For nearly two decades Andrés Rubio pored over photos of Spain’s magnificent cathedrals, delicate Moorish architecture and quaint cobblestone streets. But as the editor of newspaper El País’ travel supplement, what often caught his eye was what was hovering in the background: glimpses of towering megahotels, skeletal remains of half-built buildings or jarring blocks of apartment buildings.
To him, the conclusion was inescapable – even if it clashed with the Spain that draws millions of tourists a year and is home to one of the world’s biggest collection of Unesco world heritage sites. “Spain is ugly,” he said. “It is very hard to say, but that’s how it is.”
