Changing Face Of Tourism

Humble Pie, more of the same i.e. domestic violence, driving in Spain, and yet more evidence of the changing face of tourism here in Spain are the attention grabbing stories for this weeks column.

I was wrong last week when I predicted that the proposed strike by Spanish footballers wouldn’t go ahead, with the first match day of the season cancelled as the league and the players association failed to reach any agreement on the wage round. Of course that didn’t stop the ‘Super Cup’ between Barcelona and Real Madrid taking place which somehow seems wrong to me, but then again what do I know eh, other than the overpaid, overrated, and overly arrogant modern footballer continues to believe that they are ‘above it all’ and that normal rules don’t seem to apply to them, or those involved in the administration of the game.

Personally I have got fed up with the over hyped nature of today’s football. In my mind the quality has increased in no way in proportion to the amount of money thrown around in the game, so I am not going to be watching anywhere near as much this year: the cricket on the other hand has been excellent and I am looking forward to the Rugby World Cup, although I have next to no hope that any of the Home Nations will get beyond the quarter finals.

Yet more evidence that the future face of tourism has changed in Spain with SOTC, the outbound travel brand of Kuoni, claiming to be the first Indian travel agent to organise a seven day package to the La Tomatina festival which is held in the southern Spanish city of Bunol on the last Wednesday of August. Revellers hurl tomatoes on each other in friendly fights, in a tradition that goes back to 1945.

As for the Brits, they are favoring Cyprus and Corfu this year, with both reporting significant increases in popularity this summer, and Tunisia and Morocco already topping the winter destination tables.

Evidence that more Brits are staying at home, know as ‘Staycations’ in these days when everything has to be labelled, came from a rather interesting source: an increase in the use of ‘branch lines’ across the railways of the UK where the 10 branch lines with the biggest percentage growth saw total journeys increase from 4.5m to nearly 7m between April 2008 and March 2011.

Unfortunately another domestic violence tragedy with Twin Boys beaten to death by their Spanish stepfather in A Coruña. The un-named suspect is an unemployed construction worker who has lived with the boy’s mother, who is a local woman from A Coruña, for around the past year. He was found with them in the flat when officers arrived on the scene and is reported to have been under treatment for psychiatric problems.

A couple of driving related stories grabbed the eye this week: the unfortunate death of nine people and serious injuries to six over the last bank holiday weekend highlighting once again an ongoing concern, while the recent research showing that children are safer being driven by their grandparents than by mum and dad was a surprise to say the least as traditionally the view has been that the elderly are more likely to be the cause of accidents to poorer reactions and failing eyesight but the study found that a child’s risk of injury was found to be a staggering 50 per cent lower when in the car with grandad. I suspect it has a lot to do with experience and not rushing everywhere!

And finally ……. drinking and driving is wrong, there can be no excuse, and those caught deserve everything they get, but that said it is hard not to feel an element of sympathy for the driver caught three times in one weekend.

The first checkpoint was at 21:30 on August 14th, police officers stopped a car on the A-4 (Madrid-Cádiz). The driver, a 33 year old man from Córdoba, tested positive for alcohol (0.46) and was duly denounced and fined.

At 01:50 on August 15th the same driver was stopped at another control point on the A-4, at km and this time tested positive with 0.62 per litre of breath so another fine.

And then at 04:45 he was again stopped at a checkpoint on the A-431 between Córdoba and Lora del Río. He was tested and this time scored 0.50 on the Breathalyser scale.

The three offences now mean he could face a fine of up to €1,500 and lose 14 points from his licence, meaning he will be banned from driving.

As usual a ‘mixed bag’ then, and not all of it great news. In fact reading the news these days no doubt ‘drives many to drink’ in which case I may have some good news for you! According to researchers at Barcelona University red wine is good for you in the sun. A study in conjunction with the Spanish National Research Council reveals that flavonoids found in grapes can protect the skin from the sun’s harmful rays.

This column is sponsored by Central Contracts for publication in the Round Town News