Speaker A
me i always feel slightly oppressed by beautiful vistas. You know what I mean?
Anthony Bourdain explores Granada and Andalusia, Spain, with Zach Zamboni: tapas, bullfighting, Semana Santa processions and family life.
Key Takeaways
- Spain's cultural identity blends contradictions: religious devotion, surrealism, anarchy and deep culinary tradition.
- Andalusian social life centers on shared food, drink, family tables and long, relaxed afternoons.
- Bullfighting and Semana Santa remain powerful, polarizing traditions that outsiders find both beautiful and troubling.
- Relocating abroad, as Zach does, can mean fully immersing in a new family and culture.
What the video covers
- Bourdain introduces Granada, tucked against the Sierra Nevada in Andalusia, as one of Spain's most beautiful and historically layered cities.
- He frames Spain's history as a mix of Inquisition, anarchy, devout Catholicism, surrealism, modernist and traditional cuisine, and shared Christian and Islamic heritage.
- Cameraman Zach Zamboni, who has moved to Spain and joined an Andalusian family, is the focus of the 'road not taken' story of living abroad in Europe.
- Zach's future brother-in-law Alejandro gives him a bullfighting lesson with a red cape, and Bourdain reflects on the bull's death behind the spectacle.
- The episode shows free tapas culture in Granada, where drinks keep the food coming, and traditional dishes such as snails in almond sauce and tripe.
- Bourdain examines local family food traditions, including cured ham, homemade chorizo, Spanish cheeses and wine.
- Granada's bohemian scene, including international hippies living in mountain caves, is portrayed with humor.
- Semana Santa (Holy Week) processions are described as an intense, evocative spectacle leading up to Easter.
- The episode includes a moraga, a beach barbecue tradition on the unspoiled Almeria coast, and a shared table meal that closes the episode.
- The tone is comedic and affectionate, mixing travelogue, cultural history and personal storytelling.
Chapters
- 00:00Introduction to Granada and Spain's contradictions
- 03:00Bourdain's road-not-taken premise and meeting the family
- 08:00Bullfighting lesson with Alejandro
- 16:40Tapas, traditional dishes and family food
- 27:00Zach's life in Granada and Andalusian culture
- 27:30Semana Santa processions
- 32:30Almeria coast and the moraga beach barbecue
- 39:00Closing table meal and reflections
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
surreal places in spain and one of the most beautiful granada is tucked against the sierra nevada mountains of andalusia in southern spain it's not like barcelona it's not like san sebastian it ain't madrid any reasonable sentient person who looks at spain
Speaker A
On my shoulders.
Speaker A
this is the country that gave us the spanish inquisition also anarchy this is where devout catholicism mixes with surrealism modernist cuisine with traditional tapa christianity and islam traded places shared space and the effects and influences of all those things
Speaker A
Are the storybook kingdom of Granada, one of the oldest, most complex, magically surreal places in Spain, and one of the most beautiful.
Speaker A
squats in the caves up the mountain have made things interesting if they ask what we're doing if they were staging the moon landing wherever you are on the ideological spectrum however some things are constant it seems some stereotypical
Speaker A
Granada is tucked against the Sierra Nevada mountains of Andalusia in southern Spain. It's not like Barcelona. It's not like San Sebastián. It ain't Madrid.
Speaker A
and oh yeah bullfighter they do that here too [Applause] but i digress i'm here actually to answer a question what happens if you go over to the other side say you grew up in the states and like a
Speaker A
Any reasonable, sentient person who looks at Spain, comes to Spain, eats in Spain, drinks in Spain, is going to fall in love. Otherwise there's something deeply wrong with you.
Speaker A
maine zach zamboni is finding out so where we uh right here one of these tables which maybe we want to do like this with see how often do you get to go out with somebody that can properly block the table the misery it's
Speaker A
Spain's the sort of place that never really made any sense anyway, and in the very best possible way.
Speaker A
the few places in spain where they're free all you have to do is keep drinking you can sit here all day you store it in a couple of drinks no rush i plan on spending some time here redwine ordered
Speaker A
This is the country that gave us the Spanish Inquisition, also anarchy. This is where devout Catholicism mixes with surrealism, modernist cuisine with traditional tapas. Christianity and Islam traded places, shared space, and the effects and influences of all those things are right here to see.
Speaker A
the life of the spanish dandy and freaking granada no less classically culturally speaking do you want a sensitive nice caring thoughtful guy well it depends on the woman first but usually we look for this kind of person that
Speaker A
You can almost look back through time and through the mists of history, see the Phoenicians marching up across the Vega. Or are those feral hippies? An influx of international hippies, many of whom appear to have set up squats in the caves up the mountain, have made things interesting. If they ask what we're doing, if they were staging the moon landing, wherever you are on the ideological spectrum.
Speaker A
her jewelry or other things of little value i figured now that zach is marrying into a spanish family i can piggyback along for a bit suck up a little of the magic live a little bit of what has often been
Speaker A
However, some things are constant. Some stereotypical expectations. It's true, there are free tapas everywhere. Yes, they do actually take siestas, which is a civilized, damn thing to do. As far as I can tell, flamenco, yes, they do that also, but in Granada they do it old school. And oh yeah, bullfighters. They do that here too.
Speaker A
places we go you're only living up in a cave you keep talking like this more wine [Music] to see spain to see it straight to understand it at all you should probably peek if only through spread fingers at that most spanish of traditions
Speaker A
But I digress. I'm here actually to answer a question. What happens if you go over to the other side? Say you grew up in the States, and like a lot of us, wondered, fantasized about what it would be like living abroad in old Europe, surrounded by crusader castles, delicious food, another language and another culture. What would that alternate life, that road not taken, be like? My longtime friend and cameraman from Maine, Zach Zamboni, is finding out.
Speaker A
exactly along with me for the day fwen's brother alejandro who like many spaniards consider bullfighting an art today a little practice first and don't worry this guy is too young to fight [Music] so this is the red cape you know this is
Speaker A
So where are we? Right here, one of these tables. Which maybe we want to do like this, with. See how often do you get to go out with somebody that can properly block the table? The misery. It's what it is.
Speaker A
it seems they get they get more attractive [Laughter] this guy clearly has spirit right away he tries to take a poke at zack's femoral artery privacy i don't think so sure knows your time you and him he's going to teach you
Speaker A
Oh boy. Ah yes, of course. Snails in an almond sauce, about as traditional and as delicious as it gets. That's a plate full of perfect happiness.
Speaker A
i said what any idiot would say see it all starts well enough hey this is fun this is easy until i get a horn hooked right up next to my nut sack then it's not so fun thanks guys
Speaker A
Good chopper, huh? That's right. Tapas come from here, and this is still one of the few places in Spain where they're free. All you have to do is keep drinking. You can sit here all day. You store it in a couple of drinks. No rush. I plan on spending some time here.
Speaker A
your meat and two veg that's a lot of muscle that's a lot of muscle that's a big ball [Music] [Music] [Music] no matter how big how strong how scary for this intrepid reporter who's seen many animals die for his dinner
Speaker A
Red wine ordered. Tripe to follow. Tender, spicy, delicious tripe. Sun, plaza, guts. Hello, hello.
Speaker A
our friend went to a better place after all like a big pot where he simmered slowly for hours with local herbs onions and potatoes nothing like a roaring fire and a spread of hyberico ham homemade chorizo spanish cheeses bread
Speaker A
Not too long ago, before Zach basically defected to Spain, he met Flynn, and next thing you know he's living here, part of an extended Andalusian family, eating the ham, drinking the wine, living the life of the Spanish dandy, and in freaking Granada no less.
Speaker A
if you were a little boy growing up you aspired to be exactly the matadors were the original rock stars the very ideal of masculinity male beauty and grace that runs deep like it or not you should probably know this before
Speaker A
Classically, culturally speaking, do you want a sensitive, nice, caring, thoughtful guy? Well, it depends on the woman first, but usually we look for this kind of person, that we know he will protect us from feral hippies, for example.
Speaker A
skillful you know you have to look good doing it too yeah are there any like really ugly ass bull fighters like a really out of shape i'm at the door with a muffin top how do you call them huffingtons
Speaker A
You know, I would love to do the vows of your wedding. Do you, Zach Zamboni, swear to protect Chari Sánchez from any attacks by feral, cave-dwelling hippies who might attempt to sell her jewelry or other things of little value?
Speaker A
[Music] for the seven days leading up to easter nearly every city in andalusia gets taken over by ancient processions to an outsider it's an impenetrable montage of confusing yet deeply evocative images figures and dark hoods loom up from every direction
Speaker A
I figured, now that Zach is marrying into a Spanish family, I can piggyback along for a bit, suck up a little of the magic, live a little bit of what has often been my dream too.
Speaker A
into the street but the woman who scored the virgin they wear candles to light the whole way to the cathedral pedro is another of fwen's brothers the youngest and when not working for an i.t company in ireland he does this he
Speaker A
What if we can get weird for a second here, man? Some places, do they have an energy about them? What are you saying? I don't want to get into metaphysics or, you know, some places we go, you're only living up in a cave. You keep talking like this, more wine.
Speaker A
that have to make it through the door just so the bearers have to kneel crawl along with it on their backs to get it through the door in the main event ready set [Applause] up [Music] music let's face it i like a procession and
Speaker A
To see Spain, to see it straight, to understand it at all, you should probably peek, if only through spread fingers, at that most Spanish of traditions: bullfighting. Meet Alfondi, one of Spain's most dashing and respected bullfighters. He's invited me to La Marquesa's ranch, a private bullring where he likes to practice.
Speaker A
establishment where between drinks one can ponder the agony of the christ but with sausages is it like this all year or just the whole year whole year it's always wonderful yeah wow you have incense whole year eastern music whole year now is this a
Speaker A
So what they're going to do now is check how brave the calf is, and if the calf's not brave, stew. Exactly. Along with me for the day, Flynn's brother Alejandro, who, like many Spaniards, considers bullfighting an art.
Speaker A
insignia and so on it's their medallions of particular christ images that adorn the bar and frankly they're kind of bumming me out maybe it's just me but when i'm getting a nice late morning buzz i don't particularly want jesus looking
Speaker A
Today, a little practice first. And don't worry, this guy is too young to fight.
Speaker A
it's amazing gaze away disapprovingly all you like genius i am happy now overlooking granada the hillside of sacramento is riddled with caves many of them older than anyone even remembers spanish gypsies or hitanos have lived here in caves turned homes like this
Speaker A
So this is the red cape. This is the most important kit, where they make all the art, all the poetry. Exactly. All right, why the cape, not the man? Because he's moving. So that's important. You don't want to be moving. You don't want to move at all.
Speaker A
flamenco in a cave alicia like just about everyone in granada is an aficionado our host kuro is a poet historian and a patriarch of the hitano community here an icon of the flamenco world you'd see traveler or roma people are
Speaker A
It seems they get more attractive.
Speaker A
you do them well yeah we know how to live don't we [Music] is [Music] [Music] more [Music] ah [Music] a foreign [Applause] [Music] [Music] a they dig deep for their material here it means something they're telling you something about
Speaker A
This guy clearly has spirit. Right away he tries to take a poke at Zach's femoral artery. Privacy? I don't think so. Sure, knows your time, you and him. He's going to teach you.
Speaker A
that moment you perform very well after a couple of this right i may not have blended but i have valentine's day i know that expression wait a minute [Music] [Applause] [Music] night time in granada and it's time to pursue that greatest of
Speaker A
Yeah, sure, okay. No one likes to look like a... on TV. So when Alfondi jokingly suggests I join him in the ring to wave a pink cape at an aggressive young bull, who just moments ago charged my cameraman, I said what any idiot would say.
Speaker A
you do this a week i do it five days a week it's rare not to do this but you know it's like on a weekend you come out for a bunch weekday you come out for one this is latana a little place run by
Speaker A
See, it all starts well enough. Hey, this is fun, this is easy, until I get a horn hooked right up next to my nut sack. Then it's not so fun. Thanks, guys. This youngster shall live, perhaps to gore future TV hosts with his mighty horns.
Speaker A
wino i could still eat well as long as i can afford my wine cheers let us put this theory into practice with our first round of drinks comes this samurai who is tomato with bread garlic olive oil and blended
Speaker A
Now, this is what a real bull looks like. This is a whole different thing. Five hundred freaking kilos of aggressive, charging, four-legged killdozer aiming at your meat and two veg. That's a lot of muscle. That's a big ball.
Speaker A
got to do is keep drinking and i'm going to eat like no keep feeding here yeah although i maybe you'd be interested in caviar here really yeah that's not included with my uh well that's another point on the tapas
Speaker A
No matter how big, how strong, how scary, for this intrepid reporter who's seen many animals die for his dinner, this part is never easy. So as you see, he puts the cape lower, so the bull brings the face forward, showing the neck.
Speaker A
thing you know you're ordering 200 grams of caviar caviar ain't free my friend delicious entirely sustainable spanish caviar from farmed river sturgeon it's fun that you can come in a place like this get granted yeah or some high test
Speaker A
That's it. Go on. That was really good. And, um, yeah, that's it.
Speaker A
for it tapaiyar meaning to take tapas as in if we go to top ir some more we're going to have to elbow past this crowd of catholics here is it extra insane because it's santos semana yes but it's always busy here man oh boy
Speaker A
Okay, it's time for stew. Bulls, our friend went to a better place after all, like a big pot where he simmered slowly for hours with local herbs, onions, and potatoes. Nothing like a roaring fire and a spread of ibérico ham, homemade chorizo, Spanish cheeses, bread, and good olive oil to take the sting out of a near genital mutilation.
Speaker A
cross we can cross we have to go around where going around going around going but we need to walk faster [Music] people take their processions very seriously here and aren't exactly accommodating to anyone who threatens to block the view
Speaker A
He started at age 19.
Speaker A
great topic come this is what's different right people come in here and they will eat like this perfectly happy perfectly content to forgo the table come out here and stand around and eat like exactly gwen's glass of wine comes
Speaker A
If you were a little boy growing up, you aspired to be exactly... the matadors were the original rock stars, the very ideal of masculinity, male beauty and grace. That runs deep. Like it or not, you should probably know this before dating a Spanish guy. Me, I'd happily see an end to it tomorrow, but there is no denying the terrible beauty of a very complex tradition. It's not about weeding, it's not about killing the bull, and nor is it about being just skillful. You know, you have to look good doing it too.
Speaker A
worth it at any price [Music] that's so totally awesome oh we did good work here anything else tony should we go on no let's move on all right let's move up [Music] as this death march of tapas continues
Speaker A
Yeah. Are there any, like, really ugly-ass bullfighters? Like a really out-of-shape... I'm at the door with a muffin top. How do you call them? Huffingtons.
Speaker A
i do like the increasingly meta aspect of this show i should really be live streaming now we can really be interesting finally bar gallardo just making it before closing now let's be honest we've had a lot to eat
Speaker A
Interesting. Well, it was an education today and a great meal. Thank you. Cheers. Cheers.
Speaker A
these are super good yeah i'm uncomfortable with the idea of something for nothing right it's not something for nothing it's only three dollars for a glass of wine it's something for nothing yeah but if somebody can get the math right in
Speaker A
Oh, Holy Week, or Semana Santa as it's called, observed all over southern Spain with a seriousness and a fervor you might not see elsewhere, for the seven days leading up to Easter. Nearly every city in Andalusia gets taken over by ancient processions. To an outsider it's an impenetrable montage of confusing yet deeply evocative images. Figures and dark hoods loom up from every direction, smoke, pots of incense, candles, religious imagery, the crowds, flashes of Goya and Velázquez, dimly remembered impressions of the Inquisition.
Speaker A
are you out of your mind i want to be able to go down walk to my bar i want to have a little beer yeah i want a golden unicorn that shit's money both of those scenarios are equally
Speaker A
Okay, watch this. These guys have to get their painstakingly crafted, massively sized, and incredibly heavy and cumbersome float through the door, down the steps, and out into the street. But the woman who scored the
Speaker A
and added to an attitude as history unfolded through wars and tragedy and invasion and conquest on the outside it's very bare all you see is these tiny windows and it's projecting in penetrability but then you come in here
Speaker A
zach is gone well let's call it what it is a bit mad about the place the details and there are a lot of them can obsess a man plus he's a cinematographer so you can understand once you start to really look
Speaker A
around how that might get a grip on a guy whose profession is the intricate play between light and darkness my theory is that they're trying to weave nature calligraphy symbols these are all inscriptions within here inscriptions turn into graphics
Speaker A
right because when you made islamic art you're not to depict works of god yes but what you can depict and this is what this entire place is is geometric systems yes so when the nazri dynasty lived here it was
Speaker A
a harmonious space where light shade water the transit of the moon and the stars were harnessed and glorified i think the best assumption is nothing is random they came here and laid out everything according to a plan man
Speaker A
[Music] this was a place for reflection each element of design presumably intended to have effects both psychological and religious it's really a cinematographer's paradise because everything is about light and math obviously they weren't cinematographers but everything is framing for them
Speaker A
how long did it take them to build this hundreds of years that's why it takes so long for you to get the shot oh snap in the builder's time engineers astronomers mathematicians were like priests magicians possessors of divine knowledge
Speaker A
of how the universe worked do they want to contemplate nature did they want to conquer it and control it i mean they were certainly trying to emulate it you know all their mathematics were really trying to find out
Speaker A
how nature worked particularly square roots and the repetition of pattern they saw mathematical patterns in the sky and on earth the way water moved and rippled the way things grew a simple pine cone a fern a pomegranate and they thought about the
Speaker A
basic truths these things might represent [Music] these symmetries can all be shuffled spun on any point and they align again with themselves so if you stretch them out for them they pointed to infinity we will understand all things
Speaker A
through contemplating sacred geometry how did nature unfold pattern itself could the basic designs of nature even if divine be replicated in this magnificent structure trying to solve the riddle of god here [Music] exactly [Music] oh [Music] [Music] an hour's drive from granada the
Speaker A
mediterranean unlike much of spain's coastline ruined by real estate speculators and over development the coast around here in almeria is largely unspoiled i'm on my way to a moraga a tradition in these parts best described as the local version of a beach barbecue
Speaker A
working the grill chef juan andres maria he heads the highly regarded el claustro back in granada we're joined by fellow chef rafael luke and some friends fa you are killing us with some good-looking food here yep some of that simple yet magical
Speaker A
salmorejo on toast oh it's one of my favorite things yeah amazing dried tuna flavor packed like tuna prosciutto we normally put some malified oh 100 extra virgin from granada yeah it's quite spicy and bitter oh let's go spain is a beautiful country
Speaker A
we're not even eating yet it's good it's like uh oh sweet that is like the best thing in the world you want to eat this the whole thing this yeah yeah chocolate this is the chocolate of the gods
Speaker A
some grilled octopus and sea bream oh and some nice pork tenderloin and my personal favorite a particularly delicious morcilla fresh blood sausage yes i feel some glenda coming on i could just squeeze that like this i'm telling you
Speaker A
sexual metaphor are coming beautiful just feeling it yeah looking good wow look at that lot of fat yeah yeah it's quite nice those were happy pigs lazy pigs the ones we like the ones we read here in spain yeah the pigs and the
Speaker A
bulls are very happy here until they're not the moment of truth okay enough of the work let's eat nice mucha graca wow [Music] awesome great meal dude great great great great great deal this is the dream of all the world yeah
Speaker A
the dream is to live in granada you know work in the morning have a one hour nap in the afternoon at night go out and have that life you know go out and see your friends and eat eat dapa and drink red wine and
Speaker A
be in a beautiful place you know to have this kind of music and this food and this kind of culture and look out the window and to see spain probably one thing yeah family family is very very very
Speaker A
important right see he did it right he's marrying into a spanish family in granada right cheating man yeah he's very lucky and a smart guy right look no one's going to dare dream of this because this is too much to dream
Speaker A
for this is extraordinary but an ordinary life in spain [Music] looks pretty good to me [Music] the new swinging zamboni lifestyle rise early like 9 a.m then it's down at the corner coffee shop for a cafe con leche
Speaker A
on basel maybe a small breakfast like toast with tomato pani tomate no more than that light simple because there will be a lot more eating and drinking today and you want to be ready by 2 p.m he's made his way back uphill to mom's place
Speaker A
every day i come here for lunch [Music] everybody's home for easter maria jose zach's soon to be mother-in-law and eloy that's dad plus alejandro and pedro the soon-to-be brothers-in-law who you've already met what this nice family doesn't realize is
Speaker A
they aren't just gaining a son but also an annoying half drunk and extremely hungry uncle tony and i know what happens here yeah so let's jam on sitting there ready to be carved but you know that zach had to prove us
Speaker A
that he was able to cut the ham before he proposed to my sister i think that's a completely reasonable policy eventually the appropriate hour for lunch approaches so not to embarrass you publicly but the maine is not exactly the mediterranean
Speaker A
of america how is he adapting to the spanish lifestyle let's face it he's a he's more spanish than me really yeah i think in the first week he was like how i don't understand how you guys can take sister
Speaker A
week after and sister it's interesting to see how you made the transition cheers black olives oranges tomatoes dressed in olive oil remember this is holy week maria jose is preparing recipes that go back through the family so far
Speaker A
that nobody knows exactly where they even came from migas another iconic dish of andalucia informally referred to as the shepherd's lunch as the story goes born as a way to use old hard bread and combine all the week's leftovers
Speaker A
i'm told that every household in spain has a variation what changes is what you put on it today it's sardines cod chorizo melon and peppers oh man that's that's that's a lot of good stuff in one bowl yeah
Speaker A
so how often do you eat this well every lunch is like this every lunch every day i'm here but lunch is big big big lunch siesta but you can't you know i used to try to resist siesta and you can't do it here
Speaker A
society will not accept you not taking a siesta but that's the flow of life here that sort of begs the question then while i'm busy hating you for your life how often are you getting drunk today twice one and a half
Speaker A
that is so spanish by the way like everybody would have a very distinct opinion it would be completely different it's like this is [Laughter] when my time comes i pretty much want to die at a table like this
Speaker A
good work zamboni good work [Music] so zach you happy with the show hope i don't suck on television dude i think i'm sitting a pretty low bar i'm gonna tell you this relaxed lifestyle you know lounging around eating and drinking and no nap is long
Speaker A
enough for me [Music] yeah life is good i envy you zack zamboni and we're out nice end [Music] [Music] you
Topics:Anthony BourdainParts UnknownGranadaAndalusiaSpaintapasbullfightingSemana SantaZach Zambonitravel documentary
