What is a Parador?
Paradores de Turismo was founded in Spain, in the 1920s, as a means to promote tourism in Spain – a very popular and profitable initiative that turned former castles, palaces, fortresses, convents, monasteries and other historic buildings into luxury hotels.
The name Parador comes from the Spanish ‘parar‘, which means to stop, halt, or stay. The concept behind Parador is to open exceptional historic properties to the public, and use the hotel’s profits to maintain these beautiful buildings. Most of them also have excellent restaurants offering traditional cuisine at a high standard, using local and seasonal produce.
The Paradores chain now counts a hundred such establishments.
Resources
Here is a website where you can learn more about Paradores, and even make reservations: https://paradores.es/en .
This website lists some very impressive-looking Paradores: https://capturetheatlas.com/paradores-in-spain/ .
Here is a map of all Paradores in Spain: https://spainparador.com/maps.htm