Spain and Portugal for Visitors

From June 1st, 2008, API, advance passenger information, will no longer be accepted at UK departure airports. This means you must either supply the information when you book or use your airline's website to do so at least 4 hours in advance. The Spanish government has required API for all air travellers to Spain since June 1st, 2007. The advance passenger information requirement applies to the whole of Spain, including the Canary Islands.

Posted by : John Ross on Sunday, May 18, 2008 - 07:22 AM 57 reads

The drought in short: first, there is one; it will get worse; it won't be a terrible disaster; it will be very uncomfortable in certain ways and for some people, though; and the prospects for the future are alarming but not so much as to cry doomwatch. The situation is particularly severe in Catalonia, especially Barcelona, which has barely enough reserves to get it through the summer and is actually shipping water in by tanker, which I think must be a first in Europe (do let me know if I'm wrong, that's what the comments box is for). The picture, by the way, is of Sant Roma church near Barcelona which is currently a tourist attraction because it is normally under water, at the bottom of a reservoir. Read more of this very dry story.

Posted by : John Ross on Friday, May 16, 2008 - 11:11 AM 150 reads

The room housing Picasso's Guernica in the Reina Sofia Modern Art Centre has been remodelled to allow it to be seen better. Before this, viewers were obliged to stand too close to the enormous canvas to be able to get a proper perspective of the picture, or look at it from an angle. This is the first in a series of innovations announced by the Reina Sofia's new director, Manuel Borja-Villel, who has emerged as a leading figure among museum directors. Read more about the Guernica, Picasso, the Spanish Civil War and Borja-Villel.

Posted by : John Ross on Tuesday, May 13, 2008 - 07:44 AM 89 reads

The Portugal News reports that Portimão has spent €1.7 million dredging and improving its harbour with the aim of attracting the new, larger cruise ships used by companies like Royal Caribbean. This has also attracted ferry operators, and Canaries-based Naviera Armas will not only begin to operate a regular Portimão-Madeira route on June 15th, but will connect the Algarve with the Canary Islands, specifically Tenerife and Gran Canaria. More of this story.

Posted by : John Ross on Monday, May 12, 2008 - 08:36 AM 115 reads

Spanish and Portuguese rural villages have joined to create the first European Grouping for Territorial Cooperation, the Duero-Douro EGTC. The 175 municipalities involved are joined by the River Duero (Douro in Portuguese) and separated by the border between the two countries. On both sides of the border, the Duero-Douro region is wild and mountainous. and more than a little backward economically, its main economic sectors being tourism and agriculture, notably vines for wine production. The main purpose of the EGTC are to "facilitate and promote cross-border, transnational and regional cooperation" but it also allows the area direct communication with Brussels, for example to apply for regional development funds. For the moment, the application has been presented and approval is expected. The Duero-Douro EGTC will have its headquarters in Trabanca, Salamanca (population 251), within the Arribes de Duero nature reserve, the Spanish answer to the Portuguese Parque Natural Douro Internacional. Click here to leave a comment, but for the moment there is little more to read of this slightly bureaucratic story.

Posted by : John Ross on Thursday, May 08, 2008 - 11:14 AM 118 reads