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Writer's picturemuna ahmed

The Thousand Tastes of Spain

Updated: Dec 27, 2021

ALICANTE, SPAIN


Straining toward the sea as it hunkers beneath a castle-topped mountain, Alicante is fishing port, yacht haven, and beach resort in one. Called the “City of Light” for the bright wash of sun on its ancient streets, Alicante – like so many Spanish cities – comes most alive in the evening, when locals and vacationers gather around drinks and the savory delights known as tapas.


Capital of the Costa Blanca, Alicante retains far more of its historic identity than nearby megaresorts. The romance of its high and lonely Moorish castle contrasts with the elegance of Baroque buildings wedged into steep medieval streets. Ultimately, Alicante is defined by the sea – trade route to Africa, boundless well of fish, and rhythmic source of waves lapping pale, sandy beaches. Once the vacationers have come down from the castle ramparts, or ambled back from Postiguet and Sant Joan beaches, Alicante gets its sea legs for the evening. As a cool ocean breeze stirs, people promenade down palm-lined Explanada de Espanya, the wide esplanade separating ancient city from modern seafront, paved with 6.6 million marble tiles laid in wave patterns. A sudden urge to drink and snack overwhelms the city. It is time for tapas. No-one knows when the tapas tradition began, but the practice of placing a small dish atop a glass to keep out the flies has evolved into Spain’s most generous act of hospitality. An ingrained part of Spanish culture, tapas sampling lets visitors socialize elbow-to-elbow with fellow drinkers and diners at the bar. Although many tapas – from Jabugo mountain ham to La Mancha’s ewe’s-milk cheeses and the ubiquitous potato omelet – can be found across the country, each region also boasts its own specialties. To see what will be on the bars of Alicante at night, one need only visit the Mercado Central by day. The great slabs of red tuna and the clenched blue shells of mussels displayed on ice will become delicate tartares, seared bites, or pink morsels in a tangy vinegar sauce. Few drinks better suit these explosively briny tidbits than Fondillón, Alicante’s unique, long-aged wine, with overtones of almonds, ginger, dates, and dark dried fruits. So superb are the tapas at Alicante’s bars that it’s tempting to stay put once you have found a rail to lean on. But inertia violates the unwritten rules of a night of tapas-hopping. Each establishment on the esplanade or in the narrow streets of the medieval quarter has a treat it does better than anyone else – so staying in one means missing the others. Eating tapas can be a means to stave off hunger until a typically late Spanish dinner (always after 10:00 pm), or it can become dinner and the evening’s entertainment all in one – in which case, it is perhaps wisest not to look down at the swirling, wavepatterned pavement on the way home.



The Best Places to Eat Tapas

Piripi

Address: Av. Oscar Espla, 30, 03003 Alacant, Alicante, Spain




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