Salamanca

Salamanca is a town of around 145,000 inhabitants (2018) in western central Spain. It is the capital of Salamanca province, which is part of the autonomous region of Castile and Leon (Spanish: Castilla y León). The Romanesque, Gothic, Moorish, Renaissance and Baroque monuments in Salamanca's historic centre were added to the UNESCO world heritage list in 1988.

Understand
The city lies by the Tormes river on a plateau and is considered to be one of the most spectacular Renaissance cities in Europe. The buildings are constructed of sandstone mined from the nearby Villamayor quarry, and, as the sun begins to set, they glow gold, orange and pink. It is this radiant quality of the stones that has given Salamanca the nickname La Dorada, the golden city.

In 1218, Alfonso X of León (Alfonso the Wise) founded the university - one of the first in the world. In 1254, Pope Alexander IV called it "one of the four leading lights of the world".

In 2002 Salamanca was the European Capital of Culture.

By plane
The nearest practical airport is Madrid Barajas, some 200 km east. It's well connected domestically, within Europe and to the Gulf States and Americas.



Iberia and travel search engines may also show flights from "SAJ". But that's actually a bus, operated by Avanza, running from Salamanca bus station to Madrid Barajas Terminal 4.

By train
AVE trains link Salamanca with Madrid Chamartin every couple of hours, taking little over 90 min, via Segovia. There are also direct Interregio trains taking over two hours via Avila and El Escorial, and connecting trains via Valladolid which also stop in Segovia.

An overnight train connects Salamanca with Coimbra and Lisbon (7-8 hours). Reaching northwest Spain (e.g. Leon, Santiago or Vigo) will involve back-tracking to Segovia.

Interregio trains may also stop at Salamanca La Alamedilla station, 500 m southwest. So that's just 500 m to the centre, 10 minutes walk if your bags are light.



By bus
Avanza buses run hourly from Madrid South station, on Avenida Méndez Álvaro 83. Expresses take 2 hr 30 min (€24), slower buses over 3 hr (€17). They also run direct every two hours from Madrid Barajas Airport Terminal 1 via Terminal 4, taking 2 hr 30 min, €27.

Avanza buses also run via Avila to Valladolid (6 per day, 90 min, €10) and Segovia (4 per day, 3 hours, €15).

Alsa run buses to Santiago (2 per day, 6 hours, €50), Gijon (5 per day, 6 hours, €26), and Seville (6 per day, 7 hours, €37).

By car
Good fast Autovias (with toll) link Salamanca east to Avila (100 km) and Madrid (205 km) via A50; south to Caceres (235 km) and Seville via A66; northeast to Valladolid (115 km) via A62; north to Zamora and Leon via A66; and west into Portugal via A62.

Get around
The city is not too big to see on foot, especially the main attractions, which are all quite close to one another. For slightly longer journeys there are taxis, and numerous bus routes - tickets are cheap, and you can buy them directly from the driver on board. Salamanca city bus 1 can take you between the train station and Plaza Poeta Iglesias, which is right next to Plaza Mayor.

If you do need a taxi, you can find a few taxi ranks around the city. However, one can also use the app called Pide Taxi to call on a cab. Passengers pay with cash at the conclusion of the ride.

See






Do

 * The fiesta of the Virgen de la Vega takes place 8-21 September.
 * Watch football: the local team is Unionistas de Salamanca, formed in 2013 after the demise of the previous club. They play in Tercera División, the fourth tier of Spanish football. Their home ground is Pistas del Helmántico, a 3000-capacity stadium 3 km north of city centre.
 * Across the Roman bridge is a small park and play area. You may be able to hire paddle boats and canoes here, if the river flow is not too low or too high.

Learn
The combination of Castile-Leon's reputation for pure Spanish and Salamanca's reputation of learning, due to its venerable university, means that there are lots of language schools in the city that cater to those who wish to immerse themselves and learn Spanish in Spain.


 * Universidad de Salamanca: Cursos Internacionales
 * Don Quijote Spanish school that offers courses of 4–6 hours a day. All courses, including beginner courses, are taught entirely in Spanish.
 * Linguaschools Salamanca (in the centre) offers Spanish lessons in small classes.

Buy
Shopping is a large part of life in Salamanca. Traditional family owned stores mix with many national and international retailers throughout the city. Calle Toro, which begins at the northwest corner of the Plaza Mayor, in particular has many options for shoppers.

The city also boasts a mall (centro commercial) called El Tormes which offers variety of stores and restaurants. However a car, bus or taxi ride is needed to access it. There is also the large department store chain El Corte Inglés located on Calle María Auxiliadora.

Most stores open around 10:00, close for two or three hours during lunch time (14:00) and remain open until 21:00. Almost all stores, including grocery stores, are closed on Sundays. There are a few convenience stores, known as 24-hour stores, which never close.

Every Sunday an outdoor market, known as the Rastro, erects where locals and tourists shop for assorted products: clothes, jackets, hats, bags, jewelry, watches, perfumes, colognes, and other accessories. The Rastro is on Av. de la Aldehuela, about 3 km west of Plaza Mayor, roughly a 20-minute walk.

Eat
Lunch is Spain's big meal of the day, and Salamanca abides by that rule religiously. This means that restaurants will have their best food and their biggest portions anywhere from 13:00-15:00.

Dinner usually happens from 20:00-23:00, and isn't really a meal as such. In spite of the many restaurants open at dinner time (with a full menu), one of the traditional Spanish habits is to eat tapas with friends over a glass of wine, which consists of regional appetizers served at bars, restaurants, and cafeterías. In Salamanca there's no definitive guide to tapa-ing, instead, try to stroll around the center of the town and try different places and, who knows, meet new friends.

Locals gather slightly north of city center for their nightly tapas on a street named Van Dyck. The tapas here are generally of a higher quality and a lower price of those found near the plaza. Almost every street out from the centre will have at least one small bar, and many of them will serve tapas. The price difference between having or not a tapa with your drink is negligible (around €2 for each beer/wine and tapa, €0.20-30 less only the beer) so go on a try them!

Popular tapas are any sort of roasted pork parts: ribs (costilla), sausage (chorizo), ham (jamon), bacon (panceta) or face (jeta). Try the "pincho moruno", a brochette of pork pieces marinated in paprika and garlic. A local speciality (if you find it appealing) is "chanfaina" a spicy rice dish with liver and/or blood that is served in many bars as a tapa on Sundays.

In the summer most restaurants set tables outside for both lunch and dinner. For the privilege of sitting outside you often get charged a euro or two extra per person.

Salamanca is atop the small portion of Spain where you can purchase jamon iberia (Iberian ham). This expensive pork is very rich, very expensive and in the opinion of most Salamancans the most delicious thing there is to eat.

Vegetarians will have to work a little bit to find food. Tortilla de patata is always a safe bet (a frittata-type thing with potato and egg) but it can get old after a while. Meat (especially pork) finds its way into a majority of dishes here. When you're asking waiters if a dish does not have meat (carne), make sure you specify that you don't want chicken (pollo) or fish (pescado) either.



Other restaurants include:
 * El Bardo Junto, Calle Compania 8
 * El Triton, Paseo de Canalejas 28
 * Bambú, Calle de Prior 4
 * Momo, Calle San Pablo 13

Drink
Innumerable bars and nightclubs, all central, include: Camelot (not Sundays), Puerto de Chus, Submarino, Moderno, Cum Laude, Daniel's, Chupiteria, Paniagua, Potemkin (Th-Sa), Capitan Haddock (not Sundays), Posada de las Animas (not M), and Niebla/Mist.

Sleep
Book well in advance if you hope to stay in Salamanca during Easter (Semana Santa) or during the fiesta of the Virgen de la Vega.

Stay safe
Salamanca is considered to be one of the safest cities in Spain. Violent crime is for the most part unheard of. As with the rest of Spain, you should be aware of pickpockets, but they are less common in Salamanca than in the bigger cities.

Cope
While the streets are filled with international tourists and students from countries around the world most locals do not speak English. It is not uncommon to find even the hotel staff in Salamanca only able to speak Spanish to you. With that said, the locals are used to people butchering their language and are willing to be patient with you.

Salamancans (Salmantinos in Spanish) are very schedule oriented. They wake up, work, eat, shop and sleep at around the same time every day. Almost all stores close at exactly 14:00 for a few hours so the staff can lunch. This can be hard for outsiders to adjust to but it's something you have to deal with for however long you are in town.

Go next
The must-see centres to the east are Ávila and Segovia.

To the south, Béjar is a small town noted for its walls, "El Bosque" gardens, and bullfighting arena. It's also a jumping-off point for the Sierras further south, for hiking and wildlife. Historic villages here include Hoyos del Espino, Piedrahita, Barco de Ávila and Arevalo.