Theme Week Morocco – Tangier

28 July 2017 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Union for the Mediterranean Reading Time:  9 minutes

Lighthouse of Cape Spartel © Diego Delso/cc-by-sa-4.0

Lighthouse of Cape Spartel © Diego Delso/cc-by-sa-4.0

Tangier is a major city in northwestern Morocco. It is located on the Maghreb coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel with the Caves of Hercules. It is the capital of the Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region, as well as the Tangier-Assilah prefecture of Morocco. The city is currently undergoing rapid development and modernisation. Projects include new tourism projects along the bay, a modern business district called Tangier City Center, a new airport terminal and a new football stadium. Tangier’s economy is also set to benefit greatly from the new Tanger-Med port.   read more…

Puerto Banús, Europe’s largest marina

10 October 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Hotels Reading Time:  5 minutes

© Maximo88/cc-by-sa-3.0

© Maximo88/cc-by-sa-3.0

Puerto José Banús, more commonly known as Puerto Banús is a marina located in the area of Nueva Andalucía, to the southwest of Marbella on the Costa del Sol. It was built in May 1970 by José Banús, a local property developer, as a luxury marina and shopping complex. It has since become one of the largest entertainment centres in the Costa del Sol, with 5 million annual visitors, and is popular with international celebrities. Developed around a coastal village in the Mediterranean architectural style, Puerto Banús contains expensive shopping malls, restaurants and bars around the marina.   read more…

Tarifa, the southernmost city on the European mainland

14 January 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  5 minutes

Tarifa, Strait of Gibraltar and Morocco © flickr.com - jose rambaud/cc-by-2.0

Tarifa, Strait of Gibraltar and Morocco © flickr.com – jose rambaud/cc-by-2.0

Tarifa is a small town in the province of Cádiz in Andalusia, on the southernmost coast of Spain. The town is located on the Costa de la Luz (“coast of light”) and across the Straits of Gibraltar facing Morocco.   read more…

Theme Week Andalusia – Isla Cristina

15 October 2013 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  4 minutes

Plaza Flores © Fanattiq/cc-by-3.0

Plaza Flores © Fanattiq/cc-by-3.0

Isla Cristina is a city and municipality located in the province of Huelva. The city has a population of 21,324 inhabitants. Isla Cristina remains one of the most important fishing ports in Huelva province, its catch being highly prized throughout Spain.   read more…

Theme Week Andalusia

14 October 2013 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Bon voyage, Theme Weeks Reading Time:  6 minutes

Alhambra de Granada © ángel mateo/cc-by-3.0

Alhambra de Granada © ángel mateo/cc-by-3.0

Andalusia is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities in Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognized as a nationality of Spain. The territory is divided into eight provinces. Its capital is the city of Seville.   read more…

Cape Trafalgar in Spain

19 September 2013 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  5 minutes

Cape Trafalgar © JMSE

Cape Trafalgar © JMSE

Cape Trafalgar (Spanish: Cabo Trafalgar) is a headland in the Province of Cádiz in the south-west of Spain, approximately 40 km southeast of the provincial capital Cádiz. It lies on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean, northwest of the Strait of Gibraltar. The International Hydrographic Organization defines the Western limit of the strait as a line that joins Cape Trafalgar to the North to Cape Spartel to the South. The name is of Arabic origin, with the modern pronunciation being a modification of “Tarf al-Gharb” meaning “Western Cape” or “Cape of the West”.   read more…

The Atlantropa Project

20 February 2013 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Berlin Reading Time:  8 minutes

Atlantropa project © Devilm25/cc-by-3.0

Atlantropa project © Devilm25/cc-by-3.0

Atlantropa, also referred to as Panropa, was a gigantic engineering and colonization project devised by the German architect Herman Sörgel in the 1920s and promulgated by him until his death in 1952. Its central feature was a hydroelectric dam to be built across the Strait of Gibraltar, which would have provided enormous amounts of hydroelectricity and would have led to the lowering of the surface of the Mediterranean Sea by up to 200 metres (660 ft), opening up large new lands for settlement, for example in a now almost totally drained Adriatic Sea.   read more…

Spain’s autonomous city of Ceuta

18 November 2011 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

Ceuta map © Omar-Toons

Ceuta map © Omar-Toons

Ceuta is a 18.5 square kilometres (7.1 sq mi) autonomous city of Spain and an exclave located on the north coast of North Africa surrounded by Morocco. Separated from the Iberian peninsula by the Strait of Gibraltar, Ceuta lies on the border of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Ceuta along with the other Spanish exclave Melilla are the only Spanish territories located in mainland Africa. It was regarded as a part of Cadiz province prior to 14 March 1995, when the city’s Statute of Autonomy was passed. Ceuta (like Melilla) was a free port before Spain joined the European Union. As of 2008 it has a population of 75,276. Its population consists of Christians, Muslims (chiefly Moroccan Arabic speakers), and small minorities of Jews and Hindus. Spanish is the official language. Ceuta (and Melilla) have declared the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha or Feast of the Sacrifice, as an official public holiday from 2010 onwards. It is the first time a non-Christian religious festival is officially celebrated in Spain since the Reconquista.   read more…

The Rock of Gibraltar

24 September 2011 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  9 minutes

Aerial view © Neonstar

Aerial view © Neonstar

Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of 6.843 square kilometres (2.642 sq mi), it has a northern border with La Línea de la Concepción in Andalusia in Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region. At its foot is the densely populated city area, home to almost 30,000 Gibraltarians and other nationalities.   read more…

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