tourism

Barcelona’s famous central artery and main tourist street will undergo a major transformation due to the degradation experienced over the last number of years. Barcelona City Council has decided to make Les Rambles an appealing location and presented an investment plan based on six main points. It aims to increase security and to make the street more pleasant to walk on. The plan has a €10 million budget and will be gradually implemented between 2012 and 2018.

British skiers are able to access the Catalan Pyrenees as of December with direct flights to Lleida Airport. The Spanish Government has authorised the arrival and departure of non-Schengen flights, coming from the likes of the United Kingdom and Russia. However, the authorisation’s delay forced a Russian tour operator to cancel the flights for this season and postpone them until next year.

Barcelona’s City Council announced that tourist buses will not be able to access the adjacent streets of the famous Sagrada Família Basilica. The reason: in the last few months there have been too many buses and they have been congesting the church surroundings, creating problems. The church, designed by well-known Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí, will welcome 900.000 more visitors this year compared to 2010, which means 3.2 million people will visit the Sagrada Família in 2011.

The ski resort of Baqueira Beret, located in the Catalan Western Pyrenees, has invested 6 million euros to update its facilities. Baqueira Beret’s ski slopes are scheduled to open the season on November 26th. This ski resort, in the Val d’Aran County, is one of the largest in the Pyrenees.

1.9 million foreign tourists visited Catalonia in August, representing a 2.9% increase on the same month in 2010. Catalonia hosted almost a quarter of all international tourists visiting Spain. The number of international visitors who came to Spain in August increased 9.4% compared to last year, totalling 7.64 million.

The CNA went to the streets to ask tourists what they thought of some of the traditions that live on here. Tourists appear unaware of Catalan culture suggesting that it is not sufficiently promoted internationally.

Country house visitors with Spanish nationality decrease by 4% while the number of foreigners visiting these rural establishments increases by nearly 8%.

In the current times of crisis within the real state market, money from Russian tourists is particularly noticeable. Rich Russian citizens come to Tarragona’s Costa Daurada to buy houses close to the seashore. Their search is on for "exclusive homes'' with attached land to use them as summer houses or as a base to permanently relocate to. When not using the house, they may rent them.

The new cultural facility explains how was life in Manresa, central Catalonia, during the Middle Age. The new centre aims to generate tourism for the city. It was unveiled last weekend.

Lloret de Mar is one of the most popular tourist destinations along the Costa Brava yet some tourists themselves are tearing this beach resort apart. Clashes with police, particularly over the last month, have sparked calls for greater security and a crack-down on the drinking culture that has fostered in the town.

Catalonia consolidates its position as the first tourist destination within Spain, with 26% of all visits. International tourism within Catalonia increases in July by 5.1% compared to last year.

The CNA talks to the city's visitors to see what they really think of the tourist services. According to the Barcelona Tourism Statistics division, since 1990, visitors have increased from under 2 million to over 7 million and the number of those staying overnight has increased from 3 million to 14 million

Les Rambles stands out as key attraction in Barcelona connecting Plaça Catalunya to Christopher Columbus at Port Vell and the Barri Gòtic to El Raval. Yet in recent years it has increasingly gained a bad reputation amongst visitors and locals alike. CNA talks to the tourists who continue to line the street.

Visitors from the United Kingdom were the highest contributors in June, spending 1229 million. Germans follow, with a total expenditure of 900 million euros while French tourists, with 514 million euros, increased their cumulative expenditure by a surprising 16.4%

Barcelona, the so called 'Pick pocketing Capital of Europe' takes small steps to changing its reputation by ensuring a police presence on the metro. For the last three years, the estimated 150 thieves who operate on Barcelona's metro have been met by the lone efforts of Eliana Guerrero, a native Colombian who has made it her mission to warn the city against the dangers of pick pockets.