Spanish Travel News - September 2008 Edition

Dear {!firstname_fix},

Most of the scheduled airlines including Easyjet, Monarch, Ryanair and Thomsonfly are all offering special late deals for autumn travel, so if you are fed up with the rain and thinking about grabbing some sunshine now is the time to book. The temperature here is starting to become bearable again with hot and humid August now nearly gone, and September and October being two of the best months to visit Iberia in our opinion.

NEW CHEAP EXCESS CAR HIRE INSURANCE GIVING YOU PIECE OF MIND!

I know you think I am just saying this but I always take out the "No Excess" insurance when I hire a car. Call me paranoid but it's so easy to scratch or bump a car you are not used to driving, for me it's one less thing to worry about on my travels!

I was therefore glad when Cartrawler (who are the car hire company we work in partnership with) started offering excess insurance cover on all their vehicles at only £4.73 per day.

Most car rental companies charge an excess and typically you pay about the first £1,000 if you make a claim.

You also find that most policies issued by car rental companies do not cover windows, tyres, undercarriage, roof or loss of keys so taking out excess insurance with Cartrawler gives you complete peace of mind as it will cover up to £2,000 of any excess and can be used on any vehicle type.

You can get a car hire quote here...

This is also a good time for the golfers with the Volvo Masters Tournament at Valderrama due to kick off in a couple of months and a number of special deals still available on the Spanish golf courses with rounds of twilight golf still being a joy to play on our warm summer evenings.

Gary Ingram - Spanish Airport Guide

If you are bringing your family to Spain you will notice that Spanish taxis do not provide seats for young children. This is also a problem I face when going back to the UK!

The way to get around this in Spain is to book a private transfer from the airport to your destination.  We work in partnership with a company called Shuttle Direct who supply both private transfers from the airport where a driver meets you in the arrivals hall and escorts you to the car, or at some airports you can book a seat on a shuttle bus which is a cheaper option and which will transport you to your hotel or resort. 

Shuttle Direct do not supply baby seats for children up to 15 months (up to 13kg/29lbs) they recommend that you bring your own carry cots / baby seats for your baby.

For Infants aged between 15 to 24 months it is best to contact Shuttle Direct in advance to check availability of the car seats and to confirm prices. You are of course free to use your own car-type baby seat.

Children over two are recommended to travel on child booster seats or booster cushions, and again these need to be booked in advance.

Private Group transfers of 5 or more passengers where you travel in a minibus, people carrier or coach do not provide baby seats of any kind so again you will need to bring your own!

Anyone using Easyjet Speedy Boarding will be pleased to hear that Malaga Airport has finally got its act together.

If you are bussed from the terminal to the plane, rather than it being a free for all,  there is now a system in place involving a roped off area to ensure that Speedy Boarding passengers do get priority access to the aircraft. 

I am told that this is now in place at most airports that involve a bus transfer but would love to hear feedback on this.

The operator has also recently introduced easyJet Plus! Which offers a number of benefits to make travelling more comfortable and easier but at a price!

In my opinion you would need to travel 5 times per year for it to be worth signing up to Easyjet plus!

The Spanish airline Iberia and UK carrier British Airways are currently in talks and hoping to merge within the next 12 months to create the world's largest airline by revenue (anticipated at €16.5billiion per annum).

The new company will be the world's third largest airline with a fleet of more than 450 aircraft operating to more than 200 destinations in 100 countries. The combined airline is expected to operate from London Heathrow Airport and Madrid Barajas.

Expectations that the credit crunch and the weakening pound will cause reductions to the number of tourists visiting Spain seem unfounded as a number of resorts are reporting a large increase in British visitor numbers for the first half of 2008. As an example, Lanzarote in the Canary Islands has an increase of 15.6% on visitors from UK and Ireland.

If you are planning to visit mainland Spain or the Canary or Balearic Islands this year but need some help in making a decision which is the best place for you, our local area guides give you full details on local attractions, golf courses, restaurants, amusement parks where the best beaches are and where to go shopping and find the best local markets.

FUEL PRICES IN SPAIN

In the middle of summer when the roads are at their busiest in Spain unleaded petrol and diesel prices have reached new all time highs. On average filling up a petrol tank costs around €9.4 more than a year ago and €19 for diesel. A litre of diesel (which is used by 70% of cars in the province of Malaga) use now costs more than €1.34 a litre and unleaded petrol is an average €1.27.

Filling an average sized tank (55 litres) costs €69.8 with petrol and €72.7 with diesel which means increases of 15.6% and 35.4% respectively since last summer.

Listed below are some of the cheapest places to fill up with diesel:

• Antequera: Alameda de Andalucía, 42.
• Torremolinos: Avda Manuel Fraga Iribarne, 10.
• Cártama: Ctra. Coín, 3.8.
• Cártama: Avda. Andalucía, 55.
• Málaga: Polígono Industrial Trevélez. C/ Offenbach, s/n.

• Villanueva del Trabuco: Carretera A-7203. Km 2.2.
• Mollina: Avda. las Américas, 35
• Antequera: N-331 km 0,8.
• Antequera: C.C. La Verónica.
• Mijas: Parque Comercial Miramar.

And staying on the subject of cars ... Spain has now passed a law making it an offence to drive with flip flops or thong sandals citing safety reasons. You can wear sandals but they have to have a strap around the heel. It is also an offence to drive topless (men and women), so if you are hiring a car and planning on driving to the beach over the next couple of months be wary of these new regulations!  We suspect the enforcement will be quite lax but you could be the unlucky one ...

SPANISH AIRPORT SHOPPING

Last year more than 13.5 million international travellers through Malaga Airport which means lots of people looking for something to fill in time while waiting around – great business for any shopping centre – which is what most airport terminal buildings have now become.

In the recently built  terminal 4 at Madrid Barajas Airport and  Terminal Sud at  El Prat Airport in Barcelona,  Aena (the Spanish Airport Authority), have put out to tender the biggest contract of all time for shops and other business premises, estimating a return of €120 million on some sites.

Aldeasa is a large shopping chain which trades in duty-free goods and other products in 21 Spanish airports, including Malaga, where they take up almost 30% of the sales space. The new passenger terminal building in Malaga Airport will be able to handle between 25 and 30 million passengers each year - double its current capacity. In Malaga alone Aldeasa currently offer more than 7,000  items, including perfumes, jewellery, watches, electronic goods, toys, clothes, drinks and food.

The biggest group of clients by nationality who shop at Malaga Airport are the British, surprisingly followed by the Spaniards who shop there mainly for perfumes and cosmetics because these articles tend to be cheaper than in local city shops.

In the months of July and August this year more than three and a half million people passed through Malaga Airport, catching  a total of 22,572 programmed flights.

Work on Malaga Airport is expected to end this year, and the airport will be fully operative by 2010. It will have 86 check-in counters and 20 departure points, allowing passengers to embark and disembark on a dozen aircraft at one time.

FULLY BOOKED UNTIL MID OCTOBER 2008

Why not spend the autumn in our one bedroom apartment! Its just 45 mins by car from Malaga 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

We try and keep the Spanish Airport Guide as up to date as possible but cannot be in all of the airports all of the time, so we rely on you to send us tips and information on any good (or bad) travelling experiences you have had. So please email us at spanishairportguide@gmail.com