for that European, Spanish.
• 47:25
  experience.
• 47:26
  Look to Valencia.
• 47:27
  In fact, Valencia is becoming each time more popular among Americans.
• 47:33
  We had a research recently published and Valencia was the third most popular city among Americans when visiting Spain.
• 47:42
  And actually, Valencia has been chosen like three, three or four times in a row, like the best city to live in the world and to retire because the average of life is quite
• 47:53
  balanced.
• 47:54
  The money you pay with the quality of life you have is very balanced and the living conditions are very good.
• 48:01
  So it's very, very appreciated.
• 48:04
  Mainly they come, they visit us, but we have a lot of Americans staying longer ah because it really works for them.
• 48:14
  Yep.
• 48:14
  And it's a place that again, I knew nothing about coming to this conversation.
• 48:18
  I feel I've learned a lot.
• 48:19
  Thank you, Eva, for that.
• 48:20
  I hope our travel partners out there.
• 48:22
  learnt a lot and again as I was just saying I think you need to move Valencia to the top of your list when someone comes to you with a request for Spain be it a three-day visit to
• 48:31
  a city or longer term cultural immersion or just live like a local long stay.
• 48:37
  So on that note Eva thank you very much as you fade away into the dark there.
• 48:42
  Thank you.
• 48:44
  And to our travel partners out there as always thank you very much for your time we know how busy you are and until next time.
• 48:50
  Okay thank you so much Don.