(www.Iberia.com)

Iberia is Spain’s premier airline and specialises not just in Spain’s airports, but in Spanish-speaking countries. You can fly with Iberia to popular holiday destinations from as little as £77 return to Barcelona or £128 return to Palma Mallorca.

The great advantage with Iberia flights to Spain is that Iberia flies from regional airports in the UK such as Manchester, as well as London  – and you can also search for flights according to your budget and not just your destination; so if you want to fly to Spain for a holiday, but are not set on a particular destination or holiday resort, you can not only pick up a bargain flight with Iberia but also try a new holiday resort without spending a fortune on the flight.

Photo by admin

Some of the Spanish airports Iberia flies to include:

• Barcelona
• Bilbao
• Gran Canaria
• Madrid
• Palma de Mallorca
• Seville
• Valencia.

Monarch

(http://www.monarch.co.uk/spain-mainland/flights)

Monarch can fly you to the most popular Spanish holiday resorts, including Alicante, Almeria, Barcelona, the Canaries, Costa Brava, Costa Blanca and the Costa del Sol (Malaga). You can also fly Monarch to Gibraltar – a British island but joined to the Spanish mainland.

Monarch flies from the following UK airports

• London Gatwick (Alicante, Barcelona, Malaga)
• Luton (Alicante, Malaga, Gibraltar)
• Birmingham (Alicante, Almeria, Barcelona, Gibraltar, Malaga)
• East Midlands (Alicante, Malaga, Gibraltar)
• Manchester (Alicante, Almeria, Barcelona, Gibraltar, Malaga)
• Leeds/Bradford (to Barcelona).

Monarch not only offers cheap flights to Spain (from around £35 one way off peak), but you can also select from three different Monarch Airpacks which will upgrade your flight with extra leg room or more luggage allowance, according to your needs.

Ryanair

(www.ryanair.com/en)

Ryanair takes the chore out of choosing a flight to Spain with a handy online route map (http://www.ryanair.com/en/cheap-flight-destinations) which will tell you at the click of a mouse where you can get to from your local airport.

Ryanair flies to all these destinations in Spain, so whether you are looking for a city break or a beach holiday, there is plenty of choice available.

• Alicante
• Almeria
• Asturias
• Barcelona
• Bilbao
• Fuerteventura
• Girona
• Gran Canaria
• Ibiza
• Jerez
• Lanzarote
• Madrid
• Malaga
• Menorca
• Murcia
• Palma
• Santander
• Santiago
• Seville
• Tenerife North
• Tenerife South
• Valencia
• Valladolid
• Zaragoza.

In the UK Ryanair flies from

• Birmingham
• Bournemouth
• Bristol
• Derry
• Doncaster
• East Midlands
• Edinburgh
• Glasgow Prestwick
• Leeds Bradford
• Liverpool
• London Gatwick
• London Luton
• London Stansted
• Manchester
• Newcastle.

You can also register with Ryanair for cheap offers on flights – and there are also discounts on Hertz car hire in Spain.

When a holidaymaker is ill at a hotel in Spain, and it is a package holiday, it is the tour operator that sent the holidaymaker to that hotel that is liable for their welfare. This is thanks to the Package Travel Regulations.

Peter Anderson – I love to blog about holidays in Spain Google+

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The constant sunny weather is almost guaranteed here. There is subtropical Mediterranean climate with an average annual temperature of 18 °C and average summer temperatures above 30 °C. Tourism started to develop here in this area in the 60′s of the 20th century. Until then there were just small fishing villages on the coast with the quiet life.

Photo licensed under the Creative Commons, created by Stephen Heron

Costa del Sol is still relatively sparsely populated in comparison with northern parts of the coast, such as Costa Brava or so. In addition to a wide range of accommodation there is also a wide range of entertainment and shopping options. You can taste the famous Spanish cuisine and meet with the locals who are very friendly.

The area features the long beautiful beaches, many of which have previously received the Blue flag of the European Union, which proves their high quality. These beaches boast not only for its cleanliness and grooming, but also a high quality of services. Costa del Sol consists of a large number of large and small beaches, most of which has a gentle access to the sea, which is especially appreciated by families with children. Swimming is offered in a crystal clean and warm Mediterranean sea, whose waves are also ideal for various water sports. It is a popular destination for the lovers of windsurfing, kiting, water skiing or riding on water scooters.

Costa del Sol is an ideal place to spend quality holiday full of sun. In addition to great swimming in the sea and sunbathing on the beaches here you can also find beautiful landscapes and many historically significant places. Top cities worth a visit are Malaga, Seville, Granada, Cordoba, Torremolinos, or resorts like Benalmadena, Fuengirola and last but not least is Gibraltar. Costa del Sol is also very close to African continent, it is not a problem to get for example to Morocco.

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Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is a Mediterranean nation, which for centuries was influenced by Roman, Arab and British culture. We can find a large minority of foreigners, most of which are represented by the British. Most inhabitants live on Malta‘s main island in the cities. Almost all the people belong to the Roman Catholic Church. On the island there are over 360 churches and at every step you can meet monks or nuns. Catholicism plays an important part of Maltese life.

The most important source of income in Malta is tourism, which also employs a third of the population. Malta and nearby islands to visit for over a million tourists a year. Tourism is therefore 35% of the gross domestic product. Malta has no own sources of raw materials, and is dependent on imports. Agriculture is concentrated on the island of Gozo, where we find more greenery and better conditions for growing wheat, barley, potatoes, legumes, vegetables, citrus fruit and grapes. In the summer season, vegetables need to be imported, because there is a very dry climate. Industrial production is focused on engineering products, electronics, shipbuilding and ship repair and textiles.

Malta is known for its numerous and well-preserved monuments from the times of megalithic culture. This leads to the assertion that this developed culture lived on the island already between 4000 to 2500 BC. Then the island had many different cultures: the Phoenicians, Carthage, Rome, Byzantium, Arabs, Normans, kings of Castile, Johannes and Napoleon. During the world wars, Malta became an important base for the British forces in the Mediterranean Sea. Malta gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1964, became a republic in 1974 and in 2004 became a member of the European Union.

The Maltese archipelago acts on the map as the small grains in the Mediterranean Sea, and yet form an important bridge between Europe and Africa. The Maltese archipelago is essentially a remnant of the connection between Sicily and North Africa coast, which was aborted in the late Tertiary. Malta is only 90 km away from Sicily and 200 km from Tunisia.

The islands are almost without vegetation, but Malta is interesting anyway. Indeed, the mythical Odysseus reportedly stuck here for seven long years. It is a paradise for divers and water sports enthusiasts, history and art lovers and you can enjoy here good food, drink and social life as well.

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Spanish cuisine
Spaniards have a great fondness for food, so they put the care in its preparation. Spanish cuisine is a tasty and colorful. The basic food-stuffs which they use are fish and other seafood, beef, mutton, pork, but they use also poultry, rice, potatoes, beans, various vegetables and white bread. Spaniards also use to add their typically piquant spices and herbs that make their dishes come unmistakable taste. Their kitchen is divided into Catalan, Basque, Galician, Castilian, Andalusian, and more. Each of them is something typical and special. However in all of them you can find lots of garlic and olive oil. The best known Spanish dish is certainly “paella” which is a mixture of rice, vegetables, meat or seafood and spices. Furthermore, gazpacho – cold vegetable soup. National food is tortilla – raw potato omelette with eggs and onions. Typical Spanish cuisine is tapas – small savory snacks that are served before a meal during the day and especially night.

Spanish restaurants
In Spain, all restaurants are legally obliged to offer a “menu del Día“, which includes appetizer, main course, dessert and beverage. This dish is served only at lunch time and it is a popular and inexpensive way to eat well. Expensive restaurants sometimes offer a tasting menu, where you can taste the little bits of several courses. It is common that during the bank holidays, the restaurants are closed.

Spanish drinks
A typical drink in Spain is wine. It is usually served with both lunch and dinner. The oldest and best known wine cellars in Spain are in La Rioja. These wines can be compared with the quality of French wine from Bordeaux. They have also classic wine Jerez and popular Spanish sparkling wine Cava. The perfect complement to all the dishes is a sweet Sangria, which consists of a mixture of fruit with sweet red wine, a little liquor, fruit juice or sparkling wine. It is best chilled and with ice.

Accommodation
In Spain you can find a wide range of accommodation of all kinds. From humble “fondas” or guest houses to luxury five-star hotels. Great interest is enjoying rural accommodation, located on farms, in cabins or in the restored palaces. It is possible to do a variety of outdoor activities, horse riding, cycling or hiking.

Spanish unique accommodation is the “Parador” which is a chain of hotels which are located in different historic buildings or in national parks, with a beautiful view of the surrounding countryside. It is also possible to stay in a bungalow or apartment, they are located mainly in the coastal tourist resorts. There are also youth hostels, which can be found throughout the country. It’s a cheap way of accommodation. In Spain there are also over 1400 camps of various categories.

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