Interview with Carlos Galvin

Carlos Galvin
Carlos flies over the canyon of the Riaza river.

Carlos Gavin leads our Spain & Portugal tours, and is featured in Rick's latest television show on Madrid. He and his wife own Letango tours, and have a two-year-old boy named William who, according to his father, "will someday grow up to be a great tour guide!"

How did you meet Rick?

I met Rick at Matt Yglesias' party probably six years ago. At that time Rick and I had a conversation, and talked about travel. Rick said you should take me to lunch and we'll talk more! I did a tour with Steve Smith to Spain, Portugal, and Morocco. I had never done a tour in my life and Steve wasn't going to be able to meet with the tour until the second day. So I had to meet this group of 25 people all by myself in Toledo. But that first night we had a lot of food and drink and so it worked out - we had a lot of fun. I had a really great time in the role of tour guide. So that's how everything started. From then on, they offered me the possibility of guiding tours in Spain. I've been guiding since 2000.

What tours do you lead?

I'm doing the Spain & Portugal tour, and I lead the Barcelona tour last year. I've done a few Best of Europe tours in the past.

Have you been to the Tour Reunion in Edmonds before?

Yes - I've been to the reunion several times. Each one of them since 2000. I love to see all the people who were on my tours before. It's great to share experiences and pictures and exchange memories with past tour members. And I think it's helpful for tour members to see talks about other countries that they want to explore.

What do you think - from a tour members' perspective - is the highlight of the Spain & Portugal tour?

It varies. Most people really like the horses. And the foods of Spain. Most people agree that their dining experience is great. They really like the energy. They enjoy the architecture, friendliness, and traditions.

The people who take the Best of Spain & Portugal tours - most of them have been to Europe before. Many have been to France and Italy. Lately I have been hearing, "I love Italy, but I almost like Spain better. Spain is so clean!" And tour members say that in Spain, everything seems to work pretty well even though I don't particularly agree with that! Spain is so different than what they think. Somehow there's this perception that when they order tortillas in a restaurant they're going to be like the tortillas they've had in Mexico. But tour members are surprised that the art and architecture is more European than Mexican. And there's a level of sophistication that they don't realize. Americans haven't really explored or studied very much about Spain. I think that's because there were so many Italians that went to the states in the late 19th century, but not as many Spaniards. But the 40-year dictatorship is over. Spain as a country is having good promotions and advertising, and new products and artists are emerging. In the 1960s and 70s, Spain was still closed off to many people so it has a higher notoriety than before.

You filmed with Rick this past summer in Spain for the Majesty of Madrid show. What was that like?

It was fun. I came back from a wedding in London on a Sunday and Rick and I were meeting on Monday about filming. I thought we were just going to have a conversation about logistics, but we began filming right away! So after a long weekend I had to go on TV! I had never been on a TV Show before. Rick's a very talented man but he's also really intense. But his ideas were clear that I think the result was OK.

What were you doing before tours?

I was doing sales and marketing for the food industry. I traveled all throughout Spain consulting with food companies that were setting up their product lines. I would drive all around to small sausage operations or cheese factories and I just loved learning about the food traditions of Spain. Now as a guide, I take tour members to show them how olive oil is made, or how particular kind of cheese is made. There's one thing to go to a market and buy something, but I like to take tour members to markets and have the artisan explain the effort behind the product.

Are you from Spain originally?

I'm from Madrid. I lived for a few years in France (four years). I lived for a year in England. I lived for four years in the U.S.

How have the recent Madrid bombings affected tourism in Spain ?

I was recently reading some statistics and learned that the terrorist attacks have not affected tourism. I thought there would be some tourism backlash, but there wasn't.

Anything else you'd like to add?

I think Spain is one of the undiscovered countries of Europe. It's a country that offers so much contrast. We have all the artistic trends of roman arts, gothic, and baroque, but we also have the more oriental art from the Muslim world. The influences of the Sephardic Jews and the Moors make it have a very colorful history. I would say that Spain 500 years ago kind of looks like the United States today - Spain was a very colorful and diverse nation. There were many ethnicities, and it was very prosperous. But then the Catholics expelled the Jews and the Muslims and it turned into the dark ages.

For more information, check out our best-selling Rick Steves Spain or Rick Steves Portugal guidebooks — or join us on one of our free-spirited Spain & Portugal tours!