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Spain seems to have staged a recovery after suffering a slump in tourist numbers.

Figures recently released by the tourism ministry show that in July, arrivals rose by 4.5 per cent – the third consecutive month of increase. Seven million visitors went to Spain or its islands.

Spain is consistently ranked among the world’s top three tourist destinations — both by arrivals and income earned — along with France and the U.S.

Britons have always been the largest group travelling there, but the recession and the weakness of the pound have seen more and more of them staying at home – the so-called ‘staycationers’.

But it seems another disappointing summer and the gradual strengthening of the pound have inspired the beginnings of a return to the sun-kissed beaches and cultural attractions offered by Spain. Aggressive cost-cutting by tour operators of up to 40 per cent has also helped to turn the tide.

by Andy Moreton

Whether soaking up the sun on the beach or the culture in the city, Luxique has an unrivalled selection of luxury hotels in Spain.

There was, of course, a great deal of satisfaction in Marbella that Michelle Obama chose the southern Spanish resort for a brief private holiday last week with her younger daughter, Sasha.

The Mayor, Angeles Munoz, said the visit had been a chance for the city to highlight its lesser known aspects, such as its heritage and cultural attractions. “We can boast of being a place where many are proud to spend their holidays or have their second homes,” he said. Tourism officials hope the visit will usher in a new wave of arrivals from the United States.

Mrs Obama stayed with friends, a few staff and secret service agents at the Villa Padierna, a sumptuous luxury hotel and spa in the hills above the city. The President didn’t join them on the trip, instead celebrating his 49th birthday in Chicago. Their elder daughter, Malia, was away at summer camp.

Marbella has long been a haunt for the rich and famous, including members of the Saudi Royal family and Hollywood actors such as Sean Connery and Antonio Banderas. It’s also gained an unwelcome reputation as a haven for corrupt politicians and criminal gangs.

Mrs Obama’s visit was not without controversy in the United States, with some people considering that a ritzy vacation in Spain while the US faced tough economic times was off-message. But the Chicago Sun-Times said Mrs Obama and her friends paid for their own hotel rooms and other personal and travel expenses.

by Andy Moreton

The Villa Padierna is one of Spain’s most exclusive luxury hotels, but not so exclusive that you’re denied the chance to savour its charms. Book through Luxique at the best possible rates.

There’s going to be a new film festival on the international calendar to rival Cannes, Venice and Berlin.

The Spanish island of Majorca is hoping A-list celebrities will flock there when it launches its festival in April 2011. It wants the event to provide a new cultural attraction for tourists and put Majorca on the map in the arts world.

The festival organiser is David Carreras, a well-known Spanish film director who’s been living on the island for five years and is anxious to showcase its beauty to the world. “The island is stunning, we have beautiful scenery and it would be perfect to hold an international event like this,” he said.

Side-shows such as concerts and food demonstrations would run alongside the main festival, said Carreras. His ultimate aim is for a film studio to be built on Majorca in 2015.

The island already has an impressive list of celebrity residents and visitors, including Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones, Claudia Schiffer and Jack Nicholson. The film industry has already done wonders for the likes of Cannes and Venice, and Majorca is hoping it will help the island branch out from offering just beach holidays.

by Andy Moreton

Luxique can arrange the best possible rates at nearly 30 luxury hotels in Majorca, including the including the famed Residencia in Deià. It was voted by readers of the Condé Nast Traveller magazine in 2008 the most popular leisure hotel in Europe and it was where Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber held his lavish 60th birthday party.

Spain, which pioneered the cheap holiday-in-the-sun package deal, is trying to upgrade its image.

A campaign is attempting to convince the ‘affluent and discerning traveller’ that the country has far more to offer than just the opportunity to stretch out on a sun lounger for a fortnight with a good book. The tourist authorities want to put Spain’s lesser-known attractions on the map, such as its gastronomic and artistic traditions.

Among the destinations being highlighted are the vineyards of the Rioja region, the futuristic Guggenheim Museum in the Basque city of Bilbao and the vast Donana national park, a UNESCO World Heritage site and home to rare wildlife.

“It’s time to look for customers with high purchasing power because there is plenty to offer them,” said Jose Maria Rubio, the head of Spain’s Hotel and Catering Federation.

General Franco first opened up Spain to foreign tourists in the late 1950s. But his idea has seen Mediterranean fishing villages transformed into a mass of skyscraper hotels, fast-food outlets, bars and nightclubs that are now synonymous with the worst of mass tourism. “Spain is suffering from a perceived loss of authenticity in its coastal destinations,” was how the tourism ministry put it in its Horizon 2020 plan last year.

Like many other holiday destinations, Spain has suffered in the recession. In the first seven months of this year, the number of visitors dropped by 10.3 per cent compared with 2008.

Mr Rubio emphasised that the coastal regions would remain a key factor. “It’s more a question of completing the image of Spain with its culture, natural and historical attractions and gastronomy,” he said.

by Andy Moreton

Whether soaking up the sun on the beach or the culture in the city, Luxique has an unrivalled selection of luxury hotels in Spain.

As summer gets into full swing over here in Europe, I return to a rather prickly subject – jellyfish.

A warning has gone out on the beaches of the Costa del Sol in Spain about the arrival of the potentially deadly Portuguese man o’war. This creature has tentacles that can be 30 yards long and are barbed with a sting ten times stronger than an ordinary jellyfish.

Xavier Pastor, from Oceana, an ecological campaigning group, said: “The Portuguese man o’war hasn’t been seen in the Mediterranean for a decade and its appearance could herald a process of colonisation, which has happened with other invading species.”

The Spanish are doing all they can to tackle the swarms of this and other potentially dangerous stingers. In the north-east area of Catalonia, where 20,000 people received treatment after being stung last summer, the authorities are using satellite images to track swarms. When they seem dangerously close to shore, boats will be sent to scoop them up.

It’s thought the large rise in the numbers of jellyfish is a result of global warming and the overfishing of predators.

Spain’s environment ministry is distributing leaflets alerting bathers to the dangers.

by Andy Moreton

Luxique offers a selection of luxury hotels throughout Spain – beach and city.

A campaign is going on to try to preserve one of the last pristine Mediterranean beaches in Spain.

The area of Cabo de Gata in the south-east of the country includes 40 miles of protected coastline and a dramatic volcanic landscape. But campaigners say the authorities are down-grading the degree of protection afforded the beach area and other parts of the natural park, and this could lead to large-scale hotel development.

A 20-storey hotel was built on supposedly protected parkland next to El Algarrobico beach, despite local orders for construction to stop. Politicians have long promised to bulldoze it, but the 411-room glass and concrete structure still towers over the beach.

The Guardian’s correspondent in the area, Giles Tremlett, says that with swathes of Spain’s Mediterranean shoreline buried under concrete, the fate of this beach and park is seen as a test of how much politicians care about the damage done to the coasts of one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations.

Pilar Marcos of Greenpeace said: “Saving these last virgin spaces has to be a top priority. If they fail here then there will be nothing left. We will be leaving a legacy of brick and cement.”

But municipal architect, Manuel Rodríguez, countered: “We have growing unemployment here. Just building the hotel provided 200 jobs. What we need now is tourism and everybody knows that tourism starts with one hotel. This was our flagship.”

by Andy Moreton

Luxique offers a selection of luxury hotels in Spain – beach and city.

The Spanish Canary Islands are trying to revive their flagging tourism industry by showing people how to be more welcoming to visitors.

Taxi drivers, hotel receptionists and shop owners will be offered ‘friendliness seminars,’ where they’ll be taught the importance of smiling and given a smattering of English phrases to demonstrate that the tourist’s custom is appreciated.

Spain – including the Canaries – has been a magnet for British holidaymakers for years, but a combination of the recession and the falling value of the pound against the euro has seen a sharp downturn. Some 200,000 fewer Britons went to Spain in February compared with the same month in 2008.

A spokesman at the Lanzarote Chamber of Commerce, which is running the £38,000 ($54,000) pilot scheme, said: “We’re aware that Spaniards are not seen as overly friendly by British holidaymakers and we want to change that grumpy image.”

Cab drivers will be reminded that they’re the first point of contact for visitors and should do their utmost to be welcoming. “Ensure your taxis smell nice – and don’t drive too fast,” is the message for them in the two-hour seminar.

If the initiative is successful, it will be extended to other holiday resorts throughout Spain. A spokesman for the marketing company behind the strategy said: “We have a good climate and great beaches and if tourists are made to feel welcome, they will come again and tell their friends to come too.”

by Andy Moreton, with Fiona Govan in Madrid

Luxique offers great rates at six top-class hotels in the Canary Islands – all with different styles, but luxurious facilities.

Our friends at the excellent Conde Nast Traveller magazine have just announced the results of their readers’ survey on the world’s best holidays and hotels.

Voted the most popular leisure hotel in Europe was La Residencia in Majorca, which was lovingly and luxuriously fashioned from two 17th Century farmhouses. It was where Lord (Andrew) Lloyd Webber put up the guests for his glittering 60th birthday party earlier this year.

For the Middle East and Africa, the Chedi Muscat in Oman came out on top. Clearly its guests share the hotel’s claim that it’s ‘an oasis of mysticism and luxury.’

In the UK, The Grove in Hertfordshire on the outskirts of London was the most popular choice. It scored highly not only for its leisure facilities (it boasts one of the finest new golf courses in Europe) but also for its value for money.

In the Overseas Business Hotel category, five of the top 20 were in Dubai. But out in front was the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower in Mumbai, described in Luxique’s guide as simply ‘The Grand Dame of India.’

And the island that consistently tops luxury holiday polls for its beaches and facilities is the Maldives in the Indian Ocean. Luxique offers a choice of ten fabulous luxury hotels in Maldives.

by Andy Moreton

Top fashion designer Georgio Armani has fallen foul of the authorities in the Spanish city of Granada.

He’s named a new perfume Alhambra without authorisation to use the trademarked name of Granada’s world famous Moorish palace and fortress.

Once the residence of the Muslim rulers of Granada and their court, the Alhambra is now one of Spain’s most popular tourist attractions. It’s also a UNESCO World Heritage site and, since 2001, commercial use of the world Alhambra has been restricted.

The trustees of the monument have approached the Armani fashion house for an explanation and could pursue legal action if a deal’s not reached.

Armani has called his fragrance ‘Oranger Alhambra’ and says it’s a homage to the gardens of the palace in Granada. The Armani blurb waxes lyrical: “White arrow-shaped blooms of jasmine and tender garlands of roses find shelter in the shade of the sweet-smelling foliage of orange trees, only spindly-leaved rosemary and the hardy stems of marjoram turn and face the baking sun.”

The top people in Granada have no problems with such approbation – they just wished he’d asked first.

It’s not all pain in Spain for Armani, however. He’s designed an outfit for one of the country’s top bullfighters, Cayetano Rivera. It’s a dazzling satin creation in grey and beige with a full-length scarlet velvet cape and silver thread and some Swarovski crystals here and there.

Rivera will wear it at Spain’s fiesta, the Corrida Goyesca, at Ronda in the south of the country, on September 6.

by Andy Moreton

Luxique can offer an unrivalled selection of luxury and boutique hotels in Spain, including the faux-Moorish Alhambra Palace in Granada and three distinctive hotels in beautiful surroundings around Ronda.