BOOKINGS ON THE COSTA DEL SOL FOR THIS SUMMER
The Málaga coast is the tourist destination least affected by the fall in bookings in the United Kingdom. All seems to show that the Costa del Sol will not be affected by the fall in British tourism which is being forecast for this summer, according to statements from the main British tour operators. The diversity of the offer of this coastal zone makes it better prepared than other Spanish tourist areas for the decline in demand being seen in the market, above all in the family tourism sector. Despite favourable forecasts, the British tour operators claim that there will be less British tourists coming to Spain this summer than last year. For their part, the tour operators have already started to promote offers to reactivate the family tourism of the summer.

BOOSTING THE POPULATION OF THE CHANQUETE
The Aula del Mar – Málaga sea classroom are working on the artificial reproduction of the chanquete. This species is one of the most exquisite dishes which has always been on offer on the Costa del Sol to its visitors. The population of this marine species has fallen considerably in recent years so its sale has now been prohibited. For the last 4 years the experts at the Aula del Mar have been studying the best conditions for their reproduction, with the goal of repopulating the natural environment and leading to their going on sale again. After they have been collected from their habitat, the wild chanquetes are acclimatised in aquariums where reproduction will be assisted by artificial insemination, according to declarations from the president of the Aula del Mar and expert in fish breeding Juan Antonio López.

BAEZA INAUGURATES A POETIC ROUTE IN HONOUR OF MACHADO AND OTHER AUTHORS.
The town hall of this Jaén province municipality has wanted to pay tribute to all the authors who have extolled the name of Baeza, with the inauguration of a Poetic Route through all the old town centre. The route is formed by 17 stone monoliths which contain extracts of literary texts in bronze. The Paseo Antonio Machado, the Plaza de Santa María, the Pasaje del Cardenal Benavides and the Patio of the old university are some of the spots which host the poetic monoliths with which the town council has wanted to contribute to the acts to commemorate the 63rd anniversary of the death of Antonio Machado. The town hall has also edited a folder which contains the poetry texts as well as a map of the location of the monoliths.

NEW HOTEL FOR BENALMÁDENA
Benalmadena will have the largest hotel complex in Spain. The Málaga municipality will have an area of 400,000 square metres in the Carvajal area of Benalmádena Costa. The complex will be formed by nine four and five star hotels, a golf course and a beach club with a water park, among other facilities. The works on the first hotel have already started and are forecast to be completed by the end of 2003 or the start of 2004. A British tour operator has already rented the first hotel for a 10 year period and with a guaranteed occupation of 100 % of the places. The company building the complex says that once the project is completed there will be 10,255 hotel places and 2,000 new jobs will be created.

THE GOYA PAINTING OF SANTA JUSTA AND SANTA RUFINA IS TO RETURN TO SEVILLE CATHEDRAL
Thanks to the agreement reached between the Seville Cathedral Chapter and the Friends Association of Prado Museum, to tie in with the exhibition 'Goya – the image of the woman' the Prado will pay for the restoration of the painting Santa Justa and Santa Rufina. The canvas will remain in the Prado Museum in Madrid until the end of April, when, once restored in the Museum workshops, it will return to its rightful home, that's to say the Altar of the Sacristy of the Cálicas in Seville Cathedral. The painting has only ever left Seville Cathedral to be restored in the workshops of the Prado Museum in 1978 and 2001.

NEW TOURISM TEAM
The new regional councillor for tourism Antonio Ortega has named Marcelino Méndez as general director of Tourism Promotion and Development. After being away for two years Méndez-Trelles returns to the post which he occupied during the first legislature of the coalition government between the Socialists and the Partido Andalusista. The role which Méndez-Trelles will play is decisive for the board, not only for the 63 million € he will spend, but also because the first splits have appeared between the regional government tourism board and the tourism sector on the Costa del Sol.
Meanwhile the naming of Juan Harillo in the General Direction of Tourism Planning places the two Málaga men in key positions of the tourist administration, The General Sports Direction, occupied until now by Méndez Trelles, has been awarded to Manuel Prado, so that the Cádiz Partido Andalucista obtains its quota of power in the council. In this way the most important structures which will make up the team for the next two years to accompany the new director have been formed.

DRESSING ROOM OF THE ALAMBRA
The city of Granada once again can enjoy one of its most best loved monuments – the Queen Isabel of Portugal's dressing room. The work has taken 18 months and have used the most modern technologies as a team of 25 people have worked in expert chemical areas of wood and restoration. Examples of Nazarene art, some gothic elements and an outstanding renaissance painted mural coexist in this important cultural space The room was constructed on the orders of the Emperor Carlos V for his wife Isabel of Portugal. It's found in the Abbul Hacha tower and its origins were as a lantern tower. Several Muslim monarchs have contributed their Nazarene decoration. The Queen's dressing room will soon be open to the public, but in limited numbers.

END OF THE CRISIS IN CONGRESS AND MEETING TOURISM
Congress tourism has overcome the effects of September 11 and will increase this year on the Costa del Sol. The fall off seen after the terrorist attacks of September 11 is now in the past. Those events led to an economic recession and the stagnation of the market. The Costa del Sol noted the effects in its most important hotels and in the agencies which specialise in congress and meeting tourism . In Comfex, the London congress and meeting tourism fair, to which 24 companies and businesses linked to the tourist board attended, together with technicians from the Costa del Sol Convention Bureau, the crisis was declared to be over. The results of this fair represent an increase in this tourism sector with new contracts for this year and next, according to sources from the Costa del Sol tourism board.