ORCE ARCHAEOLOGICAL CENTRE
The locality of Orce in Granada now has an office which will act as a coordination centre for the promotion of the archaeological discoveries found up to now at the local site.
The office can be found in the Los Segura Palace, a 17th century building refurbished by the Culture department of the regional government.
This archaeology and palaeontology centre in the Guadix-Baza basin will coordinate the researchers and local administrators of the district to improve the knowledge and promotion of the area’s heritage.
In the same town of Orce you can find the Fuente Nueva site where they have recently found a complete elephant’s pelvis which is more than a million years old - it’s the first mammal of this age found in the world.

ARACENA HAM FAIR
The landscapes of the Aracena Sierra in Huelva are, without doubt, the fatherland of the Iberian Pig, from which the Jabugo Ham is obtained, here in this natural park of holm oak, gall-oak, cork oak and juniper forests.
These hams of grand quality are obtained thanks to the fact that the area has two of the elements which are essential for their production - Unbeatable raw materials and the dry cold of the sierras.
A good display of this tasty dish can now be found in the village of Aracena between October 19-21, during the celebration of their ham fair.
An event which will, for sure, bring together hundreds of people attracted by this dish of one of the best known and tastiest ingredients in the gastronomy of Huelva.
An opportunity to taste and try the taste of the best hams in the area.

IBERIAN-AMERICAN THEATRE FESTIVAL IN CÁDIZ
The 16th Iberian-American Cádiz Theatre Festival boasts the participation of 13 countries, among them Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru and Spain, with a total of 26 groups, 11 of them Spanish, which will perform five street performances and a drama.
There will also be children’s shows, musicals, and up to a total of 48 performances in various halls.
The writer Antonio Gala will receive the festival prize, shared with a festival in Manizal in Columbia.
The event, which is held between 18-27 October, will take a special look at Central America with a grand range of artistic activities and a musical gala planned for the 20th in the Falla Grand Theatre, and including the participation of the musical group Editus from Costa Rica.
There will also be a new meeting of the Iberian American Women from the Scenic Arts.

HOTEL AMARAGUA
Visitors to the Costa del Sol can now enjoy a stay in a new four star hotel. It’s the Hotel Amaragua which, after a three year renovation programme, has now become a 4 star establishment with 280 rooms of which 8 are suites. The building also has two restaurants and nine meeting rooms. This type of hotel is the one in most demand by tourists. Jose Hurtado, Tourism Councillor, says:
‘Figures show that tourists fundamentally prefer 4 star hotels, and if they are hotels of quality such as this one, and such are many in Andalucía, that explains why the tourist likes this hotel type - which gives an extraordinary quality and represents great value - something which is one of the most valued elements by tourists when they are asked about tourism in our community’
The bid for quality has been one of the objectives in jumping from three to four stars, which will attract more and better clients to the reformed hotel, to be found on the famous Carihuela beach in Torremolinos.
The refurbishment of this hotel has come from an investment of 2,800 million pesetas.

MAESTROS OF THE SEVILLE BAROQUE
The paintings ‘Virgen Niña en oración’ by Zurbarán, ‘Cabeza de hombre de perfil’ by Velázquez and ‘Descanso de la huida a Egipto’ and ‘Muchacho con perro’ from Murillo can now be seen in Seville.
‘Virgen Niña en oración’ is a canvas made in the 17th century, on of the best from the Spanish Ermitage collections and one of the best by Zurbarán, who painted it in Madrid during his last years.
In ‘Muchacho con perro’, Murillo made a customs and manners composition which is one of his best paintings with a nature background.
The ‘Descanso de la Sagrada Familia en el viaje a Egipto’ is a work dated in 1660 in which Murillo painted the sleeping child surround by contemplating angels.
A one off chance to see these paintings, on display until November 18th in the El Monte cultural centre in Seville.

ANDALUCÍA NATURE PARK LOGO
Andalucía has many protected spaces from where a great quantity of products and services related with nature tourism come - with handicrafts and cuisine the most typical.
All these products and services must now meet a series of controls to obtain the licence to use the logo Andalucía Nature Park. A stamp of monitored quality, with which the Environment Council intends to promote and commercialise the products which come from these areas of Andalucía.
The licence to use the logo will have a validity of three years and can be applied for by those companies or people engaged in tourist services or handicraft or natural products.
Textile and ceramics workshops, as well as rural houses and hotels already have the logo as part of a pilot project set up by the council last year.

JAEN NATURE PARK
The future Jaén Nature Park will be designed by the Arthur Andersen company, with the support of public administrations and social groups.
The tourism councillor, José Hurtado, said that a total of 11 companies had applied for the job which was awarded to Arthur Anderson at 60 million pesetas because, among other reasons, of their economic and financial contacts worldwide, which implies there will be future investments in this emblematic project for Jaén province.
Arthur Anderson has 6 months to carry out a viability study and find investors. The only requirement of the project is that it be based in Beas de Segura, in line with rural tourism based on sustainable development and that it be a single project, although it may have many facets such as leisure, educational or sporting.

ALMERIA TOURISM PROMOTION
Two years of work and a modest budget of 308 million pesetas have been dedicated by Almeria City Hall on stimulating the historical city centre.
Infrastructure, routes and guided visits, tourism promotion, training and information.
Among the most interesting events has been the recovery of the Caños Arabes - the Arab piping and the area of the gypsy mesón at the foot of the Alcazaba.
From December a three year long strategic plan will operate for the city. One of its objectives is to recover the historical heritage. One example - the Casa del Jardinero, a small fort from 1621 is now abandoned and will become a tourist information centre. The illumination of the north side of the Alcazaba and a telemetric network of tourist information are also future projects.

SOTO AND THE BATS CAVE CORDOBA
Residents and visitors to Córdoba province have two new places declared Natural Monuments. One of them is Los Sotos de la Albolafia, a piece of land which covers half an hectare, set between Puente Romano and San Rafael - right in the city centre. The area is home to a high concentration of protected species, above all aquatic and migratory birds. The area is the only one to have both the titles of Natural Monument and Hertiage of Mankind to be located in an urban area. The other area declared as a Natural Monument is the Bats Cave in Zuheros, with spectacular limestone formations and the presence of the protected species of which the native population of bats is one.

‘VAPORCITO’ IN CÁDIZ
The ferry boat Adriano III - popularly known as Vaporcito - currently carries out four trips daily, each lasting about 45 minutes, between Cádiz and El Puerto de Santa María.
The boat, which has now been declared to be of Cultural Interest by the Junta de Andalucía, has long been part of the locals life - as shown by its nickname.
With a capacity of 200 people, Vaporcito is one of the few boats which still have a wooden hull. It’s primitive steam engine was however recently replaced.
The use of steam boats in the Cádiz bay dates back to the start of the 19th century. The Adriano III first linked Seville with Sanlúcar de Barrameda, but later came to link the city of Cádiz with El Puerto de Santa María.

TRIP TO THE TIME OF THE IBERIANS
The province of Jaén has some of the most Iberian remains in Andalucía. Archaeological finds in seven Jaén localities such as Porcuna, Huelma, Linares, Castellar, Peal de Becerro, Santa Elena and Jaén itself which have now been included in the so-called ‘Trip To The Time of the Iberians’.
The route will now be signposted thanks to an agreement between the provincial government and Jaén University - the latter will design the guide maps, information panels, a web page for the route, make maps of the routes as well as panels and other items to be used at the start of each route. All this will allow visitors to follow a journey though the Iberian culture with precise information.

In addition there are other projects planned for the ‘Route of the Battles’ which will follow places in Jaén where battles marked the change of history in Spain. One of these places is Bailen, a village which will be declared to be of Cultural Interest.