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The title says it all really. Before we started using the vernacular names we always called it the tour of Spain.

What is this?

a. not really understood by Spanish speakers as a tour belonging to Spain

b. a mis-understanding of a and de on my part

c. just an idiom, do not attempt to translate it

200_success
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mdewey
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  • My hunch, if it works as in Portuguese, is that it comes from *dar una vuelta a algo. The verb that usually goes with vuelta* is dar, and dar usually goes with the preposition *a: dar una vuelta a la llave* (literally, give the key one/a turn); dar una vuelta a España (make a tour round Spain). – Jacinto Aug 30 '16 at 19:22

1 Answers1

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There's a subtle difference between using 'a' and 'de'.

If you say 'La Vuelta de España', it means the object of this sentence, 'La Vuelta' belongs to Spain and it pertains to it. Like saying 'The Ride of Spain'.

If you say 'La Vuelta a España', it means that 'La Vuelta' is around Spain. Like saying 'The Ride around Spain'.

Both are syntactically right, they just express different ideas.

alonso.torres
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    "La Vuelta de España" can also mean "Spain's comeback" and it shows the "belonging to Spain" sense of "de". "La Vuelta a España" in this other sense of "vuelta" would mean "The return to Spain" – Vinko Vrsalovic Aug 23 '16 at 21:33
  • @Alonso.torres, as Vinko has pointed out, you should add some notes about the several meanings of La Vuelta a España. – Jdamian Aug 24 '16 at 06:48
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    I don't think OP is asking about the different meanings of the word Vuelta. Adding them is just confusing; I'd leave the answer as it is.. – Gorpik Aug 24 '16 at 08:06
  • I understood the literal translation of "a" to be "at." Similar to "toward." "The turn at Spain." – Kristopher Aug 24 '16 at 17:57
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    Just to confirm what @Gorpik says it was the usage of "a" which was unfamiliar to me in this context. So from my point of view the answe ris fine which is why I accepted it. – mdewey Aug 24 '16 at 20:11
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    Just to add to the discussion, here a uses the 6th meaning of a: prep. Precisa el lugar o tiempo en que sucede algo. Le cogieron a la puerta. Firmaré a la noche. – fedorqui Aug 25 '16 at 08:16