Spanish news - Spain news from 1Casa 26 January 2008

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Spanish News

Latest News from Spain

This news is brought to you in association with 1Casa. Cristina Sanchez is head of their Customer Liaison Department, they specialiize in Affordable Property in the inland regions of Andalucia starting at under 30,000 Euros.

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26 January 2008

Foreign Visitors to Spain Hit Record Levels in 2007

Spain received a record 59.2 million overseas visitors last year with the country remaining the second most popular tourist destination in the world. The figure was up 1.7% against 2006 when there were 58.2 million visitors. The Industrial, Tourism and Trade Ministry reported that Andalusia was among the most popular destinations last year. The main market for Spain remained the UK with Britain accounting for 27.5% of all foreign visitors last year. Spain also became increasingly popular with US visitors. The number of arrivals from the United States rose 22% to 1.1 million.

Low Cost Airlines Bring 34% More Passengers to Spain

Over the past year low cost airlines have brought 24 million passengers to Spain, which is an increase of 34% on the previous year. Ryanair are the overall leaders in Spain with 5.4 million travellers followed by EasyJet with 4.2 million. In Andalucia the growth has been lower at 18%; Malaga is the principal entry point for the 3.6 million low cost travellers which arrived in Andalucia. Now 6 out of every 10 tourists that arrive in Andalucia arrive on low cost airlines.

Over 13.5 Million Passengers Used Malaga Airport in 2007

The Spanish Airports Authority, AENA, has reported that passenger numbers at Malaga Airport were up by 3.9% last year. The UK holds onto its first place position for arrivals, with more than 2.5 million last year, up by 0.3% on 2006. The largest increase in numbers, however, was in arrivals from Germany, France and Ireland, up by 5.7, 15.6 and 6.8% respectively.

Crackdown on Uninsured Vehicles

There are approximately 400,000 uninsured vehicles being driven in Spain. In the past year, these have been involved in 16,000 accidents at a cost of 40 million euros. However, from 23rd January, a dozen patrol cars from the traffic division of the Guardia Civil, equipped with a special automatic number plate reading device will instantly detect those vehicles that are driving without insurance. Those teams will have the power to immobilise the vehicles and impound them as well as fining the drivers 1,500 euros for cars, 1,000 euros for motorbikes and 2,600 for heavy vehicles. The provinces where the new teams begin monitoring are: Madrid, Toledo, Seville, Granada, Valencia, Badajoz, Zaragoza, Leon, Burgos, La Coruna, Navarra and Asturia.

Spanish Post Office to Cut Rural Delivery Service

The Spanish government has given Correos (Spanish post office) permission to abandon deliveries to homes that are more than 250 metres from a main road. In a little publicised move, a decree from the Ministry for Development now allows Correos to cancel the delivery of letters and packages to homes where there is a low density of housing or to isolated homes. In certain remote areas, such as in Galicia, the Postal union CIG believes many postmen and women may lose their jobs, while the company insists that no jobs are to be cut.

Search for Lyrics for Spain's National Anthem Postponed

The search for words for the Spanish national anthem has been postponed until after the Beijing Olympics after proposed new lyrics were dropped following widespread derision. "We have not given up on the idea, but with an election coming up and the Olympic Games to prepare for, now is the time to be calm," Spanish Olympic Committee chairman told a news conference. The Spanish national anthem has been played without words since 1978, when lyrics approved by dictator General Franco were dropped.

Japan to Open Consulate in Andalucia

The Japanese ambassador to Spain announced the intention to open a consulate for Andalucia in Seville. There are 2,000 Japanese citizens living in Andalucia and 200,000 Japanese visitors here each year. During the ambassador’s meeting with leaders of the Junta it was announced that sales of Jamon Iberico and Spanish olive oil have shot up to 7.5 million euros per year in Japan.

Half of Granada’s Municipalities Losing Inhabitants

Almost half (76 of 168) of the municipalities in Granada province have been losing inhabitants over the last decade. Whereas the province overall has gained 78000 people, these towns and villages have lost 16572 persons between 2000 and 2007. Particularly affected are Guadix, Huescar and the Alpujarra's villages. The suggestion has been put forward that tourism, ecological agriculture and renewable energy installations could provide the jobs to halt the trend.

Council Orders Hotel Closure in Almunecar

The court in Granada has given its backing to the local council and ordered that the Bahia Hotel in Almunecar be closed within 48 hours. Various footballers are reported to be investors in the property. The hotel has continued trading despite having been ordered to close by the council and the Junta de Andalucia. The hotel disputes the closure order insisting that that matter is subject to appeal. There is another hotel owned by football players in Almunecar; the Bahia Tropical. Locals know the two hotels as 'Los Galacticos'.

Antonio Banderas Ordered to Demolish Part of his Marbella Villa

The actor, Antonio Banderas, has been given notice to demolish part of his beachfront holiday home which he bought 11 years ago. A court in Malaga has said that one wing of the six-bedroom mansion near Marbella was built by the previous owner without the proper licence. The edge of the property extends onto a sandy beach in the exclusive residential area of Los Monteros in Marbella. According to reports, the only option now is an appeal to the Constitutional Court.

Jaen to Welcome the Tour of Andalucia

The city of Jaen, through its councillor of sport, has signed a four year agreement worth 244,000 euros with the Tour of Andalucia organisers to route the Tour to the city. From 2008 to 2011 it will accommodate either stage-starts, time trials or stage finishes. This year it will welcome a stage finish, on 19th February from 4.00 pm.

Gerald Brenan's Malaga Home to be Three Museums

A house in the Churriana district of Malaga, which was once owned by the well known British writer, Gerald Brenan, is to be converted into three museums. The house, which the writer left when he moved to Alhaurin el Grande in 1969, has been semi-abandoned for the past two years. It will house one museum on Brenan himself, another on the ‘romantic travellers’ of Spain and another will be dedicated to the agricultural life of Churriana, with farming tools donated by the locals. The work is expected to take 18 months to complete once it begins. Gerald Brenan died in Spain on 19th January 1987, at the age of 93.

Photo Exhibition

An exhibition of the work of plane spotters has opened at Malaga airport. Some 80 photographs of planes taken by enthusiasts from all over Spain are on display until 2nd February in the Didier Daurat gallery, next to the check-in area.

Malaga to Cordoba in 90 Minutes Before the Summer

The new stretch of motorway between Antequera and Cordoba should open before the summer. This new stretch of 100 kilometres, added to the existing Malaga to Antequera route, should make it possible to travel from Malaga to Cordoba in 90 minutes.

AVE Connection Malaga to Seville

The AVE high speed train is due to connect Malaga with Seville in mid February. The journey time will be 1 hour and 55 minutes instead of the current 2 hour 30 minutes. For the time being, the route will go via Cordoba, but in 3 years time it will go through Osuna, which will further reduce the journey time to 1 hour 15 minutes.

Cafe Bar Central Closed for Reforms

One of Malaga’s most emblematic establishments, the Cafe Bar Central in the Plaza de la Constitucion, has closed its doors for refurbishment after over one hundred years of business. The work is expected to be finished for re-opening on the 9th March and will feature a new addition, a bodega-charcuteria where customers will be able to taste wines, cheeses and meat products. The reforms will enable the business to re-open as a restaurante-cafeteria-bar.

New Music Auditorium for Malaga

A spectacular ceramic and glass music auditorium is to be built on the esplanade at San Andres over the next four years. The architects that won the competition for the project now have six months to draw up full details. The building is expected to adopt the best environmental principles and to include sustainable energy use and access by public transport. The total cost is expected to be around 55 million euros.

Start of Malaga Carnival

The opening announcement of the Malaga Carnival takes place on Saturday 26th January in the Plaza de la Constitucion. This will be followed by the election of the God Momo and the Goddess, then a masked party.

Rural Road Improvements in Alora

The town hall of Alora has awarded the contracts for the improvement of three rural roads to the public company Egmasa at a cost of 1.3 million euros. One of the roads is the one to Laja Prieta, which was the subject of prolonged demonstrations in the Plaza Fuente Arriba last year. The other two are those of Loma de Sabinal and Vega Morales.

Alora Town Centre Refurbishment to Continue

The next phase of the refurbishment of Alora town centre is to start soon. The work to bring the stretch between Fuente Arriba and the Veracruz church up to the same standard of previous work, lighting, paving, etc is to start after Semana Santa and will last approximately four months at a cost of 319,000 euros. This will leave only the length of Calle Vera Cruz up to the Casa de Cultura still to be done.

Tenerife 1 – 1 Malaga

Malaga were held to a 1-1 draw at Tenerife. Malaga had an early lead but the home team equalised soon afterwards. Their next game away to Salamanca on Sunday 27th January, kick off at 12 noon.

David Pleat Joins Marbella Football

David Pleat, the former Luton, Tottenham, Leicester City and Sheffield Wednesday manager has joined UD Marbella FC as the club’s new football advisor. Marbella is currently near the bottom of the Spanish league division 2B – group 4 and Pleat’s role will be to assist the club with its international scouting strategy.

Alonso Tests new Renault

The new Renault R28 F1 racing car was tested this week (21st January) by Fernando Alonso on the Cheste circuit near Valencia. After testing in foggy conditions and before 6500 spectators he seemed pleased enough but made no comment. The PR department stated that it was early days yet but they had encountered no problems.

Show Jumping in Malaga

The fifth edition of the national show jumping competition starts at the Palacio de Deportes Martin Carpena in Malaga next week. The contest which should feature the cream of national and international riders and horses runs over three days, 25th, 26th and 27th January.

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