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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: 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: 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]

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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Tags: Mistakes / Travel Brochures / Beaches / Spain Travel / → All Tags

Costa Brava Brags About Its Great Beach With a Snapshot from Perth

With our giant soft spot for Australia we probably would already have voted Down Under beaches ahead of Spain's Costa Brava, but now the Spaniards have done it themselves. In a recent resort brochure for the supposedly beautiful Spanish coastline, they used a picture of a Perth beach by mistake. Ooops.

If you, like that resort, suspect Western Australia's beaches might be prettier than the Costa Brava, then you could check out City Beach, which was used for the Spanish ad. Along the same city coastline, Cottesloe Beach is also famous for atmosphere and easy train route access; a little north of the city, Scarborough Beach is one for the teenagers and surfers.

Of course, the beaches across Oz might all be better than the Costa Brava--just check our top five Sydney beaches to start your comparison. And when daydreaming over Spanish vacation brochures next, don't forget to wonder if what you're seeing is really Down Under.

Related Stories:
· Costa Pertha in Spanish Resort Promotion [The Age]
· The Five Best Beaches in Sydney [Jaunted]
· Perth Travel Guide [Jaunted]

[Photo of Cottesloe Beach, Perth, not the Costa Brava: Ole Reidar Johansen]

Tags: White Night Travel / Culture / Museums / Spain Travel / → All Tags

White Night Travel: Madrid's La Noche en Blanco on Saturday

The place to be this Saturday, September 13 is most definitely Madrid, as White Night fever hits the city. La Noche en Blanco 2008 sounds pretty enchanting:

With the full moon watching over them, Madrid residents and visitors will discover a new city, one made with illusions and dreams.

Traditionally, White Nights take place around the summer solstice in cities close to the Arctic Circle where the sky never gets dark for several days straight. To embody that spirit in Madrid, throughout the night, museums will be open, concerts will be on and all public transport will be free. With events running right through until 6 am, you'd better book Sunday as a day to sleep off that cultural overload.

Related Stories:
· La Noche en Blanco 2008 [Official Site]
· Sleepless White Nights Hit Europe [Jaunted]
· Madrid Travel Guide [Jaunted]

[Photo: Clara en su mundo]

Tags: Vueling Airlines / Clickair / Airline Mergers / LCCs / Low Cost Carriers / Europe Travel / Spain Travel / → All Tags

Airline Mergers, Spanish Style

It's definitely trendy these days for airlines to do a bit of merging. The latest one's taking place over the Spanish skies, and we highly approve because it's bringing together two low cost carriers that we actually like.

Spanish LCCs Clickair and Vueling Airlines have agreed to shack up together--with Vueling taking the top bunk. (Sadly, that means Clickair's cool name will disappear.) The two airlines have been negotiating details of the merger for months but just this week agreed that it's the best way to deal with rising costs.

The deal's not a sure thing quite yet: The Spanish authorities have to decide whether this merger goes against competition guidelines. We say go for it, in the hope that we'll get the perfect LCC with on-time flights and luxury leg room.

Related Stories:
· Spain's Vueling Says to Merge with Clickair [Reuters]
· From Barcelona With Love [Jaunted]
· Luxury on a Budget [Jaunted]

[Photo: carthesian]

Tags: Spain Travel / Animals / Running of the Bulls / Festivals / → All Tags

Volunteers Wanted: Keen to Race the Bulls in Pamplona so We Don't Have to?

This Sunday is the annual start of Pamplona's Running of the Bulls, and just like in past years, we are totally not going to be there.

If you're crazier than us, then you need to know that the festival lasts for nine days (it's always July 6-14), and if you're happy to risk being gored by a very annoyed bull, you have to assemble by 7:30 am, ready for an eight o'clock start.

Also important to know: The bulls can get through the streets faster now thanks to some anti-slip surfacing one of the trickiest parts. Faster, we said. We're not sure that's a good thing. The last time a tourist was directly killed by a bull was in 1995, so perhaps it's all not as dangerous as we thought. But how about you guys report back: We'll be sitting this one out at home.

Related Stories:
· Pamplona Bull Run [What'sOnWhere]
· Spain's Running of the Bulls Launches Feminist Debate [Jaunted]

[Photo: jsprhrmsn]

Tags: Spain Travel / Exhibitions / Green Travel / → All Tags

Expo Travel: Zaragoza 2008 Opens This Weekend

Spain's oldest town, Zaragoza, has been on the lookout for a tourism boost. And they're hoping to get it with the 2008 Expo which starts on Saturday and runs until September 14.

While the "water and sustainable development" theme doesn't sound too sexy to us, the 60 acres of exhibitions from 100 countries are meant to be focused on entertainment and education--only 20 percent of the space is allowed to be about selling stuff--and we're open to a bit of edu-tainment.

If you're one of the estimated 7 million visitors to Expo 2008, you'll get to see stuff like the multimedia iceberg show every night, the "air bound theater" of Hombre Vertiente and the midday Awakening of the Serpent parade. It's kinda like Disneyland with an environmental conscience.

Related Stories:
· Expo Zaragoza 2008 [Official Site]
· World Expo Zaragoza 2008 [GoNomad]
· Spain Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: aranmanoth]

Tags: Spain Travel / Train Travel / LCCs / Low Cost Carriers / → All Tags

More Trains in Spain than Planes

Spain is not the first country that comes to mind when we think of fast and efficient train service. (It's not even the second.) But apparently they've been hard at work developing a comprehensive bullet train network which is going to totally alter the way people are traveling around Spain.

By 2010, the trains zipping around the country will form the most extensive train network in the world, and airlines usually busy with domestic flights around Spain--Iberia, Spanair and Vueling especially--are getting worried.

The completed Spanish bullet train system will be five times bigger than Japan's, and already you can travel between Madrid and Barcelona in two and a half hours. LCC Vueling simply canceled this entire route for the summer. Are we really seeing the demise of European budget airlines? Or perhaps the Spanish are just taking a siesta from flying.

Related Stories:
· Spanish Airlines Feel Pressure [AFP]
· European LCCs Might Be In Trouble [Jaunted]
· Spain Finally Gets up to Speed [Jaunted]

[Photo: Chris Juden]