Spain

Andalusia, land of Spain

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andalucia
Andalusia is a region in southern Spain and one of the hottest regions in Europe. The capital of the region is Seville and some of the major towns include Almeria, Cadiz, Cordoba, Granada, and Huelva.

The region’s culture is rich with many things which seem synonymous with Spain evolving from the region including flamenco dancing and bullfighting. Culture is very important to the region and some of Spain’s most influential painters including Pablo Picasso and Daniel Vazquez Diaz hail from Andalucia.

The Moors who once inhabited the region had heavy influence on the architecture. One of the main sights of the region is the Alhambra in the city of Cordoba. Also interesting is the Great Mosque of Cordoba. Other sites include the Gran Teatro Falla, the Jaen Cathedral, Cathedral of Malaga, and the centres of Ubeda and Baez which are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Festivals in Andalusia include the Malaga Film Festival, Seville Fair, and the Festival of Corpus Christi in Granada.

Food in the region is centred on olives, fish, nuts, and meat. Some dishes include ham, gazpacho. Some places to try Andalusian cuisine include Ofelia’s Restaurant, De Locos Tapas in Ronda, and La Parrala Paella Resto Bar in Granada.

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Ibiza no longer the place to party

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Ibiza (read here other news) is known as the party place but these days the Spanish isle is becoming highly commercialised and over-developed. The thought is that what is happening there is untenable.

The island which sits in the Mediterranean off the coast of Valencia, Spain has seen a high influx of British tourists that has caused some damage to island’s image.

The fix to that problem was to make the island more expensive which hasn’t done much to address the real issues. High end after parties have been banned on the island but the bad behavior still permeates Ibiza.

While it’s marketed as a big spring break destination the crowds which flock there are not the “good” behaving types.

Tour packages, VIP’s, and the very rich make Ibiza their stomping ground. The new look Ibiza is not sitting well. It’s becoming a haven for the spoilt, the rich, the prostituting, and drug dealers.

Two girls have been the latest to be sent to jail for smuggling cocaine from Peru into the fair isle.

The pair call Ibiza home and claim that they were forced by an armed Spanish gang to do the dirty deed.

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Valencia, the sea of ​​Spain

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valencia
Valencia is the third largest city in Spain and is its third largest city in Spain behind Madrid and Barcelona.

The city is on the Mediterranean Sea and the banks of the Turia River.

Major monuments in Valencia include the Valencia Cathedral, Torres de Serranos, Torres Quart, Llotja de la Seda which is a Unesco World Heritage Site, Museu de Belles Arts de Valencia, Ciutat de les Arts i la Ciences, and the Valencian Institute of Modern Art.

The city is well known for the Falles local festival, the La Tomatina tomato fight, and several other catholic festivals held each year. The city is also host of the European Grand Prix Formula One race.

Valencia has a subtropical climate with mild winters and long warm to hot summers.

Valencia is home of one of the traditional Spanish dishes the paella and the cuisine is also world renowned in the city. Other specialties include the fartons, bunuelos, Spanish omelettes, rosquilettas, and squid.

Places to eat include the Raco de Turia which is close to the city’s river banks and is ranked among the top fifty restaurants for Spanish cuisine in the city.

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Paella, Spanish delight

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paella
Paella is the dish associated with Spain. This combination of rice and seafood or meat and vegetables such as green peas is seen outside of Spain as the country’s national dish but is really a regional speciality from Valencia.

To make a paella gather 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 1 tablespoon of paprika, 2 tablespoons of oregano, salt and black pepper, 2 pounds of skinless chicken breasts cut into small pieces, 3 cloves of garlic, 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, 2 cups uncooked short-grain rice, 1 pinch saffron, 1 bay leaf, 1 quart of chicken stock, 1 Spanish onion, 1 red bell pepper, 1 pound chorizo sausage, and 1 pound deveined shrimp.

First: season chicken with olive oil, paprika, oregano, salt, and pepper. Then heat olive oil in a large skillet, add garlic, red pepper, and rice and stir for 3 minutes. Add the saffron, bay leaf, chicken stock and lemon. Lower heat and allow the mixture to simmer for about 20 minutes.

In another, skillet heat oil then add chicken and onion and cook for a few minutes; add bell pepper, sausage, and shrimp, turning the shrimp until both sides are pink. Decorate paella with shrimp. Paella is best enjoyed served warm.

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The Wanted goes on tour

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British group The Wanted will be going on tour this summer. They will tourNorth America with “Maybe” singer Carly Rae Jepsen.

The group will do a series of concerts in Las Vegas; Stanmere in the UK; Madrid, Spain; San Diego; Arizona; Dallas; Windsor; Connecticut, and New York.

Signs of their popularity in the US are already evident as they sold out Central Park in a concert on the morning current affairs show Good Morning Americaon August 23.

The group’s new album “Word of Mouth” is due to be released on September 16. The first single off the album “We Own the Night” was released worldwide on August 11.

The boy band, which was formed in 2009 released their first album The Wanted in October 2010 and peaked at number four on the UK charts.

The group first met with success in the USA and Canada in early 2012 hitting the top five in both countries with their single “Glad You Came”.

The group has its own reality series on E! Television entitled The Wanted Life. The series follows the group as they record their third album and prepare for this month’s tour.

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Barcelona, cultural capital of Europe

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Barcelona
Barcelona is one of the largest cities in Spain and the capital of Catalonia. The city is the largest on the Mediterranean Sea and sits between the mouths of the Llobregat and Besos Rivers.

The city was founded as a Roman city and has a rich cultural heritage making it a rich cultural centre and an important tourist destination. The architectural works of Gaudi and Domenech i Montaner have been designated Unesco World Heritage Sites.

Among the city’s main sites are the Sagrada Familia church, Palau Guell, the Columbus Monument, and the Arc de Triomf. Barcelona has many small hills and boasts a Mediterranean climate with mild humid winters and warm dry summers.

The National Museum of Art of Catalonia has a well-known collection of Romanesque art while several other museums exist, which cover architecture. There are also 68 municipal parks. The Camp Nou football stadium, home of FC Barcelona, is the largest in Europe.

The Barcelona International Airport is one of the busiest in the world. The city also has an extensive road and rail network connecting it to parts of Europe. 

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Madrid, flavour of Spain

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madrid
The capital of Spain, Madrid is the country’s largest city and is known as the greatest party location in Europe with fiestas and other events staged year- round.

Madrid is located on the Manzanares River and is the home of the monarch King Juan Carlos II.

Landmarks include the Royal Palace of Madrid and the Prado Museum, the famous Picasso painting Guernica sits in the Reina Sofia gallery, and the Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas is Spain’s largest bull-fighting arena.

There are also a number of catholic churches while most of the city’s tourist attractions city in the old city and Ensanche.

The city’s nightlife is also a big drawing card with many tapas bars, cocktail bars, clubs, jazz lounges, and music venues and the all-important flamenco centres. Flamenco is the national dance of Spain.

The city enjoys a Mediterranean climate with cool to cold winters and warm to hot summers. Green areas are a highlight of the city which has the highest number of tree and green areas per inhabitant than any other city in Europe.

The city is served by the Madrid Barajas International Airport and there is also an international rail network and one of the largest metro networks in the world. 

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Google tackles the UK Internet music

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Internet Company Google has decided to tackle the United Kingdom music streaming market.

The company has launched Google Play Music All Access in the UK, entering an already crowded market in an attempt to challenge Spotify, Deezer, Rdio, Xbox Music, Sony’s Music Unlimited, and Rara.

The new service will cost £9.99 per month but new customers will get it for £7.99 until September. The other services have free options while All Access does not.

All Access has already been launched in the USA, New Zealand, and Australia and there are plans to launch the service in other parts of Europe such as Austria, Belgium, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal and Spain.

The service will offer a range of features including unlimited “on-demand” access to millions of tracks; Smartphone apps; recommendations for new music, and a personalised radio feature.

The UK is the fastest growing market for streaming music in the world. Over 20 million people paid for subscription music services last year.

People in the UK streamed more than 3 billion tracks in 2012 earning more than £49 million in income for British record labels.

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