Andorra

For this post, I thought I would write about a place I have visited,Andorra, where Catalan is officially spoken, along with Spanish, French and Portuguese. Andorra is a small country in southwestern Europe, bordered with France and Spain- though most of you will know this!!
Some common facts about Andorra:
It has 10.2million (estimated) visitors per year.
It is a tax haven- meaning their taxes are set at a low rate.
It is not part of the EU.
It declared war on imperial Germany in World War 1, but didn't actually fight.
In 1933, France occupied Andorra.
Now Andorra is a parliamentary co-principality with the President of France and the Bishop of Urgell, Catalonia, Spain.
The current Prime Minister is Jaume Bartumeu of the Social Democratic Party (PS).
The responsibility of defending Andorra, currently lies with France and Spain.

These facts are the things that interest me most about Andorra. I have visited Andorra, but didn't know most of these facts before researching for this post! You should all go and visit Andorra now! :)

Thanks, Sian x





Facts found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andorra
Picture found at: http://www.fotopaises.com/imagenes/ANDORRA/Andorra_Centro_Termal_Caldea.JPG

Llafranc

I was having a look through my pictures from the exchanges I've been on to Mataró, as I was originally going to write about the city, when I came across some rather beautiful beach pictures. So instead I'm going to tell you a little bit that I've found out about the town where they were taken, and of course the pictures will be at the bottom! (I'm getting kinda good at this technical stuff:).)

Llafranc is a small costal town on the Costa Brava. It belongs to the municipality of Palafrugell in the province of Girona. You can get a rough idea of where it is from the maps below. If you click on an image it will let you see a bigger version :).

With roughly 300 habitants it may be small but it seems to be a big tourist attraction and when you see the beaches I think you'll understand why!

After seeing these pictures I'm sure it'll come as no surprise that Llafranc is often referred to as the "Laguna Beach of Spain" and that a small house on the seafront could cost up to 4 million euros!

It's important to mention the famous Hotel Llafranch that dominates the seafront.



The hotel was opened in 1958 by three brothers; José, Mario and Manuel Bisbe. Since then it's developed into a prestigious hotel. Over the years many celebrities have visited the hotel including Rock Hudson, Sofia Loren, Paco de Lucía and Elizabeth Taylor.

Llafranc is a hidden gem of the Costa Brava and well worth a visit!

Becky x

Tourism in Barcelona

Whilst doing a bit of research on the impact of tourism on the city of Barcelona, I came across a website that you all might find useful.

It's based on the new plan to 'to strengthen Barcelona’s appeal as a tourist destination and to reinforce its position worldwide' as well as finding a successful way to manage tourism in the city drawn up by Barcelona City Council. It's known as the 'Pla Estrategic de Turisme de Barcelona 2015'

Thought that I'd share it with you all, hope it is of some use! :]

http://www.turismebcn2015.cat/

Christina x.