News
Postponed again
The state visit of King Felipe and Queen Letizia to the UK has been postponed again . It was previously postponed to early June because of last year ’ s political uncertainty in Spain , and now it has been put back again to avoid a clash with the UK General Election on June 8 . The new dates for the visit have been set for July 12 to 14 .
Tigress release
The ETA terrorist known as The Tigress is expected to be released from prison on June 13 . Idoia López Riaño , now 52 , was sentenced to 2,000 years imprisonment for her involvement in 23 murders , and , in return for her good behaviour in jail , is to be given freedom after serving 22 years . She has repeatedly admitted she made an “ immense error ” by supporting ETA .
Riding accident
A horse-rider had to be airlifted to hospital last month after a fall in countryside near Güéjar Sierra , east of Granada . The victim found difficulty in moving following the accident and is thought to have suffered fractures . The mountain rescue unit of the Guardia Civil moved the patient by stretcher to a suitable helicopter landing site .
Drunk driver
A bus driver who left Granada en route for Valencia was found to be six times over the legal alcohol limit for professional drivers when he was stopped by police on the A-7 in Murcia last Wednesday . The vehicle was carrying 40 Chinese tourists at the time . The alarm was raised by a service station worker who called police to report the driver ’ s inebriated appearance .
SMS warning
Alhambra is Spain ’ s fourth most-visited attraction
Granada ’ s Alhambra Palace can no longer claim to be Spain ’ s most visited tourist attraction , as it once did , thanks to a cap on visitor numbers . New figures published last month show that the leader in 2016 was the Sagrada Família in Barcelona .
The limit on numbers visiting the Alhambra was set at 2,763,500 per year at the time it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site and last year it attracted 2,615,18 visitors , almost six per cent more than in 2015 . It is now the fourth most visited major monument in the country .
The Sagrada Familia attracted 4,561,848 visitors last year , an increase of seven per cent on the previous year . In second and third places were two art galleries in Madrid , the Reina Sofia and the Prado with 3.6 and 3.03 million visitors respectively .
After the fourth-placed Alhambra Palace , the top ten is completed with the City of Arts and Sciences in
Valencia , Córdoba ’ s Mezquita , Sevilla Cathedral and Real Alcázar , the Royal Palace in Madrid and Gaudí ’ s La Pedrera in Barcelona . All received well over a million visitors last year .
Spain ’ s major monuments and museums attracted a total of 23.8 million visitors last year . Of these , 11 per cent travelled to Granada to visit the Alhambra Palace , the Generalife Gardens and Albayzín district of Granada .
Málaga to Sevilla direct by AVE
Spanish police have warned about text messages promising an audition for Gran Hermano ( Big Brother ) or La Voz ( The Voice ). A Twitter message from National Police says anyone calling the 806 number given will be connected to a premium rate phone line and left on hold for a long period . The Police say , “ These auditions are fake and are trying to steal your data .”
Summer jobs
Supermarket giant Carrefour says it plans to recruit 1,000 temporary workers across Andalucía during the summer . Most will work directly with customers in the company ’ s supermarkets but some will staff petrol stations and other outlets . Nationally , the French-owned firm intends to create 6,700 summer jobs this year .
A long-awaited high-speed rail line bypass , reducing the journey time between Málaga and Sevilla , is to be built at last . The link will enable direct trains to run between the two cities without passengers having to change at Córdoba .
The announcement by prime minister Mariano Rajoy came during an act at Sevilla Santa Justa station to mark the 25th anniversary of the opening of Spain ’ s first high-speed line . The 471 kilometre line between Madrid and Sevilla which opened on April 21 , 1992 , was the start of a national network which now covers 3,240 kilometres . Sr Rajoy said that the government is to invest € 1,300 million in the AVE system , including the construction of
15 new AVE trains at a cost of € 500 million . He confirmed that AVE development is a subject which is “ strategic ” to the government .
The new 32 kilometre line , expected to be licenced next year , will bypass Córdoba on a route to the south of Almodóvar del Río , so linking the Málaga-Córdoba line with the Córdoba-Sevilla line and reducing the journey time between Málaga and Sevilla by 20 minutes to one hour and 35 minutes .
The project has a budget of € 32.1 million , including the cost of expropriating the necessary land . It will also opens the way for a future direct AVE link between Granada and Sevilla .
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