A parador and a paladar are words that look and sound similar but they are different somehow. A paladar is a privately owned restaurant in Cuba, most often in a home. Now those of us here in the US would ask, “aren’t all restaurants privately owned?” Up until 1990, all restaurants in Cuba were state-owned. The paladars today are gaining in popularity with tourists looking for a more vivid interaction and homemade Cuban food. A parador is a grand villa, monastery, or castle that has been renovated and converted to a luxury hotel. Paradors are found throughout Spain, and in contrast to the paladar of Cuba, they are state-run, not privately owned. Alfonzo XIII found the program in 1928 to promote tourism and in 1942 Portugal followed suit with the pousada, a similar model. In summary:Paladar: a privately owned, restaurant in a homeParador: a state-owned hotel in a grand house
