Torremolinos, the sixth most visited city by Spanish tourists

Benidorm

Madrid was the most visited city by the Spanish tourists in 2011, closely followed by Barcelona and Valencia.

This study reflects that Andalusia is also one of the most attractive regions for the Spanish, as both Seville and Granada complete the ‘Top 5’ of the most visited cities.

Torremolinos, in Malaga, has risen to sixth place while Cordoba maintains unalterable in ninth. Marbella, on the other hand, climbed one position, up to eleventh and others like Malaga, Jerez de la Frontera and Almeria sat in 14th, 19th and 20th, respectively.

Levante also appears as one of the clear favourites for the Spanish to spend their holidays, where Benidorm, apart from having increased its hotel prices by 6%, also increased its popularity, rising from 14th right up to eighth. Alicante, on the other hand, descended to tenth, two positions less than in 2010.

Out of Spain, the city of New York was chosen to occupy first place, followed by London and Paris to complete the podium, although the European capital cities are still a great alternative with Rome, Berlin or Brussels amongst the top ten cities.

Regarding the preferences of foreign tourists, Barcelona occupy the first position, partially due to the cruise industry’s boom, which is why Madrid remains in second place and Seville in third.

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The Marriott´s Marbella Beach Resort, among the best hotels for families in Spain

The Marriott’s Marbella Beach Resort, situated in this popular city on the Costa del Sol, has established itself as one of the best accommodations for families in Spain.

These awards recognize for the first time the best hotels for families in the world, Europe and Spain, and are designed taking into account the comments and opinions of millions of travelers around the world who have traveled with the family.

Spain has been one of the big winners, with five domestic establishments in the ranking of the best family hotels in the world and eight among the Top 25 in Europe. The Spanish regions that concentrate the winners are Andalusia, the Balearic Islands, Catalonia, the Canary Islands and Valencia.

The preferred vacation for the whole family usually are sun and beach holidays or city breaks, being the ideal duration one week for about 26%, four to five days for 22% and a fortnight for 21% of users.

Marbella is one of the most exclusive resorts in Spain. With its beautiful beaches and its mild climate, it is home to hundreds of tourists in both winter and summer.

It is not difficult to find online cheap airline tickets flights and hotels in Marbella at good prices if you are in search of good weather, the international airport Malaga on the Costa del Sol will always be one of the best places to go from the UK. There are a number of flights from many cities in England and not far from home you can have an appointment with the sun.

The PSOE party wins in Andalusia

A small politician

The Andalusians have chosen PSOE (Partido Socialista Obrero Español), with the help of IU (Izquierda Unida), to govern Andalusia for next four years. This, consequently, leaves the PP (Partido Popular) occupying the opposition seat despite having won their first elections in 30 years. An explicit desire that is translated in PSOE’s 47 parliamentarians and the 12 of the IULV-CA coalition, enough to reach a vast majority beating the PP’s 50.

But, in an implicit way, the Andalusians have awarded the PSOE the bastion role, placing Jose Antonio Griñan on the top of the prop with whom they intend to demolish the PP’s hegemony all over Spain. You get the feeling that the Andalusians have been reluctant in giving the PP absolute power and have preferred that the Junta de Andalucía (the Andalusian Government) maintain as a counterweight against Rajoy’s government and the rest of innumerable town halls and delegations in Andalusia.

Politics is ruthless and Javier Arenas knows this. His opportunity has vanished with the ingratitude of a sour victory and opens in the PP an unknown succession that Arenas himself must clear if he wants to avoid the frustration taking over his party.

This legislation could become a tragedy if Griñan in Seville and Rajoy in Madrid forget that, today, the main objective is to get out of this crisis, whatever it takes.

The strike of the 29th of March sets off with nine arrested in Malaga

34 flights cancelled at Malaga airport and delays in public transport throughout Malaga province – A cruise ship has been diverted due to the impossibility of berthing at the port

 

The eighth general strike in the history of democracy is developing in the province of Malaga with isolated incidents in the industrial estates and in the capital city centre. The informative pickets have been parading along the most strategic points during the whole morning to assure the general work halt like in bus stations, train stations, main access to Malaga’s Technological Park or to Mercamalaga.

 

At least 9 people have been arrested coinciding with the progress of the general strike, the majority in the capital city, for launching smoke bombs at bars in the old quarter and for setting around twenty garbage containers on fire. Sources of the CCOO (the workers’ committee) have informed that a 65 year-old person has been arrested while participating in a picket in Mercamalaga, Malaga’s wholesale market, and that another incident occurred with another person who was filming the police in the Technological Park, whose camera was consequently confiscated by the officers. One of the suburban trains that connected the Costa del Sol to Malaga has, apparently, also been affected by a barricade, according to the information provided by the police to these users, and a blockage of the exit of buses was attempted.

 

A spokesman of the CCOO highlighted the fulfilment and accomplishment of the minimum services and assured that until 06:00 the strike was 100% seconded in Malaga.

 

On the other hand, two cruise ships with almost 4.000 passengers had to be diverted to ports in other countries nearby due to the impossibility of berthing in the ports of Malaga and Cadiz caused by the general strike organised for today to protest against the draconian labour reform. Union sources informed that in Malaga, a cruise ship called ‘Gran Celebration’ was scheduled to berth in Malaga port this Thursday morning carrying 1.896 passengers, but had to be diverted to a port in a nearby country, unspecified. In cadiz, a very similar event occurred with a cruise ship of the same company that was carrying approximately 2.000 passengers.

 

The sources also stated that “over 100 excursions from Malaga with around 5.000 tourists visiting Malaga and other points of Andalusia like Granada, Seville or Ronda , had to be cancelled” due to the general strike.

 

The new Mercedes SL500 is presented in Malaga

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Mercedes Benz has chosen the city of Malaga, namely the Automotive Museum, for the international launch of its new model, the SL500. Thus, some 600 journalists from five continents will visit the city until next March 22 in order to test the lightest model from the German company.

The climate and the facilities of the Automotive Museum Malaga were good reasons for Mercedes Benz to choose the province to publicize their new creation, a car with 435 hp V8 engine that lets you go from zero to sixty in 4.6 seconds. Although it may be established only on a race track, its maximum speed reaches 250 kilometres per hour.

But most highlighted by the creators of the new Mercedes is its lightness, since it is made entirely of aluminium, thus it weights 140 kilo less than its predecessor. A new feature is also a Bluedirect engine, which allows driving 29% cheaper than other models in the range.

A specially created sound proofing system to go with the convertible and directional spouts inserted into the windshield to reach the entire surface of the glass, are some delicacies of this luxury car, which goes on sale priced from 117,000 Euros.

After the technical talk, journalists have the possibility to measure in person the benefits of the new car, driving it to Marbella, always accompanied by a technician to address concerns that arise along the way.

Benalmadena presents a tourist guide for mobile phones

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Encarnacion Cortes, the tourist councillor of Benalmadena’s town hall, presented a new promotional tool to promote the municipality’s tourism. It’s an updated guide that shows images of the municipality’s different tourist attractions, that has been possible thanks to the agreement with the Touristic Innovations Centre, Andalusia Lab, pioneer centre in Europe boosted by the Andalusian Government’s Ministry of Tourism, Trade and Sport.

Benalmadena becomes the second town in Malaga province to offer this interactive guide, together with Frigiliana -and Selwo Adventure Park in Estepona- being one the five municipalities in Andalusia to have this guide.

“The main feature is that it’s an interactive tourist guide, which means the tourists can use this guide on their mobile phones to check out the municipality’s main places of interest, as well as the hotels and restaurants, and find these points the easiest and most comfortable way possible with a geolocator”, stated Cortes.

The councillor assured that there are already many hotels, restaurants and other businesses that can be found through this interactive guide, but wanted to encourage all of those who are not yet included, to get in contact with the town hall’s tourist office situated in Avenida Antonio Machado, next to Solymar Square.

You can access the guide via the QR codes displayed in the main places of interest of the municipality.

Around 20 agents will travel throughout Andalusia to reinforce the destination’s commercialisation in the German market

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Around 20 German travel agents will be participating in a familiarisation trip from the 25th to the 27th of November, with the collaboration of the Tourism, Trade and Sport Ministry, that will allow th

em to improve their knowledge on Andalusia and reinforce the commercialisation of the destination in this market.

These German professionals work with the operator Dertour, considered the most veteran of the German market, moving approximately 4.000 passengers each year during the winter and spring in its division of groups and around 30.000 clients towards Andalusia in its holiday division, according to a statement by the Andalusian administration.

Dertour provide the whole set of Andalusian offers in their catalogues, both coastal and interior, as well as products directly related to the ‘Sun & Sea’ sector, circuits around Andalusia or packages that include the flight plus a car hire to move independently around the destination.

The group of agents will arrive at Malaga airport on the following 25th of November and during their stay in Malaga province they will be visiting Torremolinos. The next day they will be heading towards Cadiz to visit towns such as Conil de la Frontera, Tarifa, Bolonia and Jerez de la frontera.

This reverse action throughout Andalusia will end on the 27th of November with a route around Seville, where they will visit the main tourist attractions of the city like the Royal Alcazar for example, amongst others, and will be then returning to Malaga for a final tour around the Costa del Sol’s capital.

The German market is the second international issuer for Andalusia as a destination, with 611.429 visitors booked into Andalusian hotels between January and September 2011, which means an increase of 4.9% compared to the same period last year.

The tourists coming from this market made a total of 3.019.868 overnight hotel stays during the first nine months of the year, with an increase of 4.8% and have stayed in the destination for an average of 4.94 days.

The arrival of Russian tourists to Andalucia has increased by 40%

World Travel Market

The Andalusian government’s Tourism, Trade and Sport councillor, Luciano Alonso, had a business breakfast at London’s World Travel Market (WTM) with representatives of almost a dozen British tourist operators, that have estimated that 2012 will be a ‘very positive’ year for Andalusia ‘from all points of view’, according to ABC Destinations’ co-president Robert S. Paris.

In this sense, Paris specified to the press that the area’s stability “is a symptom of recovery and will be good for Andalusia“. Also, he added, months like October and March, “that are of a low touristic level”, are increasing.

The operators that have participated in this encounter are Kirker Travel – City Tourism and Getaways, Martin Randall Travel – Cultural Trips, United Kingdom’s Independent Tour Operators Association (AITO), Page & Moy Travel – Personalised Trips, Golf Breaks – Golf Tourism, ABC Destinations – Luxury Tourism, and Flamenco Tours – Flamenco Tourism.

Alonso has pointed out that next year the United Kingdom “will still be looking at Andalusia, there will be an increase in expenses, in the number of tourists and overnight stays, not sure how much, last year the tour operators got it right and hopefully they will this year as well”.

At this point, he refused to make any predictions for this year’s closure or for 2012 but he has pointed out that “there will be increases for sure”. “We are going through a tremendous uncertainty but we have spent years where it had declined – in British tourism – and we are recovering”, said the councillor.

These professionals have emphasized the importance of the offer’s diversification and have shown interest in the Andalusian interior middle cities, the gastronomy, the culture, as well as protected natural parks such as Doñana, Cabo de Gata and Cazorla. “They are not just going to settle for the traditional routes, they want new ones and have shown a lot of interest”. he stated.

Another sector on which the tour operators have insisted has been Golfing and its strength in the United Kingdom “as a fundamental element”. Although Malaga and Cadiz gather 80% of the Andalusian courses, according to Alonso they have requested that it intensifies in Huelva.

The Andalusian tourism councillor has pointed out they have equally shown interest in Sierra Nevada, “with the offer’s transformation for the youth”, rejuvenating this way the arrival of tourists from the UK, in which the average age is 45 years old, and has also named Malaga capital city as an example: “we are heirs to the Roman Theatre, the Cathedral, Gibralfaro or the Alcazaba but we also have the Picasso Museum or the Thyssen; it’s not all only sun and beaches”.

“We create new products, we go a step further and that is tremendously valued”, he manifested, whilst he added the importance of the quality, “that is increasing day by day in Andalusia”; the improvement in hotels, the catering, with over a dozen ‘Michelin’ stars; the proximity and the frequency of flights to Andalusia.

Russian Tourism

On the other hand, the Andalusian councillor has referred to the meeting held in this fair with the tour operator Natalie Tours, specialized in the Russian market, an issuer of which its arrival has increased from January to September by 40 per cent.

To be specific, 98.000 travellers have been received from this market, that have a a high purchasing power; in fact, the idea is to extend the market to Ukraine with an air connection with Kiev. “It’s not only about the tourists coming here, but how we treat them and the experiences we offer them as well”, insisted Alonso, who reminded the importance of loyalty and constancy.

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The CCOO alerts that 6.000 people will be unemployed due to hotel closures in Malaga

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The CCOO alerts that 6.000 people will be unemployed due to hotel closures in Malaga

“We will not accept, under any circumstances, the conversion of permanently open hotels into seasonal establishments”, warns the Union.

The touristic seasonality will provoke the loss of around 6.000 jobs in the province of Malaga this winter due to the closure of hotels, that will also affect other establishments like bars and ‘chiringuitos’ (Beach Bars). This was warned this morning by the CCOO (The Spanish Worker’s Commissions) in a press conference in which they alerted of the proliferation of temporary suspension files on the Costa del Sol, that causes that in certain areas, up to 90% of the hotels will close. In the same way, this labour union has called the management for measures to prevent the conversion of permanently open hotels into seasonal establishments, and this way convert the workers’ contracts from permanent to discontinuous, “cheaper for the entrepreneur employer”, according to the Trade, Hotel and Tourism Union’s general secretary in Malaga, Lola Villalba.

Based on the figures published by the National Institute of Statistics (INE), the CCOO Trade, Hotel and Tourism Federation’s general secretary in Andalusia, Gonzalo Fuentes, has denounced that, in spite of the main indicators on occupation resulting favourable over the first nine months of the year, hotel employment has only raised by 3%, “much less than the overnight stays, that increase by 10,12%”. “The first thing we have considered is that there is an increase in the submerged economy and in the amount of work. The entrepreneurs take advantage of the employees and this has negative repercussions on the service offered to the customer”. In his opinion, although the figures regarding Malaga “aren’t as outrageous” as the rest of Andalusia, they do highlight that “the workers are paying for this crisis”.

Malaga, the most affected

Regarding the closure of hotels this winter, Fuentes has affirmed that Malaga is the province most affected by this phenomenon that is turning the Costa del Sol into “a winter desert”. Fuentes pointed out that “In lack of the definite figures, we fear that this year there will be more hotels and apartments closed” and specified that it is predicted that 40% of the hotel spaces will stop being operative, double of how it was two years ago. He said that, throughout the province, around thirty dismissal files that have affected 1.900 workers, have been presented, even though “historically, when this tourist destination was configured, it was designed to be a permanently open destination thanks to the climate and diversity”. Villalba warned that “What we will not accept, under any circumstances, is a conversion into seasonal hotels” and clarified that in this case the entrepreneurs offer the employees a contract novation and changing them to discontinuous, this way they don’t have to pay social security for them during the months that they are not working. To avoid the disastrous effects of these closures, “that leave a lot of people unemployed”, the Union has demanded the politicians and entrepreneurs to come up with alternative measures.

Describe the longest road trip you’ve ever taken

Despeñaperros image

Mine was from the south of Spain to the north. A very long 7 hours trip and another 7 hours trip back the same day…lucky of me I was not driving

I enjoyed “Despeñaperros” and some other mountain roads I don´t know the name…once back at home I searched for some information about the history of Despeñaperros, a place of bandits long time ago.

What about your longest trip by car? Still have not done a large one yet?

If you come to Malaga, I recommend getting from the south to the north or trough the many mountain roads in Andalucia if you like driving while watching beautiful landscapes. For hiring a car, check for car hire Malaga at a company you can trust like the link I recommend.

Driving from Malaga within Andalucia is a great experience, as I said before…after my trip I used Google Maps for checking the maps of the road routes we took and checked websites about the history of some places…a trip I will remember for sure.