The Region of Murcia receives 300 days of sunshine a year and is an ideal spot for active travellers. Travellers can enjoy a game of tennis in many areas of the region, including at the recently renovated La Manga Club, which is one of Europe’s premier sport and leisure destinations. The Racquets Club has undergone an exciting transformation to upgrade facilities and install a state-of-the-art fitness hub and padel centre.

Whilst in the region, travellers can continue the adventure by going on treks through the Sierra Espuña Nature Park, Murcia’s prime ecotourist destination or a relaxed walk along the stunning beaches of Calblanque. The Mar Menor is one of Spain's most appreciated racecourses, with its warm, shallow waters and its mild temperatures, visitors can enjoy the sunshine and nautical sports 365 days a year. The Costa Cálida, also offers some of the best cycling trails in the country. One of the most coveted routes both starts and finishes in Los Alcázares, a coastal spa town near the Mar Menor, providing a variety of terrain and scenery as well as being suitable for cyclists of all fitness levels. 

The Region of Murcia is well connected to the UK, with frequent departures from 10 airports to Murcia International, including from London Luton (departing twice weekly). 

2024 marks the hundredth anniversary since the birth of Eduardo Chillida, the renowned Basque sculptor known for his monumental abstract works. Born in San Sebastián in 1924, Chillida is one of the most influential Spanish artists of the 20th century, known for poetic works such as Wind Comb. During his career he won countless prestigious awards, including the Venice Biennale, the Kandinsky and the Prince of Asturias awards.

Chillida’s works are spread throughout the Basque country and beyond, and can be found in public spaces and museums. To commemorate the 100^th anniversary of the artists’ death, venues and museums across Spain are holding special exhibitions featuring his work.

 The Maeght Universe

• Location: Chillida Leku, the Basque Country
• Date: ongoing – 14 April 2024
• About: The Maeght Universe presents a dialogue between the artists works and some of the artists he worked closest with, featuring 17 creations by 11 artists.

Jesús Uriarte. Chillida Lanean

• Location: Kutxa Kultur Artegunea, San SebastiáN
• Date: ongoing – 30 June 2024
• About: Jesús Uriarte. Chillida Lanean reveals the professional and personal relationship between photographer Jesús Uriarte and Eduardo Chillida over 20 years.

Chillida and Balenciaga. Playing form

• Location: Cristóbal Balenciaga Museum, the Basque Country
• Date: ongoing – 09 January 2025
• About: Chillida and Balenciaga. Playing form depicts the biographical and philosophical links between Eduardo Chillida and fashion designer Cristóbal Balenciaga.

Eduardo Chillida

• Location: Hauser & Wirth, Menorca
• Date: 11 May 2024 – 27 October 2024
• About: Eduardo Chillida highlights the artist’s pioneering practise on Menorca, where he worked and spent many summers with his family.

100 years of Eduardo Chillida in the Telefónica Collection

• Location: Chillida Leku Museum, the Basque Country
• Date: 15 May 2024 – 13 October 2024
• About: Eduardo Chillida in the Telefónica Collection displays a selection of pieces by the sculptor, all owned by the Spanish telecom company Telefónica.

A conversation. Eduardo Chillida and the arts of his time (1950-1970)

• Location: San Telmo Museum, San Sebastián
• Date: 08 June 2024 – 29 September 2024
• About: A conversation. Eduardo Chillida and the arts of his time (1950-1970) presents Chillida's creativity within the framework of the artistic culture of his time, focusing on his early years when he defined his ideals and plastic imagination.

Topalekua

• Location: Tabakalera, San Sebastían
• Date: 21 June 2024 – 06 October 2024
• About: Topalekua exhibition presents a reading of Eduardo Chillida's work from the perspective of contemporary art.

Chillida-Ortega Muñoz

• Location: Museum of Fine Arts Bilbao, Bilbao
• Date: 25 Jun 2024 - 13 Oct 2024
• About: Chillida-Ortega Muñoz studies the link between Chillida and Godofredo Ortega Muñoz, remembering that the painter's first individual exhibition took place when Chillida received the International Grand Prize for Sculpture at the Venice Biennale.

Chillida. Applied Uses

• Location: Museum of Contemporary Arts, the Basque Country
• Date: 15 November 2024 – 05 January 2025
• About: Chillida. Applied Uses presents Eduardo Chillida's facet as an illustrator and forger of two-dimensional shapes and icons in different collaborative projects

Learn more here

• Ade Adepitan, British television presenter and wheelchair basketball player, has been confirmed as the ambassador for the Spanish Tourist Office’s latest #SpainforAll campaign.
• (Industry peers that would like to like to share any insight or consider joining the ‘Spain for All’ campaign on an advisory panel can register their interest here)

Ade Adepitan has been confirmed as the official ambassador for ‘Spain for All’, a campaign from the Spanish Tourist Office underlining the country’s commitment to improving accessibility and social inclusivity within the travel and tourism sector.

‘Spain for All’ comprises of a number of different initiatives aimed at creating dialogue, sharing key learnings, and building a roadmap for better tourism inclusivity from a social and accessibility standpoint. The campaign includes a travel industry advisory panel with the aim of collating feedback to identify key challenges and opportunities and help build a roadmap towards positive progress.

Adepitan has spent significant time in Spain having lived in Zaragoza and has travelled the length and breadth of the country both personally and professionally. His ambassadorship role includes consultancy services for the advisory panel, personal feedback on his own experiences of travelling around the country as a wheelchair user, and endorsement of the campaign. He is also playing a role at Spain Sustainability Day taking place on 17 April 2024, with a part of the day dedicated to social sustainability and accessibility.

Ade Adepitan says:

“I am ecstatic to work alongside the Spanish Tourist Office on the ‘Spain for All’ campaign.  This type of campaign can truly have a life changing impact on one of the most neglected communities in the world. The disabled community!

Overall, I already rank Spain highly when it comes to accessibility provisions and infrastructure, but we need to educate everyone who works in the tourism industry about how to cater for people with disabilities. We should not be seen as a burden and should be treated with the same respect as all paying customers.  When you are dealing with a person with a disability, you should not make assumptions about what they can and can’t do.  Ask them what they need and listen to them, listen to hear and not to challenge, and always have a can-do attitude.

I believe this campaign could be one of the most important moments in the history of Spanish tourism. The disabled community has billions of pounds of spending power, but until now nobody has ever taken a serious look at how to give us that 5-star service experience.”

This campaign follows a UK survey conducted by Opinium on behalf of the Spanish Tourist Office in December 2023 which asked 1800 UK adults for their thoughts on how accessible Spain is as a travel destination with 86 percent of respondents considering Spain to be ‘very or quite’ accessible.

“Manuel Butler, director of the Spanish Tourist Office (UK), says:

“We are delighted to have Ade Adepitan on board as the ambassador for ‘Spain for All’.  Having spent time all over Spain, from Zaragoza to Ibiza, Ade is the perfect champion to support the Spanish Tourist Office’s objective of making Spain accessible to all. We hope to learn from Mr Adepitan and our peers in the travel industry to better understand the challenges people with accessibility needs face as we continue to advocate for a more inclusive travel sector.”

Former politician and passionate traveller, Michael Portillo, spent three months criss-crossing Andalucia for his new TV programme, Portillo’s Andalucia, showing on Channel 5 this month. Beginning his trip in Granada and ending in Carmona, Portillo took a journey through this historic province, home to ancient traditions, mesmerising Moorish architecture and diverse cuisine. From flamenco to the Alhambra, and from gazpacho to seafood, the cultural diversity of the region is spectacular. Portillo, who is half Spanish, spends much of the year in Carmona, and calls it his ‘second home’.

In Episode One, Portillo stays at Parador de Granada, one of the most popular hotels in Spain’s state-run network of historic and cultural properties located in some of the most beautiful settings on the Iberian peninsula. Parador de Granada gives travellers a chance to stay for a night amidst La Alhambra and its gardens and fountains that evoke its blended Arabic and Christian past. It occupies the site of a Christian monastery as well as the ancient Arab bathhouses of the palace.

Andalucía is home to eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites. In 2024, some of these most iconic sites will celebrate their 40-year anniversary, with notable commemorations planned to mark and recognise the occasion. Among them can be found the iconic Alhambra, Albaicín, the Generalife Garden in Granada, and the Great Mosque of Cordoba, which all earned their place on the World Heritage List in 1984.

On the 23^rd September 2023, the Balearic capital of Palma will once again be transformed into an open-air art museum for the annual Nit de l’Art (Art Night). This year will see a host of impressive new exhibitions inaugurated in Casal Solleric - an 18^th century Baroque building housing contemporary art and photography - and Can Balaguer – one of the city’s most beautiful traditional courtyards.

This annual event sees the art galleries and museums in Palma’s historic centre stay open all night, as well as work from local artists displayed in cafes, bars and balconies, transforming the city into an open-air exhibition. To celebrate the start of the art and culture season, each gallery in the city has its own programme of activities in the days leading up to the main evening, when visitors are offered free entry.

On the 23^rd September, exhibition openings will include a collective exhibition at The Fermay Gallery, displaying works by Nadia Barkate, Alex Hudson and Nadia Naveau; The Baró gallery, showcasing Susy Gómez’s work, and the Aba Art Lab, portraying works by Teresa Matas.

In addition, award-winning visual artist Maria “La Ribot” Ribot will be performing a dance in Can Balaguer on the 20^th September, whilst at Casal Solleric, renowned artist Patrick Hamilton will be opening his new exhibition named ‘The Forgotten’ on the 21^st September and Portuguese artist Sandra Baia will present her sculptures and installations on the same day.

This Art Night, four galleries will host exhibitions for the very first time: LA BIBI; Galería Fermay; M77 Gallery; and PGallery. In the weeks following the main event, free guided tours will also be provided in Spanish, Catalan and English in the participating galleries.

For more information about Palma as a tourist destination, please www.visitpalma.es

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Cáceres, in Extremadura, has inherited Dubrovnik’s title of representing the capital of Westeros, Kings’ Landing.  The picturesque renaissance town is a UNESCO world-heritage site and represents a slightly newer, shinier King’s Landing that is set centuries before the events of the main show.

Extremadura’s Trujillo Castle will once again feature in the HBO series after appearing in Game of Thrones as Casterly Rock, the home of the ruling Lannister family. The regional market town contains a plethora of medieval and renaissance churches, and its plazas are a popular tourist attraction.

A number of scenes are to be set in  Granada’s Castillo de la Calahorra, in the Andalucía region, and reports state that the majority of shoots are taking place at night, likely depicting a battle. The castle itself still contains jail cells where imprisoned Moors were kept and is a now a national museum located less than an hour’s drive from the fortress of Alhambra, that has a a rich Moorish culture.

Spain has a long history of being a popular filming destination due to its varied terrain. From Clint Eastwood´s The Good, the Bad and the Ugly shot in 1966 to Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones. From Pierce Brosnan’s James Bond in Die Another Day, to Harrison’s Ford’s Indiana Jones in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. This series will once again highlight the incredible architecture and culture that Spain has to offer. 

For information on Extramadura, please visit https://www.turismoextremadura.com/en/index.html

For information on Castillo de la Calahorra, please visit https://www.andalucia.org/en/la-calahorra-cultural-tourism-castillo-de-la-calahorra

Serves 2 

125ml extra virgin olive oil 

4 cloves garlic, finely sliced 

2 red chillies, finely sliced 

8 gambas blanca (or raw king prawns), peeled but tails left on 

Flakey sea salt 

2 slices of lemon  

1-2 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley  

Crusty bread to serve 

Heat the oil in a traditional terracotta dish or in a frying pan. Once hot add the garlic and chill and cook for a minute to allow the flavours to infuse.

Add the prawns and lemon slices and cook for 1-2 minutes until the prawns are just cooked. Scatter with parsley and serve with crusty bread to mop up the juices.