Spanish Travel News - February 2008 Edition

Dear {!firstname_fix},

Well another New Year begins with large rises in passenger numbers and flight operations being reported at all Spanish Airports in 2007.    With the blue skies and sunshine we are currently enjoying – not to mention the excellent flight, hotel and car hire deals which are currently available - it really comes as no great surprise that more people than ever are heading here.

The budget airlines all seem to be offering special deals at the moment for Spring travel, so make sure you have subscribed to their newsletters to make sure you receive the offers as soon as they are available (often they are only valid for a couple of days!). 

If you are planning a trip here in the near future when public transport tends to operate limited services in some areas, then the best way to get around mainland Spain, the Balearic or Canary Islands is to hire a car.

So if you are coming to Spain over the next few months it is worth getting a Free Car Hire Quote Here Also by making a reservation in advance you can often get offered some better deals.

With Spring and the Easter holidays in mind, as well as giving you general updates on what's new at the Spanish Airports, we have written articles on some forthcoming events which we feel are well worth getting to: Santa Semana (Easter) in Spain, the Flamenco Festival and Horse Fair in Jerez and the spectacular Spring Fair which is held in Seville in April.  We have also provided some transport details to the Music Festival in Benicassim which is not held until July, but which we are already receiving a lot of transport queries about.

Gary Ingram

The Passion of Christ, or Easter Week, is known in Spain as Semana Santa and is the most important religious celebration in the whole country . The festivities begin with the Domingo de Ramos (Palm Sunday which is on 16th March this year) and end with Lunes de Pascua (Easter Monday - 24th March).

Public holidays in Spain this year are on Maundy Thursday (March 20th) and Good Friday March 21st. Easter Monday on 24th March is only a holiday in parts of Spain.

Each area, city and town has its own its own different celebrations which all portray life, colour, culture, music and dance with a very religious meaning. In major cities like Malaga children as young as 3 or 4 take part and the processions go on for literally miles and last until the early hours of the morning throughout Easter week.

In Seville there is a parade of religious art icons known as tronos throughout the city each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. Many of the icons are masterpieces of Spanish religious art which are hundreds of years old and made of gold and silver and delicate, fine fabrics and other precious materials. Carnations are the traditional flowers used to decorate the floats. The processions are usually held at night and traditionally lit by torchlight, adding an air of medieval mystery to the solemn proceedings. In some places, the processions are accompanied by musicians,

Because food is such a vital part of Spanish culture, Easter provides some rich traditional sweets and desserts including torrijas which are slices of bread soaked in milk, sugar and egg and fried in olive oil served with wine, syrup, honey or sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon. Monas de Pascua are chocolate shapes which usually have a surprise inside for the children.

The Spanish Development ministry has invested more than €40,000,000 in projects designed to improve the baggage inspection system at Malaga Airport.  Work is now almost complete and in the new passenger terminal the latest computer technology will be used to activate a chain of robots which will route the luggage to the correct flight.  The accuracy of this system will greatly minimise the risk of luggage being lost.  With all the messages we receive at the Spanish Airport Guide concerning lost baggage we hope this new system really does improve things.

You can find out more information on how the building works of this new airport are progressing at the official contractors website www.aerocas.com

Nineteen multimedia terminals (booths with internet service) are now operational on the ground floor of Terminal A and Terminal B at Barcelona Airport in the connection corridor and in boarding modules 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.

You will also find 4 booths now installed at Girona Airport.

Remember that you are only allowed to carry small quantities of liquids in your hand luggage which must go in containers with an individual maximum capacity of 100 ml. Each passenger has to pack these containers in a clear, zip-top plastic bag with maximum capacity of no more than one-litre (bag approximately 20 x 20 cm).

If you do not have the bag necessary to hold these liquids, you can acquire them in several of the airport shops including Relay, Divers, Aeroboutique and Travel Mate. To find out just where these shops at located at Madrid Barajas Airport visit  shopping at Madrid Airport

A British transport company in Tenerife called Orange Bus is now operating for travellers with special needs.

It is unique in Europe as they can meet people at passport control, help them get their bags off the luggage carousel and give them assistance, in wheelchairs if required, on to brand new luxury minibuses which have ramp access. The whole team is British and run to British standards

They can take you to where you collect your wheelchair or scooter if you have brought your own equipment with you, which is often in a completely different location to where the normal baggage arrives. For more information visit www.orangebus.eu

The 2008  Seville Spring Fair officially begins at midnight on 8th April and runs for six days, ending on the following Sunday. Each day it begins at midday with the parade of carriages and riders carrying Seville's leading citizens to the bullring, the Real Maestranza.

The fair is held on the vast far bank of the Guadalquivir River which is covered with rows of casetas (individually decorated marquee tents) which are open with public bars or belong to the prominent families of Seville, groups of friends, clubs, trade associations or political parties. From around nine at night until six or seven the following morning you will find crowds partying and dancing. There are flamenco dancers and a number of the men and virtually all the women wear traditional costume, providing an astonishing array of brilliantly coloured, flounced gypsy dresses The sheer size of this spectacle is quite extraordinary and well worth visiting.

Why not spend spring in our own 1 bedroom apartment! Its just 2 ½ hours by car from Seville and is the perfect place to recharge your batteries!

You are welcome to come and stay for as little as 3 days to as long as 3 months!

If you would like more information and photographs on the apartment then please click here!

www.lamaestranza.eu

Jerez holds its annual Horse Fair (Feria del Caballo) during the first week in May each year. It is held in the Gonzalez Hontoria Park and the dates for 2008 are from  27th April-4th May.

The fair started as a cattle market but now includes bullfighting and flamenco dancing events and main attraction is an elaborate, choreographed equestrian ballet performed by Jerez's Royal School of Equestrian Art. It is a spectacular event where some of the world's finest horses and riders compete in endurance trials, coach driving, "pursuit and tumble" and dressage competitions, with a stunning display of the finest horses of the region.  For more information visit www.jerez2020.co

The next Flamenco Festival de Jerez will be from 22nd February- 8th March.You can find out further information on the programme and enrol on one the various  flamenco courses at www.festivaldejerez.es  Most of the courses are fully booked but it is well worth checking for a last minute cancellation.

Every year we receive a number of requests for assistance from travellers trying to get to the Benicassim Festival which is being held this year from 17th-20th July. You can find more details about this year’s line up and book tickets on the official festival site at www.fiberfib.com

Please bear in mind that the nearest airport is Valencia which is 92km away (about an hour’s drive).  Both Barcelona and Alicante are much further away at 258km and 273km respectively.  (Click on the airports to find out more about where you can fly from and which airlines operate into them). You can find out more about where you can catch trains into Benicassim at www.renfe.es - select Benicassim and it will give you a list of stations to choose from.   The festival is very popular so it is well worth booking any rail tickets in advance on the Renfe train website.

For information on how to get from Castellon to Benicassim click on this link which also gives you information on the free shuttle bus from the bus and rail station. And you can get more details of the buses which run there at www.auto-res.net  

We are still receiving a large number of requests for information on our message board, and again we ask that you give us as much as notice as possible if you need information on bus and train timetables in order to plan your journey as they can sometimes take some time to find.

And please carry on sending your travel tips or advice as we can pass them on to other travellers and include them in our monthly newsletter.