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The regional government, the Junta de Andalucia has announced that the Costa del Sol will host 5 major sporting events in 2011. The start of the cycling event “Vuelta a Andalucia” will take place on February 20^th , starting from Benahavis. Also in cycling, stages of the national tour “Vuelta Ciclista a España” will be hosted at the end of August and the Desafio del Buda cycling competition will take place in the Axarquia region.

In March, the Andalucia Golf Open will be held at the Malaga Golf Parador.

In April, Marbella will once again play host to the Andalucia Tennis Experience. It has also been announced that there are 11 planned events in total for Andalucia in 2011, which the Junta hopes will promote the region internationally. Read more »

Last Wednesday, the 31^st edition of the international tourism fair “Fitur” was inaugurated by Queen Sofía, who opened the feria by raising aloft the World Cup which was won by Spain during the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

Also present at the international tourism fair were the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce, Miguel Sebastián, the General Secretary of Tourism and Interior Commerce, Joan Mesquida, the president of Iberia and the Director of “Fitur”, Ana Larrañaga.

According to Joan Mesquida, 2010 was a better year than 2009, and this year is expected to be a continuation of the upward trend. He was quoted as saying that Spain was going in the right direction, consolidating a growth that will bring more income to tourism in Spain.

Andalucía’s President, José Antonio Griñán, was singing from the same hymn sheet and was also quoted as saying that he is confident that, notwithstanding the light drop in numbers last year, the region will pick up again in 2011. He based his well-balanced optimism on data from 2010 showing more overnight bookings and increased average spending and length of stay.

Despite the various problems that have plagued Malaga airport, including the volcanic ash cloud and the controllers’ conflict, the airport finished the year with a bang, concluding that in excess of 12 million passengers used the airport in 2010, which represents a considerable 3.8% increase over the previous year.

The launch of the new terminal at Malaga Airport, the T3, (as mentioned in my previous article) has raised the transit of passengers and flight traffic over the past year. Specifically, the airport in the capital of the Costa del Sol operated a total of 105,631 flights from January to December, a 2% increase over the previous year.

This is also the first time since the onset of the economic crisis in 2007 that passengers and flight movements have increased at all. Read more »

Planeta Animal are seeking a double horse trailer borrowed free of charge for an animal charity project, walking with dogs, donkeys and horses on the Saint James Trail for the Animal Rights in Spain as mentioned before from the 19th of March to the 29th of April.

Please contact: elcamino@planeta-anmimal.org or call 699 316394. Planeta Animal invites everybody to take part in ‘El Camino 2011′. Find more information on www.planeta-animal.org

A few forward-thinking towns and their residents have taken a step further in supporting the needy and elderly during these difficult times.

A clinic in Mijas has come to an agreement with the local town hall to offer dental care to unemployed residents of the town through a project named Solidental.

For POLICLINICA ALEN the aim is to offer services which are not readily available on the public health system. Unemployed residents only have to show their unemployment card at any of the ALEN clinic branches and will be allowed to benefit from a 50 per cent discount on all basic procedures until March 15. All basic care procedures including cleaning, fillings and extractions are covered by this service. Read more »