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Faccio un viaggio in Spagna, non in Francia.

Faccio un viaggio in Spagna, non in Francia.
I am taking a trip to Spain, not to France.
From Lesson 43:Location and destination (a, in)·Italian

Questions & Answers about Faccio un viaggio in Spagna, non in Francia.

Why do we use in for "to Spain" and "to France" instead of a?
In Italian, the rule is to use in when going to or being in a country, state, or region. Because Spain (Spagna) and France (Francia) are countries, we must use in. We use a for cities (like a Roma for "to Rome").
Wait, doesn't in mean "in"? Why does the translation say "to"?
Italian often uses the exact same preposition for location (being somewhere) and destination (going somewhere). Because a trip involves travel, in Spagna and in Francia translate to "to Spain" and "to France" here. If the sentence was Vivo in Spagna, it would mean "I live in Spain."
Why is the verb faccio used here if the translation says "I am taking"?
Faccio comes from the verb fare, which means "to do" or "to make". While in English we say we "take" a trip, Italians "make" a trip (fare un viaggio). You cannot translate "take" literally here!
I've seen Spain written as la Spagna. Why is there no la (the) in this sentence?
Normally, countries in Italian have definite articles like la or il in front of them. However, when you use the simple preposition in to talk about going to or being in a country, you drop the article. So it is just in Spagna, not in la Spagna.

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