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MAY CROSSES IN BONARES, HUELVA
Andalucía is dressed with flowers during the month of May with the traditional crosses, typical fiestas which fill many Andalucian villages with colour and joy.
One of them is Bonares in Huelva, which this week celebrates the so called ‘Cruz del Romero’ and where, according to a century’s old tradition, one of the 12 crosses of the village must play the role of host.
This year it is the turn of Calle Arenal, where the 58 residents have worked for the past five months to dress up their cross in splendid style.
Everyone has helped out with the sewing, folding and adding the smallest details to the more than half a kilometre of fabric which covers the chapel, as well as raising the seven million pesetas which this cross has cost.
A grand fiesta in Bonares, an inland village in the province of Huelva where all the residents take part with a special fervour.

COSTA DEL SOL TOURIST BOARD DATA
Income per visitor increased considerably last year on the Costa del Sol, indicating that more tourists with a greater spending power are arriving.
So show the figures form the Tourist Observation Study carried out for the Costa del Sol Tourist Board.
The main beneficiaries of the increased spending have been the four star hotels, the occupation of which increased by up to 14%.
However 3 star establishments remain the most popular with visitors.
What’s more, according to this study, the sector which have seen the greatest growth this year are Golf tourism, which has its high season in Autumn and Spring, and Residential tourism.
For its part the tourism brought by congresses also saw a notable growth, together with rural tourism which is at a great moment of expansion in the province of Málaga.

ANDALUCÍA ECOLOGY BAROMETER
The Andalucian government wants to know the opinion of the citizens on matters related to the environment and ecology, such as desertification, forest fires or climate change.
To this end they have drawn up a questionnaire in which the Andalucians can find out how they are implicated in such subjects, with the objective of finding out their degree of knowledge, behaviour and attitude to the environment.
The so called Eco-Barometer of Andalucía will carry out 1,500 interviews which are also designed to see how citizens rate the performance of the public administrations in environmental matters.
This initiative has been tried out earlier elsewhere in Spain and Europe which will allow for a comparison with the results obtained here.

CÓRDOBA FAIR
The city of Córdoba is enjoying one of the happiest weeks in its festive calendar. The fair in this Andalucian capital city is celebrated between May 19 and 27, and enjoyed not only by the locals but also by the hundreds of visitors who decide to visit this monumental city at this time.
Flamenco dresses, sherry, tapas and above all a great deal of dancing and singing in a city filled at this time of the year with light and colour.
The fairground is situated at El Arenal, where the ‘casetas’ are the place for the meeting of friends and visitors eager to enjoy some days, and nights of fun.
Córdoba opens the doors of her feria until May 27. Everyone is invited.

THE EQUISUR HORSE FAIR IN JEREZ
Lovers of horses and all things equestrian have the chance to enjoy Equisur, the professional horse fair which is held in Jerez de la Frontera in Cádiz until May 20.
The Cádiz Fairground Institution, which organised this event each year with the help of the Jerez town hall, brings together 400 horses to take part in morphological competitions, auctions and acrobatic displays. Parallel to the fair commercial exhibitions of leather and other items related to horses are held.
This is a good occasion to enjoy these beautiful animals in the area of the city, Jerez de la Frontera, known as much for its monuments and wine cellars as for its horses.

GLACIERS, RIVERS OF ICE
Live size models of Glaciers. The exhibition ‘Glaciers Rivers of Ice’ offered by the Caixa Foundation in Huelva, uses grand stage designs, models, and video images, to show the properties of ice which allow the movement of glaciers - the main reserve of fresh water in the world.
Over an area of more than 300 square metres, the display explains, among other things, the formation of these so-called rivers of ice, what elements play a part in the formation of a glacier, or the forming of a valley affected by the passing of one of these ice masses.
We can seen this exhibition until June 3rd in the Avenida de Andalucía in Huelva, and hence travel back through the glacial history of the earth and see how man related to these phenomenons.

DALAHORRA PALACE IN GRANADA
Tourists in Granada now have the opportunity to visit the Dalahorra Palace, situated in the district of the Albaicín - one of the most emblematic and typical areas of the city.
This historic building is called Dalahorra which means ‘house of the honest lady’, because, according to the legend, the mother of the last King of the Alhambra, Boabdil, spent her last days here.
This historic building was difficult to visit, but will now be open every day from 10am to 2pm.
It’s one of the cultural and didactic itineraries established to better know the Albaicín, in which the palace is the starting point. The itineraries include three different routes and as well as showing little known places, intend to promote the identity of this typical district of Granada.
The public institutions have spent two million pesetas in organising these routes which allow us to see the Albaicín through other eyes.

DESPEÑAPERROS NATURE PARK, JAEN
Summer is approaching and the good weather encourages us to set foot into areas of Andalucia where this time of the year offers places and landscapes well worth a visit.
The Despeñaperros Pass, in Jaén, is known by thousands of travellers who arrive in Andalucía from the north. After winter, this area offers a landscape full of marvels.
Of the four nature parks which exist in Jaén, we take a look today at Despeñaperros, the name of which already gives us some idea of the steepness and roughness of the terrain. It’s a sparsely populated region, inhabited by animals such as deer or eagles.
Some of the natural marvels which this area offers us are the waterfalls which make a beautiful spectacle in springtime and some of these can be visited by trekking or using expert guides.
Close by we find Aldeaquemada, which is just 23 kilometres from the Northern border of Andalucía.
With a population of some 700 inhabitants dedicated fundamentally to work in the forest, fields or with handicrafts, this Jaén province village offers a pastoral atmosphere unchanged for generations - it’s another attraction for those visitors in search of peace and a rich landscape.

PROTECTION PLAN FOR MEDINA AZAHARA
The Andalucian government will enforce a protection plan at the monumental site of Medina Azahara in Córdoba, with the aim of recovering the pavements and walkways from the times of the Caliphs, as well as the old water courses.
To this end, while the plan remains in force to the year 2007, the Junta de Andalucía will invest more than 3,000 million pesetas.
The proposed protection area under the plan is 280 hectares, which means the compulsory purchase of some plots next to the Medina Azahara.
This will take up a third of the total budget.
Another 1,000 million pesetas will be spent on the construction of a reception building for visitors, an auditorium, library and restaurant, as well as promoting the archaeological site worldwide.
Once the project is completed , the Córdoba city hall and the Junta de Andalucía will add Medina Azahara and its delights to the cultural tourist itineraries.

AGENDA
The Santa Inés Convent Hall in Seville presents ‘Memory and Modernity. Art and Artists from the 20th century in Castilla la Mancha’ - an exhibition of more than 150 works from Castellano artists from the last century - Until May 27

‘Primeuro : The first inhabitants of Europe’ is the title of an exhibition at the Granada Science Park in which - using fossils and remains - the first appearances of man in Europe and Asia are reflected.

In Málaga a selection of the engravings ‘Los Caprichos de Goya’ can been seen at the Cultural hall of El Corte Inglés until Wednesday May 23.

Between Friday 25 and Sunday 27 of this month, Turismar 2001 will be held - the 5th edition of the Ayamonte tourism fair. It takes place in the covered sports pavilion of this Huelva town and tourism companies from both Huelva and the Portugese Algarve are taking part.

The photographer Ouka Lele has work on show until Mat 15 in the Rivadavia hall in Cádiz. It consists of 30 works from her private collection, from wines cellars to portraits of famous people.

The Independent Theatre Show of Almería takes place until May 26, with performances from 6 companies from Madrid, Granada, Sevilla and Almería.

The popular fair of Our Lady of Health takes place in Córdoba from 19-27 of this month. This grand fiesta of Córdoba city ends the happy month of May with typical ‘casetas’ open to all the public in the Paseo central and Calle del Infierno.

The ex lead singer from the group ‘ El Último de la Fila’ Manolo García, presents his new record, ‘Nunca el tiempo es perdido’ on Wednesday 16 of this month in the Ciudad Jardin pavilion in Málaga.

The Manuel de Falla cultural centre in Granada is hosting an exhibition on the flamenco dancer Vicente Escudero until Saturday May 19th - you can see his paintings, photographs and letters to Manuel de Falla.

The second Gold Trophy 2001 organised by the Confortel Hotel chain takes place on Saturday May 26 at the hotel in Islantilla, Huelva province.

The Málaga sculptor Francisco Carmona, is showing his work in the University Sala in the Plaza de la Merced in the city. The show is called ‘Paraphrases of thoughts and fragments’ and can be seen until Friday 25.

The show ‘The Splendour of the Córdoba Ommayads’ continues open until the 30th of September in the archaeological ground of Medina Azahara in Córdoba.