Spain and Portugal for Visitors

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 41 reads

RENFE, Spain's state-owned railway company, took advantage of the May 1st long weekend to introduce whopping price increases on the Madrid-Barcelona line. In some cases, such as the "Web" fare for the AVE high-speed train from Madrid to Barcelona, these new prices are nearly 25% up on the "old" ones, which furthermore had only been in effect for a little over two months. I would prefer not to see this as a one-finger salute to consumers by the railway giant, but unfortunately I find it hard to interpret any other way. The first to protest have been the mayors of the AVE Cities Network, which includes Madrid, Barcelona, Lerida, Seville, Córdoba, Puertollano, Ciudad Real, Guadalajara, Calatayud and, significantly, Saragossa: Saragossa's Expo 2008 is just over a month away, and the tourist-class Madrid-Saragosa ticket has risen in price from 40 euros to 51.90, an increase of nearly 30%. More of this story.

Posted by : John Ross on Thursday, May 08, 2008 - 10:12 AM 61 reads

Ryanair is the low-cost airline which connects the largest number of destinations in mainland Spain and Portugal. Now, with the stated aim of increasing the number of passengers checking in on-line and reducing hold baggage, Ryanair is to raise its baggage and check-in fees. Ryanair says that the checked-in baggage fee "will rise from €9 to €10." Other sources say this increase will be "£6 to £8" (the conversion jjust doesn't work mathematically for me). Similarly, the airport check-in fee is to be increased "from €4 to €5" according to Ryanair, or "from £3 to £4," according to my other sources. Ryanair calls itself a "low fares airline," other sources call it a "no-frills carrier." Read on for more of this story.

Posted by : John Ross on Tuesday, April 29, 2008 - 10:12 AM 116 reads

The appalling Gran Scala casino development plan for the Monegros semi-desert in Aragón has "deflated," reports El País. The main reasons the Spanish newspaper cites are opposition from locals and ecological groups and, especially, the suspicion that the consortium behind Gran Scala is a sham. I am sure El País is right, but I have another reason to add: the bursting of the Spanish property bubble. It is too early to let our guards down altogether but, whatever the explanations, all right-thinking persons will rejoice that the wonderfully unspoilt Monegros are less likely to be desecrated by what was intended to be the second-largest casino complex in the world, the Las Vegas of Spain. More of this good news story.

Posted by : John Ross on Sunday, April 27, 2008 - 10:13 AM 146 reads

Basques are good eaters and demanding ones, and the Basque version of tapas - pinchos or pintxos - tend to be both more filling and more elaborate than ordinary tapas. San Sebastian Tourist Board announces that it is launching pintxos.sanse, a kind of pincho workshop. Its scope is a little larger than that, though, and they promise that you can "Know San Sebastian through its pintxos." So the workshops begin with a visit to San Sebastian's La Bretxa market, continue around specialized shops, bars and places of interest in the historic city centre and end with the class making twenty or so pintxos under the guidance of the teacher - and consuming them, of course, with a suitable wine. More information and contact details here.

Posted by : John Ross on Thursday, April 03, 2008 - 01:07 PM 324 reads