ANDALUCIA TOURISM NEWS – JULY 17TH 2002

RINGING OF FLAMINGOS IN FUENTE PIEDRA
A total of 800 flamingos have been ringed at the Fuenre de Piedra lagoon in Málaga province – an event which takes place each year in this nature reserve and which allows research and a continued investigation into the birds. Ringing of the flamingos at the lagoon started in 1986 and upto last year more than 11,000 chicks had been ringing with numbers which can be read from a distance with a telescope. In this way it has been discovered that the flamingos feed in damp areas in a circle of 200kms, found in Seville, Huelva or Doñana, before returning to feed their chicks. This year more than 500 people, including volunteers and observers, have taken part in the ringing of the flamingos – the birds which have made the Fuente de Piedra lagoon in Málaga their breeding centre.

NATURAL MONUMENTS IN HUELVA
The grotto of marvels in Aracena, the Corta Atalaya in Minas de Riotinto, the dunes of Doñana and the Peña de Arias Montano in Alájar. These are some of the most beautiful places in the province of Huelva which are being studied by the Junta de Andalucía to see if they qualify to be declared as 'Natural Monuments'. The provincial Environment delegation considers that these landscape contain places across the province of Huelva, both in town and country, which could be used for teaching, scientific and tourism purposes. The Natural Monument Award has the objective of recognising natural spaces or elements of a singular notoriety, rareness or beauty. Currently Huelva has three such Natural Monuments, which form part of the network of protected spaces in Andalucía, situated in the Doñana Nature Park, the hamlet of El Rocio and the locality of Santa Olalla del Cala.

UBEDA AND BAEZA – HERITAGE OF MANKIND
The renaissance towns of Úbeda and Baeza, in the province of Jaén, have managed to agree on a single candidature to be declared as Heritage of Mankind by UNESCO. Both towns have spent 12 years fighting for recognition. The application highlights the towns universal values, their humanist model, the influence they exercised in America and the fight for democracy. Good reasons why central and regional governments have agreed to concentrate only on these two towns at the next election, expected to take place in June 2003.

MINE RUINS IN JAÉN
More than 60 remains and buildings from the 19th and early 20th centuries, located in the villages of Linares, Guarromán and Bailén in Jaén province, are to be included in the first historical record of the Industrial and Mining heritage of the province. It's the first step in a programme which it is hoped will protect the buildings and create a legal basis so that cultural and tourism activities, such as the setting up of routes, can be carried out. The remains date from a period between the middle of the 19th century and 1930's. Generally they are machine rooms, chimneys, architectural remains and machinery, as well as old railway lines. The Junta de Andalucía hopes that their cataloguing as part of historical heritage will preserve these remains and allow the creation of future tourist attractions and use as cultural and recreation centres, as well as seeing the creation of routes for tourist visits. To that end signs are to be erected and routes and walks established for the visitors.

FOSSIL PLANT MUSUEM CÓRDOBA
An invitation to travel back 400 million years through floral life on earth is what is on offer at the Pale Botanical Museum inaugurated in the Molino de la Alegría en Córdoba. The 300 metres site is an added attraction to the old 15th century mill and machinery. This museum is the first fossil plant museum in Europe and completes the collections of the Córdoba botanic garden. Here some 365 fossils from four continents are on display. They were donated to the city by the Indonesian geologist Roberto Wagner. This new Pale Botanical Museum in Córdoba has a grand aesthetic, scientific and didactic value.

THE COLUMBUS FIESTAS 2002
The city of Huelva is already preparing to enjoy its most popular fiestas – the Columbus, which are celebrated in commemoration of the departure of the Caravels in which Christopher Columbus reached America. Visitors and locals can enjoy the fiestas from July 29th to August 3rd in the Columbus fairground, fiestas which count with a large participation from Latin American culture and a splendid programme of bullfighting with the top matadors showing their art in the Plaza de la Merced. One of the most outstanding acts in the Columbus fiestas takes place in the La Rábida Monastery on August 3rd - the day that Columbus set sail from the port of Palos de la Frontera. Ahead of this date, the dock of Las Carabelas, where the replicas of the three ships which made the discovery can be found, offer us recreation from the time that Columbus lived, with markets and tasting of medieval cuisine.

TOURIST ARBITRATION ON THE COSTA DEL SOL
Consumers and hoteliers on the Costa del Sol will have a new system of tourist arbitration from September which will resolve any conflicts between the two. The measure will benefit both sides thanks to the speed of the resolutions in the system, which will be extended in steps to cover the rest of Andalucía as part of the Strategic Plan for the Protection of the Consumer which the Andalucian government has elaborated for the years 2002-2005. This system of tourist arbitration allows the consumer to resolve the dispute during their stay, while the hotelier keeps his relationship with the tour operator involved exactly as before and independent from the cause of the complaint.

UNTHRESHED CORN FIESTA
The village of Berja in the Almeria Alpujarra, has restored an old tradition related to agricultural work. It's called 'la Parva' which means unthreshed corn and was the name given in the area to the work carried out to separate the grain from the straw, which was a frequent sight in the Almería countryside and which is being restored in a new way thanks to this fiesta intended to keep the traditions of the place alive. During la Parva, which lasted the whole day, teams of mules were used to pull the trillo or threshing board over which the farmer would stand. In some cases as many as seven yolks of mules were used at once. Once the grain was separated from the straw it was cast up to the winds. Now all this process is carried out in the combine harvesters and the product is sold in abundance. The fiesta of 'la parva' in Berja intends to recover this ancestral tradition among the residents of this beautiful village inland in the province of Almería.