Spain and Portugal for Visitors

If you are interested in Spain and its gastronomy, it's very likely that you already know about the PBS show Spain On the Road Again, the follow-up to the Spain Road Trip, if only because of its larger-than-life host Mario Batali and co-host celebrity actress Gwyneth Paltrow. What you may not have realised is that it is musically fun as well, beginning with its theme tune, "On the Road Again," performed by Willy Nelson and Antonio Carmona in a sweet kind of flamenco skiffle style. All round, the soundtrack is, as I say, fun and of generally high quality, but it is definitely NOT SPANISH. Read on for more about the Spain - On the Road Again music.

Posted by : John Ross on Wednesday, October 08, 2008 - 11:54 AM 48 reads

Dutch firm EUclaim is bringing action against Ryanair on behalf of forty passengers whose flights were cancelled. Under EU legislation, travellers whose flights are cancelled are entitled to up to £476 compensation. But airlines may plead "extraordinary circumstances" including bad weather to avoid paying out. And it is "is virtually impossible for passengers to object to airline statements about technical circumstances," says EUclaim's website. "As a result airlines have been able to effectively hide behind the claim of extraordinary circumstances." EUclaim maintains detailed information about flights which it says allow it to challenge such claims. "In most of the claims against Ryanair the reason for the delay or cancellation of the flight was simply because the airline didn’t have any aircraft available." More of this story.

Posted by : John Ross on Wednesday, October 08, 2008 - 09:46 AM 52 reads

Wikiloc is a website with the goal of helping you "share and discover GPS tracks and waypoints from around the World in an easy way," in other words, it is a wiki for routes or trails - walking trails, climbing trails, cycling trails, mountain bike trails and many more, not just in Spain and Portugal, but practically everywhere in the world. But Wikiloc's founder, Jordi L. Ramot, is a Spanish software engineer, based in his native (I am guessing from the name) Catalonia, an expert in all things geospatial and enthusiastic trail-beater. Wikiloc has nearly 27,000 users at the time of writing, and over 32,000 trails. Whether or not you use it to plan an excursion, it is tremendous fun (and if you are GPS-handicapped and want to contribute, you can always upload your route in kml format). The news, though, is that Google Earth now includes Wikiloc trails (including Panoramio pics, the other great Spanish contrinution to Google Earth). Read on for a sample trail and the different types available, from ATV to Zoo* trails.

Posted by : John Ross on Thursday, October 02, 2008 - 12:21 PM 107 reads

A press release just in announces the inauguration of the Palace of Rubianes Hotel and Golf in the heart of the countryside of Asturias, and it really is mouth-watering. The four-star, 23-room hotel is appealing enough in itself, being a restored 16th-century manor house, complete with tower, water mill and hórreo (a kind of granary, raised on stilts, typical of Galicia and Asturias), 9-hole golf course, restaurant and aerodrome. But throw in the fabulous surroundings on the lower slopes of the Sierra de Sueve, home to a 1,000-year old yew forest, the oldest in Europe, and it becomes almost irresistible. The hotel has its own 200-hectare hunting estate (partridge, pheasant and pigeon), if that is your thing, and at hand, you have a local stud farm, the River Sella (famous for the annual descent by canoe), some of the best salmon fishing in Spain, and the gorgeous countryside of Asturias. Read the Palacio de Rubianes press release.

Posted by : John Ross on Thursday, October 02, 2008 - 10:13 AM 126 reads

The planned tunnel between Morocco and Spain has received a serious setback, and it is possible that it may now not be feasible. A paleochannel is a kind of dried up water course which has become filled up with soil, and geological studies have found not one but two running east-west across the bed of the Straits of Gibraltar. A tunnel would have to run through them or underneath them. The Straits of Gibralter are very deep and the huge pressures mean tunnelling under the paleochannels is probably impossible, and the muddy nature of their fill means boring through them would be difficult and hugely expensive.

Posted by : John Ross on Monday, September 29, 2008 - 11:33 AM 141 reads