🇪🇸Halal Travel Guide to Spain

Eight hundred and fifty columns under double horseshoe arches, begun in 785 and extended four times. A cathedral was inserted into the centre in the 16th century. It functions as a Catholic cathedral and Muslim prayer inside is prohibited and enforced.

The only substantially intact mosque surviving from Islamic Toledo - a small square building of nine bays, each with a different vault, converted to a church in the 12th century. Open as a monument.

The first purpose-built mosque in Granada since 1492, on the Albaicín hill, with a garden terrace looking directly at the Alhambra. Open to visitors and a quieter viewpoint than the mirador next door.

Opened in 1992 and funded by Saudi Arabia, the largest mosque in Spain, with a cultural centre, library and halal restaurant. In the east of the city near the M-30 ring road.

The older and more central of Madrid's main mosques, near Tetuán, serving a largely Moroccan congregation.

A purpose-built mosque serving the large Muslim community and Gulf visitors on the Costa del Sol, with a Moroccan-influenced design.

One of the first purpose-built mosques in modern Spain, built in 1981 with Saudi funding, serving Marbella's substantial Gulf community.

A small oratory within the Aljafería, the Taifa-era palace in Zaragoza - the finest surviving Islamic building in the north of Spain, now partly the Aragonese parliament.

The Iglesia del Salvador stands on Seville's earlier congregational mosque; part of the minaret and the courtyard survive and are visible from the street.

The two Spanish autonomous cities on the Moroccan coast are roughly half Muslim, with numerous working mosques and full halal food provision - a very different Spain.

The Nasrid palace-fortress of the 13th and 14th centuries - the Court of the Lions, muqarnas vaults, and around 10,000 Arabic inscriptions including poetry written for the building itself. Book months ahead.

The great mosque of the Umayyad caliphate of the west, begun in 785. The forest of double arches in red brick and white stone is one of the defining images of Islamic architecture.

The palace-city founded in 936 by Abd al-Rahman III on declaring the caliphate, destroyed within seventy years, and excavated from the 1910s. Its underground museum is superb.

The Giralda was the Almohad great mosque's minaret, built in 1184; the Alcázar is a Christian royal palace rebuilt by Muslim craftsmen in Mudéjar style, and is still a royal residence.

An 11th-century Taifa palace with intricate interlacing arches, the most important Islamic building in northern Spain, now housing the regional parliament.

The old Muslim quarter of Granada, a UNESCO site in its own right, with the 11th-century Bañuelo Arab baths among the best preserved in Spain.

Moroccan-Andalusi cooking in the Albaicín, alcohol-free, and one of the best-regarded restaurants in Granada regardless of dietary requirement. Book ahead.

A stepped lane of Moroccan tea houses, shops and small restaurants below the Albaicín - mint tea, pastries, tagines. Touristy and genuinely pleasant.

Andalusi-influenced cooking below the Alhambra on the Darro river walk, with halal meat options. Confirm when booking.

Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Moroccan and Senegalese restaurants across a few streets in Madrid's most mixed quarter. Cheap, plentiful and open late.

The restaurant at the M-30 mosque serves halal Middle Eastern and Moroccan food, and is a reliable option in a city with few certified restaurants.

Barcelona's most diverse district, with Pakistani, Moroccan and Bangladeshi restaurants around Carrer Hospital and Rambla del Raval.

Córdoba's old quarter has several restaurants serving Sephardic and Andalusi-inspired menus. Few are halal-certified, so confirm the meat source directly.

Moroccan tea houses in the old quarters of both cities, serving tea, pastries and light Moroccan dishes without alcohol.

The Costa del Sol's large Moroccan and Gulf communities support a cluster of halal restaurants, particularly around Fuengirola's mosque and Marbella's Golden Mile.

The Spanish autonomous cities are roughly half Muslim and halal food is the norm rather than the exception - a useful contrast if you make the ferry crossing.

Fried fish bars along the coast from Cádiz to Málaga serve nothing but fish and squid fried in olive oil - straightforward whatever your requirements.

Spain's covered markets are excellent for fruit, olives, nuts and seafood counters - a reliable way to eat well without navigating pork-heavy menus.

Spain's vegetarian scene has grown quickly, and a vegetarian restaurant sidesteps the pork problem entirely in cities with few halal options.

Found in Lavapiés, Raval, the Albaicín and the Costa del Sol towns - useful if you have self-catering accommodation.

The old Muslim quarter of white houses and stepped lanes facing the Alhambra, with the Moroccan restaurants, teterías and the Mezquita Mayor. Steep - take a taxi with luggage.

The old Jewish quarter below the Alhambra, flatter than the Albaicín and walkable to both the palace and the Albaicín.

Whitewashed lanes and flowered patios around the Mezquita, with small hotels in restored courtyard houses. The best base in the city.

The old quarter beside the cathedral and the Alcázar, dense with small hotels. Hot in summer - check for air conditioning.

Madrid's most mixed quarter, with halal restaurants, grocers and prayer rooms, on the metro and twenty minutes' walk from the Prado.

Raval has Barcelona's halal restaurant cluster; El Born next door is more attractive and equally central.

Both have purpose-built mosques, halal restaurants and hotels used to Gulf visitors. Málaga airport is 20-40 minutes away.

Hill towns of Muslim origin in the Sierra de Grazalema, with dramatic settings and very few halal options - self-catering works best.