Eat on Spanish time, or eat alone

Lunch in Spain is the main meal and happens between 2 and 4 p.m.; dinner rarely starts before 9, and many kitchens don't open until 8:30. Show up at 6:30 expecting dinner and you'll find a bar serving drinks and maybe a cold tapa. Work with it: a late, long lunch with the "menú del día," a walk, then tapas in the evening. Shops in smaller towns still close for a few hours in the early afternoon.