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Talking about Spain and the Costa del Sol with its nice beaches and the fantastic weather another nice place to go on holidayin Europe is Portugal which is not really far away from the sunny coast of Spain. Thinking about Portugal vacation the first thing that gets into my mind is the Algarve in south Portugal which is a popular destination for tourism, primarily because of its beaches, Mediterranean climate, safety and relatively low costs. And the Algarve is only 3 hours away from the Costa del Sol. The beaches are similar to the Spanish beaches but better, the water is a little bit colder, but the sand is yellow to white, nearly like in the Caribbean. The safety and low cost are a perfect reason for Portugal family vacation as vacations with the whole family always cost a fortune, but not in Portugal, wich is one of the cheapest countries in Europe to enjoy your vacations. Maybe that’s why so many British, German, Dutch and Scandinavian people visit the Algarve. But the Algarve is not the only region for vacations in Portugal. Other tourist areas are the capital Lisbon and the Portuguese Islands like Madeira and Azores. If you are looking to do some vacations somewhere in Portugal a good place to look is at Olimar, which has been elected as the no. 1 best foreign Portugal tour operator by Portugals leading tourism trade journal Publituris. And the prices are really good.

Málaga is with its 560,631 inhabitants (2006) the second largest city in Andalucia after Sevilla and capital of the province Málaga. In addition Málaga is the sixth-largest city of Spain. The city possesses one of the largest Spanish airports, which is now being extended, and is considered as the gate to the Costa del Sol. Málaga is a modern city with an important commercial port, airport and a university. It is the capital of the Costa del Sol, which represents one of the most important vacation destinations of the iberian peninsula with its good climate all year round. The city is in culinary regard known for raisins and wine (muscatel).

Today the main focus is particularly on the tourism, which gives rapid growth to the city. Already since the 19th century English and Spanish upper layer families settled here in order to spend the winter in the mild coastal climate. Opposite the bullring there is even an English cemetery and a residential area with modernistic mansions. From here a large palm tree park, in which also horse coachmen offer its service, leads to the city centre and to the port. The park surrounds the castle mountain, on which the Alcazaba is situated. This Arab king palace was built between that 8th and 11th century and is situated in the midst of maintained, expanded gardens. Today it houses the archaeological museum. Connected by two towers with a bridge above is the “Gibralfaro”, the moorish castle Malagas, within whose walls is the lighthouse and a mosque. Beside it is a beautiful hotel, the Parador de Gibralfaro, from whose pool in clear weather the view is good enough to see Gibraltar. Read more »

The kingdom of Spain (spanish: Reino de España) is situated in the southwest of Europe and captures the biggest part of the iberian peninsula. In the beginning of 2005 Spain had about 44,1 million inhabitants, which are living on an area of 504,646 km². 3,1 million inhabitants are living in the capital Madrid, which is the third biggest city in the European Union after London and Berlin. Head of State is King Juan Carlos I. The slogan Spains is “Plus Ultra” (“Further Beyond”). Furthermore to the national territory of Spain belong the Balearic Islands with its main islands Mallorca and Menorca, as well as Ibiza and Formentera in the Mediterranean and the Canary Islands consisting of the seven main islands Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Teneriffa, La Gomera, La Palma and El Hierro, the six smaller islands Alegranza, Graciosa, Montaña Clara, Lobos, Roque del Este and Roque del Oeste in the Atlantic Ocean, as well as the Towns Ceuta and Melilla, situated on the north african coast. In France Spain owns the exclave Llívia. Furthermore Spain owns some islands in front of the Moroccan coast: Islas Chafarinas, Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera, Alhucemas, Alborán, Islas Columbretes, and the island of Perejil, which is as far as possible unoccupied.