APRIL FAIR IN SEVILLE
The April fair in Seville has been, for another year, the place to bring together around a million people, Spaniards and foreigners who have been coming to the city of the Guadalquivir to enjoy some days full of fun. Around 400,000 m2 of fairground site in which thousands of horse-riders and carriages meet along the so-called Paseo de Caballos, and give a display of these beautiful Andalucian animals. The gateway to the feria site, with its 25,000 light bulbs, lit up in welcome for the first time at midnight on April 15th ahead of the week which locals and visitors had been waiting for all year. Manzanilla and Fino sherries, Sevillana dancing and bullfights with the top matadors of the moment are the stars of the show which each springtime converts Seville into a city fill of emotions and flavours. A week like no other for dancing and enjoying one of the most important fairs of the many to be held in Andalucía.

SIERRA ANDÚJAR NATURE PARK
The province of Jaén has four nature parks which each year attract many visitors. One of them is in the Sierra de Andújar – one of the best examples of the Mediterranean ecosystem of the peninsular, where we can find endemic flora and fauna, such as the Iberian Lynx. This park, with an area of 60,800 hectares, covers the municipalities of Andújar, Baños de la Encina, Villanueva de la Reina and Marmolejo, in the heart of the Guadalquivir valley. Villages well worth a visit. In the Sierra de Andújar Nature Park, the visitor, as well as enjoying a unique landscape full of holm oaks and cork oaks, can carry out all types of activities related to nature. This Park in Jaén province offers a wide selection of accommodation where the visitor can enjoy a few days break full of beautiful landscapes and a tasty local cuisine.

THE PRINCE IN MÁLAGA
The climate, the landscape and the hospitality of the locals are some of the attractions of the Costa del Sol, which make this area of the province of Málaga a privileged place. So said the Prince of Asturias during his visit to Málaga. His trip of a few days saw him meet with, among others, representatives of the Costa del Sol Tourism Board and tourism businessmen, who are planning to present a project for the celebration of a regatta with the name of the prince and in which he is expected to take part given the heir to the throne's known love of nautical sports. The initiative arose as a new way to attract another section of tourists and to widen the offer of the Costa del Sol, during a meeting the prince held with what is the largest economic sector of the province and in which he encouraged the Málaga people to make the most of all the possibilities for economic and cultural stimulation. The Prince of Asturias also visited other provinces of Andalucía such as Cádiz, Córdoba, Almería and Jaén, where he met in the last place with representatives from the olive oil industry – where this province is a worldwide leader.

FLAMENCO CIRCUIT IN ALMERÍA
The women are the protagonists of the Provincial Flamenco Circuit for the first time this year – the 18th edition – under the slogan 'Singers and Dancers' organised by the Almeria provincial government. The circuit will cover 9 villages in Almería until April 28. This 18th edition intends to publicise the knowledge and enjoyment of famous flamenco artists performing live across the province, with stars such as Mayte Martín, Rocío Martín, or from Jerez – Melchora Ortega among others. The latter will perform on April 26,27,28 accompanied on the guitar by Fernando Moreno, also from Jerez and the Almeria dancer Sonia Berenguel, in the villages of Laujar de Andarax, Zurgena and Mojácar. The Almería provincial government intends with this event, to promote the performances of Almería artists with those from other provinces, as well as the associations and flamenco clubs which can opt for these recitals.

VIRGEN DE LA CABEZA PILGRIMAGE
One of the most popular romerias or pilgrimages of the many held in Andalucía is the Virgen de la Cabeza, which attracts thousand of pilgrims to the Jaén province town of Andújar at this time every year. The fiesta, considered to be the oldest and declared to be of national tourist interest, is held between April 25-28 in this village located right in the heart of the Sierra Morena. El Cerro del Cabezo, where the sancturay of the Virgin who gives it its name can be found, is and has been since the 14th century, the scene for the second largest pilgrimage in Andalucía. For the residents of Andújar these days are the culmination of acts in honour of 'La Morenita', a nickname which indicates the dark colour and small size of the Byzantine statue of the virgin. The events start with a floral offering in the hermitage of the virgin and continue on the Saturday with the pilgrimage of the brotherhoods to the hill. The fiesta ends on the Sunday with the procession of the image of the Virgen de la Cabeza, a route which the pilgrims carry out on horseback, by cart or on foot.

EL PUERTO DE SANTA MARIA WINE FIESTAS
El Puerto de Santa Maria, in Cádiz, is enjoying one of its most colourful fiestas of the year. The spring fair and wine fiesta, which each year attracts thousands of visitors to this village in Cádiz province to enjoy the local wines and some days of fun. The fiesta, which has its ancestral origins as a harvest festival, has an intense relationship with the spirit if the wine which is made in the district – the Jerez or sherry. The wine and the sentiment of friendship between friends or strangers grow to give life to the colours and sounds typical of spring in these lands. So, between April 25 – 29, El Puerto de Santa María will fill with happiness and colour in fiestas which also offer us bull and young bull fights where we can admire the art of some of the best matadors of the moment.

MONDA SOUP FIESTA
The village of Monda, in Málaga province has, for another year, held its traditional Monda Soup fiesta. A dish with ingredients as simple as bread, pepper, tomato, garlic and eggs, which result in an exquisite soup which has, for the 6th consecutive year, attracted hundreds of visitors to the village who wanted to try it. This fiesta which was held on April 14th, was born with the objective of promoting the village, thought the local produce and cuisine. From the early hours of the morning many groups of locals gathered to cook their soup which is served in a special bowl – made from a single piece of wood taken from a cork oak tree. The Monda soup was a dish cooked in olden times by the local coal merchants and olive collectors. Now, this fiesta has been recovered and is each year attracting more and more people to come and try the good tastes of the cuisine of this Málaga village.

CERRILLO BLANCO SCULPTURE COMPLEX
Visitors to Jaén can now admire the Sculpture complex of the Cerrillo Blanco Archaeological Site in Porcuna, where restoration has finished after five years of work. All the pieces are now on display in the Jaén provincial museum, in a room which has been specially prepared for the sculptures. A team of some 10 people from the Heritage Restoration Workshop have been working since 1997 on the restoration of the complex with the cleaning of the stone, its decarbonisation and its later display on supports. It was in 1975 when, by chance, the site was found in an olive grove from where around 1500 fragments of buried sculptures were recovered, at the base of the Cerrillo Blanco hill in the Jaén province village of Porcuna.