Spanish flamenco dancers lighting up the Sevilla Feria de Abril (Seville April Fair). [Photo: Spanish Tourist Office]

SPAIN, like its dazzlingly beautiful senoritas, has a lively, irrepressible air about it.

I have seen travel documentaries on television about Spain and Portugal and have been wondering when I will find the time to visit them.

Spain conjures up visions of the fiery flamenco dances, the exciting and gory bullfights and the adventurous conquistadors - soldiers and explorers who conquered lands in the Americas and the Asia-Pacific from the 15th to 17th centuries.

Its capital, Madrid, bustles late into the night and its restaurants start to fill up with customers from 9pm, unlike ours, which begin to empty at that hour.

This is partly due to the long siestas that many in the country still observe.

The flamenco dance is to me, the epitome of Spain - compelling, intense, colourful and moving.

Television aside, I have also been reading up on Spain and Portugal and my artistic sensibilities have been piqued by the many beautiful pictures of Spanish cities such as Barcelona, Zaragoza, Toledo, Corboda and Granada.

Mosteiro dos Jeronimos, Lisbon [Photo: SA Tours]

Spain bears a long history of Roman, Christian and Islamic conquests and many buildings bear testimony to this. The palace fortress of Alhambra in Granada, for example, was the abode of Muslim royalty but was later taken over by Roman conquerors who added a renaissance palace to it.

Many cities in Spain preserve buildings and structures dating back thousands of years and these are national treasures. Some museum buildings are themselves exhibits since they are ornate and ancient edifices.

Another eyeful, but not of the historic kind, is the Costa Del Sol (Sunshine Coast) in the Andalusia region. This long stretch of beach in the south is known for topless senoritas basking in the Mediterranean sun. But don't stare, please.

The ruins of Carmo Convent in Lisbon [Photo: SA Tours]

In Barcelona, the second largest city, you can soak in the atmosphere if you take a walk in La Rambla - a stretch which has cafes, bars, restaurants, boutique shops and buskers. There is also a fruit market in the vicinity.

Seville is a neat and lively city famous for its medieval and Gothic structures. Here, one sees many buildings bearing both Islamic and Christian architectures.

If you visit neighbouring Portugal, then Lisbon, its capital founded by the Moors, is a must-see. This city, called Lisboa by the locals, is more than 2,000 years old and it would be interesting to walk or drive through its old quarters such as Alfama, Castelo or Mouraria. Or perhaps you prefer this jaunt to be done on horse-drawn carriage.

An exciting battle builds up between a raging bull and a Spanish matador. [Photo: AFP]

This city is also the birthplace of one of history's most famed seafarers, Christopher Columbus, whose tomb is located here. Another of its famous son is Alfonso D'Albuquerque, a naval general whose sea voyages brought him to Malacca in 1511. He used Malacca as the base for Portuguese expansion in the Far East. He was, however, buried in Goa, India.

Take time also, for a visit to Mosteiro dos Jeronimos, the ruins of Carmo Convent and Fatima, the famous place of pilgrimage for Catholics the world over. It was in 1917 that three peasant children claimed to have seen the apparition of the Virgin Mary in Fatima and a shrine was erected there soon afterwards.

In Spain and Portugal, many homes grow colourful flowers in baskets, or other structures built onto walls or balconies.

This itself lends these neighbourhoods such a cultured and pleasant air that you just want to linger and stare.

Top photo [AFP]: The Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain, was a contender to be one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.