Spain has shattered its own tourism record for the seventh year in a row: 75.3 million foreign visitors made their way to the country in 2016. That’s 7.2 million more than in 2015, for a rise of 9.9%, according to early figures from Spain’s Energy and Tourism Ministry.

As Spain gets set to celebrate its biggest religious festival of the year, The Local gives us the lowdown on how to celebrate Semana Santa like a Spaniard in the following article.

In March a big Festival takes place in Spain: Las Fallas de Valencia. From 1st to 19th the city is immerse in a nice and funny atmosphere where locals and visitors walk around the streets to enjoy the big figures in the streets called ninots. Las fallas in Spain and its fireworks is one of the most important and popular festivals in the country. Don’t miss it!

Whether it's a trip to see the tongue-in-cheek send-up of politicians at Las Fallas before a spectacular flaming finale in Valencia or slogging your way around the Barcelona marathon, there is plenty going on across Spain during March.