They polished off plates of anchovies, octopus and sole that were declared “glorious” while discussing Don Quixote and Sancho Panza in the Txoko de Getaria restaurant outside San Sebastián in the Basque Country.

The newly released 2017 Michelin Guide for Spain and Portugal has added a three-star restaurant to its list: Lasarte, a Barcelona eatery run by celebrity Basque chef Martín Berasategui. Seven more restaurants have achieved two stars, and 22 have earned one, newly joining the Michelin star system, considered a world reference for gourmet dining.

Using English expressions to sell products is a growing trend in Spain, a phenomenon brought up two years ago at a meeting between the Royal Spanish Academy and Spain’s advertisers.

Until just a few years ago, craft beer in Spain was in demand by just a handful of select epicureans. Most of us were happy if the caña was cold, well poured and our favourite brand – although even this latter requirement was not an absolute necessity.

But like a silent tide coming in from other latitudes, craft-beer fever has spread across Spain, where bars, supermarkets and delis now stock entire shelves with bottles bearing attention-grabbing labels and offering a variety of flavors and styles that we could scarcely have imagined were possible.