Easter is on its way

With just a few days to go

before Easter celebrations begin in Spain, preparations are well underway and roads are beginning to be closed off for the parades. Semana Santa as it is called in Spain is one of the biggest celebrations of the year. Each day of Easter there will be masses at the churches and parades through the towns.

Our feature here makes interesting reading if you want to find out more about Easter in Spain.

This year, Palm Sunday is on the 17th April

Holy Thursday falls on the 21st April

Good Friday is on the 22nd April and Easter Sunday is the 24th

Airport strikes in Spain

It was announced today that airport strikes are planned for Easter this year and they could continue well into the summer. This is the last thing that Spain need at the moment as tourism is the only thing keeping the economy afloat.

This could mean that camping holidays and driving in Spain will become even more popular this year.

One thing for sure if you have a holiday booked in Spain this year, make sure you have adequate holiday insurance which covers cancellations and delays.

Sad, sad times in the middle of a recession and very bad news for Spain.

Our busy weekend

Idealspain took advantage of the beautiful weather this weekend and went exploring

Our first stop was in Benidorm
Ok, we know that Benidorm is not to everyone's taste but you have to admit that it's one of the most popular holiday destinations on the Costa Blanca and the local council have gone to the end of the earth to clean up it's image.

Benidorm has some wonderful places. The beaches are amazingly clean and millions of Euros have been spent on the seafronts and some of the major roads.

We made a short video of the best sights in Benidorm and you can watch it here. We stayed the night and reviewed a hotel. The MedPlaya Hotel Regente was very comfortable. You can read our review here. Our review includes a video walkround the hotel.

You can get fish and chips in Benidorm along with a cup of tea like Mum makes but if you look hard enough you will also find some top international restaurants, brimming with culture and class and there's never a shortage of entertainment.... day or night.

Moving on
From Benidorm we called in at Altea with it's quaint little port. Our page includes a short video introduction. Our last call was in Calpe which is a town that has expanded beyond recognition over the last few years. Our last visit was 11 years ago. The beach is as beautiful as ever, as is the seafront.

We continue to explore the Costa Blanca and hope for more sunny days soon. It's bitterly cold at night at the moment but then we are a bit soft in our old age.