Lets Get Travelling

Researchers in Israel have uncovered a new reason for adopting the Spanish custom of siestas.

A study by researchers at the Brain Behaviour Centre in the University of Haifa showed that a 90-minute siesta improves long-term memory and improves the ability to retain data.

Two groups took part in the testing and those who took a siesta adapted to new learning tasks better than the group that did not, provided the comparison was made before nightfall. The following morning, abilities between the two groups were back to equal.

So if you enjoy a siesta on holiday in Spain, make sure it’s a habit you get into back at home too!

Holidaymakers planning a trip to Lanzarote could find it more difficult to get a hotel room after 22 hotels were ordered to be demolished.

The demolition order follows a court case that ruled that 22 hotels were illegally built after two councils had openly flouted a ban on building hotels.

Eight five-star hotels, 10 smaller hotels and four others under construction were ruled illegal. All together they account for over 7,700 rooms or apartments on the island.

Top class hotels that could be pulled down include the Melia Volcan, Iberostar Papagayo, Gran Castillo, Natura Palace, Rubicon Palace, Papagayo Arena and Son Bou.

Authorities may grant an amnesty in the same way as the council in Marbella did when it discovered thousands of illegally built hotels and homes, many owned by Britons, in 2006. In return for not sending in the demolition crews, the council forced developers to hand over large areas of land into public ownership.

However, not everyone would welcome this outcome and the final decision on action remains unclear.

Carlos Espino, a Socialist Lanzarote councillor, said: “These councils broke the order which we put in place to preserve the island, which is a biosphere. We will not have an amnesty. We will knock down what we have to.”

More court cases against other hotels in Lanzarote are expected to follow.

Despite increasing competition for the tourist pound, dollar and euro, France still regularly attracts enormous amounts of visitors from around the world.

According to the World Tourism Organization, France receives more foreign visitors per year than any other country - some 76 million in 2006. This is followed by Spain with 55 million, the US with 50 million and China with 47 million. Italy completes the top 5 with 37 million (just ahead of the UK).

And whilst Time Square was the most visited place in 2006 with 35 million tourist visitors, the top 50 most visited places compiled by Forbes Traveller includes 7 attractions in France:

9. Notre Dame, 12 million

10. Disneyland Paris, 10.6m

11. Sacre-Coeur, 8.2m

15. The Louvre, 7.5m

18. The Eiffel Tower, 6.7m

25. The Pompidou Centre, 5.1m

45. The Palace of Versailles, 3.45m

Property investors from the UK bought around £24 billion worth of foreign property last year, new figures have revealed.

According to the Association of International Property Professionals, almost 242,000 purchases were made by British buyers last year, an increase of 21% over the previous 12 months.

Volumes were up but the value of transactions remained relatively the same. This was attributed to a number of factors, including the increasing popularity of countries that still offer relatively cheap properties compared to more established markets.

Despite a move towards less expensive markets, established locations such as Spain and France were still found to dominate the buyers’ decisions in attracting 25.4% and 17% of British purchasers respectively.

According to reports from industry experts, the French Atlantic Coast is becoming more popular with British holidaymakers.

Property-Abroad.com which specialises in offering overseas property for sale in worldwide destinations, stated recently that holidaymakers have discovered they can enjoy sunshine in France at a cheaper price than on the Mediterranean coast.

Les Calvert, director of Property-Abroad.com, said: “Areas that tend to be showing more interest than previously are Aquitaine on the Atlantic Coast. The Mediterranean has always been popular, but now the Atlantic Coast is catching up and visitor numbers to the Silver Coast in Portugal are also increasing.”

He stated that holidaymakers can get the same amount of sunshine in France for about “half the price” of going to Mediterranean destinations.

French property company VEF Group also said recently that environmental concerns are making France a more popular overseas investment destination and holiday location for UK residents as it can be easily accessed by modes of transport other than air.

In February, low cost airline easyJet announced a new flight to Palma, Mallorca, from East Midlands Airport three times a week.

easyJet already flies to Mallorca from Belfast, Bristol, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool, London Gatwick, London Luton, London Stansted and Newcastle. With BMI Baby and Monarch also flying to the island, Mallorca is readily accessible from pretty much anywhere in the UK.

Mallorca is popular with both property buyers and holiday makers. With 300 days sunshine a year, 23 golf courses, 25 marinas and some of the most stunning scenery in Europe, it’s easy to see why. New roads in the north of the island have now made many of the picturesque mountain villages more accessible and the coast benefits from beautiful natural harbours.

And with a ban on the island on any development within 25 metres of the coast, if you’ve got a beachfront property with a stunning sea view, or got your eye on buying or renting one, then you can be confident little is going to get in the way of your picture postcard view.

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, budget airline Ryanair is launching a new route in May between Bristol and Béziers.

Beziers, located in the beautiful Languedoc-Rousillon region of southwest France is already a favourite with UK travellers and property owners, the latter owning around 10% of all holiday homes in the area. The new Ryanair route brings the number of Languedoc airports with a direct connection to the UK to five.

Formally a little down at heel, Beziers is undergoing something of a renaissance and now boasts a host of smart wine bars and restaurants, including La Compaigne des Comptoirs run by Michelin-starred chefs Jacques and Laurent Pourcel.

It also hosts the world-famous Feria du Beziers, centred around bullfighting every August which attracts over a million visitors to the five day event.

A recent survey has found that the cost of living in Spain is cheaper than in the UK, particularly if you live like a local.

The survey discovered that an average couple can live on €644 per month (about £490.00) in addition to any rent or mortgage payments.

But it can be more expensive if you try to live on home favourites such as English bacon, marmalade and Branston Pickle. All these need to be imported into the country and naturally cost more than if you were to base your weekly grocery shopping on purely local produce.

The area that expats choose to live in can also affect cost of living. Established centres such as Barcelona and Madrid command a higher cost of living premium due to their superior infrastructure. Heading into less developed regions typically means there is a reduced living cost, though this is offset with there being possibly less developed infrastructures.