Parador
Encyclopedia : P : PA : PAR : Parador
Paradores de Turismo de España are a chain of Spanish luxury hotels. They were founded by Alfonso XIII of Spain as a means to promote tourism in Spain, with the first opening in Gredos, Ávila in 1928.
A profitable state-run enterprise, the hotels are often in castles, palaces, fortresses, convents, monasteries and other historic buildings. They stretch from Galicia in the North West through Catalonia to Andalusia in the south of Spain, the Canary Islands and to the Spanish cities in North Africa.
The Portuguese equivalent, the Pousadas de Portugal, were founded in 1942, after the Spanish model.
Parador is also the term used throughout much of the Spanish-speaking part of the Caribbean to refer to a small, home-based restaurant or home that has been converted to a restaurant, usually operating unofficially.
Parador is also the name of the country on the movie Moon Over Parador.
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