Spanish Travel News - September Edition

Dear {!firstname_fix},

Well it looks as though Spain still remains a firm favourite for holidaymakers with flight bookings reported at a record high over the peak season.

So if you have had problems booking a hotel room over the past couple of months don't be surprised as hotels on the Costa del Sol are reporting 80% occupancy (more than 45,000 overnight stays than at the same time last year). August figures are not out yet but are anticipated to be over 90% occupancy and forecasts for September are also excellent. So if you are planning on coming here over the next few weeks and want to make sure you get the hotel of your choice book now to avoid disappointment.

On mainland Spain and the Balearic and Canary Islands the majority of car hire companies were fully booked over the peak season (some even ran out of cars) so if you are coming to Spain over the next couple of months and haven't booked your hire car yet you can get a Free Car Hire Quote Here

This month we have provided our usual update information on Gibraltar and Malaga Airport including improved car parking facilities, , as well as some tips to to help you avoid losing your luggage (which has been the biggest item on our message board over the last couple of months).

Gary Ingram.

Due to the construction of the new terminal being carried out at Malaga airport temporary traffic modifications are being made on roads around the airport terminals with vehicle traffic now being divided on the departures level leaving two lanes for public transport traffic and stops, and an additional two lanes for passenger drop-off and collection in private vehicles. The final lane is for entering and exiting the PT-2 car park.

These works also affect the car parks, and as there are more parking spaces in PT-1 in front of Terminal 1 than in PT-2 (Terminal 2), it is worth trying to park there first. Because of the high level of occupation expected in the car parks during the coming months a new public car park, P-0, has been opened which until now had been used as a car park for airport employees. There is a new free car park with security on the north side of the airport (P-3), next to the aeronautical activities area, with a FREE bus service that offers continuous transport to the T-1 and T-2 passenger terminals.

Malaga Airport currently has a total of 3,550 parking spaces, distributed as follows: P-0 (600 spaces), PT-1 (280 spaces), PT-2 (670 spaces) and P-3 (2000 spaces).

While the expansion works are underway remember that it might be easier to use public transport (train, bus and taxi) to get there. We provide full details of all these services in the Malaga Section of the Spanish Airport Guide

The Spanish Airport Authority has recently selected Strix, who are a California based company, to provide wireless data, voice, and video for all of Spain’s airport operations. Installations are already completed at Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao, and Malaga airports, and the remainder will be completed over the next 18 months

This wireless system can simultaneously support multiple real-time services such as Internet connectivity for airport visitors, wireless VoIP (wVoIP) applications for airport personnel, wireless video surveillance for terminals, and other innovative applications such as baggage control and the remote parking of planes. We'll let you know when we find out whether this service is free or if you'll have to pay for it.

From the end of this month GB Airways will stop flying between Madrid and Gibraltar. The last flight will be on the 30th September, and passengers with tickets after that date will be offered either a refund or the option of travelling with Iberia instead. GB Airways are withdrawing the service because they feel it is not viable with only a limited number of landing slots at Madrid and the number restrictions Gibraltar places on incoming flights.

Between the months of October and May there is a bank office at the airport, located in the terminal arrivals lobby. Its opening times are from 8:30 am to 2:00 pm, Monday to Friday, and Thursdays from 5:00 pm to 6:30 pm

t's a fact that with all the new systems and increased security regulations over 20 million pieces of luggage gets lost by airlines every year. And if your luggage has ever ended up in Barbados while you are in Barcelona you'll know how frustrating the experience can be. Not only are you left with only the clothes you are standing up in, but all too often there is very little information from the airline on how your lost luggage might be found. One excellent tip is to label your baggage inside by taping a card with your name and address to the inside lid of the case and leave a copy of your itinerary and tickets inside in plain sight in the hope that someone might actually read it and unite you with your bag. Also clip a sheet to your itinerary with your mobile and home phone numbers and write "phone number" on it in relevant languages.

If you are worried that someone might open your bag and see that you are away and your house is empty and ripe for looting then another way to deal with lost luggage is by using GlobalBagTag which is service offering protection for your luggage and valuables worldwide whenever you travel. They provide heavy duty luggage tags and security stickers which fix securely to your baggage and full details of your luggage, travel itinerary and contact details are stored on their secure database and can be updated at any time. You can use the tags every time you travel giving you peace of mind whatever your destination or mode of transport.

If you lose your baggage or valuables they are traceable worldwide 24 hours a day. you can find more details at via www.globalbagtag.com

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. One of this month's travel tips was suggested by a newsletter subscriber.