The Spanish
Grand Escape

Land at Madrid-Barajas and transfer to the Mandarin Oriental Ritz, a Belle Époque palace opened in 1910 at the request of King Alfonso XIII, who wanted the capital to have a hotel the equal of any in Europe. It has been putting up royalty and heads of state ever since.

The evening begins at the Puerta del Sol, the notional centre of the Iberian peninsula, then the Plaza Mayor — one of the grandest enclosed squares in Europe — and the exterior of the Royal Palace.

The Mercado de San Miguel follows, for the first taste of the country, and then the Gran Vía. Dinner is tapas, properly: jamón ibérico, patatas bravas, croquetas, tortilla española, and churros con chocolate to finish.

A private morning through royal Madrid. The Royal Palace is among the largest in Europe, and the frescoed ceilings and the royal armoury are the parts that surprise people. Then the Almudena Cathedral beside it and the Plaza de Oriente.

Through the Retiro, the great green lung of the city, past the 18th-century Puerta de Alcalá that was once the main gate into Madrid.

The afternoon is the Prado, and it deserves the whole of it: Velázquez, Goya, El Greco and Rubens, with the finest collection of Spanish painting anywhere. Standing in front of Las Meninas, or Goya’s Third of May, is the reason people come to Madrid. Dinner is Spanish and unhurried.

The AVE high-speed train south, about two and a half hours at up to 320 km/h, through central Spain into Andalusia.

Your transfer takes you to the Hotel Alfonso XIII, built for the 1929 Ibero-American Exposition and blending Andalusian, Moorish and Castilian styles — the columned courtyard with its orange trees and mosaic fountains is the image of the place.

The afternoon explores Seville: the Plaza de España, a vast semi-circle built for the same Exposition; the María Luisa Park around it; the exterior of the cathedral; and the Santa Cruz quarter, the old Jewish district, whose lanes are narrow enough to touch both walls.

The evening is flamenco — a private or premium performance with Andalusian food. Seville is the global centre of the form, and a live performance here is raw and genuinely emotional in a way the tourist versions elsewhere are not.

The Royal Alcázar first, and it is the single most illuminating building in Andalusia: layer upon layer of Islamic, Gothic, Renaissance and Mudéjar work, built by Christian kings using Moorish craftsmen, and still in royal use.

Then the cathedral — the largest Gothic cathedral in the world — and the climb up the Giralda, which was the minaret of the mosque that stood here before it, and which is ramped rather than stepped because the muezzin rode up on horseback. The view over the terracotta roofs is worth the climb.

The afternoon is at leisure among Seville’s ceramics, flamenco dress-makers and craft workshops, followed by a tapas and wine tour in the evening.

The AVE northeast, about five and a half hours through Andalusia, La Mancha and into Catalonia. Premium class includes a meal served at the seat, which makes the length of it a pleasure rather than a chore.

Your transfer takes you to Hotel Arts, a 44-storey tower on Barceloneta beach with a private beach club and two Michelin-starred restaurants.

The afternoon walks Las Ramblas down to the water, then into the Gothic Quarter — medieval lanes over Roman foundations — and La Boqueria, the market that is genuinely still a market. Dinner is Catalan: paella, fideuà and local seafood.

The Sagrada Família first. It is the longest-running construction project in the world, begun in 1882, and is expected to complete in 2026 on the centenary of Gaudí’s death. The exterior is extraordinary; the interior, with the light coming through the stained glass, is something else entirely and is unlike any building most people have stood in.

Then Park Güell, Gaudí’s mosaic-covered hillside of gingerbread pavilions and serpentine benches, a UNESCO site and an argument that architecture can simply be joyful.

The afternoon walks the Passeig de Gràcia to Casa Batlló, with its dragon-scale roof and skeletal balconies, and Casa Milà — La Pedrera — whose rooftop chimneys look like a guard of stone warriors. Then back through the Gothic Quarter for the Roman walls and the hidden squares.

A morning flight of about an hour, down into the Balearics. Your transfer takes you to Nobu Hotel Ibiza Bay on Talamanca Bay, just north of Ibiza Town, with a private beach and the Nobu restaurant on site.

The change of pace from Barcelona’s urban intensity is immediate and deliberate. Settle in at the beach or the pool.

The afternoon explores Dalt Vila, Ibiza’s UNESCO-listed old town. The 16th-century walls took forty years to build, were designed to keep the Turks out, and are the best-preserved coastal fortification in the Mediterranean. You enter through the Portal de Ses Taules into a maze of lanes and small squares that follow the shape of the hill, up to the Cathedral of Santa Maria and the castle. Then the sunset, which on Ibiza is close to a civic ritual.

A private boat around the island to the coves and swimming spots that can only be reached from the water. Cala Comte is the famous one, for its turquoise shallows and its sunsets; Cala Bassa is a sandy cove backed by pines.

The water around Ibiza is exceptionally clear and the snorkelling is better than the island’s reputation suggests. Lunch is beachfront — seafood, Spanish wine and the sound of the water.

The afternoon returns to the resort. For anyone who wants the island’s other side, club access can be arranged in the evening — though Ibiza has genuinely shifted towards wellness and organic dining in recent years, and most of our guests now follow that instead.

Inland, away from the coast. Santa Gertrudis is a village built around a square, with artisan shops and very good food; San Juan is quieter still, known for its market and its crafts.

You drive through the Ibizan countryside of traditional whitewashed fincas, olive groves and almond trees, which is the island most visitors never see at all.

The afternoon is a private yacht or the beach club, and the evening is a farewell Mediterranean dinner — fresh seafood, Spanish wine and the sunset.

Breakfast at the hotel and, if the flight allows, a last swim at Talamanca. Private transfer to Ibiza Airport.