Sunset Beach Club
by Justin | Mar 29, 2011 | Local News
The Spanish Airport strikes planned for the easter and summer holiday periods has been called off; great news for the Spanish tourism industry and for the thousands of holiday makers who had already booked to travel to Spain during this period.
On Thursday 24th March 2011, the airport workers unions held a referendum and voted to call off the strikes which had threatened to cause havoc in airports throughout the country.
The strikes were originally called by the unions due to their concerns about the part-privatisation of Aena, the national airport operator. Airport workers had feared that this privatisation would result in the consequent loss of jobs and deteriorated working conditions.
After weeks of negotiations, on the 16th March 2011, Aena and the Unions reached a pre-agreement in which the unions received guarantees over job security and conditions; Thursdays referendum ratified this agreement as workers voted to call off the planned industrial action (approximately 70% voted to call off the strikes).
A Union spokesman (from the CCOO union) stated the following:
“The ratification of this deal means the cancellation of the call for 22 days of strikes planned on different days between April and August.”
There is no doubt that this is fantastic news for the Spanish tourism industry; we can now focus our attention on profiting from the increase in tourists who have chosen Spain as an alternative to troubled destinations such as Tunisia and Egypt.
by Justin | Mar 21, 2011 | Golfer's Corner
Last year's winner, Louis Oosthuizen
There’s top class golf this weekend on the Costa del Sol as some of the big names on the European Tour land in Málaga to play the Andalucia Golf Open at the Parador del Golf.
This popular tournament is sponsored by the Andalucian Tourist Board and will attract extensive media coverage. With some of the top players in the European Tour taking part, golf fans are guaranteed a great weekend of golf!
Last year’s winner, Louis Oosthuizen, will be back to defend his title and will be joined by local favourite, Miguel Angel Jimenez, and a host of other top players: Michael Campbell, Paul Lawrie, Thomas Bjorn, Niclas Fasth, Darren Clarke, Paul McGinley and Thomas Levet will all be teeing up on Thursday morning.
The total prize money for the tournament is €1,000,000 with the winner taking home a cheque for €166,660.
A special mention for two golfing legends who will also be playing in the Open: Winning Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie and his replacement to lead the next European Team, one of Spain’s most successful golfers, Jose Mari Olazábal.
The 156 players registered to take part in the Open will take to the course on Thursday morning with only half of the field – those who make the cut – proceeding to the final and deciding rounds on Saturday and Sunday.
Spectators will be able to enjoy watching play for free on Thursday and Friday; on Saturday and Sunday there will be a charge of €10 per day or €15 for both days. Children under the age of 16 have free admission and there will be free parking made available to all spectators. Tickets are on sale at the Parador del Golf as from today.
by Justin | Mar 18, 2011 | Hotel News
There was a great atmosphere at Sunset Beach Club for the St Patrick’s Day celebrations. The fun started in the Panorama Bar with happy hour and free canapés at 6:30pm; after that, guests made their way down to the Oasis restaurant for a lovely meal and great live music with Phoebe!
Here’s the photos taken throughout the evening. Can you see anyone you know?
by Justin | Mar 15, 2011 | Holiday Tips, Things To Do
From this Thursday – 17th March – and until Sunday, visitors to Benalmadena Marina will be able to enjoy the 3rd “Feria del Marisco (Shellfish Festival). For the 3rd year running, the Town hall’s tourism office together with the Benalmadena Port Authority have organised this popular event with the aim of promoting the towns extensive gastronomic offering.
Throughout the 4 days of the festival, anyone who visits the Port can sample some of the best shellfish at spectacular prices. Just to give you an idea, these are the prices of some of the portions – or “raciones” as we refer to them here –
Boiled Prawns – €3
“Concha Fina” (a type of clam) – €3
Grilled Prawns – €8
Steamed Mussels – €3
Clams – €5
This is just a sample of the delicacies that you’ll be able to try; the restaurants that are taking part in the festival are planning to offer more than 20 different types of shellfish and dishes whose main ingredient is shellfish.
Anyone wanting to enjoy some of the best shellfish at “recession” prices can do so as from Thursday at the following participating restaurants in the Marina: El Arrecife, Carretero, El Trasmallo, Alborada, Calamar, Ventorillo La Perra, El Rincón Asturiano, El Faro, La Taberna Marinera de Juan y Pepi, Los Mellizos y El Mero.
So what do you think, are you up for it?
by Justin | Mar 14, 2011 | Holiday Tips, Local News, Places to See
"La Buenaventura" by Julio Romero de Torres - one of the paintings being exhibited in the Museum
We’ve finally got a date for the official opening of the much-awaited Thyssen Museum of Málaga: The 24th March 2011 is the chosen date for the inauguration of Baroness Thyssen’s latest project.
The general public will have to wait one more day – Friday 25th March – in order to be able to enjoy the impressive collection which will be exhibited in the Palacio de Villalón, a XVI century building located in the historical heart of Málaga. This beautiful building has been completely renovated and fitted out for cultural exhibitions – Málaga Town Hall has already invested more than 15 million euros on this ambitious project.
For the first three days of operation, entrance to the museum will be free of charge; a great opportunity for locals and tourists to enjoy fine art at a great price…free!
The museum will have a permanent collection and three temporary exhibitions. The permanent collection is made up of 230 works of art from the Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza collection covering Spanish art from the XIX. Visitors will be able to enjoy works of art from painters such as Sorolla, Zurbarán, Zuloaga, Romero de Torresy and Málaga favourites such as Gómes Gil, Moreno Carbonero o Barrón.
The series of three temporary exhibitions programmed for 2011 will start with “From Picasso to Tàpies” and will include pieces from Picasso, Torres-García, Saura and Tàpies. In September the museum will introduce work from Monet with “Monet: The house amongst the roses”. The final instalment of exhibitions will take place in November with “Sorolla in Andalucia”; 80 paintings from the Valencian artist’s repertoire.
Opening times are the following:
Tuesday to Friday – 10am to 10pm
Saturday and Sunday – 10 am to 9pm
Monday – Closed
by Justin | Mar 8, 2011 | Local News
From 120 Kph to 110 kph...
As from yesterday, the 7th March 2011 (sorry for the late warning!) drivers in Spain have been forced to slow down on the roads as the Spanish Government has reduced the speed limit! This is definitely a good thing – there are way too many loonatics on the road – however, the reason for this reduction has nothing to do with road safety; it’s all about economics!
This new measure is the government’s response to rapidly rising oil prices due to the unrest in Arab countries such as Libya and is one of the principal initiatives to lower the countries energy bill. Until yesterday, the maximum speed on motorways (referred to as autopistas or autovías here) was 120 kph; this has now been lowered to 110 kph.
Road crews working for the transport ministry had a busy night on Sunday, replacing road signs all over the country. Actually, the signs haven’t been replaced, in most cases, large stickers have been placed over the existing signs. Why stickers? Because this measure is only temporary; it will remain in place until the end of June when it will be reviewed.
Also worth noting is the fact that all radar traps around the country (more than 400) have now been re-programmed. Anyone found speeding will be fined 100 Euros if caught driving at speeds of between 111 kph and 140 kph; if you are caught driving at over 140 kph the fine increases to 300 Euros. You have been warned!
Public opinion sways heavily against the measure with many saying that reducing the speed limit will only help to increase government coffers; just think of the speeding fines the Guardia Civil will be issuing. L
But there is some good news….commuters and passengers who use short distance rail services will be able to enjoy a 5% reduction in train fares; the perfect excuse to take a train from Benalmádena to Málaga and make the most of the sights and sounds of the Coast’s capital city! 🙂
What do you think? Will these measures have much of an impact on Spain’s energy bill? My experience on the motorway this morning leads me to believe that the answer to that question is a definite, NO!
by Justin | Mar 4, 2011 | Hotel News
As many of you know, whenever Sunset Beach Club attends a trade show or exhibition, we offer everyone who visits one of our stands the opportunity to win a short stay at our hotel.
We’ve been very busy over the past two months, attending various trade shows in Dublin and Belfast. All those shows offered attendees the chance to enter a free draw for a weekend break in the sun; all they had to do was fill in their details on the entrance form and they would be automatically entered into the draw.
Well, I’m please to announce that we have had the draws – one for each show – and are ready to announce the lucky winners!
The following lucky people have each won a 3 night stay at Sunset Beach Club. The prize includes 3 nights accommodation for 2 people including our famous hot buffet breakfast:
1) Citywest Wedding Journal Show 2011 – Tanya Marum
2) Holiday World Belfast 2011 – Ray Cochrane
3) Holiday World Dublin 2011 – Margaret Harley
4) Belfast Wedding Journal Show – Gemma Stewart
Congratulations to all the winners! We look forward to welcoming you all to Sunset Beach Club in the very near future.
Note: Prize excludes flights and transfers and has no cash value. Valid until 23/12/2011 (excluding 01/06/2011 to 30/09/2011).
by Justin | Mar 3, 2011 | On the Costa del Sol, What's On
This week, Torremolinos has become the European dance capital by hosting the XXII edition of the European Dance Championships.
With more than 1500 dance pairs from all over Europe signed up for the competition, spectators are guaranteed a great show!
The championship started on Monday the 28th February and ends on Saturday 5th March with the grand finals. Today and tomorrow (Friday) there will be qualification heats in the morning (10:00am) in order to choose pairs for the finals which will be held in the evening at the Palacio de San Miguel. Entrance to the heats is free and the evening finals require an entrance fee of €5.
Throughout the whole of this week, spectators have been dazzled by dancers from all over Europe performing a wide variety of dance styles: Waltz, tango, paso doble, artistic dance, chachachá, rock and more…..
Tonight (Thursday), dance enthusiasts will be able to enjoy the following dance finals: (more…)
by Justin | Mar 2, 2011 | Eating & Drinking
They say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day; we totally agree! That’s why we have recently given our famous hot buffet breakfast a small “face lift”.
Taking note of previous customer comments, Miguel, our Operations Director decided that it was time to make a few changes: We have improved the overall presentation of the buffet (see photos), increased the variety of the food and drinks on offer – the new coffee and orange juice machines are getting great reviews – and we have changed our baked goods supplier; the Danish pastries are to die for!
Here’s a brief overview of what you can expect when you visit the Oasis Restaurant for our hot buffet breakfast:
Our new hot drink and orange juice machines
(more…)
by Justin | Feb 25, 2011 | Holiday Tips, Places to See
Bioparc in Fuengirola
Next week is half term here in Andalucía (we call it Semana Blanca) and many children will be off school. Because of this, the Bioparc in Fuengirola (Zoo) has decided to put on some extra activities targeted mainly at children – although no reason why adults can’t join in!
If you’re staying at Sunset Beach Club for half term next week and haven’t visited the Bioparc in Fuengirola yet, this is the perfect chance to do so.
Between the 1st and 4th of March, visitors to the park will be able to enjoy free guided tours in the morning (for parents and their children); in the afternoon, there will be special educational workshops designed to explain to visitors, in an easy and non-techie way, facts about protected and endangered species which face extinction.
A visit to the Bioparc is a great day out for all the family. The park is very well maintained and a lot of care and attention has gone in to ensuring a fantastic experience for kids and adults alike.
If you’d like more information, please stop by our Leisure Desk where Annemie and Susanna will be able to help you.
