BACK TO HOME PAGE

ANDALUCÍA TOURISM NEWS AUGUST 21 - AUGUST 28
ANDALUCIAN FOODSTUFFS
Some 40 million people, principally from the European Union, consume Andalucian foodstuffs in a business worth around two billion pesetas a year, almost as much as tourism. Andalucía boasts a high quality production of products as recognisable as fruit and vegetables, and, of course, Olive oil, of which the region is one of the main producers worldwide. The Agriculture and Fisheries department plans to start awareness campaigns to identify Andalucian foodstuffs with the highest quality production. One of them is called ‘Andalucía se sale’ signifying that the quality of the Andalucian foodstuffs is such that it crosses frontiers.

COSTA LAGO - RIU HOTEL CHAIN
The RIU hotel chain strengthens its position on the Costa del Sol with the acquisition of the Costa Lago hotel in Torremolinos. The 204 room establishment has been owned by the Spanish businessman Ruiz Mateos for the past ten years. The Costa Lago hotel, with four stars, has more than 3,000 square metres of gardens, and brings to seven the number of hotels operated by the RIU chain in Andalucía, five of which are on the Costa del Sol. The Catalan owned group has the intention to continue their expansion along the Andalucian coastline - a destination in ever increasing tourist demand.

ETHNIC MUSIC FESTIVAL - MÁLAGA
The city of Málaga becomes the stage of excellent popular music between the 25-31 of August. Groups from countries as disperse as Chile, Senegal, India, Turkey, Morocco, or Mexico, will show us the best of their folklore as part of the second edition of the International Ethnic Music Festival. The performances start on Saturday 25 at the Eduardo Ocón stage in the Paseo del Parque in Málaga. Puppet workshops, performances of fables from Chile, and demonstrations of African percussion are just some of what will be on offer. The success and welcome received by the first edition of the festival last year has led to this second edition where large numbers of visitors are expected. The Ethnic Music Festival ends on the 31 on the beaches of Peñon del Cuervo in Málaga.

GRANADA TOURIST GUIDE
Lovers of trekking have an unbeatable setting in the province of Granada. Now the Granada editors ‘Proyecto Sur’ have just published a new tourist guide for them called ‘de la costa tropical a la montaña’ in which the expert orienteer, originally from Valencia, Enrique Garín, collects together 25 walking routes to discover the surroundings of the Granada province town of Almuñecar. This area of Andalucía has a subtropical environment which is unique in Europe. In just a few kilometres you can travel from the heat of the beaches to the cold of the high peaks of the Sierra Nevada. In fact the land covered by the 25 routes covers some 50 kilometres both along the coast and towards the sierra. They are limited by the three nature parks in the zone - Maro-Cerro Gordo; Almijara and Tejeda; and the Sierra Nevada nature park.

INVESTMENT IN BEACH IMPROVEMENTS
Good news is bathing Andalucian beaches. The ministry for the environment is to invest 1211 million pesetas over the next three years in improving access to the beaches. The funds are designed to eliminate the physical barriers, thus helping access for the physically challenged or for older people as well as improving the quality of the environment of the Andalucian coastline. The main objective of this initiative is to ease the use and enjoyment of the Andalucian beaches and promote them as an area that is more comfortable and safe for the population. The work will take place along 255kms of coastline on 116 tourist, urban and semi-urban beaches. Most of the investment will go to the coasts of Cádiz and Málaga, followed by Huelva, Almeria and Granada.

ANDALUCIAN CATHEDRALS
One of the most important cultural heritages in Andalucía are, without out, the region’s cathedrals, which need care and protection. To this end the Culture department plans to invest in the restoration of some parts of these monuments. Cathedrals in Granada, Baeza, Jaén, Almería, Jerez de la Frontera, Baza and Guadiz will all see part of their structures restored. In Granada 150 million pesetas will be invested in a project to improve the tower and to restore the so called ‘Puerta del Perdón’ and the grand chapel. In Almería, the cathedral will resume even greater grandness after repairs to the damage caused by the fire there 5 years ago. The work will be adapted to the originality of each temple and include all aspects of the restoration process from simple restoration to maintenance programs designed to avoid future deterioration of these jewels of Andalucian architecture.

RECOMMENDATIONS - COSTA DEL SOL
The Costa del Sol, in the province of Málaga, is becoming one of the most important leisure destinations in the country. Proof of this are the numerous projects that are being started. And Málaga already has one of the widest leisure offers in Spain, for all publics. The Tivoli attractions park has, for the last 25 years, offered all sorts of attractions and international shows. The three water parks distributed along the coast cool down the summer while the Sea Life underwater park offers the most varied marine species. We can say the same about the Selwo nature park in Estepona where more than 2000 species of animals live in semi-freedom in an area of a million square metres. Horse racing, Art galleries, Bullrings, Flamenco Shows..and an endless list of other options make up a fun filled offer that is hard to beat.

ÚBEDA AND BAEZA - HERITAGE OF HUMANITY
The renaissance towns of Úbeda and Baeza in the province of Jaén have reached agreement on presenting a single candidature to UNESCO for the declaration to be heritage of humanity. Both towns have spent 12 years fighting for worldwide recognition. In the candidature they will put into effect their universal values, humanistic model, the influence they had in America and the fight for democratisation. To this end central government and the regional communities have agreed to base efforts only on these two towns at the next election expected in June 2003.

AGENDA AUG 21- 28
The localities of El Burgo in Málaga province and Linares in Jaén celebrate the fiestas in honour of their patron saints between 25-29 August. The big day is Tuesday 28, the day of San Agustín.

The town hall of Prado del Rey in Cádiz province celebrates the 27th edition of the National Serranas Flamenco Singing competition on the 24 and 25th of August. Anyone can enter.

Niebla Castle, in Huelva province, is the scene of the 17th festival of theatre and dance. On the 25th the Rosas de Otoño company perform ‘Medea’ by Eurípides.

In Seville province the town of Sanlúcar la Mayor celebrates the Tapa fair between 24 - 26th. A great chance to enjoy these typical Andalucian dishes.

Yet another year Antequera in Málaga province is dressed up for the fair between 21 and 26th August. Fun and dance in this historic town.

In Cádiz Marcela Moreno and José el Francés offer a free concert on the Victoria beach.

The village of Moguet in Huelva province welcomes the Andante Theatre company performing ‘Todos los mares van a la ventana’ in the Santa Clara monastery at 1030pm

The fair at Linares, Jaén province offers the National Tarantas competition from 24th 26th- They are mining songs with a special flamenco style.

The international music theatre and dance festival in Priego de Córdoba offers us ‘En Blanco y Negro’ in the Victoria theatre on the 25th - It’s a spectacular of fusion and mixture of dance and special effects.

The last week of this month of August the Osborne International Nautical Week is held in El Puerto de Santa María in Cádiz province.

Grape harvest fiestas are typical at this time of year. The village of Villanueva de Ariscal, in Seville celebrates on the 26th with a romeria pilgrimage in honour of Our Lady of Loreto.

Torremolinos and Ronda celebrate flamenco festivals on the 24th and 25th respectively. Flamenco singers Calixto Sánchez, José de la Tomasa and Carmen Linares perform. In Ronda El Pipa will delight the fans with good flamenco dance.