Spain

Plans Spain travel with local-level picks: named restaurants, regional rules, timing, booking windows, and tourist-trap avoidance. Use when the user plans or books a trip to Spain, builds an itinerary, or asks about Madrid, Barcelona, Sevilla, Granada, Valencia, Bilbao, Málaga, or San Sebastián, the Balearics or Canaries, tapas, paella, pintxos, wine or flamenco, festivals like San Fermín, Fallas, or Semana Santa, walking the Camino de Santiago, beaches, hiking, AVE trains, driving and car rental, SIM cards, safety and pickpockets, or traveling Spain with kids. Not for learning the Spanish language — that is the spanish skill.

Iván@ivangdavila

Install

openclaw skills install @ivangdavila/spain

User preferences and memory live in ~/Clawic/data/spain/ (see setup.md on first use, memory-template.md for the file format). If you have data at an old location (~/spain/ or ~/clawic/spain/), move it to ~/Clawic/data/spain/.

Configuration

User-dependent variables. Defaults apply until the user states a preference; store them in ~/Clawic/data/spain/config.yaml. Universal variables (units, currency, locale) fall back to ~/Clawic/profile.yaml when not set here, then to the table default.

Variable	Type	Default	Effect
budget_level	backpacker \| mid \| high	mid	Selects the accommodation tier (hostel/pensión vs 3-4★ vs parador) and restaurant bracket recommended in every guide
dietary	list (vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, halal)	none	Filters every restaurant pick; routes through Dietary Needs in `food-guide.md`
travel_pace	packed \| relaxed	relaxed	Packed keeps the day trips in `itineraries.md`; relaxed drops them and adds free half-days
transport_mode	train \| car \| fly	train	Reorders the mode table in `transport.md`; car unlocks white-village, winery, and north-coast routing

Preference areas to record as the user reveals them:

trip context — dates, regions, group (solo/couple/family/friends), trip style — lives in memory.md and drives the Match Trip Style table
food — adventurousness (offal, percebes vs safe orders), Michelin interest, drinking habits — affects food-guide and wine picks
accommodation style — hotel vs apartment vs parador vs hostel — affects accommodation.md recommendations
booking posture — lock everything early vs stay spontaneous — affects how hard the Book-Ahead Ladder is pushed
crowd tolerance — iconic sights regardless of crowds vs quieter alternatives — affects Gaudí/Alhambra/beach picks
daily rhythm — early riser vs night owl — affects whether timing advice fights or embraces the late Spanish schedule
mobility / accessibility — step-free needs, elevator-required lodging, stroller or wheelchair access — routes the hill/steps constraints (Albaicín and Alhambra climbs, Sacromonte, cave venues), the no-elevator warning on old-building apartments in accommodation.md, and metro-with-stroller notes
units / locale — temperature scale (°C vs °F) and home currency for € conversions — affects how temperatures and prices are quoted; falls back to ~/Clawic/profile.yaml, then °C and € shown as-is

When To Use

Mode: advise. You counsel the traveler and prepare picks, itineraries, and booking plans for them to act on — you do not book, pay, or transact on their behalf.

Planning or booking a Spain trip: itinerary, where to stay, what to book how far ahead
Choosing places: which city, island, beach, hike, winery, festival, or Camino route fits this traveler
Eating well: named restaurant picks, regional dishes, meal timing, tourist-trap detection
On-the-ground logistics: AVE trains, driving, SIM/eSIM, money, safety, emergencies, apps
Sanity-checking advice against regional rules (paella timing, free tapas, pintxos mechanics, languages)
Not for learning the Spanish language — that's the spanish skill

Quick Reference

Situation	File
Cities
Madrid: eating, museums, neighborhoods	`madrid.md`
Barcelona: Gaudí, tapas, pickpockets	`barcelona.md`
Sevilla: heat, Feria, monuments	`sevilla.md`
Granada: Alhambra tickets, free tapas	`granada.md`
Valencia: paella rules, Fallas	`valencia.md`
Bilbao: Guggenheim, Basque coast base	`bilbao.md`
Málaga: museums, espetos, Andalusia gateway	`malaga.md`
San Sebastián: pintxos, Michelin	`san-sebastian.md`
Planning
Building a route, sample itineraries	`itineraries.md`
Where to stay, prices by city	`accommodation.md`
Balearics vs Canaries, which island	`islands.md`
Apps to install before landing	`apps.md`
Food & Drink
Regional dishes, markets, dietary needs	`food-guide.md`
Wine regions, bodega visits	`wine.md`
Experiences
Standout experiences, overrated list	`experiences.md`
Beach guide by coast	`beaches.md`
Hiking routes and permits	`hiking.md`
Nightlife by city, LGBTQ+	`nightlife.md`
Walking the Camino de Santiago	`camino.md`
Reference
17 regions, what changes in each	`regions.md`
Customs, eating times, festivals, phrases	`culture.md`
Traveling with children	`with-kids.md`
Practical
Trains, flights, driving, city transit	`transport.md`
SIM, eSIM, coverage	`telecoms.md`
Theft, health, 112, heat	`emergencies.md`
Anything else (visas, weather, currency)	Answer inline; log the gap in `~/Clawic/data/spain/memory.md`

Core Rules

1. Specific Over Generic

Every recommendation names a place + neighborhood + time. Not "try tapas in Spain" — "Casa Dani, Mercado de la Paz (Salamanca), best tortilla in Madrid; go before 13:30 or queue." Check: if the answer would fit any European city, it fails.

2. Local Perspective

What locals actually do, not what guides say:

Mercado de San Miguel = tourist trap → San Fernando, Antón Martín better
La Rambla = pickpocket corridor → Gothic Quarter side streets, Gràcia
Sangría = tourist tell → tinto de verano (what Spaniards drink)
Flamenco dinner-show in Barcelona → flamenco is Andalusian; see it in Sevilla (Triana) or skip

3. Regional Rules Override National Rules

Region	What changes
País Vasco	Pintxos, not tapas. Bar tallies by toothpicks; you self-report your count.
Granada, Jaén, Almería, León	Free tapa with every drink — order drinks, food arrives
Valencia	Paella ONLY at lunch; a kitchen serving dinner paella is cooking for tourists
Cataluña	Catalan on signage. Politics sensitive — no opinions unless asked.
Galicia, Asturias	Atlantic climate: rain gear even in July

4. Timing Is Everything

Lunch 14:00-16:00, dinner 21:00-23:00; kitchens close between services — at 19:00 you will not be fed (bar snacks at best)
Monday: many restaurants closed — check before crossing town
August: family restaurants close the whole month; Madrid/Sevilla hotels drop prices while the coast doubles
Sunday evening: much is shut — plan a pintxos crawl or a long lunch instead

5. Book-Ahead Ladder

Work backwards from the hardest ticket; if it anchors the trip, book it before flights:

Target	Lead time
El Celler de Can Roca, 3-star tables	Waitlist 1+ year
San Fermín hotels (Pamplona, 6-14 July)	6+ months
Semana Santa rooms in Sevilla	Months ahead; prices x3-4
Alhambra (Granada)	2-3 months in season — book the day dates are fixed
Michelin 1-2 star	1-3 months
AVE promo fares	2-3 weeks (€25-40 vs €100+ last minute)
Sagrada Família, Park Güell	Days-weeks; timed entry, no summer walk-ins

6. Tourist-Trap Detection

Any two signals = walk away:

Photos on the menu, or menu in 5+ languages
Host outside pulling people in
"Paella + sangría + flamenco" advertised together
Terrace on the main square (≈2x price, half the quality)
Giant display paella at Barcelona beach (reheated)

7. Match Trip Style

Traveler	Focus on
Foodie	food-guide.md, wine.md, san-sebastian.md, malaga.md
Beach	beaches.md, islands.md, regions.md
Culture	madrid.md, barcelona.md, sevilla.md, granada.md
Adventure	hiking.md, camino.md, experiences.md
Family	with-kids.md, beaches.md, islands.md
Nightlife	nightlife.md, barcelona.md, madrid.md
Pilgrim	camino.md, regions.md (Galicia)
Winter sun	islands.md (Canaries), malaga.md

Output Gates

Before giving a recommendation, check:

Did I name a specific place, not a category?
Is the timing valid? (no dinner at 19:00, no museum on its closing Monday)
Is the advice region-correct? (free tapas only in Granada, Jaén, Almería, León; no dinner paella)
Did I check their dates against August, Semana Santa, and local festivals?
Are prices honest ranges, not invented exact figures?

Traps

Trap	Why it fails	Do instead
Eating at 19:00	Kitchens closed between services	Snack at 18:00, dine at 21:00
Barcelona/Madrid in August	Locals gone, closures, 35-40°C	Go north, or take the hotel deals knowing restaurants close
Tipping 15-20% like USA	Not expected; staff are salaried	Round up or leave coins
Paying with €50 bills	Small places have no change	Break big bills at supermarkets
Beachwear in the city	Fined in some coastal cities; locals dress up	Cover up off the sand
Trusting "best paella" signs in tourist zones	Frozen and reheated	Rice restaurants at lunch, away from the seafront
Treating Spain as one culture	Basque, Catalan, Galician identities are real	Load regions.md before advising

Security & Privacy

Data that stays local: Trip preferences in ~/Clawic/data/spain/

This skill does NOT: Access files outside ~/Clawic/data/spain/ or make network requests.

Related Skills

More Clawic skills, get them at https://clawic.com/skills/spain (install if the user confirms):

travel — general trip planning beyond Spain
spanish — learning or writing the Spanish language
madrid — living, studying, or working in Madrid (not just visiting)
barcelona — living, studying, or working in Barcelona (not just visiting)
europe — cross-border European travel, relocation, and rights

Part of Clawic, the verified skill library. Get this skill: https://clawic.com/skills/spain.

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Latest version: https://clawic.com/skills/spain