Los Lances fire: 392 evacuations

Flames under control near beach
(Photo: europasur.es)

TARIFA A fire broke out yesterday afternoon near the famous Los Lances beach, which led to the preventative evacuation of 392 people from two campsites, Tarifa and Torre de la Peña, as well as guests at the Hurricane Hotel. It was not a large fire but caused considerable alarm because of its location at some of the area's most populated tourist attractions. Fortunately, the wind blew the heavy smoke away from the campsites. Dry pine leaves behind the Tarifa camping ground ensured heavy, dense smoke, though the cause has yet to be established. The alarm was raised at about 2.30 pm and it was declared under control some five hours later.

Clampdown on undeclared holiday rentals

Illustration only

SPAIN Dinero negro is the Spanish term for 'under the counter' or 'illegal' money. There are some 120,000 undeclared summer rental properties in the country, which the central government has recently aimed big guns at under the aegis of the Ley de Medidas de Flexibilización y Fomento del Mercado del Alquiler de Viviendas, or the Measures of Flexibilisation and Development of the Property Rental Market Law, which came into effect on June 1 when it was published in the Official State Bulletin (BOE). The law has two basic objectives: to try to change the Spanish habit of property acquisition and encourage the more 'advanced' system of rental. The other objective is clearer, and probably easier to accomplish: the uncovering of illegal, or undeclared, summer rentals.>>>

Floating hotel piggy-backs into Gibraltar

(Photo: chronicle.gi)

GIBRALTAR Gibraltar’s new floating hotel, Sunborn Gibraltar, arrived yesterday morning on the back of a transportation vessel. She was due to be floated off her host this morning and will later be moved to Gibdock for minor preparatory work. According to The Gibraltar Chronicle, Brian Stevendale, CEO for Sunborn Gibraltar, said: "This is a huge news story for Gibraltar, the arrival of the world’s first five star yacht hotel on our shores. She’s a stunning piece of workmanship and over 3,000 experts from across the world have been involved in her development and construction – a project of a monumental scale. "Not only will she provide a much needed luxury hospitality and events venue for Gibraltar, but she will also create 200 permanent jobs for local people.”

A guide to 'South of Los Alcornocales'

CAMPO DE GIBRALTAR (and beyond) The Los Alcornocales Nature (not 'Natural' as is too often translated) Park promotion group, the Asociación Grupo de Desarrollo Rural de Los Alcornocales (GDR for short) has published a guide book to the municipalities bordering the southern limits of the nature park, which are Alcalá de los Gazules, Benalup-Casas Viejas, Castellar de la Frontera, Facinas, Jimena de la Frontera, Los Barrios, Medina Sidonia, Paterna de Rivera and San José del Valle. Not only does it include information on each of these places but also suggests routes by car. The only criticism we have is what appears to be less than accurate information on places to eat and stay,  as well as on some historical facts, which is certainly a shame as the booklet is evidently aimed at promoting tourism - it is called 'a tourist guide' on the cover. A shame too, and for the same reason, is that it is only available in Spanish (Prospero, under his TranslationHELP hat,  has offered to do a translation, at a price). Still, it is a handy thing that, in a bow to new technologies, includes GPS coordinates for just about everywhere in it. In Jimena, it is available at the Town Hall (until copies last), and we assume the same to be true elsewhere. (Watch this space for information on other such booklets.)

Spain's share of the cruise ship business tops the European list for growth

Málaga cruise terminal

MALAGA The European Cruise Council (ECC) recently placed Spain at the top of its list of growing host countries. The country shows growth of 18% over the last ten year, ahead of Germany (13%), Italy (12%) and Britain (8%), according to a report by GP Wild for the Council. This growth has made Spain a strategic market for the cruise industry and one that places it fourth at European level with 703,000 passengers in 2011. The evolution of the market means a considerable contribution to the Spanish economy, not exactly at the best of times at present. For instance, it generated well over 25,000, direct, indirect and induced jobs in 2010, growing by 4% over the previous year. (A more detailed article on this subject will soon be available on SpainInformer.com)

Did you know that Jimena is home to one of Europe's best rated B&Bs in Europe?

Beautiful views in
a magnificent setting

La Viña de Liñán is number 17 out of TripAdvisor's 25 best · Pat and Val won the Traveler's Choice 2012 Award.

JIMENA Some of the comments on TripAdvisor's site sum up not only various guests' experiences, but are also revealing of the care that goes into making it so. Here are some of them: “The perfect guest house”; “Superb getaway”; “Bliss!!”; “La Viña de Liñán revisited!” (and these are just on the first page...)

Are the Paradores headed for privatization?

Parador at León, in the old
Monastery of San Marcos

Paradores, one of the jewels of Spanish tourism

MADRID The Minister for Industry, Energy and Tourism, José Manuel Soria, confirmed earlier this week that 'logically' the Paradores that under renovation or construction would be finished. But at the same time he said that the Government was 'not contemplating any new building work'. He even said that, given the 'delicate' situation they are going through, privatization has not been eliminated. The Minister, interviewed at the World Travel Market fair in London, added that there are 'restrictions' surrounding privatization, as some of the Paradores are within buildings that are not owned by the State. "We'd have to look into it on a case by case basis, but nothing has been discarded.">>>

Inspectors to check rental properties for tax evasion

Holiday rentals, main target

MADRID The head of the Agencia Tributaria, Beatriz Viana, announced last week that her agents will be visiting rental properties to verify paperwork. They will also be checking the internet to identify properties in the rental market. She warned that if a property is rented, Income Tax must be paid on the profits, something, said Viana, that is not happening particularly in the short-term holiday sector. Other measures in the plan include, and it's a long list:>>>

Weekend tourists, slowly but surely

Question: Where is the Tourist Information office?

JIMENA Tourists are increasingly absent from the village these days, but we did catch these looking up at the castle. They were disappointed not to be able to get there because of all the work going on up there. However, we did direct them to the nearest bar for refreshments and some sustenance in the form of tapas. They did ask an interesting question, though: Where is the Tourist Information Office? They had seen one at the entrance to the village but it appeared to be very closed...

Nudity, rock climbing, pigs in windows, deer rutting: unusual things to do this month

CAMPO DE GIBRALTAR As we promised, we're delighted to offer you a choice of things to do in the Campo area. Many of these are off the beaten track, though not all. Many are available most of the year, some only this month. Some are suitable for children (when they've done their homework, of course), most are for all ages. Here's an example: Do you know where you can lie down as they did in the Middle Ages and watch a vast swathe of the Campo? Pity you won't have brought muskets ... And another one: Where can you dine on a railway platform that's still in use? See more ideas below, but please be aware that this may be the last time we will offer this kind of information at no cost. Subscription information will be available soon.>>>

Council refuses to comment on cruise liners departure to Málaga

Ibero Cruceros need more infrastructure to carry out tourism plan

ALGECIRAS Following our recent item on the Grand Mistral cruise ship choosing Málaga over Algeciras in a project that would seem to be ideal for this depressed town, the organizers of the cruise called 'Cuba through the Mediterranean', Ibero Cruceros, said in a statement on Wednesday that the port would need 'significant infrastructure' to meet the demands of mass tourism, despite support from the port authorities. However, insistent questions on the subject from several local media got no comments from the town hall.

Benidoom: it's not surprising!

BENIDORM On July 12 The Sun published an explosive article about Benidorm, saying that it's days as a major tourist resort were numbered, and so on. The Olive Press this week suggested that 'It's not all Benidoom' in an article curiously placed in a section titled 'La Cultura', offering alternative such places (always supposing you want one, which we definitely don't). And by sheer coincidence -- if you believe in coincidences -- our friend (on Facebook and otherwise) Pete Humphries put us onto his colourful collection of photos of that sated resort up the Costa. You will see a slide show of a selection of them below, which will explain not only why the place is a shambles but also why we wouldn't want to touch it with our barge pole. (Thanks, Pete, that's all we needed over lunch!)

Theme cruise ship chooses Málaga over Algeciras port

MS Grand Mistral

Promoter says a good opportunity was lost for lack of local institutional support

ALGECIRAS (Source: Agencies) The Grand Mistral cruise liner, with room for 1,800 passengers, will now be based at Málaga instead of Algeciras. The news wouldn't be especially important if it wasn't for the comments made by the man who promoted and sold the idea of a cruise around the Mediterranean identifying architecture and places related to Cuba. The project was not for just this one cruise, but to create other such themed journeys using Algeciras as a base. The port has always been envious of Gibraltar, where they see the largest and best such ships mooring daily.>>>SOON YOU WILL BE UNABLE TO READ THE REST OF ITEMS SUCH AS THIS UNLESS YOU SUBSCRIBE. Subscription information will be available soon.>>>

Tourism is still the largest employer in the province

Larger proportion of temporary contracts

CADIZ Tourism-related business is still one of the largest employers in Spain, especially in the summer season. This is no less true in the province of Cádiz. The second quarter of the year has seen a total of 33,454 contracts, up by 22.8% year on year. Of these, 4,579 are in the Campo de Gibraltar (13.6% of the province's total). Algeciras (1,799 people, +20.8%), Tarifa (986, +19.9%) and San Roque (669, + 11.1%) are in the top five municipalities with most tourism-related contracts. They are followed by La Línea (630 people), Los Barrios (427), Castellar (37) and Jimena (31). These figures are for total employment contracts, not exclusively new ones. The latter tend to be short-term, temporary or seasonal employment, so we can expect local unemployment numbers to rise again in September, when some sources say, a large number of bars and restaurants in the area may be closing.

Madrid's public squares

Plaza Mayor, one of many in Madrid

MADRID (BBC Travel) There are few grander public squares in Europe than Madrid’s Plaza Mayor, watched over on three sides by uniformly ochre-hued apartments with wrought-iron balconies, slate spires that dominated the city skyline in the 17th Century, and frescoes that turn golden at night on the square’s northern façade. First laid out in 1619, the plaza’s inauguration was auspicious. Its first public ceremony was the beatification of San Isidro, the patron saint of the city. But then in the 17th Century, supposed heretics were tried and executed here during the Spanish Inquisition -- burnings at the stake and deaths by garrotte took place on the north side of the square, hangings to the south. Later, the plaza hosted bullfights with 50,000 attendees, and royalty watched from their privileged balconies. Those same balconies became a negative focal point in 1673, when King Carlos II decreed that shopkeepers could raise tarpaulins above their stalls to fend off the raw sewage that the residents habitually tossed from the windows above. (Read the whole story, and more, on Madrid's Public Squares.

New street map is downloadable

ALGECIRAS A new street map is available on the Town Hall website. You can download it to most mobile devices and allows a quick way of finding a street. The same map is also available in the traditional paper mode, of which some 20,000 have been printed, available at the Department of Tourism at Calle Convento, as well as at other departments and the Town Hall. This is the first new map since 2006, and there are plans to link it to all the hotels in the municipality and other tourism organizations or places that work with the Council.

Foreign tourists drop €9.01 billion in first quarter of 2012

SPAIN The Tourist Expenditure Survey report by the Ministry for Industry, Energy and Tourism, says that inbound tourists spent a total of €9.01 billion in the first quarter of 2012, an increase of 7.4% year-on-year. This means that average total daily spending was €108, up by 13.8% since last year, and breaks down to a per-person average of  €984 for the quarter, up by 4.7%. The report has the British tourist heading the list, who spent a total of €631million in March alone, an increase of 10% over March 2011. Second came the Germans (€598 million, down 0.6%), followed by tourists from the Nordic Countries (€507 million, up 14.3%). The most-favoured destinations were: the Canary Islands (33.8% of total inbound tourist expenditure, growth of 6.2%), Catalonia (20.2% of total, up by 17.3%) and Madrid (11.3%, +14.3%). 

The best of Córdoba in May

One of last year's winners

If you've never been to Córdoba, May is the month to be there. And if you've been there at any other time of year, May is the best time to visit this ancient city. Aside from the world famous Mosque -a breathtaking experience- and various other fscinating historical spots, the reason to be there this month is the flowers. Spring bursts into bloom with a parade known as La Batalla de las Flores (Battle of the flowers), which launches the Cruz de Mayo (May Crosses) festivals usually during the first week of the month (watch this space for a forthcoming item on them). And that is followed by the Patio Competition, this year held between May 2 and 13, when every courtyard is alive with colour. And this is a preamble to the annual Feria at the end of May. Let's look at the patio competition (and more photos).>>>

Tourists denounce hotel after finding webcam in shower

(Illustration only)

GIRONA (Agencies)Three tourists from Madrid made a denuncia against the hotel they had been staying at after one of them found a hidden web camera behind a ventilation grille above the shower. The camera was found to be connected to an aerial and was apparently recording. The matter has gone to court and a judge is now investigating the circumstances. Reports say that one of the party noticed a piece of tape showing behind the grille and pulled on it, revealing the camera. They reported it immediately to the regional police (Mossos d'Esquadra), who took the matter to court and the hotel now stands accused of invasion of privacy, among other things. The hotel says that it is investigating the circumstances but it had found that the master key card had been used on that bedroom at midnight on July 22. A cleaner says she saw the tape a couple of weeks before the camera was discovered but didn't think it was important. The  tourists' lawyer is asking for €20,000 compensation for each of them, and if anyone is found guilty, the sentence carries a maximum of two years in jail. 

Reproductive tourism booming for Spain's fertility clinics

SPAIN (El País / E.B.-L.M) More than 25,000 European women travel abroad each year, with or without partners, for fertility treatments, according to Fertility Counts, a group formed by members of the European Fertility Society. Many of these women are forced to seek treatment outside their own countries due to restrictive regulations at home. Reproductive tourism, as it is now referred to, is a growing business. Spain, which boasts some of the most progressive fertility laws in the EU, in addition to high-quality clinics, receives a third of these women, who spend some 40 million euros on treatments here each year. Buenaventura Coroleu, medical director for Barcelona fertility clinic Dexeus, says there has been "a boom" in assisted reproduction, and that foreigners represent between 15 and 20 percent of the 40,000 in-vitro treatments performed in Spain each year. More than 40 percent of these foreigners are Italian.>>>