Zaragoza

Despite its beautiful location in a picturesque valley by the river Ebro, and an incredibly rich historical heritage, Zaragoza is refreshingly untouched by mass-tourism. Most travellers know it only as a train stop on the way from Barcelona to Madrid. Zaragoza benefits, however, from its location right in the middle of everything. It is a dynamic and modern city, while still maintaining an authentic Spanish identity. The food and bar culture is unique, the city a real architectural treasure and a growing young population guarantees a busy night life.

Why should you visit Zaragoza?

I guess that being a local, it is too easy to say that this is just a beautiful place, full of history and curiosities that surprise our visitors. When we are planning a trip to a foreign country, we never miss the capital and the most representative cities but we often fail to visit other places that, sometimes, are even more interesting than the well known ones.

Zaragoza is one of these places, not as famous as Madrid or Barcelona, but way older than both of them. It is often underestimated but never ceases to amaze its visitors. You cannot miss one of the biggest cathedrals in the entire country and the biggest basilica at the same time, Roman remains and history and, of course, local tapas and gastronomy.

It has been over a year since I started showing people around my city and what an experience it has been! I’m impressed by the amount of people willing to know every secret that his place is hiding. Visitors from all over the world, like Australia, United States, South Africa, many parts of Asia, Canada, Argentina…
Having the chance to make people discover the city where I was born is a complete privilege. I feel that, in certain way, I’ve become an ambassador for one of the cities I really love. Although you do not have to be a local to be a good guide, it always adds something extra, and this is something that our visitors always appreciate, because getting to know a place does not mean just visiting the iconic buildings but getting involved in the culture and experiencing the “local” life and the atmosphere. Being a traveller myself, I know that this could be the best way to know about a place.

What are you waiting for? I will be waiting to show you around with a GuruWalk tour and I will let you know all about this beautiful place ! !

Facts

Population Approximately 700,000
Currency EURO €1 = 100 cents
Opening hours Normal opening hours for shops are Monday to Saturday, 10.00-14.00 and 17.00-20.00. Larger stores stay open all day.
Many businesses including restaurants and bars close for holidays in August.

Websites: www.zaragoza.es

Local Newspapers: El Periódico de Aragón, Heraldo de Aragón,

Emergency numbers
Emergency Services 112
Ambulance: 061
Fire Service: 080
To report assault, robbery or accident to the police: +34 902 102 112
Tourist information Tourist Office Plaza del Pilar
Address: Plaza Nuestra Señora del Pilar (Plaza del Pilar, for short)
Tel. +34 902 142 008 / +34 976 201 200
Open every day from 10:00-20:00, from June to October from 09:00-21:00

Information supplied by Arrival Guides. Click here to download their complete guide to Zaragoza

This is at Gran Casa Shopping centre in Zaragoza. I can’t promise you that you’ll be lucky enough to see a flash-mob but I hope you enjoy your visit to the city and capital of Aragón.

Football

Real Zaragoza, S.A.D., commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is the city’s main football club and currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system. Founded on 18 March 1932, the club has spent the majority of its history in the top flight of Spanish although they have not played at that level since they were last relegated in 2013. They would certainly consider themselves La Liga side and a “big” club. On paper it is but on the football field the results have been disappointing for more than a decade with a constant merry-go-round of managers all promising to take the team back to the “Promised Land” (La Liga). They have won the Copa del Rey six times, 1963–64 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup and the 1994–95 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, amongst other trophies. Traditionally, their team colours are white shirts and socks with royal blue shorts. Zaragoza holds its home games at La Romareda.

Our friends from “The Groundhopper“ visited the stadium recently and this is what they said.

” I love finding the little “in-between” places in soccer.

Maybe it’s the London club, like Millwall, that people have vaguely heard of but where you can have experiences that are at once surprising, entertaining and shocking. Or maybe it’s an out-of-the-way town like Barnsley, who just had their poor hearts ripped out in a promotion final at Wembley.

And sometimes it’s literally an in-between place, in this case Zaragoza, a Spanish city in between the footballing meccas of Barcelona and Madrid. From either of those, or as a stop-over between them, you can explore amazing architecture and art in a city with Roman roots and modern comforts, then go to a stadium hardly changed since it was built in 1957, plop down about 25 Euros, find a seat someplace, and enjoy some Segunda División fútbol at Real Zaragoza.

That’s what I did on my last trip, and boy, was it fun. Just a nice, traditional stadium and fanbase, with home and away supporters mixing together on a pleasant Spanish evening, getting just a little worked up about things, eating at an outdoor table and kicking the ball around with the kids.

Sometimes you just need to wander away from the bright lights and off the main road to find what you’re looking for. La Romareda, named for its neighboorhood, has been the home of Real Zaragoza since 1957. And it hasn’t changed much since then, other than a touch-up for the World Cup — in 1982! So here are some sights and sounds from my evening there. Please note, there is almost certainly some Spanish cursing in here.”