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Spain’s Duchess of Alba got married today, Wednesday 5th October, to a man 25 years younger than her. María del Rosario Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart y de Silva Falcó y Gurtubay has married civil servant Alfonso Diez Carabantes in Seville in what is the third marriage for the 85-year-old aristocrat. The wedding ceremony took place in the Palacio de las Dueñas, in the centre of the Andalusian city, in front of about 40 intimate friends and family members. Despite their initial objections to the marriage, four of the Duchess’ six children were at the ceremony. Their opposition was so bad that their mother divided up much of her estate among them, although she still has control over the assets. The bride wore a salmon pink dress with a moss green sash by Spanish fashion designers Victorio y Lucchino who was present as well and shoes by Pilar Burgos.

This wedding was a dramatic change from the Duchess’s first marriage in October 1947 to Don Pedro Luis Martinez de Irujo y Artacoz (1919–1972), son of the Duke of Sotomayor, when the 21-year-old bride had 1,000 guests and wore gems reportedly worth nearly 1 million Euro even then. Estimates of her wealth range from 600 million euro to 3.5 billion euro. Besides fabulous and historic real estate sprinkled around Spain, the family treasure boasts paintings by Goya and Velazquez, a first-edition copy of Cervantes “El Quixote”, and letters written by Christopher Columbus.  Read more »

Your tickets to Marbella are purchased and your bags are packed. What else is missing? Exactly, travel insurance in Spain. Whilst we all hope it will not be necessary, for a small amount of money you can get a travel insurance in case things don’t go according to plans. Your trip to Spain may be scarred by unexpected delays, lost luggage, or accidents. Having good travel insurance in Spain may give you peace of mind during your stay no matter what may happen.

After all it not only covers you against the possibility of astronomical medical costs, the cost of re-patriation in the event of illness or death, but the right travel insurance cover will also provide for such eventualities as legal expenses, loss of money, passport, baggage etc. cancellation and curtailment and personal liability.  Read more »

Budget airline easyJet recently informed that the Costa del Sol is the most popular Spanish destination for British tourists, following an 11% rise in bookings for Spanish destinations this year. Apart from Malaga, other favourite Spanish tourist destinations are Alicante or Palma de Mallorca. Another favourite destination on the southern Iberian coast is Faro in Portugal. easyJet director Paul Simmons said that the sandy beaches, the blue sea and the promise of sun make British people return to Spain year after year. And he is right.

Hoping to purchase a second home in the Costa del Sol? Then before you make the purchase there’s the important matter of getting a good exchange rate on your funds. Exchange into euros at the wrong time and it can knock hundreds or even thousands off the final sum. So how do you locate the best rate?

The most important thing to remember is to avoid your local bank. In a lot of cases, people trust their bank on exchange rates because they use them for other financial services. In fact though, banks provide terrible exchange rates compared to those available elsewhere. This is, in brief, because banks aim to make as large a profit on the transfer as possible.  Read more »

It has been Marbella’s lifelong dream to have a port large enough to allow entry for ocean liners, and until now La Bajadilla marina has had to resort to disembarking passengers into boats to bring them to the town. Now, it appears that the prayer has finally been answered, as in a bid to attract a new form of tourism to Marbella‘s sunny shores, a tender from Malaga Football Club owner Qatari Sheikh Abdullah Ben Nasser Al-Thani has been accepted.

The plans for the re-vamped port include a 200m quay for cruise liners and a five-star hotel on the marina, as well as new shops, bars, restaurants and supermarkets. The extended pier will not only be able to berth cruise liners, but also an exclusive pier inside the marina is to be set aside for 26 boats, with a further 541 berths for private craft. La Bajadilla’s capacity will increase from its current 262 quota to over 800 boats. A new underground car park will also give space for 450 vehicles in addition to the current 683 places on the surface.  Read more »