Leisure and Entertainment in Spain
The amount of frequent flights to and from Spain, especially the Costas, has almost single-handedly led to a huge boom in tourist numbers and those buying property, especially on Spain’s Mediterranean coast.Airlines like Easyjet, Monarch, Ryanair and BMI baby, have fuelled the dream of sunshine for all. Once in Spain, the leisure and entertainment infrastructure is now second to none. Spain's coastline now cater not just for ‘lazing on the beach’ but also activities which were less prevalent on the coast a decade ago. Water-skiiing, kite-surfing, wake-boarding and wind-surfing, are all well represented for the more adventurous holidaymaker, especially in places like Tarifa on Andalucia’s southern tip, which are well geared up for water sports.
Nightlife is much as it always was, with coastal stretches like the Costa del Sol still attracting millions of visitors each year. Marbella, Puerto Banus, Torremolinos, and Fuengirola, are packed with bars, restaurants, and discos, making it the most popular region for tourists.
Of course, with thousands of people buying their own holiday homes here, a whole new leisure industry has sprung up to cater for them. These are the people who want to impress their friends with drinks and entertaining on their new terraces and by their pools, and huge new shopping centres (like El Corte Ingles and the Miramar Centre on the Costa del Sol) have been constructed to cater for their needs.
Leisure has also taken the form of a more sophisticated visitor, looking for an inland ‘real Spain’ experience. Tailor-made walks, quad-biking, and even activities like ballooning, are now satisfying the needs of those wanting an experience off the beaten track. This is especially true of the thousands of traditional Spanish white-washed hillside villages, which have realized the financial value of encouraging historical tourism.
For the visitor, it’s a new cultural form of entertainment, which is now being encouraged by regional governments across Spain. Malaga in Andalucia for example, is bidding to become city of culture 2016, and is heavily promoting visits to its famous Picasso Museum (the celebrated artist was born there) along with other monuments and places of interest. Meanwhile, Seville continues to promote itself as Andalucia’s premier city for tourists, with its historic old quarter, Cathedral, and a deeply held Flamenco dancing tradition. |
|
