Andalucia

No region embodies Moorish Spain as clearly as Andalucía. Other parts of the peninsula may harbour the odd discernible trace of the Moors, but it is in the great arid swathe of the south that the 800-year-old Moorish occupation really made an unrivalled impact. Architecture, crafts, music, agriculture, fiery eyes and fiery cuisine are the obvious legacies of a culture that ended in 1492, when the Spanish Catholics captured the Moors’ most extraordinary creation; the Alhambra palace, queen of Granada. Looking back at his conquered kingdom, the boy-king Boabdil shed a tear, breathed his ‘last sigh’ and fled into exile. The mountain pass he followed still bears this epithet, as does so much else in Andalucía that is connected to the Moors. If you have a ‘last tapa’ - make it here.