Culture
The Wailers, Patti Smith, Joan Baez among top artists at Porta Ferrada festival
The 57th edition of the musical event on the Costa Brava will feature some 40 concerts from July 7 to August 20
costa brava
Business
Costa Brava bids to join UNESCO biosphere reserve network
Northern coastal region aims for international distinction awarded to sustainable areas in 2021
Society
Costa Brava beaches to be made more accessible for people with disabilities
Society
Divers find unexploded shell in Costa Brava
Business
Catalonia’s tourism sector looks forward to a bumper summer
From north to south and from east to west, visitor numbers are expected to match last year's record figures
Business
Mountain beats coast as top Easter holiday destination
Business
Arrival of 600 cruise ship passengers kicks off season for coastal town
Culture
Cap Roig festival announces strong line-up for 2018
Culture
Summer is synonymous with music festivals in Catalonia
No less than 360 festivals per year take place in Catalonia, 250 of them in summer
Culture
A night of rebellious rock and blues
Zucchero’s raspy voice heated up the Catalan festival Porta Ferrada
Business
Jet2 launches two new routes between Reus and the UK
Business
El Prat Airport registers its best January ever
Business
The port of Palamós will receive more luxury cruises this season but may still lose 20,000 passengers
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.
Culture
Seal and Diana Krall to perform at the 30th Castell de Peralada Festival
Society
A record-breaking 2.3 million foreign tourists visit Catalonia in July
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.