Spain

Spain wants to ban certain domestic short-haul flights as part of its plan to reduce carbon emissions. The resolution has just been adopted by the two political parties in the government coalition, the PSOE socialists and the radical left-wing Sumar. However, it still has to go through various committees and the European Parliament...

From King to Gran. One of Spain's great hotels for events and meetings. Launched for the Barcelona Olympic Games to welcome sports delegations with the honours due to their rank, the Hotel Rey Juan Carlos I stopped its career in 2020, hit by the pandemic. The Melia Group is taking up the story...

The improvement in diplomatic relations is having a positive effect on air travel: the national airline Air Algérie has just announced the resumption of its flights to Madrid following the re-establishment of relations between Algeria and Spain. Algeria had decided to suspend its relations following the Spanish Prime Minister's support for the autonomy plan of the autonomous region of...

On 11 December, Iberia launched its first direct flights to Hamad International Airport in Doha, Qatar. The flights are operated by Airbus A330-200, with a capacity of 288 passengers in Business and Eco class. With this Iberia flight, IAG is considerably strengthening its cooperation with Qatar Airways. With Madrid, London and...

The French model, which now bans short-haul flights where there is a viable alternative of less than 2? hours by train, is finding new emulators. Spain also wants to ban short-haul flights on domestic routes. Here too, on condition that there is a train alternative of less than 2.5...

The opening of the FirstName hotel last year, the new lifestyle face of the Burdigala, which is due to return to business this month, and soon a Mondrian establishment designed by Philippe Starck: contemporary hotels are all the rage in Bordeaux. This autumn, the Gironde city will have the privilege of welcoming the Hotel Indigo brand, part of the...

PortAventura Business & Events offers a 360° service that can be fully customised to meet any requirement. As part of the "all in one" concept, the structure has a large Convention Centre with 24 multifunctional rooms covering an area of 20,000 m². PortAventura also has...

(Article updated on 19 June) After Trenitalia, the opening up to competition in the rail sector is about to become a little more of a reality in France with the arrival of Renfe. The Spanish national operator plans to launch an AVE line between Lyon and Barcelona on 13 July. Renfe will then inaugurate the Marseille-Barcelona-Madrid route on 28...

As MICE activity picks up, Catalonia is 'the' Spanish province of choice for business event organisers. With Barcelona as its standard-bearer, the destination is making the most of its assets, from its Mediterranean coastline and the natural spaces of its hinterland, to its Catalan culture and tasty cuisine, its original activities and its accessibility, in...

While IHG has made the luxury and lifestyle hotel sector one of its main areas of development, this strategy does not obscure the fact that, in addition to all the InterContinental, Kimpton and Regent hotels to come, the Holiday Inn family of brands remains one of its most solid growth guarantees. Between them, the Holiday...

A station hotel like no other, far removed from those establishments such as InterCity Hotels that punctuate the route taken by travellers on their business trips in Germany and Europe. Expected to open in March, the Barcelo Group's Royal Hideaway Canfranc Estación is aimed more at railway history buffs. A hotel housed in the...

Melia Hotels is going to play doubles with Rafael Nadal. The Spanish group has just announced a partnership with this icon of Spanish and world tennis to launch the ZEL brand, a new lifestyle chain of resorts and urban 'bleisure' hotels with a Mediterranean identity. "An innovative brand, full of energy, which will surprise and delight...

Since Sunday, SNCF has been ramping up its high-speed services between France and Spain, offering two daily round trips on the Inoui TGV between Paris-Gare de Lyon and Barcelona Sants stations from 11 December. Departures are scheduled at 9.38 am and 2.54 pm from the Parisian capital, and at...

Valencia was in the spotlight this year, as both the World Capital of Design and the European Capital of Intelligent Tourism, shared with Bordeaux. The latter distinction provided an opportunity for the Spanish city of 800,000 inhabitants to hold an international conference at the end of November to promote its initiatives and projects in the field of intelligent tourism.

With Europe's largest network of high-speed lines, the Spanish market is attracting a lot of interest from operators. After the SNCF and its Ouigo services, it's Trenitalia's turn to enter the battle under the Iryo brand. The official journey took place yesterday between Madrid and Valencia, in anticipation of Friday's opening of the first...

On the international front, SNCF opened a second route on Friday for its low-cost subsidiary Ouigo Spain between Madrid and Valencia, a year and a half after the route between the Spanish capital and Barcelona (via Zaragoza and Tarragona) was used by three million passengers. The new service is operated by double-decker Euroduplex TGVs...

After the Paris-Lyon route last December, the 'red arrows' - the Frecciarossa high-speed trains used by Trenitalia - are due to enter the Spanish market on 25 November, according to some local media. In Spain, where the opening up of the rail market is more than a reality, in addition to the high-speed trains operated by the national company Renfe and...

It's a success that has taken political and economic circles by surprise. In June alone, Germany sold 21 million transport tickets for 9 euros. These were in addition to the 10 million season tickets sold each month on local and regional lines. Fears of trains or transport...

IFEMA Madrid is back on the international MICE scene. This was the message sent out on 13 July by the Madrid Convention Centre, which reported a busy, and therefore successful, first half-year. IFEMA Madrid's management noted that it had "spearheaded the revival of the trade fair sector...

The two railway companies RENFE and SNCF are to cease joint operation of the high-speed train lines between France and Spain. Cooperation between the two carriers will cease at the end of 2022. Launched in 2013, the lines operated jointly by the two operators have never been profitable, and SNCF has been unable to...