S.A., branded as Paradores, is a Spanish state-owned chain of luxury hotels that are usually located in historic buildings or in nature areas with a special appeal.

The company was created with the double objective of promoting tourism in areas that lacked adequate accommodations, and of putting unused large historic buildings to use, for the maintenance of the national heritage.

In 1910, the Council of Ministers chaired by prime minister José Canalejas commissioned Benigno de la Vega-Inclán, marquess de la Vega-Inclán, to create a hotel structure, which did not exist at the time, in whose establishments hikers and travelers would be accommodated, while at the same time improving Spain's international image.

[2] It was in August 1926 when the Royal Tourism Commission began the construction of the first establishment at a location in a nature area of the Sierra de Gredos chosen by King Alfonso XIII himself.

[4] Following the successful opening, the Junta de Paradores y Hosterías del Reino was established in 1929, with the double objective of promoting tourism in areas that lacked adequate accommodations, but with conditions to attract nature or heritage tourism, and of putting unused large historic buildings to use, for the maintenance of the national heritage.

These roadside hostels with repair shop and gas pump were located in rest areas at key points on the road network and were built following a design by architects Carlos Arniches Moltó and Martín Domínguez Esteban in International Style.

[2] During the 1980s, the company underwent a wide restructuring and reorganization, shutting down some obsolete facilities, and operating criteria were revised to improve profitability.

The company's mission is to promote sustainable, accessible and quality tourism, as well as the maintenance of the buildings it operates, many of them monuments of high historical-artistic value declared Bien de Interés Cultural.

One of the oldest continuously operating hotels in the world, the Hostal de los Reyes Catolicos in Santiago de Compostela (A Coruña), founded in 1499 by the Catholic Monarchs as a hostelry and hospital for pilgrims at the very end of the Way of St James, and transferred to the network on 24 February 1986, is the finest parador,[9] and with its 137 rooms for 262 guests is also the largest by capacity.

A Portuguese equivalent, Pousadas de Portugal, were founded on 1 May 1941, following the Spanish model, by the Estado Novo at the initiative of António Ferro.