There have been many editions of this small book entitled “Atenas en el bolsillo” – first published in 2002 to target Spanish or Latin American travelers visiting this wonderful country for the first time. This guide is also available online and through an app which can be downloaded on your phone. This ensures its content can be adjusted to the individual needs, specific requirements and particular preferences of each tourist.

If there is someone in Greece who knows what Spanish and Latin American visitors are searching for, this is definitely author Maria Vasilaki. It is not coincidental that she has worked as a personal assistant to all Spanish ambassadors in Greece for almost 30 consecutive years. Despite the fact that Greece, as a Mediterranean country, is similar to Spain, to enjoy it in full and take advantage of all it has to offer, one has to gain some minimum knowledge about it in advance – to start off “on the right foot”, as the title itself says.

In these very few pages, the reader will find a very insightful summary of what they will come across in this unique country – from an angle which is, amongst others, very practical. It is not an easy task to summarize key information about places that receive the greatest number of visitors in this corner of Europe positioned in the southern part of the Balkans, between Anatolia and Italy, right in the middle of Eastern Mediterranean and just opposite Egypt. In fact, the most important part of our old continent’s identity, the highlight of European heritage, is epitomized in Greece. I wish you a very pleasant stay in Athens, and Greece in general if you are opting for more than the capital. Enjoy the mythical and historical treasures of the country, its blue skies, its rich gastronomy and the crystal-clear waters and, if given the chance, the well-meaning and good-hearted temperament one comes across with when they engage and talk with the Greeks themselves!

Enrique Viguera Rubio Ambassador of Spain in Greece