We traveled to Spain 3 years ago and in a word - it was ENCHANTING. I LOVED every place we visited. Landed in Barcelona and drove down to the southern coast where we spent a week at the Marriott Playa Andalusia (doing many day trips from there). There are MANY nice timeshares in Spain, but I'm not sure what all is in the Diamond network. Diamond in general has very nice properties so I would be surprised if you couldn't find one to your liking. I would go back to Spain in a heartbeat (but this year we are going to Italy to try somewhere new).
Hmm, what should an American know about Spain? Well, plan on supper at at least 8:00 or later. The streets in the cities come alive at night. Stores are closed in the afternoon for siesta (which is not nap time, it's family time) and open late into the evening. We saw lots of people grocery shopping at 10pm!
Everywhere we went people were friendly and kind and appreciated that I tried to speak to them with my limited Spanish (and were very gracious about helping me for my next conversation). The country is clean, the roads are good, the train system is fantastic, and folks have many different ethnic roots (especially in the south) and everyone is tolerant of each other's beliefs. The rural areas are fascinating and the cities are so much fun to explore. There is something of historical significance EVERYWHERE.
I did not find Spain overly expensive, certainly less to eat out at a nice restaurant than is was in Holland. Grocery stores were very similar in cost to the US. Certain items were more expensive, but others were less costly. In a nutshell, all I can say is - if you have the chance, GO!!!!!!
