Spain
Moorish palaces in the south, green Atlantic coast in the north, and a high-speed rail network that makes the distance between them irrelevant — Spain is several countries wearing one flag.
Several countries
under one flag
Spain is more internally different than almost anywhere else in Western Europe. Andalusia in the south spent nearly eight centuries under Muslim rule, and the Alhambra, the Mezquita at Córdoba and the Alcázar in Seville are what that left behind. The north is green, Atlantic and rainy, with its own languages and, in San Sebastián, arguably the densest concentration of serious cooking in Europe.
Madrid sits in the middle, high on the plateau, with the Prado and Reina Sofía and a nightlife that starts when other cities are finishing. Barcelona is Catalan first, with Gaudí's work scattered through it and a beach at the end of the metro line. Valencia invented paella and does not recognise most of what is sold under that name elsewhere.
What ties it together is the AVE high-speed rail network, which is genuinely excellent and turns Madrid to Seville or Barcelona into an afternoon. Two adjustments matter for Indian travellers: Spain eats very late — lunch at two or three, dinner at nine or ten — and summer in the southern interior is severe rather than merely hot.
When is your Spain?
Spain has no single climate. The southern interior is severe in high summer while the northern coast stays cool and wet, and the Canaries are warm all year. The right month depends entirely on which Spain you are going to.
Journeys Designed
for Spain
Sample itineraries shaped by our travel designers — a starting point for Spain, every one reworked entirely around you.
Don't see the right duration or style? Every journey we design is built from scratch around you.
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Spain visa — what you need to know
Spain is in the Schengen area and Indian passport holders need a Schengen visa. Spain differs from every other country on this site in one immediately practical way: it does not use VFS Global in India.
Appointments for Spanish Schengen and national visas in India are booked through BLS International rather than VFS Global. This trips people up constantly — travellers who have applied for other Schengen countries go to the VFS site out of habit, find nothing for Spain, and conclude that no appointments exist. They are on the wrong platform. Book through the Spanish visa service operated by BLS.
Spain splits India between two missions. The Consulate General in Mumbai covers Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and the union territories of Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu and Puducherry. The Embassy in New Delhi covers the remainder, including Delhi NCR, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha, the north-eastern states, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Chandigarh, Sikkim, Lakshadweep and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Applying outside your jurisdiction wastes the appointment.
Spain states that visa applications may be submitted from six months before the scheduled date of travel, and no later than fifteen days before it — that closing date is a deadline rather than a target. As with every Schengen country, applying close to the fifteen-day floor leaves no margin if the file is referred for further checks, so treat the six-month opening as the point to start rather than a theoretical limit. Final visa decisions remain with the relevant authorities.
Travel medical insurance valid across the Schengen area for the whole of your stay is required, with minimum cover of €30,000 including medical repatriation. Apply to Spain only if it is your main destination — the country where you will spend the most days — and where the days are equal, to the country you will enter first. Spain is a common first entry point on multi-country European trips, so this is worth checking against your actual itinerary rather than assuming.
For all Spain journeys we design, we prepare your complete visa documentation package — the forms, the supporting documents, the sequence of submission. Our visa specialists help travellers prepare complete applications with careful document guidance. Final visa decisions always remain with the relevant authorities.
Travel Spain intelligently
Two things shape a Spanish trip more than any itinerary decision: booking the timed monuments early enough, and accepting that the country eats several hours later than you do.
Spain travel FAQ
The questions Indian travellers ask most often before booking Spain.
A country for every
kind of traveller
The high-speed network means you can combine regions that feel entirely different without spending your holiday travelling between them.
The Nasrid palaces, the Generalife gardens and the fortress above them, with the Albaicín quarter opposite and the Sierra Nevada behind.
Seville's cathedral and Real Alcázar, the tiled sweep of Plaza de España, and Córdoba's Mezquita with its forest of striped arches.
The Prado, the Reina Sofía with Guernica, the Royal Palace and Retiro park, with Toledo and Segovia within an hour.
The Sagrada Família, Park Güell and the Modernista houses on Passeig de Gràcia, plus the Gothic Quarter and a city beach.
San Sebastián's pintxos bars and shell-shaped bay, Bilbao's Guggenheim, and a green Atlantic coast that looks nothing like the south.
Santiago de Compostela at the end of the pilgrim routes, the wild Galician coast, and the mountains of the Picos de Europa inland.
The City of Arts and Sciences, a riverbed turned into a park through the middle of town, and the birthplace of paella.
The Balearics — Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza — in the Mediterranean, and the volcanic Canaries off Africa, warm all year.
Beaches, parks, and a culture that keeps children up late and welcomes them everywhere, with fast trains between cities.
Tell us whether you want Andalusia, the northern coast, the big cities or the islands, and our travel designers will shape the route around it.
How far in advance
should you book?
Spain's constraint is rarely the visa — it is the small number of timed monuments that every visitor wants on the same days.
Check whether Mumbai or New Delhi covers your state, and book the appointment through BLS International.
From six months ahead, and as early within that window as you can manage — start at the six-month mark rather than the floor.
The Alhambra's Nasrid Palaces and the Sagrada Família are the two that decide your itinerary dates.
Advance high-speed fares are a fraction of walk-up prices once the dates are fixed.
What to pack
for Spain
Pack for the region rather than the country. Andalusia in August and the Basque coast in August require almost opposite bags.
If you are visiting Andalusia between June and September, treat sun protection as equipment rather than an accessory — a hat, high-factor cream and a refillable bottle. Seville and Córdoba routinely pass 40°C and shade is scarce in the monument queues.