The Spanish Grand Prix stumbles onto the Formula 1 calendar this Sunday at the Catalunya Circuit, just 30 short minutes northeast of breezy Barcelona. For no reason in particular other than that we had the opportunity, CarEnvy is flying to Spain to experience Formula 1 properly. This will be our first time in a country that hosts an F1 race WHILE the race is actually happening AND in a country that actually cares about the sport AND as that country cheers on its Ferrari-driving hometown hero. To add even more to this story, Fernando Alonso has just extended his contract with the Prancing Italians until 2016. Even the stories have stories.

CarEnvy won’t actually be attending the race, in part because there are others who will provide more in-depth and knowledgeable coverage than we ever could, and in part because we’ll be in Madrid, Bilbao, and some city that likes its compost (Something de Compostela?), not Barcelona.

But what the others won’t show you is the feeling of a country as it climbs up and down Freytag’s pyramid – with the rising action, climax, and falling action – from the Cirque du Soleil-shaming circus of an F1 race.

It will be entirely unlike experiencing an F1 race here in Canada, or anywhere in North America, for that matter.

We will also be highlighting the distinctive and rare automobilia that we come across in España. Check back frequently for updates from the country that gave us El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha, regarded by people who can read Spanish as one of the finest pieces of literature of all time.

Hey, it wouldn’t be called carENVY if you weren’t occasionally envious if us. Wish us well.