The Spanish are very passionate about their food and wine and Spanish cuisine. Spanish food can be described as quite light with a lot of vegetables and a huge variety of meat and fish. The Spanish cuisine does not use many spices; it relies only on the use of high quality ingredients to give a good taste.

Lunch and dinner times

Spaniards have a different eating timetable than most people are used to.

The key thing to remember for a traveler is:

- lunchtime starts at 1:30pm/2pm, and finishes before 4pm

- dinner starts at 8:30pm or 9pm, with most clientèle coming after 9pm.

- between that, most restaurants and cafes are closed, and it takes extra effort to find a place to eat if you missed lunch time.

Normally, restaurants in big cities don't close until midnight during the week and 2-3am during the weekend.

Breakfast

Breakfast is eaten by most Spaniards. In cafes, you can expect varieties of tortilla de patatas (see the Spanish dishes section), sometimes tapas (either breakfast variety or same kind as served in the evenings with alcohol). Traditional spanish breakfast, though, is usually based on sweet things: hot chocolate with "churros" or "porras".

The entry level to Spanish food is found in bars as tapas, which are a bit like "starters" or "appetizers", but are instead considered side orders to accompany your drink. Some bars will offer a wide variety of different tapas; others specialize on a specific kind (like seafood-based). A Spanish custom is to have one tapa and one small drink at a bar, then go to the next bar and do the same. A group of two or more individuals may order two or more tapas or order raciones instead, which are a bit larger in order to share. Tourists are easily spotted when they load their plates full of tapas.

Fast food

Fast food has not yet established a strong grip on the Spaniards and you will find McDonalds and Burger King only in bigger towns in the usual places. The menu can be a surprise since it has been customized to appeal to the locals and beer, salads, yogurt primarily Danone, and wine are prominent. Pizza is increasingly popular and you will find some outlets in bigger towns but it can be their own homegrown franchise, TelePizza, as well as Pizza Hut.

Restaurants

Seafood: on a seacoast, fresh seafood is widely available and quite affordable. In the inner regions, frozen (and poor quality) seafood can be frequently encountered outside few highly reputated (and expensive) restaurants. In coastal areas seafood deserves some attention, especially on the north Atlantic coast.

Meat products are usually of very good quality, because Spain has maintained quite a high percentage of free range animals.

Soups: choice of soups beyond gazpacho is very limited in Spanish restaurants.