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Updated: October 2026

Cheese and olive oil are two of the easiest ways to get to know Spain through its food. This guide is for newcomers who want to shop with more confidence: which cheeses and oils come from which regions, what the words on the label mean, and how locals actually use them at home.

How to read Spanish cheese and oil labels

Many of the best products carry a protected name. In Spain you will see DOP (Denominación de Origen Protegida) and IGP (Indicación Geográfica Protegida). These are EU-backed labels that guarantee the product comes from a defined area and follows set production rules. Each one is supervised by a consejo regulador, and the official seal is usually printed on the back label or on a paper band.

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• Oveja, vaca, cabra: sheep, cow and goat milk. “Mezcla” means a blend of milks.
• Leche cruda: raw (unpasteurised) milk. Worth knowing if you are pregnant or cooking for small children.
• Tierno, semicurado, curado, viejo: from young and mild to long-aged and intense.
• AOVE: aceite de oliva virgen extra, extra virgin olive oil. Under EU rules it must have very low acidity (no more than 0.8%) and no taste defects.

Spanish cheeses worth knowing

Spain has a long list of protected cheeses, and almost every region has its own. These are the ones you are most likely to meet in shops and on tapas menus.

Manchego (Castilla-La Mancha)

Made only from the milk of Manchega sheep on the plains of La Mancha. It is firm, slightly crumbly with age, and moves from mild and milky when young to nutty and sharp when curado or viejo. Look for the DOP seal: plenty of “Manchego-style” cheese in supermarkets is not the real thing.

Cabrales (Asturias)

A powerful blue cheese matured in natural caves in the Picos de Europa. It is traditionally made from raw milk and can mix cow, sheep and goat milk. Locals eat it with bread, in sauces for steak, or with a glass of Asturian cider.

Mahón-Menorca (Balearic Islands)

A cow’s milk cheese from Menorca with a square shape and an orange rind, often rubbed with oil and paprika. Young Mahón is soft and lightly salty; older pieces are hard enough to grate.

More regional favourites

• Idiazabal (Basque Country and Navarra): sheep’s milk cheese, often lightly smoked.
• Tetilla (Galicia): a mild, creamy cow’s milk cheese with a distinctive cone shape.
• Torta del Casar (Extremadura): a soft sheep’s milk cheese set with thistle; you cut off the top and spoon it out.
• Queso de Murcia al vino: goat’s cheese washed in red wine, giving a purple rind.
• Andalusian goat cheeses: in Málaga and Cádiz provinces you will find excellent local goat cheeses at markets and village shops, often from Malagueña or Payoya goats.

Olive oil regions and varieties

Spain is the world’s largest olive oil producer, and Andalusia, especially the province of Jaén, grows a large share of it. Different olive varieties give very different flavours, so it pays to try a few.

Protected oils include Priego de Córdoba, Baena, Sierra Mágina, Antequera, Montes de Toledo, Siurana and Les Garrigues, among others. Pepperiness and bitterness are signs of a fresh, high-quality oil, not a fault.

Buying and using them like a local

1. Go to the municipal market. Cheese stalls let you taste before you buy and will cut a wedge (una cuña) to the size you want.
2. Check the harvest date. Olive oil is best within roughly a year of harvest. The new season’s oil (aceite nuevo or de cosecha temprana) appears from late autumn.
3. Visit an almazara. Many olive mills in Jaén, Córdoba and Málaga province offer tours and tastings, especially during harvest from around November to January.
4. Store it right. Keep oil in a dark bottle or tin, away from the hob and sunlight.

At home, Spaniards use olive oil for almost everything: toast with tomato in the morning, frying, stews and dressings. Cheese is mostly eaten on its own as a tapa, with bread, quince paste (membrillo), nuts or honey, rather than melted into dishes.

Useful links

• The Spanish kitchen: what to eat and cook
• Wine regions of Spain
• Spanish drinking culture and traditions
• The cost of living in Spain

FAQ: Spanish cheese and olive oil

Disclaimer: This article is general information only. Product rules, prices and opening times can change – check labels and the producer or market before you buy or visit.

Online pharmacy & parapharmacy
Skincare, vitamins, baby care and more – delivered in SpainShop now

Updated: October 2026

In Spain, the local bar is part of daily life: people stop in for a morning coffee, a mid-morning snack, a beer with friends after work or a glass of wine with tapas. This guide explains how drinking works socially, how to order like a local, which regional drinks to try and the rules you should know as a newcomer.

Drinking the Spanish way

Alcohol in Spain is almost always linked to food and company. A drink usually comes with something to eat, people drink slowly over long conversations, and being visibly drunk in public is frowned upon. Many Spaniards drink little or nothing during the week, and non-alcoholic beer (cerveza sin) is on offer in almost every bar.

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• Aperitivo: a vermouth or beer with olives or crisps before lunch, especially at weekends.
• Tapeo: moving between bars with friends, having one drink and one small plate in each.
• Sobremesa: staying at the table after a meal, often with coffee or a chupito (a small shot, sometimes offered free by the house).
• Free tapas: in cities such as Granada, Jaén and Almería, a small tapa often comes free with each drink.

How to order in a Spanish bar

Beer

• Una caña: a small draught beer, the standard order.
• Un doble or una jarra: a larger draught beer.
• Un tercio: a 33 cl bottle.
• Una clara: beer mixed with lemon soda or lemonade.

Wine and other drinks

Ask for un tinto (red), un blanco (white) or name a region, such as un Rioja or un Ribera. In summer, locals drink tinto de verano (red wine with lemon soda) far more often than sangria, which is mostly for visitors and parties. Vermut on tap, served with ice, orange and an olive, has made a big comeback.

Coffee, the Málaga way

Bars are coffee shops too. In most of Spain you order a café solo (espresso), cortado (with a dash of milk) or café con leche. Málaga has its own system, with names that describe how much milk goes in: solo, largo, semilargo, mitad, entrecorto, corto, sombra and nube, from all coffee to almost all milk. Ask for a mitad if you want half and half.

Regional drinks to try

The Spanish gin and tonic deserves a mention too: served in a large balloon glass with plenty of ice and botanicals, it is a typical after-dinner drink, known simply as a gin-tonic.

Drinks at fiestas and ferias

• Feria de Abril in Seville: the classic is rebujito, manzanilla sherry mixed with lemon-lime soda, shared by the jug.
• Feria de Málaga in August: sweet white wine is poured freely in the city-centre streets during the day.
• Noche de San Juan (23 June): beach parties with bonfires; check local rules, as many beaches restrict glass and set closing times.
• Christmas and New Year: cava for toasts, and the twelve grapes at midnight on 31 December.

Rules and etiquette to know

• Legal age: you must be 18 to buy or be served alcohol anywhere in Spain.
• Drink-driving: the general limit is 0.5 g/l in blood (0.25 mg/l in breath), and lower for new and professional drivers. Police checkpoints are common, especially around fiestas. The safest choice is not to drink at all if you drive.
• Drinking in the street: many town halls ban drinking alcohol in public spaces outside terraces and authorised events (botellón), and fines can be steep.
• Paying: you usually pay at the end. Ask for la cuenta. Rounds are common among friends, and tipping is modest: leaving small change is normal.

Useful links

• Wine regions of Spain
• The Spanish kitchen: what to eat and cook
• How to build a social life in Spain
• Unexpected cultural differences in Spain

FAQ: drinking in Spain

Disclaimer: This article is general information only. Local bylaws, limits and fines can change – always check the current rules with your town hall or the DGT. Please drink responsibly and never drink and drive.

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Skincare, vitamins, baby care and more – delivered in SpainShop now

Updated: October 2026

Paella is the dish most people link with Spain, but in Spain itself it is just one of many rice dishes, and locals have strong opinions about it. This guide explains the main types you will see on menus, what the original Valencian recipe contains, how to tell a good paella from a tourist trap and how to cook one at home.

Where paella comes from

Paella was born in the rice fields around Valencia and the Albufera lagoon. Farm workers cooked rice over a wood fire in a wide, shallow pan with whatever was at hand: chicken, rabbit, beans and sometimes snails. The word paella actually means the pan itself in Valencian. Today, rice dishes cooked in this kind of pan are made all along the Mediterranean coast, each area with its own version.

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The main types you will find

Paella valenciana

The original. It contains chicken and rabbit, flat green beans (ferraura), large white butter beans (garrofó), tomato, olive oil, saffron or colouring, water and round rice. Snails and a sprig of rosemary are traditional extras. There is no seafood, no chorizo and no onion in the classic recipe.

Paella de marisco

Seafood paella, made with a fish or shellfish stock and topped with prawns, mussels, clams and squid. It is the version most common in coastal restaurants, including along the Costa del Sol.

Paella mixta

Meat and seafood together. Valencians do not consider it a real paella, but it is popular in tourist areas and at big family gatherings in other parts of Spain.

Other rice dishes worth trying

• Arroz negro: rice cooked with squid or cuttlefish and its ink, usually served with alioli.
• Arroz a banda: rice cooked in a rich fish stock, with the fish served separately or not at all.
• Arroz del senyoret: seafood rice with everything already peeled, so you do not need your fingers.
• Fideuà: from the Gandia area, made with short thin noodles instead of rice.
• Arroz al horno: oven-baked rice with pork, chickpeas, black pudding and potato, popular in Valencia.
• Arroz caldoso and meloso: soupy or creamy rice dishes, often with lobster, fish or game. Common in Andalusia and Murcia.
• Vegetable paella: with artichokes, peppers, beans and other seasonal vegetables. Not traditional, but easy to find.

How to spot a good paella

• It is made to order. A proper paella takes around 20–30 minutes once the rice goes in. If it arrives in five minutes, it was probably reheated.
• Minimum two people. Restaurants usually cook it for at least two, served in the pan.
• Thin layer of rice. The rice should be spread thinly and be dry and separate, not creamy like risotto.
• Socarrat. The lightly toasted, crispy rice on the bottom is a good sign and is considered the best part.
• Avoid the photo boards. Bright yellow rice from a picture menu outside a busy promenade bar is usually a warning sign.

Eating paella like a local

Spaniards eat paella at lunchtime, often on Sundays or at weekends with family, rarely for dinner. In Valencia, people traditionally eat straight from the pan with a spoon, each person working on their own section. Lemon wedges are common with seafood rice, but many Valencians frown on squeezing lemon over a paella valenciana. A green salad and bread usually come alongside.

Cooking paella at home

1. Get the right pan. A wide, shallow paella pan sold by diameter. A 40 cm pan suits around four people. Supermarkets and hardware shops sell them cheaply.
2. Use round rice. Bomba, Senia or Bahía absorb liquid without going mushy. Look for the Arroz de Valencia or Calasparra protected names.
3. Brown, then add liquid. Fry the meat or seafood in olive oil, add vegetables and grated tomato, then the stock or water and saffron.
4. Do not stir. Once the rice is spread evenly, leave it alone so the bottom can form socarrat.
5. Rest it. Let it sit for a few minutes off the heat, covered with a clean cloth, before serving.

Many towns on the Costa del Sol and in Valencia also run paella cooking classes, which are a fun way to meet people and learn some kitchen Spanish.

Useful links

• The Spanish kitchen: what to eat and cook
• Spanish cheese and olive oil
• Wine regions of Spain
• How to build a social life in Spain

FAQ: paella

Disclaimer: This article is general information only. Recipes vary by family and region, and restaurant menus and prices change – check with the restaurant before you go.