Tapas History

Today in class I learned more about tapas. I am becoming an expert in this subject haha. Anyway we learned about how it got the name tapas. There are many different theories but the most popular one involves Alfonso XIII. It is said that he was by an open window in a bar and a gust of window blew in. The waiter in order to protect is drink from getting anything in it covered the glass with a small piece of bread with ham on it. The King liked this and asked for another cup of wine with another "tapa". The verb tapar=to cover and a cover= tapa so when the king asked for another "tapa" he was asking for another glass with the food as a cover. Cool isn't it? So that is how the name got started now there are millions of different kinds of tapas in Spain.

Also today I learned that Spain has the most bars per capita in the world. It is so true; however, what constitutes a bar here is very different than in the US. A bar can be a café during the day or it can be a restaurant. So it isn't just a place to go drink. Also Spaniards never host things in their houses so whenever you want to socialize you go out hence all the bars.