If you haven't been to southern Spain for a vacation, put it on your bucket list. It's not the food or the scenary that wows you - it's the history, architecture and culture. Granada has its AD 88 fortress Alhambra and mosques of the Muslim Moors, Seville has its Alcázar palace complex, bullfighting stadium and 1492 world changing history, Córdoba has its famous mosque Mezquita and Madrid has its 3 world class art museums. That was our trip. It was awesome.
I didn't realized that Seville was the departure point of Christopher Columbus on his maiden trip to discover the Americas. Sponsored and paid for by Queen Isebella and King Fernand of Spain, Columbus and his crew departed from the Seville river Guadalquivir and 5 weeks later landed in the Canary Islands. Today Christopher Columbus is buried in Seville's Cathedral de Sevilla.
When I reflect back on the food and dining, it's all very good but not like Italy or France. For those highly food allergic, be mindful of the tapas. These are small plate dishes - typically free and served as kind of an appetizer at lunch, dinner or having drinks. Often it's not clear what's in a tapas dish since it's not listed on the menu. I would avoid eating tapas just to be on the safe side.
Most important - read up on your Spanish history before you go and pick up a few key words of course. Buenos dias!