 Paradores at Plasencia / Cangas de Onis |
 Driving into Plasencia, a walled city in central Spain. High against the afternoon sky rises a three-tiered Roman aqueduct. As elsewhere, the Ciudad Monumental signs lead straight into the old quarter. Parador de Turismo, this way to the four-star Parador hotel, a restored fifteenth-century convent inside the city wall. Parking Parador – better still. Drive into the lift cage, turn off engine, push green button as doors close… Nothing Gothic about this property except the décor.
In 1928 a Spanish nobleman conceived the idea of refurbishing neglected historic buildings as fine hotels. It was a rare vision in a time and place in which leisure travel remained the prerogative of a tiny elite. The 88 Paradores operating today include castles, convents, country homes and palaces, each offering distinctive luxury accommodation.
Paradores serve as treasuries of Spanish art, as centres for the promotion of regional cuisines and especially as exemplars for the tourism industry. From the bean stews and mountain cheeses of Asturias to the cured ham and virgin olive oils of Extremadura, the Paradores offer an introduction to the best of Spain.
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