costa

12 Catalan campsites are now amongst the very best in Europe after receiving the award for ‘Best Camping 2014’, one of the highest existing distinctions for this type of tourist establishments. They were each awarded ‘5 stars’ and are listed in a guide published by Germany’s main Automobile Association (ADAC), read by millions of German and Dutch campers. Seven of the twelve campsites are located in the Province of Girona, on the Costa Brava (north-eastern Catalonia). Invited in the main CMT Tourism Fair in Stuttgart, the directors of the campsites have stated that these distinctions would be instrumental in attracting more campers from Germany, which has a significant number of potential customers.

Barcelona’s El Prat Airport has ended 2013 strongly to reach a new record of 35.2 million passengers, amounting to a 0.2% increase over the previous year in a context of economic crisis. According to figures released by the Spanish Airport Authority (AENA), in December 2013, 2.3 million passengers transited through El Prat, meaning 5.3% more than during the same month last year. On the other hand, Madrid’s Barajas Airport continues on a downward trend, with its yearly number of passengers dropping to 39.7 million, an 11% decrease. Girona Airport, the second largest in Catalonia, has registered negative figures for the fifth consecutive year. However, this latest decrease has been more moderate (-3.8 %) than during previous years and in 2013 it received 2.74 million passengers.

In 2013, in terms of occupancy rates, the town of Lloret de Mar (Costa Brava, north-eastern Catalonia), is the second tourist destination in Catalonia, behind Barcelona, and the fifth in Spain. According to data published by the Spanish Statistics Institute (INE), Lloret de Mar registered 4,989,836 overnight stays during 2013. Foreign tourists were an overwhelming majority, accounting for 4,310,537 of these stays. Besides, between January and December, the town surpassed one million tourists, with a majority of foreign visitors, from France (203,400 people) , Germany (124,000), Russia (107,600) and the United Kingdom (84,800).

The Dalí Museums welcomed a total of 1,580,517 visitors in 2013, meaning an 8.42 % increase over 2012. This is the most important figure ever achieved by all three museums of the Dalí Foundation, located in north-eastern Catalonia: the Dalí Theatre-Museum in Figueres, the Gala-Dalí Castle in Púbol (near the Costa Brava) and the artist’s house in Port Lligat, Cadaqués (a Costa Brava town). The Dalí Foundation congratulated itself and insisted such record attendance would spread even further the artist’s legacy in Spain and across the world.

ICTINEU 3, a scientific submersible designed and build in Catalonia, has entered the water for the very first time in a test dive near Barcelona. For over ten years, particular donations have helped construct this submarine that will be dedicated to “underwater exploration, scientific research and underwater intervention”. This first test was used to verify that all of the submarine’s systems could function underwater, and the next step will be a dive in seawater. ICTINEU 3 was named after the very first air independent and combustion engine driven submarine, ICTINEU 1, which was invented by Figueres’ engineer Narcís Monturiol and dived for the first time in the Catalan capital’s harbour.

Italian Investindustrial has sold 49.9 % of its stake in PortAventura amusement park to KKR, a US investment fund. With this operation Investindustrial has incorporated a long-term partner in the project, while making sure to be the majority shareholder with 50.1 %. The transaction will be effective in January 2014 and is only awaiting regulatory approvals. In the long-term strategy, PortAventura is looking for other agreements to broaden the range of leisure activities and develop further at international level. A few weeks ago it was made public that Investindustrial would join the BCN World project by building and managing 3,000 hotel rooms. Besides, it has been announced that the Cirque du Soleil would give daily shows in PortAventura from the summer of 2014.

The International Golf Travel Market (IGTM) fair takes place this week in PortAventura, located near Salou and Tarragona, at the Catalan Costa Daurada. By hosting this event, the world’s most important fair in the sector, the Province of Tarragona, and more specifically the Costa Daurada, aims at becoming a favourite destination for golf fans from all over the world. The fair is attended by 350 companies from 65 different countries and 1,400 professionals. The seven golf clubs in the Costa Daurada see the fair as a perfect opportunity to multiply by 3 the number of international tourists within the next two years, reaching up to 100,000 visitors. This type of tourism has a high purchasing power and an all year round season.

The Irish low-cost company issued a statement in reply to the European Commission’s investigation into the marketing agreement between Ryanair and the Catalan airports of Girona-Costa Brava and Reus (near the Costa Daurada). A competitor of Ryanair at Barcelona El Prat Airport had filed a complaint in Brussels accusing the Irish airline of profiting from public grants that were violating EU competition regulations. On Wednesday, the European Commission announced the launch of an investigation, which “does not prejudge the outcome”. In its statement, Ryanair pointed out that the European Court of Justice has already issued a judgement in 2008 stating that marketing agreements with airports are not state aid.

The Italian investment group has announced it will build and manage 3,000 of the 6,000 hotel rooms of the ‘BCN World’ mega resort, the competitor to Madrid’s Eurovegas that is being developed by Veremonte in Salou (Costa Daurada). The $6 billion entertainment resort will be located next to the beach and the PortAventura theme park, which is owned by Investindustrial. After a year of talks, the Italian company has finally decided to join the mega resort project, which will have casinos, hotels, convention centres, luxury shops, restaurants, golf courses and a beach club. The CEO of ‘BCN World’, Xavier Adserà, confirmed that the resort will begin building in the first half of 2014, employing 17,000 people. The hotel group Melià, shopping-mall company Value Retail and casino group Melco Crown Entertainment will build the first phase.

The 51^st edition of the International Festival of Porta Ferrada, located in the Costa Brava town of Sant Feliu de Guíxols, closed its doors with an average attendance of 91%. The event contained 21 music, theatre and dance performances, which had a total attendance of 11,105 people, 10,296 who paid for tickets and 890 going to the free events on offer. 6 shows were complete sell-outs: 5 of the 10 in the Espai Port (the main stage of the festival), and the ‘Concerts per a nadons’ (Concerts for babies). Albert Mallol, Artistic Director of the Porta Ferrada festival, told the CNA that it is important try to find new venues to be added to the iconic locations that already exist in order to increase the amount of musical and theatre performances.

This Wednesday, the world premier of the chamber opera ‘Wow!’ takes place at the Festival of Peralada Castle, located in northern Catalonia’s Costa Brava. The libretto is inspired by texts written by Oscar Wilde and Walt Whitman, building a relationship between the two poets. The opera will be staged in the cloister of El Carme Church in Peralada, which has a capacity of 400 people. The play is structured in a single act with a prologue and four scenes. It explores the themes of dreaming, death, ascension and immortality. The score and the text are the work of Catalan composer García Demestres, while the stage director is Xavier Albertí, who is the new Director of the National Theatre of Catalonia (TNC).

The Catalan capital is the world’s 4^th main port for the cruise ship industry, with the first 3 one being all in Florida. This means that Barcelona is the most important port in Europe and the Mediterranean Sea in terms of the amount of cruise ship passengers it receives. After a small decline in 2012, this year the Catalan capital is expecting to repeat its all time record from 2011, with more than 2.6 million cruise passengers. Furthermore, the cruise ship industry is increasingly using other Catalan harbours, such as Roses and Palamós. This week, for the first time ever, two large cruise ships docked at Palamós at the same time. In addition, this weekend is one of the busiest for Barcelona’s port, with 15 cruise ships docking in its harbour, transporting a total of 55,000 passengers.

The Landscape of the Geniuses tourism project celebrates how the Province of Tarragona (south Catalonia) has influenced the work of four world renowned artists: Antoni Gaudí, Joan Miró, Pau Casals and Pablo Picasso. The route focuses on four municipalities in the Costa Daurada and the Ebro Valley, in which these artists spent a considerable amount of time, and explore how the region left a lasting impression and inspired them in the creation of their work. The route involves 270 points of interest and accommodation facilities that include: museums, architecture, restaurants, hotels and campsites. A tourist card gives access to all of the visitor centres along the route as well as numerous discounts.

Both Barcelona-El Prat and Madrid-Barajas received 3.8 million passengers during the month of July, a figure which represents an increase of 0.3% for the Catalan and a decrease of 14.4% for Madrid’s compared to July 2012. The figures released by Aena, the public body that controls the majority of Spain’s airports, show that El Prat records its highest ever amount of passengers for the month of July and, up until now, a total of 20 million people have passed through its gates this year. Girona airport had 384,187 passengers, a reduction of 1.8%. While Reus airport (south Catalonia) saw passenger levels rise by 0.7% compared to July of 2012 with a total of 166,984.

The Empordà wine Appellation located in north-eastern Catalonia has seen a significant increase in its export levels in 2012. With more than 40 small cellars and cooperatives, Empordà has a large assortment of red, white and rosé wines. Garnatxa of Empordà, a sweet dessert wine is also a typical drink from this area of Catalonia located in the Costa Brava. The main destinations of Empordà exports were the United States, Germany, Norway, Switzerland and Canada. These exports increased by 13% over last year with more than 750,000 bottles sold abroad from the total 5 million bottles produced.