Minorca is the perfect place for you if you have children and want beach, sun and peace. The island is known for its large collection of megalithic stone monuments: navetes, taules, and talaiots, which speak of a very early prehistoric human activity. And regarding the beaches, you can choose among different type of beaches: sand beaches, gravel beaches, rock beaches, pebble beaches, nudist beaches, access for disabled beaches, anchoring zone … Enough options? One more thing: Minorca was declared a Biosphere Reserve in 1993.

Here are some of my favourite beaches in Minorca
Cala en Porter (Alaior, Menorca)
Sand beach; Access for disabled people
Length of the beach: 150 meters; Avarage width: 200 meters; Degree of occupancy: high

Son Bou also known as Platges de Son Bou (Alaior, Menorca)
Sand beach; Access for disabled people
Length of the beach: 2400 meters; Avarage width: 120 meters; Degree of occupancy: high
Type of beach: semi-urban; Swimming conditions: moderate swell

Sa Mesquida (Maó, Menorca)
Sand beach
Length of the beach: 300 meters; Avarage width: 50 meters; Degree of occupancy: medium
Type of beach: urban; Swimming conditions: calm water

Binibeca Nou (Sant Lluís, Menorca)
Sand beach
Length of the beach: 400 meters; Avarage width: 40 meters; Degree of occupancy: high
Type of beach: urban; Swimming conditions: calm water

Municipalities in Minorca
The major towns are Maó and Ciutadella. The island is administratively divided into these municipalities:

- Alaior
- Ciutadella previously the capital of Minorca
- Es Castell Founded by the British and originally named as Georgetown
- Es Mercadal
- Fornells, which belongs to the municipality of Es Mercadal. Famous for its lobster soup
- Es Migjorn Gran or Es Mitjorn Gran hometown of Joan Riudavets.
- Ferreries
- Maó, the city from which mayonnaise gets its name (Catalán Maó, Spanish Mahón), became the capital thanks to its strategic natural harbour.
- Sant Climent which belongs to the municipality of Maó.
- Llucmassanes a small hamlet which belongs to the municipality of Maó.
- Sant Lluís Founded by the French

About Ciutadella
At present Ciutadella of Menorca has a population of approximately 26,000 inhabitants, the majority of whom live in the extensions to the old nucleus and the rest in one of the many suburbs that surround our territory ( Calan Blanes, Cales Piques, Cala en Bosc, Santa Galdana….).

Even though the manufacture of shoes and costume jewellery continues being an important source of wealth for our town, today tourism has taken over as being the principal source of income for the majority of the population.

Ciutadella can pride itself on very ancient foundations. The bishop Sever, in his famous encyclical letter (418), tells us, ” There are two small towns founded on the island, to which they give name according to their situation : Jammona looks to the west….”. But it is believed the Semitic establishment superimposed an already existent stone age village. After 123 AD, date of which Quintus Cecilius Metellus conquered the Balearics for Rome, Jammona was a small village, possibly of a military nature, a “parvum oppidum”. The areas of Saint Nicholas street and Camí de Baix, have produced abundant finds - mosaics, tombs, ceramics and small metal pieces.

The old town is surrounded by the “Contramurada”, the street which runs around the town and where originally the walls of the olds city stood.It is a maze of narrow streets of Arabic and medieval origins. Within the old quartes of the town we find the most important monuments. The street which runs between the “Plaza del Borne” and the “Plaza de Alfonso III”, the old Mahón entrance, is the most pedestrian area of the city. Here we find the arcades, popularly called “Ses Voltes” which start at he Plaza de la Catedral and constitutes the comercial center of the old city.

About Maó
Maó, is a municipality and the capital city of the Balearic Island of Minorca, located in the eastern part of the island. Maó boasts one of the deepest natural ports in the world. The name’s origin is attributed to the Carthaginian general Mago Barca, brother to Hannibal, who is thought to have taken refuge there in 205 BC.

A traditional cheese made on the island (Queso de Maó) is named after the city. Mayonnaise is argued to have its origin and name in this Minorcan city.

The city of Maó has a millennial history that saw its origins in a headland on the southern side of the port. The first population centres occupy a small area surrounded by the cliffs of the port and the ravines of Baixamar, del Freginal and La Clota. During the Middle Ages, Maó was a walled city that suffered variations until with time it began to extend beyond its boundaries. A stroll trough the streets of Maó give us an insight into the rich legacy of history accumulated over the centuries. The different architectural features and monuments of the city reveal traces of the various nations that have passed through the island

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Illes Balears

The Costa del Sol has been considered an international tourist destination since the early fifties of the past century. Nowadays, modern infrastructures and an incomparable climate put the province of Málaga in the first place on the Spanish Peninsula in terms of numbers of visitors.

The Costa del Sol, like all of Spain, has a wealth of art and history to enjoy. Pablo Picasso was born in Malaga and the city has just opened a new museum dedicated to this universal artist. It also has historic buildings and monuments like the Cathedral, Moorish “Alcazaba” (Fortress) as well as its old town, full of palaces and stately town houses. It is also well worth visiting nearby towns such as Antequera, Ronda, Marbella and Nerja whose beautiful, mysterious pre-historic caves are not to be missed. It is definitely worth taking time out from your relaxation by the sea to discover the historic/artistic heritage of this welcoming region, worthy of being one of the world’s prime tourist destinations.

The Costa del Sol’s setting is also perfect for a wide range of open-air sports and contact with nature. If there is one dominant sport in Malaga province, however, it is golf. The Costa del Sol is a Mecca for thousands of enthusiasts. There are almost fifty courses to be found over a relatively small area – in places like Marbella, Malaga, Estepona, Guadiaro, San Pedro de Alcántara, Alhaurín de la Torre, Artola, Mijas and Puerto Banús.

Picasso Museum
With the inauguration of the Picasso Museum in 2003, Málaga joined the ranks of a select group of cities with a museum offer of the highest order. Parallel to the international recognition that this museum received, an unprecedented cultural turnabout occurred in Málaga that extended even to fields unrelated to culture. One might say that, aware that the world’s eyes were upon it, the city shook off its lethargy and devoted all its resources to insuring that the unquestioned lead role of the Picasso Museum would not be an isolated phenomenon but rather the focal point of a vast offer capable of satisfying a thousand and one demands, and that is what has happened.

The more than 200 works from the private holdings of Christine Picasso and her son Bernard that make up the museum’s permanent collection make possible a detailed review of almost every phase of the vast Picasso output, from the artist as a child to the final, surprising paintings in which the great master of the twentieth century seems to summarise in a few decisive lines his life experience and all his prodigious knowledge of the plastic arts as a legacy to generations to come.

The collection is made up of paintings, drawings, sculptures, ceramics and engravings, but since it is the paintings that most attract the attention of the general public a number deserve special mention, either because they have been reproduced countless times in books and magazines or because they exude such magnetism that it is impossible not to feel their influence: Olga Koklova with mantilla, (Barcelona, 1917), Jacqueline seated (Paris, 1954), Bather (Mougins, 1971), Woman with raised arms (1936), Bust of a woman with arms crossed behind her head (Royan, 1939), Portrait with white cap (Paris, 1923), Head of a woman number 2. Portrait of Dora Maar (1939), Woman seated in an armchair (1946), Man, woman and child (Mougins, 1972), Portrait of Jacqueline with gorget (1962) and Woman standing (sculpture in glazed clay, 1947) are just a few of these creations that will attract and retain the viewer’s interest.

A little bit of history
The spectacular growth of Torremolinos in the fifties had a domino effect in reverse, and by the end of the sixties and beginning of the seventies, the surrounding towns of Benalmádena, Mijas and Fuengirola had also grown into important tourist towns. The reasons had to do with climate, relatively inexpensive cost of living, cheap flights from Northern Europe and many more factors, not least the fact that many films were also made on the Costa del Sol – up to the end of 2003, a total of 230.

But just a few kilometres down the coast from Torremolinos, another boom in a different type of tourism was also happening in the fifties. This was at the hands of Prince Alfonso de Hohenlohe, Noberto Goizueta and José Luque, the men responsible for placing Marbella on the international quality tourism map. Prince Alfonso had founded the Marbella Club in 1954, and with his worldwide contacts, managed to attract the cream of the international jet-set, from aristocrats and barons of industry to film stars and society hostesses. Then José Banús began the great marina and property project that was to link his name forever to international tourism in the shape of Puerto Banús. This attracted the people with the big yachts, and Puerto Banús began to acquire the fame that it enjoys today. He was also responsible for turning the land behind into a huge playground of top golf courses and stylish residential developments now known as Nueva Andalucía.

Beaches
Of the nine districts that make up the province of Málaga, three have a coastline: La Axarquía (Eastern Costa del Sol), the Málaga mountains, including the provincial capital, and the Western Costa de Sol. A total of 14 Málaga municipalities are adjacent to the sea, while there are others in the interior at a minimal distance from it. Each of these municipalities contributes its unique topography to the coastline, with the result that its beaches form a sufficiently heterogeneous complex to satisfy any preference in this respect.

They range from the most plentiful type, which are broad and sandy beaches fully equipped with all services and generally with a modern seafront promenade running alongside them, to the most secluded and absolutely virgin coves overlooked by exceptionally beautiful natural landscapes. From one end to the other, the range includes every kind of beach imaginable–including seven for nudists, in Estepona (2), Benalmádena, Cabopino (Marbella), Benalmádena, Guadalmar, Torre del Mar y Maro - for sea bathing in the conditions that the visitor prefers. Nudism is also tolerated on other beaches that due to their characteristics are not frequented by large numbers of visitors, while on all of them going topless is accepted without question.

During the summer, over many of the most crowded beaches the blue flag waves, the symbol with which the European Union attests to the good condition of the water and sand and to the availability of all the services inherent to this type of public facility.

The beaches that are closest to large urban areas are the ones with the greatest number of services, including beach bars (these hospitality facilities may be found even in areas that are not much visited but that have an established clientele) on whose menu never fails to appear the delicious “pescaíto frito” (small fried fish) of the Málaga coast; toilets; showers; children’s playgrounds; Jet Ski, water cycle and ski rental; first aid stations; lifeguards and even cool palm oases.

More information
Costa del Sol
Patronato de Turismo & Convention Bureau

This year is Sónar’s 15th anniversay and the festival is still a tree with a thousand and one infinitely intersecting branches. It is a multifaceted reality that has room for many other realities on different levels, at different speeds. The Sónar 2008 program exudes this plurality through a line-up of shows, exhibitions and activities that resist simple classification.

What we’ve dubbed ‘the feminine factor’ (in other words, the prominence of women and femininity in today’s music and art scenes) sits side-byside with ‘music bastardism,’ a new approach to the dancefloor that distances itself – further still – from the purism of days gone by, and, as SonarMàtica shows, the work of media artists who recover technologies from the past and use them to shape our perception of film, images and light. Best of all, none of these are completely localised and precise phenomena – they join many other ideas that expand and pollinate as they trace transversal paths throughout a complex program that aims to accurately reflect this increasingly international, interrelated and flexible breeding ground in which Sónar wants to keep playing a crucial role. A situation that simply didn’t exist fifteen years ago. Here it comes the 15th Barcelona International Festival of Advanced Music and Multimedia Art to the city from June 19th through June 21st.

Special nights: Goldfrapp, Leila, Ben Watt, Basquiat Strings and Camille

Golfrapp
Pop Glamour
Sónar is once again pleased to roll out the red carpet for Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory. Undoubtedly one of the strong points of this year’s festival, where their performance is also a gala presentation in Spain of “Seventh Tree”, their 4th studio album, a return to the calm and downtempo of this cult contemporary pop group. The unmistakable voice of Alison, now exalted as one of the unquestionable divas of international pop, will once again come under the spotlight in one of their more personal recitals, which will be as close to the glamour of cabaret as it is to the sophistication of their string arrangements. The concert will explore this balance between intensity and genius that makes Goldfrapp a true “delicatessen”.

Leila
Tension and melodies
The eagerly awaited return of an artiste de luxe has also been confirmed for the Opening Night of Thursday 19 June: Leila, the Londoner with Iranian roots, returns after eight years of silence with her studio album, “Blood, Looms and Blooms”, one of the most ambitious work of recent years. Its live presentation will consist of a matchless show featuring noise, melodies and great songs performed by an extensive assembly of instrumentalists and vocalists including Terry Hall, , legendary singer with The Specials, and Martina Topley Bird, also known for her work with Tricky. They will all be present at a one-off show on the Sónar Opening Night to give us an electronica master class.

Ben Watt
Deep house for gourmets
As well as Goldfrapp and Leila, there will be a DJ set from Ben Watt the creative half of Everything but the Girl and the promoter behind the Lazy Dog club (a legendary haunt in London’s deep house scene from 1998 to 2003). He has become a key element of high-quality dance music in Europe and, judging by his schedule, around the globe. His record label, the impeccable Buzzin’ Fly, releases material by artists like Justin Martin and the trio Rodamaal, as well as his own productions, which continue to arouse passion on innumerable dance floors.
Goldfrapp, Leila and Ben Watt will be performing on Thursday 19 of June from 10.30pm on the Opening Night in SonarPark in the Fira Gran Via (M2) area.

Basquiat Strings
Yesterday and today’s jazz in the hands of a string group
L’Auditori de Barcelona once again becomes a special Sónar stage hosting the performance of the highly unconventional Basquiat Strings, a string quintet with drums, who with only one album under their belt were nominated for a Nationwide Mercury Prize in 2007. Going into the depths of an undoubted passion for yesterday and today jazz, Basquiat Strings perform their own pieces and works by Wayne Shorter, Ornette Coleman and other jazz giants of the XXth century. It is a 100% acoustic show which recreates the group’s various sources and influences with sublime character: from the frantic rhythm of the string groups of Transylvania to the tradition of romantic sextets or the angular arrangements of Charles Mingus. A different way of enjoying jazz.
Basquiat Strings will be performing on Friday 20 June at 8.30pm at L’Auditori.

Camille
The new muse of experimental “a cappella”
Camille, one of the most refreshing surprises in French music in recent years, deploys her arsenal of vocal exercises in the best possible setting - the Palau de la Música Catalana. As part of the events to celebrate the Palau’s Centenary, Sónar is taking part with a focus based on the voice as the key element, but one which also goes far beyond the conventional song format. And it could be said that Camille is light years from the majority of the usual vocalists. Her ingenious treatment of her vocal cords seeks textures, rhythmic patterns and unusual tones, and makes phonemes and trills into absolutely fascinating arrays of sound, using both technological resources (she samples her own voice live herself) and the backing of classical instrumentation. The performance also reveals all the secrets of what will be her third LP, “Music Hole”, on which she has worked with the Brazilian body percussion group Barbatuques, among other artists. This unusual conception of music demands a setting that captures and amplifies the subtlety of her vocal music pirouettes, and the Palau de la Música meets all the requirements for enjoying this festival of unexpected rhythms, distorted words and impossible beatboxes.
Camille will be performing on Saturday 21 June at 9.00pm in the Palau de la Música Catalana

More information
Sonar ´08

Download the program here.

Summer is back in Barcelona and so it is Grec ´08. The Barcelona Festival will run from June 25th through August 2nd. Here are my recommendations:

Theatre
Historia del Soldat
Significantly, a fable has been chosen to open the 2008 Grec Festival: a contemporary reworking of Stravinsky’s Soldier’s Tale. This special inaugural production of the 20th-century musical theatre classic is directed by Nigel Lowery and Amir Hosseinpour, guaranteeing a subtly ironic, powerful and highly visual spectacle. Actor and singer Mísia plays the narrator, our beloved, many-talented Pavlovsky is the soldier, and Marilu Marini, a leading voice in the Parisian theatre, appears as the Devil. Musical accompaniment will be provided by a well-known contemporary music ensemble: Barcelona 216. Stravinsky wrote his Soldier’s Tale in exile, in the company of his friend and neighbour Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz. Due to the difficult times in which he composed the work (it was first performed in 1918), the piece is austere in its use of resources. Nonetheless, Stravinsky masterfully constructs the simple story of a soldier who sells his soul to the Devil, in the shape of his fiddle

El Ángel Exterminador
After a night at the opera, a group of wealthy aristocrats meets for dinner. As the evening draws to a close, none of the guests are able to leave the dining room. There is no reason for this; they simply find themselves trapped. The days wear on, and etiquette is gradually forgotten. Food becomes short, and the filth begins to pile up. Conflicts begin to appear amongst the trapped partygoers. According to Julie Sermon, who adapted the work for the stage, The Exterminating Angel explores the limits to freedom, how we negotiate with others and how we face adversity. Another way of illustrating Sartre’s famous adage that “Hell is other people.” Surrealism and existentialism, two crucial forces behind 20th- century thought that Joan Ollé updates and reinterprets for today’s audiences

Andrómaca
This version of Andromache is not merely an adaptation of Euripides’ play; the production focuses, above all, on the conflict that has raged for centuries between the two sides of the Mediterranean. Whilst in the classical tragedy the warring factions are Greece and Troy, in this version the conflict is between East and West, Europe and Islam, us and them. The young French director Jean-Christophe Saïs turns his creative genius on the interplay between attraction and rejection, fascination and incomprehension in a production of Andromache that brings the myth up to date, accentuating differences and emphasising conflicts in order to seek ways of overcoming them. In a cast led by the actress Hala Omran, the Greeks speak in French and the Trojans in Arabic

Las Troyanas
The vanquisher will have no mercy on the vanquished. There will be no pity for the children of the survivors, nor respect for the fallen gods. The Trojan Women takes us to the last day of Troy, a defeated city, and tells the story of its women, condemned to fall into the arms of the victorious generals. Mario Gas directs this adaptation of a work in which women are the leading characters: Andromache, Hector’s widow; Hecuba, deposed queen of Troy; Cassandra, whose prophecies are ignored; Helen, over whom the war was fought…

Music
Buika - Niña de Fuego
Born in Palma de Mallorca in 1972, Buika’s career to date has been eclectic and multi-faceted. Recognition came with her second album, Mi niña Lola (2006), since when Concha Buika has travelled all over the world, earning countless accolades. She recently released Niña de fuego. No doubt about it, a star is born: “An artist is not someone who sings or paints, but someone who makes their life an art”, she says. Drinking from the wells of flamenco and jazz, Buika infuses these sounds into her own coplas and rancheras, her unique singing style breathing new life into classic numbers. Not only that, but she also sings self-penned lyrics, as well as interpreting songs written for her by the likes of David Trueba and Javier Limón.

Summer Nights at Caixaforumn
Triada
Using extraordinary, age-old techniques, the Bulgarian voices of Tríada are capable of generating the most unusual and surprising vocal tones. An ancient tradition, conserved and passed down by women for generation after generation.
 
Sitjazz Band
Founded in 2000 by a group of young musicians in Sitges, the Sitjazz Band revives the spirit of Dixieland jazz in turn-of-the-century New Orleans, where music was everywhere, part of all celebrations of everyday life.

Miguel Marín + Frozen Radio
Session combining electronic and traditional Chinese music, using computers and small Chinese electronic instruments such as the FM3.
 
Binomis
A two-fold event featuring Balago, collectors of dark, desolate atmospheres woven into electronic and acoustic sound landscapes, and the group Erre que Erre, who create and experiment with new forms and ideas about movement and dance.

Asikides
Asikides is the name given to travelling musicians in Greece. Asíkides blend European, Arabic, Balkan and Turkish influences together to create their spontaneous, natural sound.

Divine Gospel Reunion
Three exceptional soloists finally come together onstage. In a unique show, full of power and energy, their voices share all the spiritual emotion and love that the most authentic gospel music inspires.

Dance
Mujeres
Merche Esmeralda, Belén Maya, Rocío Molina and Diana Navarro
In Mujeres, the three women are Merche Esmeralda, Belén Maya and Rocío Molina. Merche Esmeralda is practically an institution in the world of flamenco. Belén Maya, an artist capable of fusing the finest flamenco sounds with her classical, jazz and contemporary music origins, made her debut at the Grec in 1997, accompanying Mayte Martín. The youngest of the three is Rocío Molina (Málaga, 1984), whose mixture of innocence and passion has won generous praise at festivals all over. The voice of Diana Navarro rounds off a show that has been acclaimed in New York, Miami and London. Now it’s Barcelona’s turn.

Sutra
Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Antony Gormley, Szymon Brzóska and the monks from the Shaolin Temple
The sutras are teachings pronounced by the Buddha. By extension, the word is also used to describe the aphorisms and rules that govern our lives. Acclaimed choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui takes up the challenge of revealing the spiritual nature behind the millenary Kung-Fu tradition. Dwelling for a time amongst the monks at the Shaolin Temple in Dengfeng enabled Cherkaoui to delve into the context that surrounds this martial art and to discover the philosophy behind it. The sculptor Antony Gormley designed the constructed environment in which the monks perform, whilst Szymon Brzóska composed various musical pieces inspired by the ambience at the temple. This is a journey, not into the past, but into the spirit, in which the distances between East and West are not as great as we might imagine.

The circus and more …
Nit de Circ
The excellent response to the first Circus Night last year was an invitation to repeat the experience. Once again, then, the magic of the circus calls you to Montjuïc. The evening will begin informally, in the Teatre Grec gardens, which will be converted into an open- air big top with music, tightrope walkers, jugglers… and many more surprises. Later, the show will move to the main venue, where the Taoub group will take the stage to perform a fusion of spectacular traditional Moroccan acrobatics and contemporary circus

More information

Grec ´08

Programme

Venues

Calendar

Useful Information

Ticket Sales

Arganda del Rey (Madrid) is one of the venues for he third edition of Rock in Rio. Artis such as The Police, Neil Young, Carlinhos Brown, Jamiroquai, Lenny Kravitz, or Tokio Hotel will be playing in Arganda del Rey, Madrid, on June 27-28 and July 4-5-6.

Rock in Rio is a series of rock festivals held in Brazil and later in Portugal. Three incarnations of the festival were in Rio de Janeiro, in 1985, 1991 and 2001 and two in Lisbon, in 2004, 2006 and 2008. The shows were organized by entrepreneur Roberto Medina. The third edition has chosen Arganda del Rey (Madrid) and Lisbon, in 2008 as its venues.

The first edition of the festival was held from January 11-20, 1985. Queen, George Benson, Rod Stewart, AC/DC and Yes were the headliners, each occupying top spot for two nights (Benson, however, ceded it to James Taylor for their second night in the same bill, due to the huge delay Taylor’s extended performance had caused to his concert two days before). About 1.4 million people attended the 10-day-long festival.

Confirmed artists at Rock In Rio Madrid
June 27
Alanis Morissette
Jack Johnson
Manolo García
Neil Young

June 28
Mando Diao
El Canto Del Loco
Tokio Hotel
Carlinhos Brown

July 4
Shakira
Jamiroquai
Amy Winehouse
James Morrison

July 5
The Police
Alejandro Sanz
Estopa
Ivete Sangalo

July 6
Lenny Kravitz
Franz Ferdinand
Chris Cornell
Tiësto

More information
Rock in Rio Madrid

Estrella Damm Primavera Sound 2008 will take place in Barcelona between the 29th and the 31st of May. The artistic line-up will follow the same quality level as in past editions, the festival has always concentrated its energy on offering the chance to see new independent promising bands and also renowned artists from any style or genre, fundamentally looking for quality and essentially committing to pop and rock music as well as underground electronic music.

During all these years, the festival has had the most diverse range of artists. Some of those who have been on stage are, amongst many others: Pixies, Aphex Twin, Sonic Youth, Lou Reed, El-P, Pulp, Patty Smith, Television, Enrique Morente, The White Stripes, Wilco, Tindersticks, PJ Harvey, Shellac, Dinosaur Jr., New Order, Surfin’ Bichos, Melvins, Psychic TV and Spiritualized.

The festival, already considered a must see music event, gathered almost 62,000 people on the past edition. Its characteristics as well as the wide range of bands performing have been the main causes that made Estrella Damm Primavera Sound the meeting point of artists and attendees from various generations.

Primavera Sound 2008 Line Up
808 State , Extraperlo , Para One , A Place To Bury Strangers , Fanfarlo , Pissed Jeans , Abrevadero , Fasenuova , Polvo , Alan Braxe , The Felice Brothers , Port O’Brien , Andy Votel , Fuck Buttons , Portishead , Animal Collective , Gentle Music Men , Portishead , Apparat Band , The Go! Team , Prinzhorn Dance School , April Fool’s Day , Graham , Public Enemy , Ari(wa)tt , Grande-Marlaska , The Right Ons , Atlas Sound , Guillamino , Robert Hood , Autolux , Health , Rufus Wainwright , Awesome Color , Holly Golightly & The Brokeoffs , The Rumble Strips , Berlinbattery , Holy Fuck , Russian Red , Bèstia Ferida , Irene , Scarlet’s Well , Bill Callahan , It’s Not Not , Scout Niblett , Bishop Allen , Kavinsky , Sebadoh , Bob Mould Band , Kelley Stoltz , Shellac , Bon Iver , Kinski , Shipping News , Boris , La Estrella De David , Silver Jews , British Sea Power , La Orquesta Del Caballo Ganador , Simian Mobile Disco , Buffalo Tom , Le Petit Ramon , Six Organs Of Admittance , Caribou , Le Pianc , SJ Esau , Cat Power ,Les Aus , The Sonics , The Clientele , Les Savy Fav , Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks , Clint , Lightspeed Champion , Strange Death Of Liberal England , Clipse , Madee , Subterranean Kids , The Cribs , Man Man , Supermayer , Darren Hayman & Jack Hayter , Manos De Topo , Surkin , David Thomas Broughton , The Mary Onettes , The Swell Season , De La Soul , Mary Weiss of The Shangri-Las , Tachenko , Deerhunter ,The Marzipan Man , Tarántula , Devastations , Matt Elliott , Thomas Brinkmann , Devo , Menomena , Throbbing Gristle , Digital Mystikz,Loefah and Sgt. Pokes , Messer Chups , Tiefschwarz , Dinosaur Jr. , MGMT , Times New Viking , Dirty Projectors , Mi and L’au , Tindersticks , Dj Assault , Midnight Juggernauts , Torpedo , Dj Coco , The Missing Leech , Träd,  Gräs och Stenar , Dj De Mierda , Mission Of Burma , Twin Kranes , Dj Funk , Model 500 , Unchained , DM Stith , Moho , Vampire Weekend , Dr. Octagon , Morente Omega , Voice of the Seven Woods , Edan with guest Dagha , Mount Eerie / The Microphones , Vórtice , El Chico Con La Espina En El Costado , MV & EE with The Golden Road , Voxtrot , El Guincho , My Brightest Diamond , The Wave Pictures , El Hijo , Nick Lowe , White Williams , Ellen Allien , No Age , Why? , Enon , The Notwist , Young Marble Giants , Eric’s Trip , Okkervil River ,  Explosions In The Sky , Om.

Distribution of Concerts
Parc Del Fòrum
Thursday, May 29th
Portishead, Public Enemy performing It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back, De La Soul, Vampire Weekend, Explosions In The Sky, Eric’s Trip, British Sea Power, Shipping News, Caribou, The Notwist, Mount Eerie, Dr. Octagon AKA Kool Keith + Kutmasta Kurt, Boris, Edan & MC Dagha, Voxtrox, Holy Fuck, Enon, MGMT, Prinzhorn Dance School, Health, Berlinbattery, Tachenko, Thomas Brinkmann, Tarántula, La Estrella De David, Moho, The Marzipan Man, Graham

Friday, May 30th
Portishead, Cat Power, Devo, The Sonics, Sebadoh, The Cribs, Model 500, Nick Lowe, Bob Mould Band, The Go! Team, Bill Callahan, El Guincho, Polvo, The Rumble Strips, The Felice Brothers, Six Organs Of Admittance, Holly Golightly & The Brokeoffs, Why?, Om, Midnight Juggernauts, No Age, MV & EE With The Golden Road, Pissed Jeans, A Place To Bury Strangers, Subterranean Kids, Autolux, Bishop Allen, Ellen Allien, Robert Hood, Fuck Buttons, The Swell Season, Supermayer, Man Man, Grande-Marlaska, The Mary Onettes, It’s Not Not, Bestia Ferida, The Strange Death Of Liberal England, Russian Red, White Williams, The Right Ons Soulin’ Thunder Review, Träd Gräs Och Stenar, DJ De Mierda, Ari(wa)tt

Saturday, May 31st.
Rufus Wainwright, Tindersticks, Dinosaur Jr. Animal Collective, Enrique Morente “Omega” con Lagartija Nick, Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks, Young Marble Giants, Misión Of Burma, Throbbing Gristle, Shellac, Silver Jews, Mary Weiss Of The Shangri-La’s, Simian Mobile Disco, Clipse, Deerhunter, Les Savy Fav, Okkervil River, Buffalo Tom, Menomena, Scout Niblett, Lightspeed Champion, Apparat Band, Dirty Projectors, 808 State, Devastations, Tiefschwarz, Kinski, Atlas Sound, Times New Viking, DJ Funk, Bon Iver, Fanfarlo, Port O’Brien, Alan Braxe, Para One, Awesome Color, DJ Assault, Kavinsky, Digital Mystikz, Surkin, Madee, Vórtice, Gentle Music Men, DJ Coco, Juan B

Pre-Festival Parties
Monday, May 26th.
La [2] De Apolo: Siesta showcase: Scarlet’s Well, Clint

Tuesday, May 27th.
La [2] De Apolo: Touchme Records showcase: My Brightest Diamond, DM Stith, Abrevadero

Sala Sidecar: Twisted Nerve showcase: Voice Of The Seven Woods, Twin Kranes, Andy Votel

Wednesday, May 28th.
Sala Apolo: Acuarela showcase (15 aniversario): The Clientele, Matt Elliott, Mi And L’Au, SJ Esau, La Orquesta Del Caballo Ganador

Sala Sidecar: Ozono Kids showcase: Les Aus, Fasenuova, Unchained

Primavera Al Parc (Parc Joan Miró)
Saturday, May 31st.
Acuarela showcase: Darren Hayan & Jack Hayter Play Hefner, David Thomas Broughton, El Hijo Bankrobber showcase: Guillamino, El Chico Con La Espina En El Costado, Le Petit Ramon

Sunday, June 1st.
Fikasound showcase: The Radio Dept., Torpedo, April Fool’s Day
Strange Ones showcase: Manos De Topo, Le Pianc, Extraperlo

Closing Party
Sunday, June 1st.
Sala Apolo: The Wave Pictures, Kelly Stoltz, Messer Chups, The Missing Leech, Drowned In Sound DJ’s

More information
Primavera Sound ‘08

Zaragoza, in northern Spain, is the setting for the 2008 International Expo, with the theme ‘Water and sustainable development’. This major cultural event will take place 14 June-14 September 2008, and it aims to show the vital importance of water for our planet. Expo Zaragoza 2008 is an International Exposition regulated by the B.I.E., the French abbreviation for the International Expositions Bureau (Bureau International des Expositions). 

Universal Expositions are held every 5 years on a site with no area limitations. They last 6 months and address a general theme. An example of this type of exposition is the Seville “Expo 92″.  International Expositions, such as the one planned for Zaragoza in 2008, are held over 3 months on a site of no more than 25 hectares. On this occasion, the event will take place at an impressive site alongside a section of the Ebro River, which has been recovered for urban use. In this way the river has been fully integrated into the city, becoming the ‘main street’ of Zaragoza with a series of promenades and public areas over more than six kilometres.

The Expo has meant investment of 1,500 million Euro. It is definitely the biggest challenge in the recent history of Zaragoza. On account of Expo 2008, the regional capital of Aragon has undergone a major transformation with the construction of infrastructure, accesses and buildings, renewed urban transport and the rehabilitation of the banks of the Ebro River, including a navigable section. This is the perfect time to come to Zaragoza and enjoy the 2008 International Expo, a wonderful event that will attract millions of visitors.

The first international exposition took place in London in 1851. Since its success, numerous expositions have been held all over the world, including the Paris Exposition of 1889, which gave birth to the Eiffel Tower. As these events increased in number, a clear need arose to control their frequency. Thus, the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) was created in 1928.

Expo Zaragoza 2008 will offer three large-scale shows based on the basic principles of the Event: ‘Water and Sustainable Development’: Iceberg. Visual Poetic Symphony, Hombre Vertiente, and The awakening of the serpent.

Iceberg
Visual and poetic symphony inspired by Expo Zaragoza 2008, with ‘Water and Sustainable Development’ and ‘Climate Change’ as central themes. It will be a poetic, beautiful, simple show but at the same time moving, ideally seen live but with a format and contents capable of being televised or transmitted by internet in real time.

The central element of the show is a huge iceberg with a minute human figure standing before it - mankind being both the main cause of climate change and its first victim. A dialogue of images and conflicts is established between the iceberg, the man and the Ebro that will guide us along a route mined by the wrongs that cause climate change and that will eventually lead us to the entreaty of a message of hope.

It is a bid for a future where the decisiveness and will of mankind may create a new balanced relationship with nature.

Hombre Vertiente
Successfully brings together distinct disciplines thus allowing the spectator to be part of an event which stimulates all the senses and in which the spectator is a stage element with a leading role in the performance.

The aerial theatre has many characteristics, the importance of vertical space being one of the most significant where the action in this show takes place, breaking the monotony of the traditional Italian stage. It also forges a new kind of relationship between the public and the actors.

The show is an experiment of a new theatrical concept along with the use of skills of different artistic disciplines and high-flying action, converting the aerial theatre into a mixture of emotions where music and intense visual contrast entertains, provoke and move the spectator.

The Awakening of the Serpent
It is the legend of all legends. The characters invoke the serpent, so that it evokes the clouds, that will in turn cause the marvellous and beneficial power of the rain.

Approximately 80 artists will gather around a moving stage that represents a Rainbow Serpent and they will create a stage that will cover a distance of 100 metres.

More information:
International Expo 2008 Zaragoza

More than a million people and close to one hundred different brotherhoods enjoy the wonderful festive atmosphere of one of the biggest pilgrimages in the world. Pilgrims from Andalusia, Spain and around the world make their way to the Blanca Paloma Shrine in the village of El Rocío, 17 kilometres from the town of Almonte (Huelva province). The celebration combines religion and fiesta, and is held 50 days after Easter.

Over the week before, the different Rocío brotherhoods set out from their bases in Huelva, Seville, and Cadiz, amongst other provinces, in order to get to the village of El Rocío by the Saturday, and to enjoy the events which run through to the Monday. The most traditional way to do the pilgrimage is on horseback, by carriage or on foot, dressed in flamenco clothing. By day, the brotherhoods advance in festive spirits, singing flamenco, while by night they camp out and organise parties around the bonfire with singing, dancing, food and drink into the early hours.

There are four main routes: the Sanlúcar route, which runs through the Doñana National Park and is used by those coming from the province of Cadiz; the Los Llanos route, which runs from Almonte - this is the oldest one; the Moguer route, used by those coming from Huelva province; the Seville route - this is the most popular route with other brotherhoods from Spain and abroad.

As they arrive in the village of El Rocío, pilgrims pitch their camps and await the arrival of the remaining brotherhoods. On the Saturday there is a parade where they present themselves with the simpecado (the association’s standard) before the statue of the Virgin Mary, while the church bells ring. On the Sunday there are various religious acts and that night nobody sleeps, in anticipation of the weekend’s most exciting moment: the ‘jumping the fence’, when the people of Almonte jump over the fence to bring the statue of the Virgin out of the shrine and parade it around the village on Monday morning. Once the procession is over, the brotherhoods start the return journey with their minds already on next year’s pilgrimage.

During the rest of the year El Rocío is a quiet place which welcomes all those visitors that want to know the center of an incredible passion. But during the event, this village of about 2,000 inhabitants swells to become the third largest city in Spain by number of inhabitants (in 2006, approximately 1,300,000 persons were recorded).

Visiting El Rocío

A.- Apart from its beautiful hermitage, visitors will find that El Rocío is settled inside Doñana National Park. It has wonderful landscapes of the wetlands, and is very easy to find wild horses grazing around.

B.- It is possible to book a route through the eastern part of the Inlands, including Doñana, El Rocío and the wonderful Niebla.

C.- You can also hire a chariot and make part of the pilgrims´route, within a very beautiful surroundings. 
  
Almonte

Almonte is in the province of Huelva, Andalusia. The town is made up of small white houses and spacious pedestrian areas. It has a range of interesting buildings such as Nuestra Señora de la Asunción Church, the Town Hall (16th century) and the Town Museum. In the 14th century Almonte became independent of Niebla and in the following century it became part of the Duchy of Medina-Sidonia. In the 17th century wars and epidemics plunged the town into a decline, and things didn’t start to look up again until the 18th century. From the 1950’s onwards, Almonte began to grow again and to establish a sound economy based on agriculture and tourism; and the town has never looked back.

If you go to Almonte, be sure to visit the Doñana National Park, one of the most important protected nature areas in Europe. It is well worth exploring this huge area, where you will find sand dunes, pine groves, marshland, lagoons and reserves which are a refuge for hundreds of species of birds, as well as endangered animals such as the Iberian lynx. Matalascañas is just three kilometres from Doñana. This beach is almost five kilometres long, and offers the largest number of hotel beds on the Huelva Coast.

It is an ideal spot for water sports, too.

More info

Almonte Tourist Office
Calle  Alonso Pérez, 1 - 21730 Almonte (Huelva)
Tel. +34 959450616  Fax +34 959451834

Rocio.com

If you want an exciting adventure in contact with nature, here is my proposal: The Cíes Islands, recommended for scuba diving. The Cíes islands lie midway between the Vigo ria and the sunset, in the Galician Rías Baixas. Sailing towards the sunset islands is one of the greatest adventures the Galician coast can offer, made up by four groups of Islands, which have rocks on their West side and quiet beaches on their East side. These four groups are the Cíes Islands in the Ría de Vigo, Ons Islands and Onza in the Ría de Pontevedra, and Sálvora and Cortegada in the Ría de Arous.
Their history dates back to the Bronze Age and the Iron Age, as primitive settlements typical from Galicia where found. Romans also left a trace in the Nature Reserve because Roman ceramics were found and some historians state that Julius Caesar was in the Islands. The Nature Reserve was populated until the 20 century and suffered pirate lootings, like the famous Francis Drake, who forced people to abandon the Islands.

The maximum recognition as a Foreshore National Park granted to the Illas Atlanticas de Galicia, which comprises four archipelagos, Cíes, Ons Sálvora and Cortegada, guarantees the preservation and the improvement of these highly exclusive but fragile ecosystems in the 21st century. There is no doubt that the thinnest sand expanses, like a mirror for the sun, and the best ocean waters can be found here, colder and saltier than in inner rias. In the Cíes, you can hear seagulls scream deafeningly during the breeding season on the cliffs open to the sea. They form the largest colony around our coasts, with about 22,000 breeding pairs.

The Nature Reserve has 20,500 acres, from which 2,950 are land acres and 17,600 are sea acres. From the boat that will take you there, you can see the still silhouette of three islands that often look like two. The Northern one, called Monte Agudo, joins the Illa do Medio (Middle Island), also known as Illa do Faro island (The Lighthouse Island) through the sand extension on the beach of Rodas, with the Lago dos Nenos in the distance. The Illa do Sur, also called San Martiño, is separated from the others by a channel which truly deserves its name of “sea gate”. In addition, there is a group of islets connected, below sea level, to sea bottoms of rich biodiversity, with large seaweed bushes teeming with shellfish and other gastronomy products within a protected area.

Flora
Pine and eucalyptus cover one fourth of the Cíes. Good preservation of the dunes. Presence of a dune bush known as “camariña” (Corema album) and of the spiny thrift (Armeria pungens). Furze abounds on the vegetation mantle. Mediterranean species such as the white broom (Osyris alba) or the wild asparagus (Asparagus).

There are rich sea bottoms, with over 200 seaweed species, especially brown seaweed of the Laminaria (kelp) and Sacohiza type, and soft corals such as the Gorgonia or common sea fan. One of the largest laurel groves in Europe lies in Cortegada.

Fauna
There are numerous world-important colonies of sea birds. Green cormorant (Phalacrocorax aristotelis) and Caspian Gull (Larus cachinnans). Non-breeding presence of the Common Murre. Nesting, winter stay and resting area in migration times. Interesting reptile: the Iberian five-fingered seps (Chalcides bedriagal). Rich presence of crustaceans, molluscs and fish. Cetaceans can be seen.

Routes
There are no vehicles here, and the number of visitors allowed in the Cíes every day is limited to 2,200, which renders this area particularly quiet. In the two main islands, joined by a beach and a small bridge, all the paths are clearly indicated from the Rodas pier. The main routes take visitors to each of the three existing lighthouses. Combined with the two existing observatories, they make it possible to walk across the islands without entering the area which protects the cliffs and furnas from the northern end of O Cabalo to the southern end of Canabal.

Along the longest road to Monte Faro, southwards, besides the beach and the lake we can discover the A Campá observatory, located on pure rock and surrounded by the deafening cackling of seagulls. On the final section, before the zigzagging climb to the lighthouse, we can approach the pre-Roman castrexo village. Even if these areas are known as Siccas (”arid”) and are inhabited today, there are signs indicating that monks, hermits and fishermen lived here in the old times.

On the island of Ons, the routes start from the pier on the beach of Area dos Cans and the O Curro´s group of houses built around this pier. It is possible to climb to the vantage point of the lighthouse around the houses of the islanders, who traditionally made a living by selling octopus and shellfish until the mid-70s, when they started leaving the place. If you go towards the ends, you can choose to go northwards, to the solitary and beautiful Melide beach, or southwards, through several paths, all leading to Cova and Burato do Inferno, a pit-shaped furna where it is possible to hear the sea roaring in the bowels of the earth.

The boat tickets that will take you to the Cíes islands indicate the day and the time of return. There is no regular transportation service to sail from one island to another, but it is possible to go on tourist cruises in order to visit the whole ecosystems of the rias, and the mussel-breeding areas in particular.
If you prefer to witness production activities, the pier and promenade of Carril offer remarkable shellfishing lessons on its clam or cockle breeding grounds. They represent the only border of the Cortegada island, which displays its thick pine grove in the foreground.

More information
Parque Nacional Marítimo-Terrestre de Las Islas Atlánticas de Galicia

If you like to practice rural tourism you should book a holiday in the Canary Islands. The Canary Islands consist of seven main islands and six islets and Rural tourism on the islands is a unique experience. Here you will find a unique rural setting where you will encounter volcanoes with magical landscapes created by lava, untamed woodlands, pinewoods, immense expanses of dunes, coastlines and mountainous areas, in spaces that are protected because of their rich bio-diversity and their numerous indigenous species which include dragon trees, junipers and viper’s bugloss.

The gentle temperatures of the islands enable you to enjoy all the open-air leisure options 365 days a year: you can follow the footpaths on foot, on horseback or riding a camel, make a bicycle tour or go canyoning down the ravines that are brimming with vegetation; or explore the mysteries of the volcanic tubes, climb incredible walls of rock or dive in the crystal-clear waters and find yourself surrounded by rays and amberjacks. The clarity of the sky and limited light contamination have led to the installation of two international astronomical observatories from which, among others, significant solar studies are carried out.

The Canary Islands are part of the region of Macaronesia, one of the most important in the world for their rich bio-diversity. Exclusive to this region is laurisilva, a virgin laurel woodland which once covered the entire Mediterranean basin and which has its last redoubt here.

With a range of habitats, the Canary Islands exhibit diverse plant species. The bird life includes European and African species, such as the Black-bellied Sandgrouse; and a rich variety of endemic (local) species including the: Canary, Graja (endemic to La Palma), Blue Chaffinch, Canary Islands, Chiffchaff, Fuerteventura Chat, Tenerife Goldcrest, Madeira Firecrest, Bolle’s Pigeon, Laurel Pigeon, Trocaz Pigeon, Plain Swift, Terrestrial fauna includes gekkos (such as the striped Canary Islands Gecko) and wall lizards, and three endemic species of recently rediscovered and critically endangered giant lizard: the El Hierro Giant Lizard (or Roque Chico de Salmor Giant Lizard), La Gomera Giant Lizard, and La Palma Giant Lizard. Some endemic mammals, the Lava Mouse and Canary Islands Giant Rat, are extinct, as are the Canary Islands Quail and Eastern Canary Islands Chiffchaff.

The Canaries have 141 protected areas, four of which are are National Parks. There are four Biosphere Reserves and a total of 1,386 native plants, 546 of which are peculiar to these Islands.

The Archipelago has hundreds of volcanoes and a rich variety of ecosystems and microclimates, which enable certain protected animals to survive such as the white-tailed and Bolle’s laurel pigeons, the Canarian lizard known as the tizón, the blue chaffinch and the osprey.

The Marine life found in the Canary Islands is also varied, being a combination of North Atlantic, Mediterranean and endemic species. In recent years, the increasing popularities of both scuba diving and underwater photography have provided biologists with much new information on the marine life of the islands.

Fish species found in the islands include many species of shark, ray, moray eel, bream, jack, grunt, scorpionfish, triggerfish, grouper, goby, and blenny. In addition, there are many invertebrate species including sponge, jellyfish, anenome, crab, mollusc, sea urchin, starfish, sea cucumber and coral.

There are a total of 5 different species of marine turtle that are sighted periodically in the islands, the most common of these being the endangered Loggerhead Turtle; however, local fisherman continue to take this endangered species. The other four are the Green, Hawksbill, Leatherback and Kemp’s Ridley Turtle. Currently, there are no signs that any of these species breed in the islands, and so those seen in the water are usually migrating. However, it is believed that some of these species may have bred in the islands in the past, and there are records of several sightings of leatherback turtle on beaches in Fuerteventura, adding credibility to the theory.

More information
Canarias: Seven islands … seven worlds