costa

Spanish singer Alejandro Sanz ended the successful Costa Brava festival that achieved full audiences in 15 of 20 concerts scheduled and an attendance of 41,000 people. This year's festival was the first organised by Catalan music publisher Clipper’s and included performances by Bob Dylan, Ben Harper, Simple Minds, James Morrison, Miguel Bosé and Manolo García, among others. The festival has had a positive effect on the local economy providing a boost of €20 million.

Twenty artists from Beijing’s National Circus o present ‘The Dream of a Journey to the East’ at the Porta Ferrada Festival, in the Costa Brava's town of Sant Felíu de Guíxols. The show, with a mix of entertainment and acrobatics choreographed to music, is directed by a showman who leads the narrative in close proximity to the spectators. Beijing’s National Circus has visited over 60 countries in the past 40 years and has won several international competitions.

The opera ‘Don Giovanni’ by Mozart will be staged in Catalonia at the Castell de Peralada Festival in the Empordà County, on the Costa Brava. The renowned opera tells the story of a man living on the edge in a constant search without end, with allusions to sadism and immortality. First premiered in 1787 in Prague, this modern production sill reflects many aspects of society and has an impressive cast including the famous baritone Carlos Álvarez from Málaga.

8,000 cruise passengers will visit the Costa Brava port, 18% more than last year’s figures. The Crystal Serenity a luxury cruise liner with 14 floors and 550 suites will be visiting the Catalan coastal town.

Catalan and international painting from 1870 to 1970 will interact to show the relation between people and landscape. The exhibition ‘Landscapes of light, dream landscapes. From Gauguin to Delvaux’ kicks off the activities at the Espai Carmen Thyssen, in Sant Feliu de Guíxols Monastry, on the Costa Brava. This will be the first of many exhibitions in this Catalan coastal town, said Carmen Thyssen. In fact the Baroness and the town’s City Council are planning to build a permanent Thyssen Museum in the town. Thyssen also stated that it would be “wonderful” to show more paintings in her collection at Catalonia’s National Art Museum’s expansion.

The Balfegó Group has started to offer a ‘Tuna-Tour’ that allows tourists to visit in catamaran the farms where tuna are fed and being taken care of. The Balfegó Group aims to show off its sustainable fishing techniques for preserving this endangered species. The tour lasts two hours and fifteen minutes and allows tourists to swim with the endangered fish if they want to.

The initiative is inspired by 'Girona 10'. It lasts from June 8th to the 10th so as to promote the Costa Brava town as a commercial and tourist destination. Blanes s offering hotel nights and menus in restaurants for 12 euros as well as discounts at some local shops of 12%. 90 commercial and service establishments are participating in the initiative, which includes a shopping night.

The initiative aims to strengthen the Costa Brava brand. ‘Costa Brava Hotels de Luxe’ is looking to create synergies between gastronomy, culture and leisure. The association includes sixteen four and five stars establishments.

Three deputy chefs of what was recognised for consecutive years as the best restaurant in the world, El Bulli, run by the Catalan chef Ferran Adrià, are now set to open their own restaurant on the Costa Brava. It will be called ‘Compartir’, the Catalan verb for ‘to share’. They aim to offer “simple cuisine”, with dishes to share. El Bulli closed its doors last summer, however it will transform itself into elBulli Foundation, a centre to experiment with food, design and senses. It is expected to open in 2014. The three sous-chefs will also collaborate with Adrià’s new project.

Tourism from Russia and former Soviet republics has been increasing in Catalonia over the last few years. The Russian tour operator Natalie Tours announced that it will bring 35,000 Ukrainian tourists to Spain, 80% them going to Catalan beaches and the rest to the Canary Islands. Within the next 5 years, the number of Ukrainian tourists is expected to reach half million people. Furthermore, the number of tourists from Eastern Europe is expected to increase between 35% and 40%.

Every year, two temporary exhibitions from the Thyssen collection will be organised in the Catalan coastal town of Sant Feliu de Guíxols, in the Costa Brava, until the Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Center for Catalan Painting is built. The first exhibition will be at the Abbot’s Palace, where 60 works will be exhibited in May, combining a selection of Catalan painters and international artists from the 19th and 20th century.

The Irish low cost airline, Ryanair, has announced it will transport 3 million passengers through the Girona-Costa Brava Airport, where it will operate a total of 59 routes. Ryanair’s Vice President, Michael Cawley, explained that after a long negotiation process an agreement has been reached with the Catalan Government. “It’s not 100% our agreement, it’s not 100% the Government’s agreement, so it’s probably a good agreement” he said ironically. Ryanair and the Catalan Government have been arguing over the last year about the airline’s presence in Girona and Reus airports.

The Catalan Government and the Irish low-cost airline Ryanair have put an end to their dispute and have announced an agreement to operate from Girona-Costa Brava and Reus for the next five years starting in April 2012. Ryanair has guaranteed that in the first twelve months more than 3 million passengers will pass through Girona Airport and 500,000 through Reus Airport. However, it has one condition: the Spanish public airport operator AENA cannot increase taxes at neither Girona nor Reus airports. If that happens the agreement will become null and void. Ten days ago, Ryanair had completely abandoned Reus. Flights through Girona had been significantly reduced in the summer and they had cut the number of flights operating in the winter months.

The Catalan theme park, located on the Costa Daurada next to Tarragona, will invest 25 million euros building the new attraction, which will be 76 metres high and will emulate the Himalaya. In addition, users will reach a speed of 134 km/h. The new rollercoaster’s name and exact design are still a mystery, but it will cross the Dragon Khan four times. The Catalan President assisted in the ceremony of the laying of the first stone. The attraction will be ready in May 2012.

The works to the monument, which dates back to the 12th century and is at risk of ruin, have been delayed two years over a dispute with owner. The Castle is located over the beach of La Fosca, in Palamós. This town is at the centre of Catalonia’s Costa Brava and it is an important tourist centre.