Cradled between the waves of the Atlantic and Bay of Biscay you will find a land filled with unbelievable natural beauty. Rosie Khdir explores the natural wonders of Green Spain.

The regions of Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria and the Basque Country boast some of the most diverse landscapes in Europe, and are the perfect places for those of you who love the great outdoors.

Their salt-water rivers, endless forests, almost tropical beaches and rugged mountains are just begging to be explored and one of the best ways to do this is on foot. The old railway lines, cattle trails and Roman roads provide perfect hiking routes and there are some great spots for bird watching. There are visitor centres on all the reserves where you can get an itinerary designed to suit you.

In the Asturias region you can venture through nature reserves such as Somiedo which has the largest population of brown bears in Europe, or visit the Fuentes del Narcea, with one of Europe’s largest oak forests.

Green Spain is also riddled with stunning parks and gardens, most of which are open for public viewing, and are often connected to marvelous old country houses and manors.

La Florida is a particularly nice park situated in the city of Vitoria in the Basque Country. In the summer time this garden, reminiscent of those created in 19th century England, becomes a hot bed for music concerts, while in the winter it transforms into a huge nativity scene.

If it is the sea air you crave then you are certainly spoilt for choice in this part of the world. From the still waters of Barro to the well protected cove of Moràs, you will see a land of diversity, where white sandy beaches are framed by dark rocky mountains.

One reservation that is definitely worth the six hour drive from Bilbao, is the National Park of Atlantic Islands. These are situated between the estuaries of Vigo, Pontevedra and Arousa in the Galicia region and even contain a pre-Roman settlement.

This group of four islands is home to 200 species of different animals including turtles, dolphins, seals, whales and numerous colonies of seagulls. There is restricted access to these islands from Vigo, Baiona and Cangas and only a maximum of 2,200 people can visit per day.

All you would need is to look at the images of places in Green Spain and you’ll be booking your ferry in no time. Visit www.spain.info for a sneaky peak.

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Image credit: rover0

Tags: Lifestyle, P&O Ferries, Spain by Rosie Khdir
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As Halloween approaches and people begin to plan their parties, all of San Sebastian prepare for the ultimate spooky celebration. Rosie Khdir discovers this Spanish city’s Fantasy and Horror Film Festival.

If you like the adrenalin rush of being scared out of your wits then this could be the festival for you as the Semana de Cine Fantástico y de Terror is sure to be full of frights.

Originally set up by the San Sebastian Municipal Board of Culture twenty years ago, the festival was designed to get the youth interested in the horror genre and now attracts audiences of all ages. This is a week filled with street shows, music, comedy performances, exhibitions as well as a variety of horror movies shown at different venues around the city.

This festival also holds competitions for short films including the Audience Award which carries a prize of €6,000. Other awards go out for International Jury Prizes, the Youth Jury Prize and the Nomination for the Golden Méliès for Best European Fantastic Short Film. These films will be no longer than 30 minutes and must be on the subject of fantasy or horror.

The festival also organises showings of various publications on both a national and international basis including a special issue of the fanzine 2000 Maníacos.

The Fantasy and Horror Film Festival is supported by the Ministry of Culture, the Basque Government, Kuxta and Calle 13 as well as other public and private companies. It is a great event for film lovers and is the perfect way to celebrate Halloween.

The festival runs from the 20th October until the 4th November and is only about an hour’s drive from Bilbao!

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Image credit: Rain Rannu

Tags: Lifestyle, P&O Ferries, Spain by Rosie Khdir
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There is something fishy going on in Galicia, and it’s attracting hundreds of thousands of seafood lovers. Rosie Khdir discovers the Fiesta de Exaltación del Marisco.

A seaside town promoting its array of fresh fish may seem like a cliché to most, but O Grove in the Galicia region of Spain really has something to boast about this autumn.

October in O Grove means one thing, seafood, and lots of it. Fish lovers from all over Europe flock to this small and picturesque seaside town to showcase their finest stock and over 220,000 visitors every year are more than happy to sample it.

For two weeks this month O Grove is filled with booths, stalls, information stands and contests, all centering around this fishy theme.

Visitors are entertained by live seafood sculptures, folk dancing, seafood sports and music, not to mention as much seafood as you can eat. The marquee-lined port hosts a number of competitions including that for best mussels and turbot and there is even the chance to win a goodie bag filled with mussels, crab and the catch of the day!

Galicia is the perfect region to find the very best seafood, with its extensive coast line and estuaries where you’ll find hake, sea-bass, turbot and sole to name but a few. The region is also famous for its selection of shellfish; you name it and Galicia probably has it in its waters. There is even a festival in December devoted entirely to the spider crab!

Octopus is a year-round delicacy in Galicia and will surely be eaten at the O Grove seafood festival. It is most popularly served al feira, where it is chopped, boiled and seasoned with paprika, salt and olive oil.

Although it is a seafood festival, it isn’t all about food. Visitors can enjoy the Galician-Portuguese folklore dancing and the Celtic gaita music, which is native to Galicia, as well as the granite sculptures created for the annual International Symposium of Open-Air Sculpture, which runs alongside the festival.

So to warm up you winter why not try some seafood stews alongside O Grove’s beautiful coast. This festival is free and runs from 2nd-12th October. Opening hours are 11am-4.30pm & 7pm-11pm daily.

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Image credit: bensonkua

Tags: Lifestyle, Spain by Rosie Khdir
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October kicks off the winter holiday season with our favourite US import, Halloween. John Hillman tries to sum up attitudes to spookyness on the other side of the English Channel.

The UK is often accused of being too quick to ape the US. Whatever misadventure they embark on, be it food or foreign policy, we dive in with all the enthusiasm of a naive lovestruck schoolboy, as the rest of Europe looks on bemused.

But while surging obesity rates and dubious wars are just cause for our neighbours to tut disapprovingly and raise their eyebrows, at least we can say we have embraced some of the better things too.

Halloween is fast becoming one of the most popular holidays of the year. School kids love it because they get to dress up and extract sweets from their neighbours; Grown-ups just enjoy any excuse to get drunk in fancy dress – it really is a holiday for all ages.

In many parts of Europe people remain quite resistant to what they see as nothing more than a crass consumerist US-style marketing exercise. In France it is reasonably controversial amongst the more traditionalist elements, although the lure of rum punch, fake blood and fishnet stockings is proving hard to resist. Its popularity is growing year on year.

From what I can gather (correct me if I’m wrong) Belgium and Holland simply don’t have a clue when it comes to Halloween. Apparently there is something similar in Holland around the 12th November but it involves children singing politely at people’s doors in return for sweets, which sounds just horrible. I mean trick or song? I think most of us would happily take the dog poo through the letter box option over the 10 minute rendition of Dutch folk songs by the cute and cuddly brigade, eurgh!

My friend in Madrid informs me that in Spain they are embracing Halloween with all the gusto you would expect from Europe’s most ‘up-for-it’ party nation. The fact that November 01st is a public holiday certainly helps, so this is my top recommendation for anyone thinking of heading away for Halloween this year.

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For information about minicruises to Spain, including P&O’s Halloween themed minicruise to Bilbao, including fancy dress ball with one of Britain’s best live party bands, click here

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Image Credit: John Althouse Cohen

Tags: Belgium, Britain, France, Lifestyle, Netherlands, Spain by Gabriel Grant
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P&O Ferries has a lot of policies to decrease carbon emissions, pollution and waste; they also play an active role in marine conservation through a number of innovative partnerships. Murali Podila takes a look at who they are and what they do to help the seas we sail over.

P&O Ferries, as an industrial company, tries to play a major role in decreasing its environmental impact both on and off the sea. Examples of this include the sulphur scrubbers on board the Pride of Kent and a stringent attitude towards dumping waste and recycling.

Their role in marine conservation is no less active. P&O Ferries actively participates in the Biscay Dolphin Research Programme, Marine Conservation Seasearch and also assists the National Oceanographic Centre Southampton (NOCS) in their research.

The partnership with NOCS serves a very important purpose, as it undertakes vital scientific research into marine organisms, ecosystems and oceanic behaviour, particularly looking at the effects and behaviour of their currents.

Oceanography, or marine science, is an earth science that covers a vast number of topics such as Geochemistry, ocean biology, ecosystems and ocean currents and behaviour. The NOCS make use of the Pride of Bilbao by putting equipment on the ferry to measure properties of the ocean water such as temperature, salinity and the density of plankton.

The equipment used, a FerryBox, is an automated instrument that is filled with different sensors and analysers, providing a valid alternative to buoys, which are often both expensive and very high maintenance. The complexity of the instruments in the FerryBox is usually dependant on conditions in and around the ship. These measurements help scientist’s at NOCS learn more about the oceanic conditions and how they affect the wider environment.

The NOCS is a world renowned oceanographic research institute that achieved international recognition after its contribution towards understanding the ocean’s role in the global climate system, and continues to work closely with P&O Ferries as mankind struggles to meet the environmental challenges of the 21st Century.

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Image Credit:  State library and Archives of Florida

Tags: P&O Ferries, Science, Spain by Murali Podila
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Bilbao is often recognised for its wine and Basque culture, but Murali Podila thinks the Guggenheim Museum is pretty stunning too.

With around 200,000 passengers going to Bilbao on the Pride of Bilbao, the ferry sure has something mystifying about it. Founded as a village around 1300, Bilbao is now a bustling metropolis filled with culture and architecture at the heart of the Basque country.

The old city, or ‘Casco Viejo’, is made up of winding streets that are full of life with bars, restaurants, food markets and monuments including the Catedral de Santiago.

On the West Bank of the ‘ría del Nervión’ or the Nervion River, contemporary Bilbao has revitalised the city with a series of major rebuilding projects.

There is no doubt that the main attraction of this city is The Guggenheim museum. Opened in 1997, and designed by Frank Gehry, its spectacular design represents Bilbao’s drive towards being one of Spain’s major tourist destinations. In addition to that, the fine arts museum displays both contemporary and old age Basque art.

Bilbao’s development is also been enhanced by flaunting new designs by internationally recognised architects. The Metro in Bilbao, designed by Sir Norman Foster, is almost an attraction in itself. It features many original entrances to the stations and the inside of the station offers large spaces with natural light coming in.

Along with the Metro, the Zubizuri Bridge, designed by Santiago Calatrava, is an arch bridge that connects the new and old Bilbao and leads you to the Guggenheim museum.

Despite a recent history of financial uncertainty, Bilbao has emerged as a dynamic city focused firmly on development.

Image credit: Erika Barahona-Ede for the FMGB Guggenheim Bilbao Museoa

Tags: Spain by John Hillman
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Never play with your food? Pavla Tolonen finds a place where you can.

Tonnes of over-ripe tomatoes, thirty degrees scorching heat and a town filled with adorably mad people ready to pellet each other into tomato juice oblivion – welcome to late-August Buñol in Valencia.

This 57-year-old tradition (officially) originally comprised only of the local folk but now attracts over 20,000 tourists a year, raking in well-deserved capital for the later tomato-drenched town of around 9,000 permanent inhabitants.

The event kicks off at 10am on the third Wednesday of every August with a public gathering to resolve the mystery of how to bring down a ham on a greased pole. After they successfully lower the ham, the council-funded tomatoes are released on to the town square, Plaza del Pueblo. The crowd bursts into song and dance, while being hosed down by friendly showers.

The start signal is by water cannon, after which the tomato bombardments last for around an hour or more. Part-takers are advised to squish the fruit before throwing and wear protective goggles and gloves. Flip-flops and cameras (except Aquatic cameras) are best left at home. Once the second water cannon is fired the festival is over, and the streets and the crowd can be hosed down.

Horrified tomato-lovers will be relieved to know that the tomatoes are not suitable for consumption as they taste bad. They come from Extremadura, in western Spain, where tomatoes are cheaper and especially grown for this event.

Naughty behaviour aside, the festival commemorates the legacy of St. Louis Bertrand (San Luis Bertràn), the patron saint of Buñol, and the Virgin Mary, or Mother of God of the Defenseless (Mare de Déu dels Desemparats), as they call her.

The origins of the event remain uncovered, but popular myths include a story of angry villagers attacking city councilmen at a public celebration. The event was banned under the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, but was reinstated with full flare after his demise.

For more information please visit www.tomatina.es

Tags: History, P&O Ferries, Spain by Pavla Tolonen
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DJs, sound systems, crowds of people, and no… beer? Pavla Tolonen explains all about Rotterdam’s ‘Fit for Free’ dance parade.

An eleven hour party is not everybody’s cup of tea, which is why Rotterdam’s Fit For Free Dance Parade is a hop-on, hop-off event for people of all ages. Ending in a massive closing ceremony the parade starts at 12:00 on 8 August with a warm-up and continues through the city boasting 40 sound systems and 200 DJ’s.

The alcohol and drug-free event kicks off at Boomjes open and circles the city around Verlengde Willemsbrug, Westblaak, Rochussestraat and ends at the corner of Westzeedijk and Pieter de Hoochweg. Main metro stations to catch the parade from are Rotterdam Blaak, Beurs, Eendrachtsplein, Dijkzigt and Coolhaven.

Known for its great shipping capacity as Europe’s biggest port, Rotterdam is keenly on display throughout the parade, starting with the relatively new artificial beach at Boompjeskade, Witte House (an art noveau skyscraper) and Kubuswoning (Cubic Houses). The parade also passes the Erasmus University, named after the legendary philosopher Desiderius Erasmus, and Rotterdam’s most famous bridges Erasmusbrug and the Willemsbrug.

The closing party starts at 16:00 and ends at 23:00 hosting acts like Ferry Corsten (trance), Sunner James & Ryan Marciano, MC GEE (house&garage) and Secret Cinema (techno). Mega house music DJ Erick E, who won the Best House DJ 2005/2006 award, will also be performing. After-party tickets are 20€ and VIP tickets are 75€ guaranteeing entry and oodles of fun.

If this parade wets your appetite for open air festivals, you may also enjoy Zomerterras, a four weekend free concert which has been running for the past ten years. From pop, jazz, classical and world music to art and local theatre projects, the concert is an all family event from 31 July to 22 August.

For further cultural enjoyment you could also hop on an hour long train into Amsterdam to see Cirque Stiletto at the Theater Carré, the medieval festival “Fantastic Amsterdam” or perhaps catch one of the shows at Amsterdam’s open-air festival.

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For more information please visit: http://www.fitforfreedanceparade.nl/ and http://www.zomerterras.nl/

Image credit: indahs

Tags: History, Lifestyle, Netherlands, P&O Ferries, Spain by Pavla Tolonen
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