Punta de Tarifa in Andalusia is the southernmost point of the European mainland, with Africa less than 15 kilometers away across the Strait of Gibraltar. Tarifa is also known for its wind: it is one of the windsurfing and kitesurfing capitals of Europe. From here, Mark and Malou departed towards Nordkapp.

Andorra has had two heads of state simultaneously since 1278: the bishop of Urgell in Spain and, as heir to the French counts, the president of France. They are mainly ceremonial; the country governs itself. It is the only country in the world with a foreign president as monarch.

Cabo de São Vicente near Sagres is the southwesternmost point of the European mainland, the end of the world for ancient seafarers. Cabo da Roca, near Lisbon, is the westernmost point. Two capes, two records, and the Algarve-Andorra tour started at the first.

Nordkapp is located on the island of Magerøya, which is connected to the mainland via an undersea tunnel. The actual northernmost point of the European mainland is Kinnarodden, further away and only accessible on foot. The famous cliff of Nordkapp is 307 meters high and the sun does not set there for weeks in the summer.

Almost everyone thinks of the silver route, and in Spanish, plata indeed means silver. But the name of this more than two thousand year old Roman road comes from the Arabic period: balata, a paved or cobbled road. This word is also found in place names like Almadén de la Plata: paved path to the mines.

It sounds like extremely hard, and with the summer heat on the Via de la Plata you would almost believe it. But the name comes from the medieval Latin Extrema Dorii: the lands beyond the Duero, seen from the kingdom of León during the reconquest from the Moors. Extremadura was the extreme border region.