Watch These Spain Documentaries During Confinement
GREAT DOCUMENTARIES ON SPAIN TO PREPARE YOUR NEXT TRIP
Now that everyone is in lockdown and people can’t travel, it’s a great time to… lay on the sofa and watch TV! I’m sure that’s no news, unfortunately, right?
Anyway let me give you some suggestions to do something different from watching Netflix episode after episode. What about dreaming about your next trip to Spain?
Today we’ve selected for you our favorite Spain documentaries, all easily accessible and super cheap from Amazon Prime. Enjoy!
These are our favorite documentaries about Spain:
Dive into the amazing math and geometry created by the architecture master Antoni Gaudi for the construction of the most amazing building ever: the Sagrada Familia Church.
Unlike this other 10-minute documentary shot in 2007, The Gaudi Code was released after the interior of the church was finished – what means the images are quite up to date.
Although take into account that it’s a building still under construction and scheduled to be completed by 2026 – to celebrate the 100 anniversary of Antoni Gaudi’s death. So any documentary about it gets dated as the 10 still missing tours get higher and higher…
2
Rick Steves Episodes on Spain
Rick Steves is the world’s travel guru. His guidebooks are a must-read for anyone planning to travel. And he has a wonderful TV series about travel in Europe. On 2004, season 3 took you to Madrid on their 1st episode, Toledo and Salamanca in their 2nd episode and Sevilla on their last show (13th episode).
Season 5 heads to Barcelona and Catalunya (episode 3), and Season 6 focusses on the South Spain with episode 4 about Granada, Cordoba and Costa del Sol, and episode 5 on more Andalucia (with added Gibraltar and Tangier), then episode 10 is about Northern Spain and the Camino de Santiago, and finally episode 11 shows you around the Basque Country.
BTW, I also found he has a special about Southern Spain.
3
Spanish food documentaries
If you are a foodie, you won’t lack of options either. Start with episodes 6 and 7 of The Everyday Gourmet, on paella, tapas and sherry. Continue with episode 8 of chef Anthony Bourdains about food in the Basque Country, then French actor and foodie Gerard Depardieu’s tour of Europe that stops in Catalonia (episode 6) and the Basque Country (episode 3).
For some more excitement, try Bizarre Foods, that after a general episode 2 about Spain on their first season, takes you visiting Madrid on episode 5 of season 6, and again on episode 8 of season 9, then follows the Camino de Santiago on episode 5 of their last season.
Finally, for some good laughs, check out comedian Zane Lamprey trip to discover the Barcelona spirits (episode 10, season 3).
Do you love documentaries that show you landscapes from a bird eye’s view? If you already have Prime, you’ll get free access to this series of 3 chapters flying over the Spanish coasts, inland and famous cities.
It’s too bad you can only access it if you have Prime, the good news is that they give you 30 days trial for free. So as long as you remember to cancel it some days earlier, you are good to go… and will have access to much more content!
For all of you, history lovers, this is the series you need. 24 half-hour episodes (that can be purchased independently) covering all the aspects of the Spanish history. Get to learn about the Prehistorical times, the Roman Empire (did you know Tarraco, now Tarragona near Barcelona, was once home to several Roman emperors?), the Middle Ages, Christopher Columbus trips, Jewish, Moor and Gipsy communities, the different dinasties that ruled the Kingdom… all the way to the industrial revolution, the Spanish Civil war and the come-back of democracy.
Enough time to learn the language?
Being able to communicate, understanding and getting understood makes a whole difference when visiting a country. Locals will be nicer to you if they see you make the effort to communicate in the local tongue rather than expecting to be addressed in your own “foreign” language.
And while being fluent can take years, getting the basics is just a matter of spending some time on it. This 30-episode Spanish course will get you through the basics of grammar and give you key vocabulary that will be undoubtedly helpful when you are abroad visiting not just Spain but also most Central and South American countries (well, and Florida too now that I think about it…)
What documentaries about Spain will you watch first?
Marta
Marta is the founder of ForeverBarcelona. She is a passionate tour guide that loves Barcelona and loves writing too. She is the main author of our Blog, and is committed to sharing her knowledge about Barcelona and her best tips with our readers.
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Last update on 2024-04-22 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
