attractions

Ferrari Land, Europe's first theme park in Europe entirely dedicated to the Ferrari, will open its doors this Friday. Located next to Port Aventura, in Vila-Seca, a town in the southern Catalan region of Tarragona, Ferrari Land represents a €100 million investment, occupies 70,000 m2, and includes 11 rides and attractions. The most popular is the ‘Red Force’, Europe’s largest and fastest roller-coaster. In fact, it is a vertical accelerator which goes from 0 to 180 km/h in five seconds, simulating the acceleration of a Formula 1 race car. More than 250 media from all over the world attended the inauguration this Thursday, including Ferrari’s founder son, Pietro Ferrari. With this new attraction, Port Aventura World, which includes Port Aventura and the adjacent Caribbean World water park, is set to boost the Vila-Seca area and turn Port Aventura World into a leading family destination.

The Catalan capital underwent a major transformation concerning the infrastructure and urban planning during the nineties, mainly due to the celebration of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 1992. However, rather than stopping there, Barcelona continued to adapt the city to its disabled visitors and is now considered one of the most accessible tourist destinations in Europe. Various travel agencies in the Catalan capital specialise in providing information for people with a disability. To achieve this, they offer the best accessible hotels, activities and adapted transport. Moreover, the public transport network is fully accessible and several beaches, one of the main attractions in Barcelona, also offer assisted bathing services for disabled people who cannot access the water independently.   

The Catalan Government collected €43.5 million in tourism tax revenue in 2015, an increase of nearly 5.5% from 2014. Quarterly analysis shows a growth in revenue from hotels, cruises, and tourist homes used by those visiting Catalonia. Additionally, the Catalan Government said that 2015’s numbers show widespread growth in touristic revenues across almost all areas of Catalonia, with Terres de l’Ebre leading with an 11.6% growth from 2014. Catalan Ministry for Business and Knowledge Jordi Baiget said the increase in revenue is “parallel to the increase in tourists” who visit Catalonia — especially those who visit during the last quarter of the year, which in 2015 proved to be the most successful. 

Every party with representation in the 41-seat Barcelona City Council, except for one small party holding 3 seats, were present at the signing of the official proposal that will be sent to the Mobile World Congress' organisers in order to continue hosting the event until 2023. The MWC is the world's main event of the mobile phone-related industries and since 2006 has taken place each year in Barcelona. The current contract expires in 2018 and there are other cities that want to host the event besides the Catalan capital. The 2015 edition attracted 93,000 visitors in Barcelona, 9% more than in 2014. Most of those who attended were executives from international companies staying for 4 or 5 days in town. It was estimated that the 2015 edition had a €436 million impact on the local economy and generated more than 12,600 temporary jobs. Furthermore, Barcelona has been named the Mobile World Capital, a long-term project to make the Catalan city a hub for this industry, hosting standardisation organisations, multinationals and international research centres focused on related technologies.

The 60^th edition of the 'Girona, Temps de Flors' flower festival kicked off on Saturday and will run until the 17^th of May. For the event, around 1,000 students, volunteers, designers and florists have come together, working on 164 flower installations, distributed over 134 spaces all around the city. The festival is expected to attract more than 200,000 visitors, providing the city with a true international dimension. Two official itineraries have been set up, allowing tourists to walk around discovering many of Girona's magical corners. According to event organisers, the top 10 sites not to be missed are: the Funeral Chapel of Sant Nicolau, the Basilica of Sant Feliu, Jurats Square, the Arab Baths, the Girona's iconic Cathedral, the Church of Sant Lluc, the building of Sarraïnes, Rabbin House Lleó Avinay, Els Alemanys Gardens and the Church of Sant Martí. This year, the Festival's budget amounted to €400,000.

Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari Formula One Team Driver, together with the President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, have set on Thursday the symbolic first stone of the company’s first theme park in Europe, which will be an expansion of PortAventura, the main amusement resort in Catalonia, located on the Costa Daurada and near Tarragona. Ferrari Land is expected to be ready by the end of 2016, after an initial investment of €100 million. It is likely to become PortAventura’s main attraction and is expected to make the Catalan holiday and amusement resort reach 5 million visitors per year. Once Ferrari Land is operational, it will employ about 150 people, in addition to PortAventura’s staff. The project also includes a 5-star hotel themed around the Ferrari brand, but this will be built during a second stage.

The 27^th of April is the feast day of the Mare de Déu deMontserrat,Our Lady of Montserrat, or as she is more affectionately called in Catalonia, la Moreneta, "the little dark-skinned one". One of the only black images of the Virgin Mary in Europe, the Virgin of Montserrat is the patron saint of all dioceses in Catalonia and together with St. George (Sant Jordi) is considered the patron saint of the territory. In recent history, she has also become a symbol for Catalan national identity and Catholic Catalan nationalism. Up in the mountains of Montserrat, the Santa María abbey celebrated on Monday with a mass dedicated to the Virgin, and outside in the main square there were numerous traditional activities including people making human towers (castells), music bands and food stalls, as well as groups dancing the traditional Catalan dance, La Sardana.

The Province of Girona, in the north eastern part of Catalonia, contains 13 restaurants which among them have 17 Michelin stars, thus making it home to some of the best restaurants in the world. In fact, Girona is the area with the highest Michelin star to population ratio (one star for every 44,000 inhabitants), in the world, ahead of Paris, Rome or London. On top of this, Girona hosts what was awarded Best Restaurant in the world in 2013 by the English magazine 'Restaurant Magazine' and it has been among the top 3 for the last decade: El Celler de Can Roca. In an attempt to raise awareness of its culinary success, all establishments in Girona have united under the brand "Girona Territori d'Estrelles" (Girona Land of Stars).

B-Travel is a Barcelona-based tourism show bringing together some 215 exhibitors from across the industry and more than 50 different destinations. The event, one of the most important of its kind in Europe, kicked off on Friday at Fira de Barcelona's Montjuïc venue, taking over Catalonia's International Tourism Fair after 23 years. Conceived as a new meeting point for travellers and tourism companies seeking enriched customer experiences, it aims at tailoring the tourist offering to each visitor's needs. This year, attendees can sign up to the B- Travel Internet Community upon their arrival and receive customised information on the vast array of tourism offers on display, focusing on specific types of tourism such as cultural, gastronomic, shopping, rural, and adventure sports, among others.

The river Noguera Pallaresa, in the Catalan county of Pallars Sobirà, used to be known for its trout fishing until the species decreased, accompanied by a decrease in fishermen. Now it is only known for its adventure sports. Located in the Western Catalan Pyrenees, near the border with Aragon, the County Council is now working on building new canals in Llavorsí and Escaló where the fish will be able to grow and swim upriver more easily. Work is expected to be completed this spring and the facilities could already be used this fishing season, which will end in September. The aim is to rediscover the environmental balance in the rivers of the Pallars area and to generate further economic activity by attracting anglers from throughout Europe.

In 2013, the UNESCO-supported Starlight Foundation granted Montsec Observatory, located in the Catalan Province of Lleida, its own Tourism certification, for having "one of the clearest skies in the world". On 14 March, Montsec's Centre for the Observation of the Universe (COU) reopened its doors for its seventh season. This year its multimedia facility - the Eye of Montsec – has been converted into the first 'Open 3D' planetarium in the world. With a capacity of around 70 people, it is now equipped with highly advanced audiovisual equipment, recreating total-immersion virtual environments. Moreover, thanks to its retractable dome and front wall, viewers can enjoy an uninterrupted view of the sky.

PortAventura announced it will start the construction of the amusement area devoted to Ferrari in May, with the objective of finishing work around a year-and-half later. FerrariLand will be part of PortAventura and will also be the first theme park of the Italian car brand in Europe, adding to the park it has in Abu Dhabi. It will be built in Salou, located in Catalonia’s Costa Daurada, near Tarragona and Reus. The new area will come after a €100 million investment. In addition, in the coming  months it should be confirmed whether the $6 billion BCN World resort, with Las Vegas-style hotels and casinos, but also with theatres and conference centres, is to be developed in the area. PortAventura also announced it is about to unveil its first 5-star hotel, coinciding with the theme park’s 20^th anniversary.

The flatlands in the counties near the city of Lleida (‘Pla de Lleida’ in Catalan) are probably the least touristy area of Catalonia and are known for having fog during most of the winter. Now this area located in western Catalonia is trying to reverse the negative view that this meteorological phenomenon implies. Tourism entrepreneurs have created a website promoting fog, with the slogan “Think positive, think fog”, and have now organised two walking routes through the countryside, visiting different villages and heritage monuments.