For travellers from Spain and Latin America, the Philippines holds a surprise. More than three centuries of Spanish rule, from the 1560s to 1898, left churches, forts, street names, family names and hundreds of words in the local languages. You hear "mesa", "cuchara", "pantalón" and "kumusta" in daily life, and you count money in pesos.
Manila: Intramuros
The old walled city of Manila was the centre of Spanish rule in Asia. Walk the walls early in the morning, visit San Agustin Church, the oldest stone church in the Philippines and part of a UNESCO World Heritage site, and stop at Fort Santiago at the mouth of the Pasig River. Binondo, next door, is the oldest Chinatown in the world, founded in the Spanish era.
Vigan
In the north of Luzon, Vigan is the best-preserved Spanish colonial town in Asia and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Calle Crisologo, with its cobblestones, stone houses with capiz-shell windows and horse-drawn calesas, feels like another century, especially in the evening.
The baroque churches
Four Spanish-era churches in the Philippines are listed together by UNESCO: San Agustin in Manila, Paoay in Ilocos Norte, Santa Maria in Ilocos Sur and Miagao in Iloilo. Paoay, with its huge buttresses built against earthquakes, is one of the most striking buildings in the country.
Cebu and Bohol
Cebu is where Magellan arrived in 1521, and the Cross of Magellan and the Basilica del Santo Niño are still at the heart of the city. In Bohol, the old stone churches of Baclayon and Loboc sit in the countryside between the Chocolate Hills and the river.
Food with a Spanish accent
Adobo, lechón, leche flan, embutido, menudo, ensaimada and churros all have Spanish names, and most have taken a very Filipino turn. Trying them is one of the pleasures of the trip.
How to include it in your trip
Two days in Manila for Intramuros and Binondo, two or three in Vigan, and a day in Cebu or Bohol fit easily around the islands. We have Spanish-speaking guides available, so travellers from Spain and Latin America can hear the history in their own language.
