I was thinking about this the other day funnily enough.
If i could only have one book it would be As I Walked OUt One Midsummer Morning by Laurie Lee. His descriptions of Spain are so vivid, that it just brings it to life. Although it was written early 1930's i think, there are still parts of Spain once you get off the beaten track, that are still like that now.
When I was about 14 or 15 ( 40 odd years ago) my family took their very first foreign holiday to Spain. My parents wouldnt fly, so we got the ferry from Southampton to Bilbao and drove from Northern Spain down to Torremolinos on the Costa Del Sol. The trip across Spain took 2 days of driving, and the memory of that journey is still very vivid with me now. I cant remember where the first overnight stop was, although i can see it in my mind, but the 2nd night was in Madrid. Ive never been back to Madrid since, but i really should go. It is an amazing city. We drove down through the Sierra Nevada mountains which was stunning and very scary with its hairpin bends. Im sure the roads are much better now, but i remember feeling as though i held my breath for hours.
Laurie Lee's journey was by foot from Vigo to what is now the Costa Del Sol, and it has been my ambition for years to follow that journey through Spain.