The XI edition of the Summer Festivals in Alicante is just around the corner. This year the opening act of this great event will be the Mexican band Maná. It will begin July 4^th in the sporting city. It seems that City Hall wanted to give the event a more international feel.

The truth is that the concerts celebrated in July and Agost in the Explanada of the port in Alicante, the bullring and the Ciudad Deportiva should not be missed.

On these stages artist such as David de María, Santiago Auserón, Miguel Bosé, Alejandro Sanz, David Bisbal or Fangoria will perform. Good music, next to the Mediterranean and the Benacantil mountains is absolutely fantastic. See you all there.

photos Mana

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I propose an excellent way to enjoy your days these weekend. It is called Nosolojazz07 and it will be celebrated in Elche starting tomorrow Friday until Sunday. All the acts are great and include: Curtis Stigers, Silje Nergaard, Mastretta, Dayna Kurtz, Fraskito y Chano Domínguez. Wow!

The event will take place in the Hort de Baix of the Municipal Park. For the occasion an 85 sq meter structure has been built, 9 meters high, 70,000 lighting voltage and 34,000 watts of sound.

The organization has prepared 3 day passes for all the performances at a cost of 60 euros, meanwhile the rest of the entrance tickets could be purchased in advanced for 18 and 25 euros or for 20 or 30 euros the same day. Also, this festival includes a space denominated for “jazztonomico”, where you could try all the local gastronomy. See you there!

Photo  Flickr

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Even though the title of this post may sound unusual , it is true. Last week the madrileños were able to enjoy several days in the beach in the center of the Retiro park. For them, 120 tons of sand from Benidorm was transported for their entertainment.

Benidorm truism in collaboration with the capital’s City Hall organized a sand castle contest. This event counted with 5 rounds of 40 participants each. The winner of each round will enjoy a week stay in Benidorm where they will be able to enjoy all the them parks such as Terra Mítica, Aqualandia, Mundomar, Castillo Conde de Alfaz and Terra Natura.

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Canales will present his show “Los Grandes” (the Greats) in which Pastora Galvan, Nani Paños, Mayte Bajo and Amador will participate along with 16 other musicians. It will be the fist time that this show will be available in the Valencian Community, it has already passed through Madrid.

The World Orchestra, will be the opening act next July 3^rd in the festival opening, performing the same concert that will close the America’s Cup event in Valencia.

The 11th and 12th of July after making stops in the Royal Madrid Theater and the Great Theater de Liceu in Barcelona it will perform “Puss in Boots”, with the wardrobe provided by Agatha Ruiz de la Prada.

The winner of the Oscar Jorge Drexler award will visit the municipality of the 13^th of July to present their last CD “12 segundos de Oscuridad” (12 seconds of darkness).

Kepa Junkera, L’Ham de Foc and the jazz of  Horacio Icasto Quintet will complete the program. Half of the 16 acts will be free.

photos in Flickr

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The hotel Magic Villa del Mar located in the Poniente beach and part of the Magic Costa Blanca group will begin remodeling this November and will achieve its 4^th star once it is operative Holy Week of 2008.

The remodeling will include a Span in the penthouse level , new restaurants with ocean views and a dance hall in the bottom of the building. They will also take on this opportunity to acclimatize the pool and improve their security systems. The outer look of the building will be the first to get its makeover under the encouragement of Benidorm mayor Manuel Perez Fenoll who has encourages all building owners to remodel their structures in accordance to the new public construction that is already in place.

This is the second hotel in the chain to receive a new look. The very centric Hotel Magic Villa Venecia on a beach front property has already begun its renovations and will become the only hotel in its vicinity to hold a five star ranking.

So there you have it, more options for a luxurious vacation right here in Benidorm.

Photos  villa del mar

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The Hogueras are just getting started but I’m already thinking ahead to the next festival. Alicante is always ready to keep us entertained with a list of activities throughout the year. So the next event we have to look forward to in the medieval festivals that transforms the historic center of Alicante to a past that is mysterious and intriguing. The festivities start the 28^th of June through the 1^st of July. We will have the opportunity to see the old town Alicante decorated in festive shields and themes from a time so long a go.

This festival is full of activities, and you can buy hand made crafts, listen to music, there will be story tellers, dancers and all sorts of entertainment. In total there will be 95 stands ready to serve you with the best food and articles for sale. The theater company Tartaruga and Guiñol will offer daily entertainment.

You will find the stands in the Santisima Faz, Quijano and Virgen del Remedio plazas as well as adjacent streets where visitors will be able to find a multitude of products such as, ceramics, soaps, sandglass watches, antiques, Arabic pastries, chocolate and a whole lot more.. so don’t party too hard in Hogueras and save some fun for this great festival.

photos in Flickr

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For the second year in a row , super star and member of the Memphis Grizzlies and the Spanish selection in basketball, Pau Gasol will become the promotional image of the Costa Blanca. The NBA all star has filmed several commercials in different places such as the beaches of Benidorm, Altea and Xabia, in which we can see his creativity and sense of humor.

Pau has been the star of two publicity spots, one centered on the beach and sun and the Benidorm theme parks and the other shows the variety of other activities in the area such as golf, and nautical culture. The slogan for these campaigns is “more and more people choose the Costa Blanca, including Pau Gasol”. His fee, 1.65 million euros one of the highest in the last four years.

photos in Flickr

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It was just a matter of time before massaged got to the beaches of Alicante, just like I read in Alicanteblog.es. Until now you could only enjoy a drink or buy swim accessories. But now 10 euros buys you a massage on the beach.

The total relaxation , the sun, beach, sea and now you can have the whole enchilada and de stress completely with a massage. You can either have a man or woman masseuse depending on your taste.

But if that wasn’t enough, another service that will be added to the beach this year is the possibility to get a tattoo..ok one of those that wears off with time. What else do you really need?

Photo in  Flickr

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Everyone knows that in Alicante you eat well, but now more than eating great food , we want to eat healthy. I recently read the 290,000 people in the province and 54,000 in the city of Alicante are pledging to eat right according to a study held by the College of Nursing of Alicante.

This new type of food issue is called ortorexia and it consists of a poor diet, anemic, with lack of proteins, that could in some cases cause malnutrition.

The ortorexic profile is that of a ecological person, with no sense of anything, and middle aged.

source 20 Minutos

photo Flickr

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The television program for the Spanish channel 3 called “Espejo Publico” (public mirror) visited the new magic classes being offered to all hotel employees of the group Magic Costa Blanca. There they were able to observe all their activities and will televise a report next Friday June 22^nd in the afternoon.
One of the tricks that I can’t wait to see and well more importantly learn is transforming Bitter Kas into beer. Sign me up!

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