Paris1972-Versailles2003

This is yours truly with another episode of some news from Spain!!! Lots of things going on so let me tell you my latest news chosen by yours truly, By the way CLIX is old Roman numeral for 159, Hope you enjoy this post as I.

The Monumental Las Ventas bullring arena has a very different market than other places. The clients first and looking for the abonado or subscriber. The plaza counts with more than 16,000 subscribers right now, which is twice that the sum of all the subscribers of first arenas in Spain, Sanfermines apart. In most, it has visitors who come very rarely, and many foreigners, to which their operating tour sells the ticket at a much higher price than at the box office, The average price of a Sol or sunset seat in Ventas is 23.38 euros with the cheapest ticket to 5 euros. The average price of sun and shadow is 41.27 euros and the sombra or shadow is 58.90 euros , these are corrida prices, One of the most important events of the year in Spain, the San Isidro Fair had the presence again of Telemadrid ,again key to complete OneTorotv and reach or approach the figures of Movistar Plus, Webpage : https://www.las-ventas.com/

The Monumental Las Ventas bullring arena, now with the peculiar event of design, architecture and art as identity signs, the first edition of Madrid Inside Art & Design (Miad) is presented, an event where interior designers, designers, artisans and artists of our Country alienated to intervene in a groundbreaking, and temporary way, this emblematic monument of the capital. More than 1,500 m2, divided into 30 exclusive spaces, can be explored until next Sunday March 17 2024. Environments where luxury, crafts, technological innovation, creativity and excellence are protagonists. Signatures such as Pombo Studio, Alfons & Damian, Cristina Puerta Estudio or Guille García Hoz exhibit spaces that have designed from the hand of brands, designers and first level artists and where they have reflected the most innovative trends of the residential world and contract (which brings together the hotel sector and the offices). Webpage : https://miadfair.com/en/visitor-info/

And now, bullfighting ,also has its international day. It will be on May 16,2024 this year, date selected by the Fundacion del Toro de Lidia, The date is no coincidence: on May 16 is the anniversary of the death of Joselito, the so -called king of the bullfighters, was commemorated in 1920 when he became a legend José Gómez Ortega, A personality that embodies the excellence and values of bullfight, San Isidro, the most important fair in the world. In this edition, in Las Ventas, it was announced a corrida of Victoriano del Río with bulls of Cortés for Sebastián Castella, José María Manzanares ,and Tomás Rufo. Madrid tourist office on Feria San Isidro : https://www.esmadrid.com/en/whats-on/feria-taurina-de-san-isidro-plaza-de-toros-de-las-ventas

The Foundation of the Toro de Lidia in support of bullfights : https://fundaciontorodelidia.org/la-fundacion/

It is opened ,the new recollection space in tribute to the 193 dead and more than 2,000 injured who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks of March 11, 2004, at the Renfe Atocha train station, The lobby was inaugurated on the eve of 20^th anniversary of the jihadist attacks and has more than 2,000 square meters of exposure with the walls painted cobalt. In addition, a room located on the halls of the line 1 of the Metro has been installed, separated by an opaque screen of travelers traffic, which has marble seats and in which the name of all mortal victims appears. Likewise, crystals have been decorated with vinyl with messages written in Basque, Catalan, English, French, Arab, Polish, Romanian, Ukrainian, Hungarian and Georgian who remember the solidarity, empathy and desire of Madrid towards those who suffered violence terrorist, Well done Madrid !! Webpage : https://www.esmadrid.com/en/tourist-information/tribute-victims-11-m-atocha-train-station

Ouigo, (branch of SNCF Voyageurs France) ,andone of Renfe’s main competitors, began operating in 2021 with the Madrid-Barcelona line and has added more destinations to his catalog to expand his network throughout Spain. The company has announced that three new cities are added to its route: Valladolid, Segovia and Cuenca. And they have reported that a new ticket promotion arrives at 9 euros for their high -speed trains. The tickets can be purchased from 10h March 19, 2024 and will include both current and three new routes. On April 19, Ouigo will add Valladolid and Segovia as destinations, while on June 1, Cuenca will be incorporated into the journeys that start from Madrid and arrive in Valencia and Alicante and on the Valladolid-Aliante 9 euros, which will be available just on Father’s Day, can be used to travel until December 14, 2024, webpage : https://www.ouigo.com/es/en

The arrival of low -cost airlines has meant that more and more Spaniards can travel by plane; The low cost airlines, which in Spain, made an appearance in the 1990s, have changed the panorama. Today, with greater or lesser budget, an important part of citizens can afford to pay a plane ticket and address a destination to rest, work or do tourism. The data collected by the World Bank, Spanish aviation has been adding passengers practically since its birth, but, since 1994, that growth has climbed in a much more visible way. Vueling is one of those that has contributed to the expansion. The company was the first low cost airline in Spain and southern Europe. Belonging to the IAG group since 2013, this year celebrates its 20 years of history. He made his first flight on July 1, 2004 on a Barcelona-Ibiz flight , It has about 42% of the market share, in Barcelona, and also at the Bilbao airport, its second national base. It, also leads the connection between the Peninsula and the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands. Internationally, it works to reinforce his presence in bases such as London-Gatwick, Paris-Oly, Amsterdam, Florence and Rome. The other low costs in Spain that follow are Ryanair, Air Europa, Iberia Express, Iberia, Air Nostrum, Binter Canarias, Canary Islands Airlines, and Volotea. Taken many, but no thanks.

The Prado Museum tunnel as it is call the placing of these 20 sculpted faces in marble, whose forms remind the classic Hellenic and Roman figures, were dated so far in the 17C. The restlessness and determination of the researchers of the Prado Museum has shed light on its origin and has displaced them 400 years back ! Of different sizes, some weigh more than 40 kilos, encant the puzzle, which until now was a residual space takes chest with 20 decorations that are unique. The magnificent, and so far unnoticed, collection of reliefs is already exhibited in the northern courtyard of the Villanueva building that, due to its shape and dimensions, narrow and very high, seems like a kind of time tunnel, whose passengers have experienced a unique trip through the centuries. The finding confirms that the warehouses of the Pinacoteca are a box of surprises. The nearly 6,000 works that slept in their basements make up a maze that, sometimes like this, researchers the key to bring them to light. From the Prado Museum they ensure that this set of pieces is the largest in their style of the world The back story they tell that in Italy several pieces were found whose coincidences allowed to determine that the set of these reliefs belongs to the Federician style. This was developed under the mandate of Federico II, King of Sicily and Jerusalem, and emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, dating around 1250. They are linked to a monument that was in the Capitol of Rome and today has disappeared, the caroccio, symbolic military float raised by Federico II to his enemy ,the Lombard League, in the battle of Cortenueva, and that the emperor gave the city of Rome in 1237.Federico II was a character who had notable cultural concerns. Admirer of the classical era, he monopolized a lot of works of art. This kinship can give clues on the path that the reliefs followed to end in the Madrid pinacoteca, whose more than 60% of its funds come from the royal collections. Webpage :https://www.museodelprado.es/en/museo/patio-norte

In 2010 ,opened its doors in the heart of Madrid, next to the convent of the Commander and one step away from the Conde Duque Center, the ABC Museum. Pioneer in our country of drawing and illustration, houses the impressive ABC collection. Now, it reopens with a journey through a century of illustration, On March 13 2024, a coral exhibition is inaugurated, La jaula de los monos or the cage of the monkeys, with six looks to the ABC collection, to which a transverse sample is added,’ This Madrid ‘, curated by Andrés Trapiello webpage : https://museo.abc.es/collection?lang=en

The last witness standing at the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa is about to collapse. In an elevated hill of Sierra Morena, in the Jaén province of Santa Elena, some wall walls of an ancient fortification resist challenging over time. It is Castro Ferral, the only element that remains of the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa …The Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa faced on July 16, 1212, a Christian Allied Army formed largely by Castilian troops of Alfonso VIII de Castilla, Aragonese from Pedro II de Aragón, Navarras de Sancho VII of Navarra and volunteers of the kingdom of León and the kingdom of Portugal against the numerically superior army of the Caliph Almohade Muhammad al-Nasir in the vicinity of the town of Santa Elena. It resulted in the victory of the Christian troops and is considered one of the most important battles of the reconquest. The old Château de Castro Ferral now in ruins , was the scene of some of the armed conflicts that were decisive for the final result. Ferral was an essential target for any army which sought to control the passage of the border. Webpage : https://www.jaenparaisointerior.es/en/w/castle-of-castro-ferral?filterCategoryIds=371232&operationType=AND

Something to dream on in my dear Spain, go drive to the Valle de Campoo valley , a landscape and climate hinge between the exuberant Cantabria and the dryness Castilla, which loses population but not charm. Lands inhabited, the Roman ruins and footwear that meets in the Collado de Somahoz, Peña Cutral or the nearby Pesquera life and the same orientation, several megalithic monuments or the prehistoric caves of Suano. The Experimental Archeology Research Center of Argüeso, in fact, has been developing a Cantabrian town in the Rincon Campoo or hidden corner.The Castillo de Argüeso is the symbol of the old local power. The fortress was built in the 13-15C, and was in the hands of the house of the Vega-Mendoza until the 19C, which controlled the lordship of Campoo and the communications with the plateau. Today it serves as a cultural center in which exhibitions, conferences are made or films are roll, such as El Molino, presented at the recent Malaga Festival, About 6 km away, the Torre de Proaño or tower, raised in the 13C, also contributes to enriching the Gothic architectural catalog of Campoo , the tower and mansion belonged to Ángel de los Ríos , and houses one of the funeral steles that the chronicler of the province of Santander found in the necropolis de Espinilla ( thorns). Some houses beyond is the Ethnographic Museum El Pajar, a collection of more than 2,000 pieces with all kinds of rural life utensils, from trillos to tillage tools through plows that reflect the way of life of a region dump into the cattle raising . In addition to the old necropolis with tombs, sarcophagi and funeral steles that of the rivers was excavating at the end of the 19C and kept in the tower All the small populations of native architecture and intermittent silence reflect their traditional airs in masonry houses with balconies , arches, high stone walls and shields, such as the baroque tower of the rivers of Espinilla or the different houses of the 17-18C scattered by Naveda, Mazandrero ,and Celada. Webpage : https://turismodecantabria.com/descubrela/folletos-turisticos/valles-de-campoo-y-valderredible/

And why not continue in Cantabria and lets your imagination grows arriving at Castro Urdiales, This sailor village will make you walk with unique stops ,and only 70 km from Santander. The old Flaviobriga of the Romans was buried under the streets of the current historic center, Located at the foot of the rock or walled Castro that in the early years of the Middle Ages was reinforced, surely to protect themselves from the incursions of Normans and Heruli that swept the peoples of the coast. The remains of the wall can be better seen in front of the facade of Santa María de la Asunción Church. The temple was built between the 13C and 15C, when Castro Urdiales enjoyed prosperity thanks to trade as a port of Castile with France, Holland and England. In the adjacent chapel, the canvas of the Christ of Agony, of Zurbarán, can be admired prior payment of a euro in the box of lighting. A few meters from Santa María is the Castle of Santa Ana, one of the few well -preserved fortress of the north peninsula. It dates from the 12C, but probably was built on previous walls. In the 16C it went through an important restoration and in 1853 the lighthouse that crowns it was added. The solid towers. semicircular from the beginning of the 12C located at the foot of the castle, you have to cross the medieval bridge that leads to the promontory where Santa Ana’s old hermitage was raised. Today is a small museum that illustrates the remains found in the place of the Roman and previous colony, of a settlement of the Paleolithic. The natural pool of El Pedregal, where the sea penetrates through a cliff tunnel to a stones beach in which the baths is also a joy in autumn. That is, whenever there is no strong waves, The Palacio de Echaran built in 1901 is the most beautiful modernist building of Castro Urdiales and was a mansion of the Basque writer and entrepreneur Luis de Echaran. The facade is pink marble with Italian and Greek ornaments and a false porch sustained by 10 columns. Private property and surrounded by splendid gardens and a wall of good height, About 600 meters , the Chalet de los San Martín in the English style that proliferated in the aristocratic residences of Cantabria at the beginning of the 20C with its maximum example is the Palacio de la Magdalena palace ,and the Chalet Sotileza, in front of the tennis society, The Plaza del Ayuntamiento or City Hall square is chaired by two other singular buildings: the Casa Consistorial or City/Town Hall itself, and the Casa de los Chelines. The first one was erected in the 18C with an aire of a fortress , and a clock tower. The jewel is the one across the City hall and built in 1901 supported in the rods that surround the square and that give it its northern appearance with a beautiful four -stores. Webpage : https://turismo.castro-urdiales.net/#

The La Vega del Tajuña, known as ‘The Pantry of Madrid’, presumes of cave houses, green roads, tomatoes that really know and a ‘liquid gold’ that enjoys the Pope ! They have more than 80 types of tomatoes ,59 varieties of fruits, and 26 of vegetables. They also provide the wine, with their private cellar inside the farm. Even has an agricultural research center, And they even have their own oil mill, where they extract the essence with which they produce the Virgin Extra Changlot Real, the house -made liquid gold that has come to conquer the White House, the Vatican and a good handful of Royal houses in Europe, regular customers. The La Huerta de Carabaña, the temple of the gourmet crops located on the outskirts of the homonymous town, in the Las Vegas and the Alcarria region., less than 50 minutes from the center of Madrid, it is known as “the pantry of Madrid “, since a large part of the fruits and vegetables that are consumed in the region comes from here, Webpage : https://vegasyalcarriamadrid.com/experiencia/valle-del-tajuna/

Marcelino Alonso (Gastorgásmico) and Jorge Baeza of the Restaurant Balear ,Avenida Calle Juan Antonio Samaranch , 67, Valdebebas have been the winners of the best potato tortilla in the Community of Madrid 2024, contest organized by the Association of Cooks and Reposters in Madrid ( Acyre Madrid) and held at Centro de Innovación Gastronómica de la Comunidad de Madrid or the Gastronomic Innovation Center of the Community of Madrid. The winning potato tortilla will be used in limited production in the aforementioned restaurant in Valdebebas from Saturday, March 9,2024 International Day of the Potato Tortilla . Granted Valdebebas is a bit off the center of Madrid, but you can come here and see the training grounds of the Real Madrid CF ,all worth it me think::) webpage : https://www.restaurantebalear.es/

For the second year, the 100% Iberian Bellota (acorn) ham will be again the protagonist at the Government’s Ball, the official Oscar Awards party that took place March 10 2024 at the Dolby Theater of Los Angeles. Once again (and already 30 years go), the prestigious chef Wolfgang Puck, owner of a dozen restaurants worldwide, will be in charge of the official menu of the event, which will have more than 1,500 guests, and in which the coveted Spanish product will not be missing. The product will be presented freshly cut by teacher Raúl Garrido, official cutter of the Spanish brand in the United States. For the event, up to ten five jotas have been planned to respond to the demand, Indeed delicious !

Speakeasy or reserved small restaurants in which to enjoy the desktop cup with peace of mind without having to leave the premises. A fashion that, perhaps, wants to make a wink to the establishments of the first decades of the 20C in the USA, when the dry law prevented alcohol consumption and was done secretly in hidden places, This is the mode hitting Madrid and I have some place highly recommended by experts local folks that I have known for years of night zoning ! These are :

The Sala de Despiece in the Salamanca neighborhood in addition to its delicious food, they will have a new area reserved for the enjoyment of the after, located in the basement under the main restaurant. Location Calle Ayala, 27. Robuchon , in addition to being able to enjoy a delicious food or dinner in L’Ambassade or L’Atelier, it has a speakeasy that combines music and cocktails, emulating the famous Parisian boites of the 1920s. On certain days, a big band interprets a selection of great hits of French music. Location ; Paseo de la Castellana, 12. Giselle combines dinners and dance using the aesthetics of the 1990s. Its strong point, in addition to good music, is its section of signature cocktails, original creations of the house that add a special touch to the experience, and that is their differentiation from the classics. In addition, every day of the week they have a different music style, starting on Wednesdays with the Latin rhythms session, followed by Thursdays with the special session Dejavú 54 to remember the wonderful years of the mythical Studio 54 of New York, and then free rein to current music during the weekends. Location Paseo de Recoletos, 16. Viso 94 has just opened its doors with a fusion of international flavors, author and animation cocktails. In addition to its Latin influence cuisine, the day continues with DJs sessions, as well as different theme Dinner Shows for every night, from Mexican, Aramemco (Fusion of Arabic and Flamenco), Cuban or Gatsby , Location Paseo de la Castellana, 94.
Casa Canito ,first sight is a small and flirtatious bar corner of few tables next around the corner, a new world begins with the entrance to a very clandestine air place that can only be accessed after password that changes every day and where the night seems to have no end. Location Paseo de Recoletos, 11.
Lovo Bar inspired by the dancer Josephine Baker and in the crazy and clandestine bars of the 1920’s in the Barrio de las Letras neighborhood , with the one and only Josephine Baker which appears in body and soul in the place. A space that has two very differentiated areas; On the upper floor, La Caza or hunting, with a wide bar and comfortable sofas, and on the ground floor,La Cueva or cave, with space to dance. Location Calle Echegaray, 20

The latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer provides a comprehensive overview of the sector’s performance in 2023, tracking recovery by global region, sub-region and destination. Key takeaways include: The Middle East led recovery in relative terms as the only region to overcome pre-pandemic levels with arrivals 22% above 2019. Europe, the world’s most visited region, reached 94% of 2019 levels, supported by intra-regional demand and travel from the United States. Africa recovered 96% of pre-pandemic visitors and  Americas  reached 90%. Asia and the Pacific reached 65% of pre-pandemic levels following the reopening of several markets and destinations. However, performance is mixed, with South Asia already recovering 87% of 2019 levels and North-East Asia around 55%. 

The latest UNWTO data also highlights the economic impact of recovery. International tourism receipts reached USD 1.4 trillion in 2023 according to preliminary estimates, about 93% of the USD 1.5 trillion earned by destinations in 2019. Total export revenues from tourism (including passenger transport) are estimated at USD 1.6 trillion in 2023, almost 95% of the USD 1.7 trillion recorded in 2019. Preliminary estimates on the economic contribution of tourism, measured in tourism direct gross domestic product (TDGDP) point to USD 3.3 trillion in 2023, or 3% of global GDP. This indicates a recovery of pre-pandemic TDGDP driven by strong domestic and international tourism.

International tourism is expected to fully recover pre-pandemic levels in 2024, with initial estimates pointing to 2% growth above 2019 levels. China is applying visa-free travel for citizens of France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Malaysia for a year to 30 November 2024. Europe is expected to drive results again in 2024. In March, Romania and Bulgaria will join the Schengen area of free movement, and Paris will host the Summer Olympics in July and August.Strong travel from the United States, backed by a strong US dollar, will continue to benefit destinations in the Americas and beyond. As in 2023, robust source markets in Europe, the Americas and the Middle East, will continue to fuel tourism flows and spending around the world. Source : Subscribe member (me) newsletter.

I just saw this on the Spanish El Confidencial newspaper and figure to put it here as in memoriam, Michael Culver died at 85 years after a long disease, Born in 1938 in London, his film career covered other great titles, such as Passage to India (1984) or Breakaway (1980). He also participated in the return of Sherlock Holmes , A career that covers more than 50 years with notable papers in Sherlock Holmes, Secret Army and, of course, one of the most memorable death scenes of the Star Wars series as Captain Needa, RIP

There you go folks, another dandy tour of my dear Spain.  It is time to enjoy my some news from Spain once again, Remember, Spain is everything under the Sun ! Again, hope you enjoy the post as I.

And remember ,happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!