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Holidays in Spain – Tenerife

Mirco Rehmeier — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 18:28:49 +0000

Tenerife is the largest and most popular island of the seven Canary Islands. The Canary Islands also known as the Canaries (Spanish: Canarias) is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. Daily temperatures on Tenerife seldom fall below 20 degrees Celsius due to the island’s location just off the coast of Morocco and it’s that reliable weather that draws the visitors. Tenerife holidays are incredibly popular with British holidaymakers.

Tenerife is with about five million tourists each year the most visited of the Canary Islands. Tenerife is serviced by two airports, Tenerife North Airport and Tenerife South Airport, and easy to reach. The island’s well loved resorts such as Playa de las Americas, Los Cristianos, La Pineda, Puerto de la Cruz and La Caleta offer everything from peaceful, laid-back relaxation to full on thrills day and night. Affordable, budget or even ostentatious all-inclusive luxury, you’ll find all types of accommodation on this fabulous holiday island.

Tenerife is dramatic, beautiful and full of possibilities, as well as being one of Europe’s most exciting islands Tenerife offers Europe’s widest range of tourist attractions and activities. Sunbathe or swim on the palm-shaded lagoon of Lago de Martiánez and if you get tired of lying on the beach, find some shade in the exotic green oasis of the Jardín Botánico or make waves in Europe’s biggest water park – Siam Park. Tenerife has the highest elevation of Spain, a World Heritage Site that is the third largest volcano in the world from its base, El Teide. Tenerife hosts one of the world’s largest carnivals and the Carnival of Santa Cruz de Tenerife is attempting to become a World Heritage Site.

Spain’s biggest Apple store to open in La Cañada

Mirco Rehmeier — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 09:44:08 +0000

The US consumer giant Apple will open an Apple store in La Cañada shopping center in Marbella. But not just any store, it will be Spain’s biggest Apple store. This will be the first Apple store in Andalucia or even south Spain and only the fourth in Spain. September last year the very first Apple store in Spain opened in Barcelona in the shopping center La Maquinista with a size of 1300m2. Two more stores are in Madrid Parquesur and Xanadú, both with a size of only 800m2 each. They all opened to long queues of people eager to get through the doors. The Apple store in La Cañada is due to open mid November or even earlier with a size of 1700m2. It will be located on the ground floor opposite the main entrance where Habitat was before. Preparations for the new Apple store Marbella are being carried out in secret and the windows and access to the store are covered with black screens. It has been said, that they already have 65 employees.

Hopes on horizon for Spanish Economy

Emilia Hazell - Smith — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 08:13:44 +0000

Tourism looks to be one of the sectors that will boost Spain’s economy this year, as forecasts for growth are more than two percent. Around one million more tourists are expected to visit Spain this year, with a vast majority of them being northern Europeans who originally intended to visit regions that unfortunately have become natural or political disaster zones. Of course, these re-scheduled trips are music to the ears of a country which is emerging from a long financial downturn.

Spain is currently the world’s third largest tourist destination behind France and the United States however, experts still say that Spain’s prices need to become more competitive for any sustainable growth to be recorded. Indeed, when compared to other “fun in the sun” destinations like Turkey or Greece, Spain is continually the more expensive option. There are many strategies currently being talked about by the tourism board and one of them is upgrading accommodation and facilities to distinguish Spain as a quality destination for higher-spending visitors.

The Spanish government has injected over 3.6 billion euros into the sector in the past three years and is therefore, obviously aware of its tourism’s economic potential as the years go by and global travel increases. Industry lobby Exceltur believes its forecasts for an average 1.5 percent growth each year in tourism between 2011 and 2015 could even double if the government gave the sector priority treatment.

Maybe some of this could help the tourism sector recover between 7,000 and 10,000 jobs of 180,000 lost since the financial crisis began three years ago. We live in hope, and as long as we are realistic – there’s nothing wrong with that.

Ronda – famous for their bridges and bullfights

Mirco Rehmeier — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 08:20:50 +0000

Ronda is a small town famous to tourists from all over the world. It is located about 100km Northwest from the city of Málaga and 50km North of the Costa del Sol in an elevation of 723m in the hillside called Serrania de Ronda. The Old Town or in Spanish just La Ciudad is stamped with moorish characteristics. Since the 5th century the islamic dominated this part of Spain. Ronda was very important due to its elevated situation.

The Old Town is situated on an all around steep sloping plateau and is separated from the younger district called El Mercadillo, through a 100m deep gap called El Tajo, built by the river Rio Guadalevín. There are three ways to cross this gap, the Puente Romano – Roman Bridge, the Puente Viejo – Old Bridge as well known as Puente Arabe – Arab Bridge, and the well known Puente Nuevo – New Bridge, which was built between 1761 and 1793 and is the tallest of all three bridges and still in use for cars. The Puente Nuevo is the main photo object of Ronda.

The second most important is the bullring. Ronda had a very important role in the evolution of the bullfighting. In the 18th and 19th century three generations of members of the family Romero developed those rules which are still used to fight known as the Escuela Rondeña – the Ronda-School.

Ronda has the oldest bullfighting ring in Spain. Built in 1784 in a Neoclassical style by architect José Martin de Aldehuela, who also designed the Puento Nuevo. The arena has a diameter of 66 metres. The bullring can hold almost 1.250 spectators and also houses a museum dedicated to the sport.

Every year Ronda celebrates a unique historical bullfight, the Corrida Goyesca, where bullfighters wear costumes from the time of Spanish painter Francisco Goya. Even fashion designer Giorgio Armani designed a unique bullfighting costume in 2009 for famed bullfighter and testimonial Cayetano Rivera Ordóñez. Before, in 1994 popstar Madonna used the bullring in her music video “Take A Bow” as scenery.

American artists Ernest Hemingway and Orson Welles spent many summers in Ronda as part-time residents of Ronda’s old town. Both wrote about Ronda’s beauty and famous bull-fighting traditions. Their collective accounts have contributed to Ronda’s popularity over time. Orson Welles’ ashes were buried on the property of a long time friend, bullfighter Antonio Ordónez.

More objects of interest in Ronda are the church Santa María la Mayor on the Plaza Duquesa de Parcent, as well as the Casa del Gigante and the Palacio de Mondragón, including the museum of the city, Museo Municipal, as well as the well obtained patio and a moorish style garden. The partially intact Baños árabes – Arab baths, are found below the city and date back to the 13th and 14th centuries.

Possible Las Vegas-style development planned for Spain

Emilia Hazell - Smith — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 10:10:28 +0000

What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas? …Well, not for very much longer it would seem.

If recent reports are to be believed, then Spain could very soon have it’s own Las Vegas-style strip.

Sheldon Adelson of Las Vegas Sands Corporation (LVS) has confirmed he is “very seriously considering” plans to create a massive Las Vegas strip-style development in Spain. The US casino resort operator confirmed last Thursday that he was in talks with the town halls of both Madrid and Barcelona, which were two of the cities he visited when he came to explore his initial idea in 2008. It has also been confirmed that Mr Adelson has been in touch with the authorities in both Valencia and at undisclosed locations within the Costa del Sol.

The chairman and chief executive for Las Vegas Sands Corporation said last week that Mr Adelson wanted to create “a mini-Las Vegas strip resort” in Europe with 20,000 hotel rooms and millions of square metres for retail outlets and conference facilities. He was quoted as saying “I hope to use the name Europe Vegas or Euro-Vegas”

Promotors say that the project’s estimated total cost is between 10 and 15 billion euros and could create 180,000 jobs.

Marbella voted best for beaches

Emilia Hazell - Smith — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 09:41:30 +0000

A new study recently carried out by Oak Power Communication (OPC) has revealed that Marbella is consistently perceived on a global scale as having the best beaches in Spain. During the study, OPC asked over 600 journalists from the international media for their thoughts on Spanish tourism. Once the results were tallied up, it was clear that Marbella’s beaches won out, closely followed by Ibiza and Lanzarote respectively.

With places like Puerto Banus, where the streets are lined with designer shops; and the Old Town (Casco Antiguo), where the winding cobbled streets hide plenty of wonderful boutiques, perhaps it’s no surprise that Marbella was also voted the third trendiest and one of the most fashionable cities in the whole of Spain.

Research also shows that the region of Andalucia enjoys the best “brand image” in Spain. As a general tourist brand, Andalucia rated very high, with a score of 7.9 out of 10, followed by Madrid and Barcelona, with 7.3 and 7.1 each.

Maria Asenjo from OPC was quoted as saying “Journalists value Andalucia’s purely Spanish spirit, strength and passion, as well as enormous improvement in infrastructure and the quality of services in the past years”.

Madrid has the best image as a tourist city, with the Museo del Prado being the “best valued element of Spain’s artistic and tourist heritage”, followed closely by the Alhambra in Granada

new speed limits of 110 kilometers per hour

Mirco Rehmeier — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 09:45:59 +0000

Spain tries everything to save fuel. Now that the oil prices went up again and jumped to 120 dollars a barrel in just one week the prices consumers are paying for petrol and diesel are now at record highs. The tensions in North Africa are no problem to supplies but the government said that something has to be done to fuel costs. To save fuel the government has announced that the speed limit on major roads will be brought down from 120 kph to 110 kph. With this drivers will save 10 to 15 percent petrol or diesel. From today, March 7th the maximum speed on motorways and dual carriageways will be reduced to 110 kph.

More frequent trains make travel easier

Emilia Hazell - Smith — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 10:21:46 +0000

This coming summer residents and tourists will be able to benefit from more frequent trains on the Cercanias 1 line between Malaga and Fuengirola, as they will soon run every 20 minutes instead of every half an hour. This is due to the completion of the second track, a project that has always been the long-term goal of Renfe due to the social and financial profitability of the Costa del Sol line.

This new change will allow the 30 departures every day to be increased by 30 percent, although the exact numbers of trains and the earliest and latest departure times are yet to be confirmed.

The recent alterations to the timetables are truly remarkable, considering there have not been any changes to the train frequency since the C1 opened in 1975. This single fact means the adjustment is, in the eyes of many, long overdue and will effectively accomplish the greatest improvement to the service in 36 years.

The current total journey time between Malaga and Fuengirola is 48 minutes. Source claim that this time could possibly be reduced due to the modifications, but only marginally.

Spain wins at global Travel Awards 2011

Emilia Hazell - Smith — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 09:38:14 +0000

Skyscanner’s Global Travel Awards have named Spain as the most family friendly country which is also best for night-life, making it the destination with the best of both worlds.

With cities like Madrid and Barcelona renowned worldwide for their after hours entertainment, as well as many family orientated resorts along the coast, the country remains the most popular holiday destination for British tourists.

The opinions of more than 600 travellers were collected by the flights comparison site Skyscanner which made some surprising revelations.

Although Paris is often thought of as the world’s most romantic city, Italy stole the show with the award for “most romantic country” with 33% of the votes over France’s 19%.

Italy was also voted the best destination for food and culture, despite France being renowned for its haute cuisine and the fact that it is home to some of the world’s most famous museums and art galleries. Yara Paoli, Skyscanner Italian country expert was quoted as saying: “Italy is a very popular destination for British tourists and it’s great to see Italy being recognised for what it can offer; excellent cuisine, romantic cities and superb cultural attractions.”

The Caribbean won out on the most relaxing destination and also won awards for the most spectacular beaches. However, it was revealed that most travellers would pick Australia as their holiday destination if money were no object. Indeed, when the public were asked which country would they prefer if they had to live abroad, Australia came out on top, with the USA and Spain coming close behind.

Skyscanner is a leading travel search site providing instant on-line comparisons on flight prices for over 670,000 routes and on over 600 airlines, including flights to Spain as well car hire, deals and holidays. http://www.skyscanner.net/

Rent The Happy Hooker’s Marbella Hideaway

Mirco Rehmeier — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 10:10:27 +0000

In the 1970s dutch Xaviera Hollander rose to fame as the author of “The Happy Hooker“, after she worked as a call girl and madam. But now she’s an innkeeper of sorts. She owns a bed and breakfast in Amsterdam and is also the owner of Villa Caprice, a magnificent villa in the hills of sunny Marbella close to the Golden Mile, the beach and all amenities. Her house is located in a secluded area where guests can even “frolic around in the nude if they wish”. The villa offers 6 bedrooms to people who want some fun and sun. Villa Caprice has a garden with a lovely lawn, swimming pool with fountains and a sun terrace with 8 loungers. There is a large living room, well-equipped kitchen, a bar and terraces for outside dining. The villa’s bedrooms include several suites with king-sized beds as well as multiple rooms with twin beds for kids. Prices for the villa start at 1.800 Euro per week and go up to 2.400 Euro per week in summer

Water Taxi’s – travel in style

Emilia Hazell - Smith — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 09:50:33 +0000

A group of entrepreneurs from Malaga are set to launch an alternative way to travel between Malaga and the rest of the Costa del Sol. They have set up a company in Fuengirola called “Aqua Taxi“, the first of it’s kind in Spain and hope to have the service up and running by Easter of this year.

They have brought one of the twelve-seater boats over from Southampton in the UK, and are in negotiations with national shipyards to manufacture the rest of the boats needed to provide the service. Their ultimate goal is to extend the services offered by their company all the way along the coast to Gibraltar. In the medium to long term, there are plans to run up to Nerja and Almuñecar linking the east and the west.

The Water Taxi service, which will be based in Malaga Port aims to revolutionize the taxi business and connect Malaga and Marbella within 45 minutes. The company has currently received authorization to operate from Marbella, Benalmadena and Fuengirola and hopes be accepted also by Puerto Banus in the near future.

In terms of tariffs, which are still to be confirmed, a 20 minute taxi ride to Benalmadena will cost around 10-12 euros, while rides to Marbella will cost around 25-30 euros. The company has said that they will combine quick service with leisurely tourist trips according to demand from the general public.

Malaga is favourite destination for Culture and City breaks

Emilia Hazell - Smith — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 09:23:12 +0000

According to the Malaga Councillor for Tourism and Sport, Elias Bendodo, Malaga City is the favourite destination for cultural tourism and city breaks in the whole of Andalucia. Nationally, the city is streets ahead of Madrid, Cordoba, Sevilla and San Sebastian, coming second only to Barcelona.

Malaga should be very pleased with last year’s results which showed that 853,481 tourists booked into hotels in the city in 2010, which was 14.35 per cent more than in 2009, and 8.9 per cent more than 2008, which was historically, the best year for tourism until these figures were released.

12.75 per cent more people stayed in the city, equalling a total of 1,591,552 visitors, with an average stay of 1.85 days.

Just over 54 per cent of the tourists who stayed in Malaga city hotels in 2010 were Spanish, some five per cent more than the previous year, and most of them came from the rest of Andalucia, followed closely by Madrid and Cataluña.

The number of foreign visitors has also risen, by 28.1 per cent. The UK continues to be the main interest market, with 63,430 people, an increase of 13.17 per cent. The UK is followed by Germany and France, then Holland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Switzerland, which rose by 50 per cent, and finally the USA and Italy which rose by 30 per cent.

The Malaga Tourism Department attended six national and 15 international fairs in France, Portugal, Belgium, Ireland, Czech Republic, Germany, the USA, Russia, Sweden, Holland and Italy.

Valentine’s Vocabulary

Emilia Hazell - Smith — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 09:37:02 +0000

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, I thought I’d share with you all some Valentine’s Spanish vocabulary. For those singles out there, maybe you can try out a few of the lines…! For those who already have a partner, I hope you just enjoy the day and whatever your sweetheart may bring you.

For those of you who are well-versed in Spanish already, these are a few words and phrases you might not already know, which will pepper your vocabulary with some extra spice. For those of you who don’t speak Spanish at all or speak very little, I have added in the phonetics pronounciation, which will help you get the words out more or less perfectly.

Enjoy!

NB: I have written the feminine ending first (because, yes I am a woman) and the masculine after: e.g estoy enamorada instead of enamorado. Just remember: “a” for women, “o” for men.

Dia de San Valentin /Dia de los enamorados – (Dee-yah de San Ba-len-teen) (Dee-yah deh los enamo-ra-dohs) – Valentine’s Day

Estoy enamorada/o de ti – (es-toy enamo-ra-dah deh tee) – I am in love with you

Me mola más tu amigo/a – (Me mo-lah mas too ah-mee-goh/ah – I prefer your friend.

¿Quieres salir conmigo? – (key-air-es salir con-mee-goh) – Would you like to go out with me?

Sí, me gustaria – (See, meh goostah-reeyah) – Yes, I would like to.

Lo pensaré – (Lo pensa-reh) – I’ll think about it

¡No saldría contigo aunque fueras el unico hombre (la unica mujer) en esta tierra! - (No sal-dree-yah con-tee-goh awn-keh foo-air-ahs el oo-nick-oh om-breh [la oo-nick-ah moo-hair*] en estah tee-air-ah) – I wouldn’t go out with you if you were the last man/woman on Earth!

*Spanish J is very harsh sounding. Try to speak from the back of your throat.

Mi bebida se siente sola. ¿Te gustaría acompañarme con la tuya? – (Me beb-ee-dah se see-enteh sol-ah. Te goos-ta-ree-yah acom-pan-yar-meh con la too-yah) – My drink is getting lonely. Would you like to join me with yours?

Eres la más bella del mundo. – (Eh-rehs la mas beyah del moon-doh) – You are the most beautiful (girl/woman) in the world.

Esto lo he escuchado antes… – (Esto lo eh escoo-cha-doh an-tehs) – I’ve heard this before…

Una cena romantica – (Oona the-nah roman-teeka) – a romantic dinner

Una mesa para dos – (Oona mes-ah para dos) – a table for two

Una rama de flores – (Oona rama deh floor-es) – a bouquet of flowers

¡Cuidado! La vela se ha caido y se está quemando el mantel – (Cwee-da-doh! La bel-ah se ah cah-eey-doh ey seh es-tah kem-andoh el man-tel) Watch out! The candle has fallen over and is burning the tablecloth.
Las rosas blancas son mis preferidas – (Las ross-ahs blan-kas son mees prefe-ree-dahs) White roses are my favourites

No, gracias, tengo novio/a – (No gra-thee-as, tengo nobee-oh/ah) – No thanks, I have a boy/girlfriend

Estoy casada/o – (Es-toy casa-ada/oh) – I’m married

No me interesa en absoluto – (No meh inte-ress-ah en ab-sol-oo-toh) – I am not interested at all.

Pierdeté. – (Pee-er-de-teh) – Get lost.

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Flying Start to new Malaga Airport with 12 million passengers

Emilia Hazell - Smith — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 10:02:26 +0000

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.

This expansion has hit two years of consecutive decline on the head, to push Malaga airport through to the second place on the list of best performing airports of Spain. The only other major Spanish airport that experienced a better outcome was Barcelona.

Indeed, the 3.8% increase is not merely an increase for Malaga, but is said to represent a higher growth than in the average of Spanish terminals, according to data provided by Spanish Airports and Air Navigation (Aena).

In the international arena, Malaga airport received about 9.5 million tourists, most of them on flights from European Union countries. However, the United Kingdom still remains the leader. This market moved 4,280,672 passengers through the terminal in the capital of the Costa del Sol, followed at distance by Germany, with little more than a million passengers and Ireland, with 588,000 passengers.

The airline with most passengers (as predicted by its President Michael O’Leary in 2009) was Ryanair, which carried 2.1 million passengers in 2010 to and from Malaga, almost double the previous year, and overtaking Easyjet who have now been humbled to second place.

Ryanair currently has 47 connections to several locations in Spain and Europe.

New Superyacht Marina will open soon

Mirco Rehmeier — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 09:39:51 +0000

The Costa del Sol is mainly known for Golf, but as well it is famous for their marinas. The Alcaidesa Marina will be another exclusive marina on the coast. Situated on the golden shores of the Costa del Sol, set against the stunning backdrop of Gibraltar, the new Alcaidesa Marina is preparing to welcome luxury yachts and high-net-worth-individuals.

The Alcaidesa Group began planning and construction back in 2003, where the idea of bringing more high-end attention and travel dimension to the Spanish Coast brought forward plans for a new superyacht marina – offering spaces from 8 – 50m.

After opening the use of berths to owners in August as well as undergoing further cosmetic construction, the Alcaidesa Marina is a new potential yachting hub with modern facilities and services alongside high-end shopping centres and restaurants. The new Marina is strategically located by Gibraltar for its cool breezes and connection to both the Atlantic and Mediterranean Oceans, ideally situated near the Gibraltar Airport, Tarifa Beach and the Sotogrande Polo Fields.

The Marina consists of three basic areas, the sailing and water-sports centre, the northern side, with commercial sailing operation, dry dock and mooring facilities and the recreational, sailing and business area.

Once fully developed in two years time – 2013, the central area will have a surface coverage of 134,255 metre squared of land and an area of 139760 metre squared of water, with a capacity of 624 berths and 200 spaces in the dry dock facility.

Expertly designed by the Alcaidesa Group, the marina’s open landscaped areas and promenades, luxury leisure centres and varied berths will bring a new element of style and sophistication to the Spanish Coast in 2013 as well as a new yachting destination to superyacht owners everywhere.

More Information: www.puertodeportivoalcaidesa.es