ANDALUCIA TOURISM NEWS – OCTOBER 17 2002

PREPARATIONS FOR SIERRA NEVADA 2002
The Sierra Nevada Ski Station, in Granada, prepares for the winter season with an increase in the quality of its offer with new services and the extension of the ski able surface. This means its return to the elite of the ski world with the celebration of two rounds of the Women's World Cup, planned for the end of February.
The Andalucian ski station is putting the final touches to the preparations for the new season which will start at the end of November or the start of December, and which sees a return to a support for quality in its offer, which will be enriched with four more kilometres of ski able surface, taking the number to 70.
The public company which runs the station, Cetursa, will also prepare connections between pistes which already exist in the Sierra Nevada, which has already seen the first snow falls of the winter – welcome to prepare the surfaces for the heavy falls to come. Another of the new attractions for the Granada ski station is the return, after four years of absence, of the world downhill circuit, with the celebration of two rounds of the world cup.

TIERRA ADENTRO 2002
Rural tourism increases in its complementary role to the beach, which remains the most popular in Andalucía. The Tierra Adentro Fair will be held in Jaén between October 24-27. It's the second edition and this year it will be a window display of folklore, gastronomy and of the rural sports practised in the inland Andalucía. The Junta de Andalucía in 2001 signed more than 80 agreements with local councils in Almería to beautify the villages and give them the services demanded by tourists. Rural tourists are very profitable, economically speaking, given that they spend 7,500 pesetas per person per day, compared to 4,600 pesetas per day spent by tourists on the beach.

GRANADA HISTORIC CITY CENTRE CD
Tourists who visit Granada can obtain the contents of this interactive guide which offers walking routes through the city, together with data both written and graphic on the monuments of Granada. The tourism sector represents 20% of the gross domestic product of Granada, and generates 15% of employment in this city which is the fourth most visited in Spain. 1000 interactive guides have been published in Spanish and soon will be available in English. The mayor of the city, José Moratalla, has underlined the importance of this CD, and said he considers that its contents are evidence that all the historic centre of the city should be declared as World Heritage. The city council hopes that this guide will be an additional element to contribute to the economic revitalization of Granada.

GÓNGORA'S HOUSE MUSEUM
In this typical 17th century Cordoba house, located at number 3 Calle Cabezas, the House Museum for Luis de Góngora will be constructed with a centre for study and research into this Andalucian poet. The building, which belonged to the Fernández de Córdoba family and has been the home of the Notaries archive of protocols, will host the Museum on Baroque culture in Córdoba. The museum will be installed on the ground floor and the upper floors will host the Study and Research Centre. Sixty percent of the building will be taken up by the centre which in all probability will open its doors in the year 2004. Architects Jesús Fernandez and Rafael Obrero, will be those given the job of renovating this ancestral home. Vimcorsa, the municipal housing company will be charged with controlling the project, which has a budget of 700,000 €, supplied by the Ministry for Culture.

NAUTICAL TOURISM IN MÁLAGA
Nautical tourism on the Costa del Sol last year saw a total income of 88 million €, according to a study carried out by the Society for Planning and Development, part of the provincial government. The Costa del Sol Tourist Board says that currently there are projects underway to extend three of the eleven marinas in the province – at Puerto Banús in Marbella with 300 new berths, at La Caleta de Vélez with 400, and at the Benalmádena Marina with more than 1,000. The extension of the latter will cost some 84 million € and work is expected to start before the end of the year and be completed in 2005. The report drawn up by the Planning Society highlighted that Málaga is the Andalucian province to have the most berths in marinas, although it also noted that growth was needed to meet the large existing demand for this type of services on the Costa del Sol.

PALMA DE CONDADO HISTORIC CENTRE
The Junta de Andalucia has declared the old town centre of Palma del Condado, in Huelva province as an Historic Centre. It's a place fill of narrow and steep streets which white lime washed houses and traditionally paved surfaces. The old town centre is based around its main place of worship, the parish church of San Juan Bautista, which is the most architecturally important building in the municipality. The housing is predominantly made up of small single family homes in this popular style and constructed between the 16th and 18th centuries. Here we can find some bodegas and mills linked to the flour and olive oil industries. Ancestral homes are also outstanding in Palma del Condado – with one or two floors, large interior patios, wooden carpentry, and cast iron railings. The discovery of America and the cultivation of the vine brought the first development to the local economy, but it was at the end of the 19th century when La Palma del Condado saw its largest growth, thanks to the exporting of wines and the construction of the railway.

RESCUED LOGGERHEAD SEA TURTLES
A total of five loggerhead sea turtles which had been found at various points along the Andalucian coastline have now been liberated by the Centre for the Recovery of Threatened Marine Species, CREMA, in Málaga, after being treated at the centre for the illnesses they were suffering. The councillor for the environment, Fuensanta Coves, explained that the liberated sea turtles has been rescued in Granada, Málaga and Huelva, thanks to the cooperation of the public and help from the marine rescue services on the Andalucian coast. The five sea turtles were marked and then liberated off the Málaga coast from the environmental council boat 'Ama VIII'which set off from the site of the Aula del Mar in Málaga port. This brings the number of sea turtles liberated by CREMA to more than 1000 since its creation.

TURES 2002 RESULTS
The Residential Tourism Fair TURES, has displayed over recent days in Marbella the best offers for residential tourism to be found in Andalucía. The fair brought together, from October 10-13, the main Andalucian promoters and constructors. Andalucía is the autonomous community chosen by a large number of Europeans for their second residence. The Costa del Sol has the highest concentration of Germans to be found outside their country. Some 450,000 foreigners live in the zone, according to data released at the fair by the tourism board. Low density construction, quality, and elite sports are all related to residential tourism – something which foreigners appreciate and value increasingly. The real estate developments on display at this year's TURES fair had these characteristics. As well as gastronomic tastings, TURES also gave visitors the chance of visiting a house of the future, where the electrical appliances are controlled by computer.