The Rough Guide to Spain 13 (Rough Guide Travel Guides)
This Spain travel guide fulfills all its obligations with an introduction highlighting the quintessential places to go and things to do. It goes on to discuss local traditions, weather, sports and cultural issues. The bulk of the book focuses on describing Spain's major provinces. And, three full-color sections provide meaningful content about Spain's world-renowned wines, walking itineraries and festivals.

A section of the guide discusses the country's 3 major dialects (Catalan, Basque and Galician) which differ significantly from Castilian, Spain's national language.

A good choice

Frommer's Spain 2010 (Frommer's Complete)
This updated 2010 edition is a big improvement over its 2009 counterpart. By far the most complete travel guide available and, in my opinion, more entertaining than most of its competitors. The book is divided into Spain's major provinces, each with indepth, practical information for travellers planning a 1 to 4 week holiday.

If you plan on renting a car, you'll find this book especially helpful for its fold-out maps and descriptive car itineraries.

There is a whole section dedicated to the Balearic Islands, with its formitable beaches and bustling nightlife. Perhaps the book's weak point is the fact it doesn't mention the Canary Islands, a string of volcanic islands belonging to Spain just off the west coast of Africa-- I loved the unique lunar landscape of Mt. Teide and the banana plantations on Tenerife Island.

A great buy!

Fodor's Spain 2010 (Fodor's Gold Guides)
As always, the Fodor's travel guide series provides the traveller with a ton of information, more perhaps than Rick Steves' edition. I definitely got all the facts I needed for my trip with this guide; however, I was yawning after the first 10 pages -- OK, I know it's not supposed to be a cliffhanger. I just think that a more personal approach to descriptions of people and places is so important in contributing to a successful holiday.

On the other hand, if you're the "hard facts" type, this one's for you! It offers 864 pages of everything you'll ever need to know for your trip --and more, so get out your reading glasses and a steaming-hot cup of joe and enjoy!

A very complete guidebook.

Rick Steves' Spain 2010 with map
For me this is the best travel guidebook series you can buy. Author Rick Steves knows how to help you make the most of your holiday, and he gets my vote for his updated 2010 Spain travel guide. You get the usual: monuments, lodging, walking itineraries, local holiday alerts; yet he also throws in lots of useful Spain-specific cultural notes not found in most other travel guides. I was delighted to see a section dedicated to the neighboring coast of Morroco, given its easy access and close proximity to southern Spain.

What I liked most about his 759-page guide is the way Rick skillfully scales his recommendations according to how much time and money we plan to spend in Spain. Whether you're going to Spain for 3 days or 1 month, with $300 or $5,000, Rick makes sure you get the maximum experience for your travel budget.

The 2010 edition also includes handy color maps and updated telephone numbers, etc.

Great Job Rick!