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Tags: Iberia / LCCs / Low Cost Carriers / New Airlines / Airline News / Airlines / → All Tags

Iberia Airlines Wants To Liven Up Its Brand With a New LCC

Like most airlines, Iberia Airlines hasn’t been doing that well. They’ve been in talks to shack up with British Airways for a bigger and brighter future, but for now they’re doing their best to shuttle travelers to and from Spain as best as they can. To make more cash the airline plans to focus on more long-haul routes, and will change up the way they deal with shorter flights: they plan to launch their own low cost carrier.

The cheap carrier Vueling already is owned in part by Iberia, but apparently this isn’t good enough for the suits in Madrid. According to officials within the airline a new carrier focused on domestic and European routes will allow them to change the operating model for these types of flights.

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Tags: Crime / Madrid Travel / Madrid / Fashion Travel / Celeb Travel / → All Tags

A Sad Day For The Jet Set As Diane Von Furstenberg Is Robbed In Madrid

Irony! Just when we vouched for the safety of travelers in Madrid last week with our "Bad Rap Cities: Madrid" story, a high-profile woman fell victim over the weekend to the city's thieves who prey on tourists.

It all went down on yesterday evening in front of the Thyssen Museum in Madrid, when beloved fashion designer, contemporary of Andy Warhol, and legend in her own right Diane von Furstenberg twittered:

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Tags: Five-Bad-Rap-Cities / Bad Rap Cities / Madrid Travel / Urban Travel / → All Tags

Five Cities With a Bad Rap: Madrid Is 'Muy Bien, Gracias'

Some locales can’t seem to shake their less-than-sparkling reputations despite efforts to lock away the skeletons of yesterday. We’ve decided to highlight five of these Bad Rap Cities that are making moves to shed their grimy and gritty images in hopes of becoming more tourist-friendly. Maybe, just maybe, after reading this series you'll be willing to take a chance on them. Enjoy.

Bad Rap City: Madrid

Why Go?
Just like Barcelona, Madrid has a rep for being a Thieves Paradise. Many post-trip reviews are peppered with tales of pickpockets roaming the streets in droves, armed with purse-cutting knives. Add to that the declarations that local men are lecherous louts, and female travelers become skittish about visiting alone. But forget the fear mongerers rantings and head to this beautiful city that is chock full of impressive art, delectable cuisine and is a nightowl’s dream.

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Tags: Travel Deals / Spain / Spain Travel / Beach Travel / Beaches / Travelzoo / → All Tags

Escape Cold Temps On Spain's Costa del Sol For 5 Nights At $499

When January comes around with its hella freezing weather, you'll be dreaming of sunny beaches; shoot, we're doing that now. To prevent seasonal affective disorder, you'll need a dose of Costa del Sol, or "Coast of the Sun." According to Travelzoo, the beachfront locale has more than 300 days of sunshine each year. The company's offering a package to the Spanish coastal region along the Mediterranean for $499, which includes a five-night vacay with airfare, but you have to book by Oct. 28.

The deal includes round-trip airfare from NYC to Malaga, Spain. You'll also spend five nights at either Sol Principe or Cervantes, both of which are four-star hotels. If you opt for Cervantes, you'll get free breakfast daily. And if you're the type to tire from frolicking on the beach all day—crazy talk, we know—you can add day tours to Cordoba, Granada or Tangier to the package for an additional $71 to $91.

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Tags: Airport Photo Shoots / Celeb Travel / Gwyneth Paltrow / Barcelona Travel / → All Tags

Paltrow Lets It All Hang Out (Of Her Tank Top) At Barcelona's Airport

If only we had a dime for every time we've flashed our bra at the airport security check, we'd have just about enough to buy a stick of gum. And you know why? Because we are not Gwyneth Paltrow, who apparently decided that the weather in Barcelona was cold enough to wear a scarf, but so hot that a handkerchief of a tank top would do for the flight home.

Alas, the tank top didn't do very well, and now pictures of Paltrow not only looking haggard at the checkpoint are out on the web, but they include her flesh-colored bra, which, unless you do a double-take, looks like fully nude side-boobage. We're going to jot this down in our no-nos list of in-flight fashion, for obvious reasons. Also, doesn't that scarf kind of look like a neck brace until you see the whole picture?

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Tags: Celeb Travel / Brad Pitt / Museums Travel / Spain Travel / → All Tags

Brad Pitt's Tourism Stimulus Plan Takes Effect In Spain

After New Orleans welcomed him with open arms, Super World Traveler Brad Pitt has set his sights on drawing tourists to another little-visited town in northern Spain. Only 860,998 cities left before tourism is saved!

The city of Avilés is in the process of building a cultural center dedicated to Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer, responsible for designing the city of Brasilia and contributing to the UN Headquarters design. For the northern region of Asturias, best known as the area of Catholic reconquest of Spain from the Moors, the Centro Niemeyer will attract touring theatre productions, cultural exhibits and famous authors to the city once it opens in 2010.

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Tags: Summer Festivals / Music Festivals / Events / Spain Travel / → All Tags

Madrid Takes Its Culture To The Streets This Summer

If you find yourself wandering the streets of Madrid this summer, stumbling upon some culture should be even easier than usual.

June 25 marked the start of the city’s 24th annual Veranos de la Villa—Summer in the City—60 days of music, dance, and theatre held throughout the city’s squares and plazas (and in some inside theaters and concert halls too).

The festival is a time when Madrid comes out to celebrate its international flair, so expect less Spanish guitar and flamenco dancing in favor of more pop music and breakdancing. The eclectic lineup includes everyone from Cuban hip-hoppers Orishas to ballet impresario Mikhail Baryshnikov, and funk legends Kool in the Gang, along with a slew of free events throughout the festival, which runs through August 23.

Related Stories:
· Verano de la Villa [Official Site]
· Madrid summer festival features star-studded lineup [Travel Weekly]
· US Airways Begs You To Go To Europe This Summer [Jaunted]

[Photo: museu reina sofia]

Tags: Drunk Travel / Loutish Behavior by Drunken Britons on Holiday in Spain / Alcohol / Making it Rain / → All Tags

Drunken Briton Makes it Rain in Spanish Airport

There's no shortage of stories about loutish behavior by drunken Britons on holiday in Spain, so I guess the latest tale of English weirdness from the Costa del Sol is decidedly positive in comparison. A Manchester, England resident named James B.N. (not pictured) came into a sizable inheritance, so he decided to celebrate the windfall with a trip to sunny Palma de Mallorca. In good spirits, he had a few too many drinks and began handing out money to strangers in Son Sant Joan Airport. According to the AP, he had already handed out thousands of euros by the time a more scrupulous passenger informed the police that a disheveled, smelly, homeless-looking man was behaving in a manner contrary to his own economic interests.

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Tags: Celeb Travel / Oprah / Barcelona / Spain Travel / Cruises / → All Tags

All Aboard The Oprah Boat: A Free Cruise For Winfrey's Employees

It pays to work for Oprah. The second most powerful celebrity in the world is treating 1,700 of her employees and their families to an all-expenses-paid Mediterranean cruise this week, estimated to be setting Oprah back about $5400 per person, totaling $9.2 million.

The trip began on the mainland in Barcelona, where Oprah celebrated her 55th birthday in Poble Espanyol, a popular tourist destination featuring shops, restaurants and bars. During their three day stay in the Barcelona, Oprah and her staff toured the city, taking in sites like the famously incomplete Antonio Gaudi church La Sagrada Familia.

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Tags: Bars / Recession Travel / Beer / Spain Travel / → All Tags

Abuse the Barman, Get Free Beer

Economic crisis time has brought us plenty, really: cheap airline tickets or staycations, just to name a couple. A surprising bonus out of the global recession is the fact that you can now abuse bar staff in a pub in Spain and get a free beer out of it.

The Casa Pocho bar in Cullera, near Valencia, offers free drinks for "original or hilarious abuse". The owner Bernard Mariusz figured that in these difficult times, people need an outlet for their frustrations and his bar was as good a place as any for it.

Mariusz also says that the Spanish language is full of fantastic abusive phrases, so the challenge to come up with drink-worthy slander shouldn't be too hard. Our limited Spanish doesn't yet extend to too much abuse, but for a free drink, we'll learn anything.

Related Stories:
· Gimme A Beer, Imbecile [Reuters]
· Beer Travel Guide [Jaunted]

[Photo: IanKershaw]

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Barcelona Bulldog Attempts Popular Skateboard Maneuver

Remember the popular YouTube video of the English bulldog hopping on the skateboard and taking off? Well, it looks like this French bulldog in Barcelona is trying to get his own shot at fame. Although, it doesn't look like he (or she) succeeded.

Still, the Flickr member who took this snapshot, Marni Rachel, dropped in a ton of great travel shots from Barcelona and abroad into the Jaunted Flickr Pool. Trust, us. We probably spent a good half-hour just looking at them all. And wishing we were traveling some place right now.

Got your own travel snapshots to share? Drop them in our pool here!

Tags: Worlds-Coolest-Pools / Barcelona / Spain Travel / → All Tags

A Dip At The Foot of Barcelona

Last one in's a rotten egg! We're finding the best places in the world to stick our toes in this summer (or next winter) for our World's Coolest Pools map. Know of any pools we must check out? Let us know.

One guest's dealbreaker is another's delight: The Hotel Arts Barcelona's website barely mentions its pool among luxury offerings like the deluxe suites and the "Spa By Six Senses," but we think this gorgeous seaside tower's got something to shout about.

This Ciutat Vella skyscraper operated by Ritz-Carlton opened in 1994 and was designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the architects who brought us the US embassy in Beijing and the Sears Willis Tower in Chicago. The neighborhood, the oldest part of the city currently holding the FC Champions League title, includes La Rambla, the long boulevard which is both tourist trap and exuberant artery of Barcelona street life.

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