costa

Jet2 launches two new routes between Reus and the UK

April 28, 2017 07:02 PM | ACN

The British airline Jet2 launched a new connection this Friday between Reus Airport, located about 100 kilometers from Barcelona, and London-Stansted. In addition, starting Saturday, Birmingham will be added to their routes from Reus. The new connection with London-Stansted will operate on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays whereas the flights between Reus and Birmingham will be available on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. They will offer 228,000 seats and expect to grow by 65% in comparison with last summer. Jet2 already offers seven routes from Reus to Belfast, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Manchester, Leeds, East Midlands, and Newcastle and will offer 30 weekly flights, 10 more than last year.

El Prat Airport registers its best January ever

February 13, 2017 01:56 PM | ACN

The number of passengers whom passed through Barcelona El Prat Airport this January grew by 11.4% in comparison to the same month last year. According to the Spanish Airport Authority (AENA) 2,804,092 passengers used Barcelona El Prat Airport's facilities in the first month of 2017 and there were 20,848 operations registered. The number of flights to and from Latin America and the Caribbean grew the most, by 35.8%, followed by those to and from the Middle East (16.9%), Africa, which grew by 10.4% in comparison to January 2016, and North America (9.3%). Cargo transportation also grew in January, increasing by 11.4% in comparison to the first month of 2016 and totalled 10,330 tonnes. In terms of cargo, routes from within the Spanish state saw the biggest growth, 40.5%, while international cargo registered a 10.2% increase in comparison to January 2016.

 

‘Saloufest’ promoters cancel the event due to political “pressure”

October 5, 2016 07:32 PM | ACN

I Love Tour, the company behind the five-day event for students from the United Kingdom ‘Saloufest’ has decided to cancel the festival. After 16 years celebrating this festival in the town of Salou, on Catalonia's Costa Daurada, the organisers have considered that the Catalan Government and the Salou’s Town Hall “pressure” make it “nearly impossible to offer programmes for youth tourism in the region”. As an alternative, the promotors offer to the 10,000 students which were due to attend ‘Saloufest’ to go to ‘Sportsvest’ instead, an event to be organised in Lloret de Mar, on the Costa Brava. ‘Saloufest’ combines sports with leisure activities but in recent years many neighbours and entities in the area have complained about several out-of-control parties, which saw loud singing and drunken behaviour on the streets of the town. 

More than 10 million international tourists visit Catalonia

August 30, 2016 10:51 AM | ACN

Catalonia continues to be the most attractive destination for international tourists travelling to Spain. Up to 25.3% of all foreign visitors stay in Catalonia, according to figures published on Tuesday, which also show a 4.7% increase in the number of tourists between January and July 2016. The majority of international tourists staying in Catalonia are French (23.5%) and British (10.6%). In August, most regions within Catalonia have been fully booked, with figures suggesting better results than in summer 2015.

The port of Palamós will receive more luxury cruises this season but may still lose 20,000 passengers

May 6, 2016 03:50 PM | Xavier Pi / Lourdes Casademont / Andrea Massot

The port of Palamós on the Costa Brava will receive more luxury cruises this season, but will also lose almost 20,000 passengers compared to 2015. Although the number of cruise liners stopping at the Catalan coastal town will not vary substantially, there will be a decline in the number of passengers due to the fact that the two cruise ships with the greatest capacity, the Thomson Dream and the Island Escape, will not dock this season. The former has changed its route to the Caribbean, while the latter has been sent to the scrapyard. The president of Ports of Catalonia, Ricard Font, says that this decline is not a “major concern” because it responds to “objective reasons” and that the port of Palamós is still highly valued. Proof of this, he points out, is that 59% of the companies that will dock from now until November are luxury cruise liners that carry passengers coming to spend three times more money than conventional cruise travellers. In 2016 the port will also open the maritime station, which has been remodelled and is almost ready for when Palamós becomes an external border within the Schengen zone.

Seal and Diana Krall to perform at the 30th Castell de Peralada Festival

February 25, 2016 07:25 PM | ACN

The British singer Seal will perform on the 23rd of July at Auditori del Parc del Castell and Canadian artist Diana Krall will also do so a few days later, on the 30th of July. Whereas this will be the first time Seal will perform at the Castell de Peralada Festival, Krall returns on this the 30th anniversary of the festival, after her concert in 2008. Seal will be touring his new album ‘7’ and Krall will make her only stop in Catalonia at Peralada, as part of her ‘Wallflower’ world tour. Another highlight on the festival’s line up will be Puccini’s Turandot, directed by Catalan actor and director, Mario Gas. 

A record-breaking 2.3 million foreign tourists visit Catalonia in July

August 21, 2015 04:06 PM | ACN

Catalonia is experiencing a very positive tourism season. The number of foreign tourists visiting the country last month rose by 9.12% in comparison to July 2014 and totalled 2,340,299, the highest number since statistics from the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism started. Gaudí, the magical beaches of the Costa Brava and the rural settings of the Pyrenees are attracting an increasing number of international tourists, whom are boosting business. Catalonia is, once again, the most visited Autonomous Community, attracting 26.6% of the total number of tourists visiting Spain.

Girona Airport passenger numbers continue to plummet but freight traffic is saving grace

July 13, 2015 10:15 PM | ACN

New passenger data from Girona-Costa Brava Airport indicates another negative differential. During the month of June 215,985 passengers came through the terminal located some 100 kilometres north of Barcelona, a 17.5% decrease from the same period in 2015. This is the lowest such number since 2003, which was before Ryanair started to operate from Girona. Traffic at the airport is currently at a level half of those from 2008, 2009 or 2010 when, in months like June, the amount of passengers surpassed half a million. This June has only been another piece in a long string of woes for Girona, as traffic has plummeted year after year from its peak in 2008 (5.5 million passengers total).The only positive note is the merchandise passing through. During the past month, 17,515 tons of goods were transported through Girona Airport, a figure 142.3% better than the year before.