The seven traps
- The free tapa in Granada. A tapa arrives unbidden with every drink and it is often jamon. Say it when you order the first drink, not the food. One bar on this guide lets you choose your own tapa, and one has a fully halal kitchen so the tapa cannot be pork — both are marked.
- Jamon is seasoning, not meat. Judias verdes con jamon, espinacas, guisantes, revueltos, alcachofas, judiones — all carry it, none read as pork dishes.
- Ham bone in the stock. Soups and stews are routinely built on one. Invisible on the menu. Ask what the base is.
- “Rape” is monkfish and reads as plain white fish in English. “Cazon” is dogfish — a shark, no scales, and it is on nearly every fried-fish menu in Seville. Both are out.
- “Solomillo” is usually pork in Seville. Ask: ¿el solomillo es de cerdo o de ternera? Same for carrillera — cheeks are pork as often as beef.
- Croquetas default to jamon everywhere. Ask for de bacalao, de espinacas, de setas, de pollo. Salmorejo needs sin jamon; gazpacho does not.
- Mallorca: the ensaimada is made with pork lard — saim is in the name. There is a lard-free version: a baker called Tiraflecha in Palma makes a “sinsaimada”, but it needs 24 hours' notice by WhatsApp.
Show your server — Spanish
- “Soy alergica al cerdo y al marisco.” — Say allergy, not preference. Spanish staff treat an allergy as non-negotiable and a preference as fussiness. This one word does most of the work.
- “Sin jamon, chorizo, morcilla ni panceta.” — The pork list by name.
- “Sin gambas, mejillones ni almejas. Sin pulpo, calamares, sepia ni chipirones.” — Shellfish and squid.
- “Tampoco conejo, caracoles, rape, cazon ni anguila.” — Rabbit, snails, monkfish, dogfish, eel.
- “¿El caldo lleva hueso de jamon?” — Is the broth made with a ham bone?
- “Puedo comer pescado con escamas: bacalao, merluza, dorada, lubina, atun, boquerones, sardinas. Y pollo, ternera, cordero y pato.” — What she CAN eat, said positively. This usually ends the conversation faster than the avoid list.
- “¿La tapa puede ser de verdura, queso, tortilla o pescado?” — For Granada, at the moment of ordering the first drink.
Three things that are not settled
- Oct 6 has no plan. Assumed as the Seville–Madrid travel day by AVE, about 2.5 hours. If it becomes a Cordoba night instead, Cordoba is not covered here.
- Some ratings could not be verified. Five places carry “not verified” instead of a number. They are here on confirmed opening hours and reputation, and the missing number is shown rather than guessed.
- Hours drift. Everything here was checked against published hours in September 2026, but Spanish restaurants change them seasonally. For anything with a single source — marked in the note — a phone call beats a walk across town.
Fri 25 - Mon 28 Sept
Barcelona
Four nights, and the Monday is the problem - several of the best close that daySafe by constructionhalal, kosher, vegetarian or Indian kitchens - no pork in the building, so nothing to ask
Spanish and Catalanworth eating, but read the note before ordering
Daytimebreakfast, brunch and lunch
Tue 29 - Wed 30 Sept
Mallorca
Two midweek nights - every place here was checked as open Tuesday AND WednesdaySafe by constructionhalal, kosher, vegetarian or Indian kitchens - no pork in the building, so nothing to ask
Mallorcan and mixed kitchensworth eating, but read the note before ordering
Daytimebreakfast, brunch and lunch
Thu 1 - Sat 3 Oct
Granada
Three nights - and the Moorish quarter makes this the easiest city of the tripThe Moorish quarterhalal kitchens on Calle Elvira and in the Albaicin - pork-free by construction, not by request
Vegetarian and veganzero species risk
Conventional Spanishthe free tapa is the risk here - read every note
Sun 4 - Mon 5 Oct
Seville
Two nights, and they are the two days Seville shuts - every place here was checked for Sunday and MondaySafe by constructionhalal, kosher, vegetarian or Indian kitchens - no pork in the building, so nothing to ask
Andalusianworth eating, but read the note before ordering
Daytimebreakfast, brunch and lunch
Wed 7 - Thu 8 Oct
Madrid
Two nights to finish - and the only city in Spain with a real kosher sceneKoshercertified - the review counts are tiny because kosher volume in Spain is tiny; the 500-review floor is waived here
Safe by constructionhalal, kosher, vegetarian or Indian kitchens - no pork in the building, so nothing to ask
Spanishworth eating, but read the note before ordering
Daytimebreakfast, brunch and lunch