WINES FROM HUELVA
The production of wines in Huelva has increased by 230 per cent. The wines bottled under the official classification Condado de Huelva, continue their increase in popularity which started three years ago. In this season a total of 5 million bottles will go on sale, a million and a half more than last year, according to Manuel Infante, President of the Controlling Council. Four thousand wine growers make up the official area Condado de Huelva which has seen this dramatic increase in production. However, the bottled wine is less than the total production which last season reached 38 million kilos of grapes which produced 28 million litres of wine. So the largest part of the production continues to be wine in bulk. Coinciding with the 40th anniversary of the creation of this official classification area, the growers understand that the wine has an inherited character, but remains relatively unknown by the public. That's why they are promoting the wines from Huelva both inside and outside Spanish borders.

JEREZ ZOO
The zoo in Jerez de la Frontera has become the centre of a project which intends to avoid the extinction of the Iberian Lynx. Thanks to an agreement signed between the Ministry for the Environment and the Jerez Zoo, the Cádiz centre has become the coordinator in a plan to breed the Iberian Lynx in captivity. The first step to be carried out in the plan is the capture of 10 Iberian Lynx. In the project backed by the ministry, the autonomous communities where the lynx are found have taken part, Andalucia among them, together with the Doñana Biological Station and a wide representation of specialists. The plan will be carried out over the next three years, which may be extended according to the results that are obtained.

MÁLAGA THEME PARK
Málaga is to get the 5th theme park in Spain. An American company is planning to build a new leisure park in the capital of the Costa del Sol. The project will see an investment of between 480 and 600,000 million € and is expected to attract 3 million visitors a year, according to the first studies from the multinational. This new theme park will have grand fairground attractions, some based around water, and others related to nature. In addition four hotels and a golf course will be built. This park will follow the style of Port Adventura or Terra Mitica, and create a total of 1,500 direct new jobs and a similar number of indirect ones. Málaga has been chosen as the site by the company thanks to the number of residents in the city and the area, and taking into account the more than 10 million visitors who come to the Costa del Sol each year. In difference to other projects presented in the city, the American multinational company will cover the whole cost of the investment. Talks have been continuing for several months with the city council, but only in recent weeks has the multinational shown its interest in going ahead. The city council says that the negotiations will still take more than a year, giving a starting date for construction of the Theme Park in 2003. Construction work is expected to take three years.

MALAGA CONTEMPORARY ARTS CENTRE
The Málaga Contemporary Arts Centre will open its doors after the summer. The construction work, which is being carried out in the old wholesale market, is now in its last stages, according to the director of the Picasso Foundation, Pedro Pizarro. The first show to be hosted in the Contemporary Arts Centre will consist of a view of the evolution of public and private collections from the last decades. The Mayor of Málaga, Francisco de la Torre and the Director of the Picasso Foundation are in talks with the Director of the Arco Madrid Arts Fair, Rosina Gómez-Baeza, over the possible awarding of funds for the new centre. Talks are also underway with the collector Jean Paul Najar on the exhibition of his collection. The future centre will have a programme which will combine the permanent exhibition of a grand artistic collection with the planning of temporary shows, seminaries, workshops or conferences.

MARBELLA CONTEMPORARY ENGRAVING MUSEUM
The Contemporary Engraving Museum in Marbella (Málaga province) has acquired 30 new pieces to complement its collection from the International Contemporary Arts Fair ARCO. The museum's presence in Arco has served to present its own collection, displaying pieces from Plensa, Perejaume and Hernández Pijuán, according to the Chief curator of the Museum, José María Luna. The museum had set aside 15,000€ for the purchase of pieces in Arco, and with this it has acquired many works, one by Manuel Valdés outstanding among them. The display used in Arco shows the new image of the museum, characterised by the letters which make up its name (MGEC) which could become its definitive new image.

NEW CENTRE IN GRANADA
The city of Granada has had the Sacromonte Ethnographic Interpretation Centre since February 8th. The objective of this project of the Granada Citizens Association and Vaivén Paraíso, has been the creation of a museum where the culture and traditions of this emblematic neighbourhood can be recovered. The centre consists of caves which reproduce the homes of the inhabitants of Sacromonte, orchards, basket making and iron workshops, and exhibition hall and others dedicated to flamenco. The information centre is found in the Barranco de los Negros, and here activities such as flamenco among the young or craft workshops are held. This initiative has obtained the support of institutions such as the Granada City Council, the Albaycin Foundation and the Caja General savings bank which have invested more than 900,000 €.

ANDALUCIA FLAMENCO GUIDE
The Tourism and Sport department of the regional council, in collaboration with the Seville Flamenco Bienal have created the Thematic Guide to Flamenco in Andalucía. The objective of this guide is to bring together all references to the world of flamenco and help in their diffusion using tourism promotional activities. The guide can be found on the Internet at www.andalucia.org, www.andaluciaflamenco.org and at www.flamencoandalucia.org and with it the plan is to unite Flamenco and Tourism into a new area of business to be named Flamenco Tourism, according to the regional government. The guide, which has an educational character, has the recordings of more than 100 samples where the different palos or beats of flamenco are included. In addition there are 13 information sections which are translated into English, French, German and Japanese. A printed version to be called Guide to Flamenco in Andalucía is being prepared which will include the contents of the webpage and a CD with 100 flamenco styles.

PICASSO SHOP
The Picasso shop will receive 100,000 visits during 2002. After being open for two months first indications are very positive, according to the spokesperson for Málaga Vision and secretary of the Málaga Businessmen's Confederation, Javier González de Lara. The shop can be found in the house of Picasso's birth, and offers the public visiting the museum a wide selection of items. Among those most in demand are mugs and t-shirts, publications on the life of the artist and the publications from the Picasso Foundation itself. The sale of articles related to the artist will help to further link the figure of Picasso to the city of Málaga, and an extension to the shop has not been ruled out once the project has consolidated itself, according to González de Lara.