Genuine Andalusia

26/11/2024

New York City has been our base of operations for the past 2 weeks!.

A wonderful time filled with memorable dinners with clients, productive meetings with travel agents and meaningful conversations with the Tourism Office of Spain in NYC. Gracias, gracias, gracias everyone!

This has been a key milestone for us after 11 years in business crafting fully personalized trips to Spain for US Travelers.

Also, it has been a great opportunity to discuss and share impressions on the future of travel with discerning travelers, with amazing travel advisors and with incredible professionals from the Spanish Tourism Office in NYC!.

If you are looking for a trusted, awarded and caring Spain travel company to craft a memorable trip for you, we are here to help! https://genuineandalusia.com/

06/10/2024

Best short breaks for Autumn by The Sunday Times!.

Number 13 is Tasting Andalusia’s sherry triangle with Genuine Andalusia!

More details about this short break here: https://genuineandalusia.com/private-extended-tours/sherry-triangle-tour/

Come to the Sherry Triangle with us and discover a whole new wine world! https://genuineandalusia.com/

Swap gloomy weekends in the UK for cooking tapas in Cordoba, surfing in Basque country and cycling along the Catalan coast

17/07/2024

We need to talk about Cream Sherry indeed!

17/07/2024

Handcrafts from Mallorca: Siurells!.

Siurells are handmade clay figures, that after firing are painted in white and finished with scattered red and green brush strokes. They are native and unique to Mallorca and they represent characters, myths and legends from the island.

The word Siurell means whistle and this is because every Siurell features a small whistle used traditionally by shepherds to call their animals and by children to play. It is also believed that the whistle was used as a form of protection from the strong Mediterranean winds.

Their origin is unknown but similar handcrafts have been found in other parts of the Mediterranean such as Crete and Cyprus.

We have been including Mallorca in our private and fully personalized trips to Spain for a few years now and amongst other immersive and creative experiences in the island, we organize Siurell-making and painting workshops with local artisans so our guests make and take their own souvenir from Mallorca, enjoying interaction with the local community and contributing to preserve their traditions, arts and crafts alive.

If you are planning to visit Mallorca and Spain and would like to have an experienced, creative, respectful and well-connected travel planner to design your trip following your preferences and expectations, get in touch with us!

https://genuineandalusia.com/

15/07/2024

Excellent news! We have been awarded our 8th consecutive certificate of excellence by Tripadvisor!

This goes with special THANKS to all those guests who took their time to time to review their experiences with us!.

Genuine Andalusia turned 10 this year and we can't be grateful enough for all the wonderful people we've hosted and shared the wonders of our homeland with, throughout these 10 years.

If you would like to take a trip to Spain with an 8 times awarded, caring, creative, professional and knowledgeable Spain travel planner, we are here to help!

https://genuineandalusia.com/

01/02/2024

WOW news!
Iván Ricoy, our founder and manager has been included in WOW list as a Trusted Travel Expert for Andalusia and Southern Spain in 2024!.
The WOW list is a prestigious collection of exceptionally knowledgeable and well-connected trip planners around the world and Ivan is now in it!.
We are very happy and very proud to announce this and also that Genuine Andalusia will be 10 years old this year!.

01/02/2024

WOW news! We are very happy and very proud to announce that Ivan Ricoy, our founder and manager, has been included in Wendy Perrin's WOW list as a Trusted Travel Expert for Andalusia and Southern Spain in 2024!

The WOW list is a prestigious collection of exceptionally knowledgeable and well-connected trip planners around the world and Ivan is now in it!

https://www.wendyperrin.com/reviews/ivan-ricoy/

23/01/2024

One more year... We will be attending Fitur in Madrid!.
On Wednesday the 24th, Thursday the 25th and Friday the 26th of January we will be at the travel show during the day and in our favorite Madrid hotels, bars and restaurants in the evening meeting suppliers and clients!.
If you would like to meet and don't have an appointment wuth us yet, DM and let's schedule one!.

13/01/2024

Spinning records in (Sherry) style with the decks sitting on Sherry casks!
What a pleasure to contribute to the local culture scene of Jerez this time through music selection!.
Big thanks to .degloria for the invitation, to for treating us so well and to everybody who came along! Bravo!
If your Spain vacation is bringing you to Jerez and you feel like exploring the city by night, there's a bunch of great places where to go for one more Sherry after dinner and where you may find your guides having a wee dance!.

17/12/2023

Once more, our friend has curated a simply exquisite nativity scene in Seville. His nativity scenes are always of Neapolitan style and are filled with fascinating and intricate details.
The Neapolitan presepe (nativity scene) is a sophisticated and ephemeral "installation" that breaks down artistic hierarchies and defies categorization within the genres of art history. It shows, in the form of miniaturized theater, the sacred scene of the Nativity immersed in a realistic, 18th century Neapolitan scenography.
The technical peculiarity of the Neapolitan nativity scene is the figures, which are dressed in fine, embroidered clothes, have a height of 20 - 30cm and are made of iron wire and fibrous mannequins, to which are attached sculpted wooden hands and feet and an oil-painted terracota head with glass eyes.
During the 18th and 19th centuries, the royal family, the aristocracy and the bourgeoisie commissioned these figures from such renown artists as Giuseppe Sanmartino (1720 - 1793), Francesco Celebrano (1729 - 1814) and Angelo Viva (1748 - 1837). This period, commonly known as the golden age of the Neapoitan Presepe is closely linked to the birth of the Kingdom of Naples, whose independence began in 1734 with the reign of Charles of Bourbon (1734 - 1759) and continued with that of his son Ferdinand IV (1759 - 1825).
Aimed at an audience of scholars and peasants alike, the presepe constantly plays on the multiple and complex interpretations that its scenes and characters create: its richness lies in the constant ambiguity between high and popular culture, which is a recurring phenomenon in the Neapolitan imagination during the Age of Enlightenment.
Source: label from an exhibition at
In the nativity scene, the fabulous East is represented by he arrival of the Magi followed by a magnificent entourage. Besides the knowledge drawn from the circulation of the engravings depicting this reality, Neapolitan artists got to know this world during the period of Charles of Bourbon who was fostering an opening up policy with the East.
Continues in comments

09/12/2023

No other place in Spain celebrates the arrival of Christmas like... Jerez! Learn why in this blog post!

Jerez Zambombas are the unique, traditional and festive celebrations that precede Christmas in the city. Learn all about them in this article!