There is still about a year for the Lemon Express to resume its march. Of course, this means this very peculiar transportation will change its original itinerary significantly  between Benidorm and Gata de Gorgos. In fact, the starting point for the tourist train will be moved from Benidorm to L’Alfàs del Pi.

Once the renovation is completed of the Alicante-Denia line to Benidorm- which is scheduled to be finished in a month it will have increased activity because it will be the new point of trans boarding of passengers who continue the journey towards Denia in the diesel Convoys or those from the capital of Marina Alta and who will continue to Alicante on TRAM trains.

Currently, they have already completed the repair of 24 of the trains the classic one, a prerequisite for the Lemon Express to be able to circulate again, after temporarily ceasing its activities in May 2005.

Except at the point of departure, the new Lemon Express recovers its traditional route as regards tourism. This service is provided under concession stations between Benidorm and Gata de Gorgos, from Tuesday to Saturday.

Over the 40 miles the train runs through a wide range of landscapes, from the plains between Altea and Benidorm until the cliffs of the Sierra Bernia and Barranco del Mascarat, Peñón de Ifach, among other areas in the interior of the Marina Alta. The trip to to the final destination used to be done at a slower speed than the return trip so the travelers could enjoy the most spectacular reference points of the scenery.

source Las Provincias

Photo from Flickr by sergial

No Comments »

The TRAM- trains that up to this date only covered the trajectory between Alicante and the station in the Creueta, in the Vila, will get to Benidorm before Easter.
It seems, so far there is no inauguration date for the new stretch, although everything is indicating that it will be at the end of February or beginning of March. As a matter of fact next month it is anticipated that they will start to circulate the new test runs units of the TRAM-train between La Vila and Benidorm.

The new convoys will invest in covering the trajectory between Alicante-Benidorm in just 55 minutes, which supposes around a quarter of an hour and 20 minutes less that what it takes up to the moment in normal conditions.

When the new stretch is open, the line will also make a stip in front of the Comarcal de La Vila hospital, Terra Mitica and center Benidorm.

The last phase of remodeling the trenet will affect the Benidorm-Altea stretch, that will not be completed until the en of 2008 or beginning of 2009.

source Terra Actualidad

No Comments »

Fans of this Disney musical and parents that don´t know where to take their children for entertainment are in luck. The Main Theater of Alicante will host the first performances in Spain of the musical ‘High School Musical’ and Fire of Anatolia’‘, as well as the Argentine ballet ‘Tango Fire’, within the programs scheduled  for the new season of the hall for the first half of 2008.

The seaon will open with the representation of the police thriller “Carnaval”, a play written by Jordi Galcerán and which stars Nuria González and Víctor Clavijo

The humon will come with the comedy “Salir del armario” (”Come out of the closet”) by José Luis Gil and Paco Casares, and the performance of the catalan group ‘Tricicle’, that wil pay tribute to English actor David Garrick.

The 27th of March will mark the day of the World Theatre Day with the representation of ‘One night with the sorcerer’, a play performed by Rafael Alvarez which is a journey through the traditions of the culture of Andalusia.

‘Miguel Molina, copla creek’ will recall the life and work of this artist, which marks the centenary of his birth, and will feature performances by Miguel Angel Ruiz and Palenzuela.

The programming also includes the theatrical works of Tirso de Molina ‘Don Gil de las calzas green’; ‘Gatas’, starring Silvia Abascal and Rosario Pardo, a mixture of drama and mime’ Pagagnini ‘,’ The turtle Darwin, ‘ Carmen Machi; ‘We must purge Totó’, which is represented for the first time in Spanish, and the comedy ‘The case of women asesinadita’, among others.

Also, there will be a  performance by ‘Tao. The martial art of percussion ‘and a concert by singer Luz Casal, who will present her new album’ Vida tóxica’.

The ballet will be represented by the Argentine company Estampas Porteñas, acting for the first time in Spain with the show ‘Tango Fire’.

This section will also highlight the performance of the ose Martinez company nd the dancers of the Paris Opera, which will close thetheatre programming next June 7.

The International Opera Company Concerlirica will interpret the works’ Nabucco ‘and’ La Traviata ‘, both by Giuseppe Verdi.

Moreover, the tenor Jose Luis Alicante Luri will offer a concert accompanied by the lyrical pianist Florencio Saez.

Lastly, the theater will host the childrens musical  ‘Heidi’ ra epresentation with which marks the thirtieth anniversary of this cartoon series. 
source Actualidad Terra

No Comments »

I think we could say goodbye to the holiday season, but we are off to a good start with the new cultural proposals. The first of the year is “Being Bette Davis, a bitter victory”, an encounter with projections and tales about the actress on this celebration of her hundred celebration of her birth.

The symposium Hill being today at the hand of journalist Javier Toletino, the director of the program called “El Septimo vicio” (“The seventh habit”), from Radio 3, who will pronounce the conference titled “El significance of Bette Davis for the history of film”. The date will take place in the Cultural hall of the CAM in Alicante.

Following will be the psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Olga Correas Suarez, film specialist that will talk about Bette Davis, the woman behind the character, meanwhile the actress Marta Beláustegui will talk about the professional aspects filmmaking.

After the talks the movie “the letter” directed by William Wyler will be projected, and aside from the earlier speakers Esther Rambal, Bette Davis´s personal assistant in her last visit to Spain will also speak.

The film projections will continue on the 8^th, 10^th, 16^th and 17^th of January with her most famous movies. The event will end on January 24^th .

Source La Verdad

No Comments »

The Magic Costa Blanca hotel chain has initiated a new solitary project to bring the magic to people in need or in hospitals in order to make this holiday season a little happier for all.

The company has gathered magicians who usually work in their establishments to assist in different hospitals, geriatric centres and associations of the province.

With the motive of the Christmas Eve celebration and aware of the hardship many of these people suffer away from their homes; the team from this hotel group will spend the entire day today the 24^th in the Alicante hospital.

The magicians will hold a show in the Diver hall, the place where children gather to perform activities.

There will also be a performance for the kids in the Paediatric Oncology department that will not be able to attend the class, a magician will visit their room and bring them a bit of magic with a small demonstration.

After the performances here, they will go to the Paediatric Hospital of the day, to bring a smile to the faces of the children receiving treating here.

The vice-president of the chain, Javier Garcia, stated “we think that bringing magic to places such as hospitals or geriatric centres, contributes to making these holidays a few moments happier to those who are ill or away from their families”

From the entire team of Magic Costa Blanca and from all of us at this blog Merry Christmas to all our readers!!

Photo flickr from R Duran

No Comments »

Real Madrid will travel tomorrow to the Costa Blanca, the same day the Copa del Rey game that will put them face to face with Alicante. The entourage will land in the El Altet airport tomorrow midday. They will head back from the same around 23.55 hours of the same day. The Real Madrid team will be staying in the Hotel Hesperia Gold, in Playa San Juan.A visit of only eleven hours but highly awaited by the aficionados of the capital of the province, that since 1997 have been waiting for an official Real Madrid game in the Rico Perez stadium.

At the moment, the dates are not yet confirmed for the date of the returning game in the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, although everything seems to be pointing to the date that was originally set for the second of January.

This will be a very special game for Capi and Borja, since their origins come from the Real Madrid.

Source La Verdad

No Comments »

Right now many of you are buying in bulk the X-Mas Lotto that will make you a millionaire. Well, in this post we want to remind you that Benidorm and the Costa Blanca have won big in 12 occasions.The first prize of the Extraordinary Christmas Lotto fell twelve times in the province of Alicante. The capital, has given the first prize on five occasions, concretely in 1990, 1906, 1937 and in 2006.

Seven other towns of the Costa Blanca have also been lucky, winning the “Gordo”, : Almoradí (1980), El Campello (1993), Novelda (1998), Elche (1999), Elda (2002), Onil (2006) y Benidorm (2006). Maybe we will get lucky again this year!

In the province of Alicante there have been a total of 764,606 lotto tickets sold, which jeans a total of 153,921,200 euros and a medium cost of 85.74 per citizen. Good luck to all!!!

Source El Pais

No Comments »

Today a book which brings together images of the restaurants of the province of Alicante will be presented today. This work has been created by Artur G and it is titled “Restaurant Costa Blanca”, which includes thirty five establishments which offer the design and gastronomy quality.

The photographer Artur G already surprised us years a go with “Living Costa Blanca”, a recompilation of images of homes with traditional architecture, the rui-riaus, stone farmhouses and palaces that were restored and converted in to hotels and restaurants in the most unusual places of the province

His new book has as its inspiration 35 restaurants in the Costa Blanca that stand out due to their gastronomical quality, obtainable price, design and enchanting surroundings where they are located.

There are currently 3,000 edited copies ready for sale for 25 euros plus one, in other words 26 euros but one of those euros will be donated for humanitarian help.

Source informacion

No Comments »

The technical team from the movie “King Conqueror”, the film based on the life of king Jaume I, began shooting last Monday in the sound stages of Ciudad de la Luz.The film, directed by Jose Antonio Escriva (“Cartas de Sorolla” and “Arroz y Tartana”) will also be shot in the Alicante cities of Alcoy and Xabia, as well as in other areas of the Valencian Community such as Valencia, Burriana, Olivia and Morella.

The movie, which filming will last 14 weeks will also pass through the Balearic Islands and France, will conclude in the fall of 2008, the year of the commemoration of the eight century from the birth of Jaime I.

The British actor Tim Roth with interpret the role of Pedro II, father of Jaime I, while Elvira Lomba will play Maria de Montpellier, mother of the monarch.

“King Conqueror” is  based on historic facts and chronicles of the exploits Jaume I dictated, and will narrate the life of the monarch who conquered Mallorca and the kingdom of Valencia.

Source Alicante Mon Amour

No Comments »

The expert analysts from the Emprendedores magazine which specializes in franchises and the world of business has recognized the Magic Costa Blanca strategy as one of the 10 best online marketing strategies in Spain, also being the pioneer within the truism sector.

The Magic Costa Blanca online strategy is based on the principal of radical transparency establish in an ample system of blogs and the social net. This form of communication or networking allows clients of the hotel chain and interested persons establish a direct and honest dialog with the persons in charge of Magic Costa Blanca, sharing their experiences during their stay at the hotels, participating therefore in their continuous improvement system, as well as giving worth to the online reservation.

The system also incorporates the possibility to make vacation reservation through the Internet, a technique which is highly implemented in the net, which facilitates and helps the reservation process, with the addition shortly of the client’s option to form their vacation experience.

The magazine also points out the importance the business group is giving the internauts.

Magic Costa Blanca not only promotes its own blog systems but also awards all its bloggers with a card which guarantees among other things discounts and preferential treatment.

Blogger opinion is fundamental for the hotel chain, which has seen an opportunity to be known and to continuously improve its services according to the commentaries and opinions of those internauts.

“It is very important to learn the opinion our clients have with respect to their stay and our establishments. This new online communication system allows us to reach more people and establish communications with them, in a way in which we then continuously continue to improve our services, focusing in that which our clients and friends demand in order to improve their experience with us.” Affirms Javier Garcia, vice-president of Magic Costa Blanca.

No Comments »