Picasso portrait fetches ?75 million

Picasso's `Dora Maar with a cat´ (1941) was auctioned off by Sotheby's in New York last night for $95.2 million (?75 million), slightly less than the record of $104 million (?82 million) that was paid for the same artist's `Boy with a pipe´ in 2004.
It was thought that the portrait would fetch a maximum of $50 million, although a second Picasso had fetched twice its reserve price of $15 million when it went under the hammer the evening before.
`Dora Maar au chat,´ which is a colourful and impactful portrait of one of the artist's former lovers and muses with a cat sitting on her lap (photo), has been off the market for the last fifty years.

It is thought that Ms Maar, whose tempestuous relationship with the artist spanned the 1930s and 40s, helped paint the iconic `Guernica,´ which depicts the devastating blitz on the Basque town by Nazi dive-bombers during the Spanish Civil War.

Pablo Picasso was born in Málaga on the 25th October, 1881, and died in France on the 8th April, 1973.

DISNEYLAND IN MANILVA?

From The Sunday Times article:

MalagaDISNEY is drawing up plans for a possible park on the Costa del Sol which could transform the area?s tourist industry. The company has held talks with Spanish officials about building on farmland near the town of Manilva, southwest of Marbella, although the two sides have given different accounts of the venture. Disney said it was in negotiation for various new schemes in Manilva, including a summer camp for children, offering the opportunity to improve their sports and languages.

Javier Sansierra, the executive who has been running negotiations with Manilva town hall, denied it planned a full-scale theme park like Disneyland Paris, operated by Euro Disney. ?While I completely agree that a Euro Disney would do well in Spain and personally I believe it should have opened here in the first place, there are no plans to open a second or mini amusement park in Spain for the time being,? he said. However, officials in Manilva suggested a more ambitious project was being considered.

?The discussions are well advanced,? said Lucy Fernandez, a town hall spokeswoman. ?It is at a sensitive stage, so I can?t say too much, but the eventual aim is to open a Euro Disney-type park in four or five years.? Francisco Alvarez, the local tourism officer, who has been closely involved in the negotiations, said: ?We have the space here for Disney and are urbanising a couple of large areas for them. I know the company has acquired at least one estate here and we hope they will begin building soon.?

It is understood that in return for permission to build a new park in the area, Disney could be expected to contribute towards the cost of a new motorway from Seville to the Costa del Sol.

The company had originally planned to open a Disney theme park on the Costa del Sol in the late 1980s. After a long search, it narrowed down its options to a choice between Estepona and Paris. Although Spain?s climate gave it the edge, the company eventually plumped for Paris, largely because of its better communications. Some executives now admit that the site in Estepona ? where a 247-acre safari park has since opened ? would have been the better option.

Other large theme parks in Spain have proved successful. These include the highly rated PortAventura near Barcelona, Warner Bros Park in Madrid and Isla Magica in Seville. Disneyland Paris has been affected by problems ranging from bad weather to cultural differences between the US and France.

EASYCRUISE COULD SAIL IN TO GIBRALTAR

Stelios Haji-Ioannou, who pioneered cheap flights in Europe with EasyJet said he believed that the landing fees at Gibraltar?s ruled out the airport as a destination. He was speaking during the MedCruise conference held in Gibraltar and stated that the Rock?s airport was too expensive when you had much cheaper Málaga nearby.

EasyJet?s currently flies daily from nine British cities and four in mainland Europe to Málaga. Whilst Gibraltar seemingly stands no chance of winning any flights the close proximity of Easyjet could encourage EasyCruise to use the Rock?s port as a stopping point. EasyCruise was launched last year and operates on radically different ?no frills? basis to the traditional cruise industry.

EasyCruise attracts a younger clientele and is good news for destination ports, as the vessels usually stay overnight. With few amenities on board cruise passengers spend more time and cash ashore. The attraction of Gibraltar to EasyCruise is its close proximity to Málaga with its extensive cheap flight connections.

SAN ROQUE CELEBRATES 300 YEARS WITH POLO

San Roque has celebrated its third centenary with a major polo tournament held at the Santa María Polo Club in Sotogrande. The event, for the trophy donated by the town hall, was sponsored by Turismo Andaluz and attracted many top players.

The final held on Sunday was between Pueblo Nuevo and Campamento. Although Pueblo Nuevo started stronger with a 4.5 to zero goals victory Campamento came back to make a match of its but Pueblo Nuevo emerged the victors thanks largely to Pablo Mora and the young Juan Carlos Gavira.

Eight teams battled for the trophy and each team took on the name of one of the zones of San Roque. Eleven of the 32 players were foreigners drawn from Russia, Italy, Luxembourg, South Africa and Egypt. The trophy was presented by the vice president of the International Polo Federation, Younes Faruk, and the matches were held in the presence of the mayor of San Roque, José Vázquez, along with many of the government team.

LA LÍNEA; HIGHEST HOUSING PRICE RISE IN ANDALUCÍA

According to a survey carried out by Cohispania in to the rise in housing prices in Andalucía so far in 2006 the town of La Línea shows the biggest increases.

La Línea records a leap of 14.64 per cent that beats Veléz-Málaga and Torrox in to second and third places with their rises being 14.56 and 14.2 per cent respectively.

However La Línea is still in the catch up mode when it comes to the price of property per square metre. The survey shows that as of March 31 of this year the price of a new, unoccupied property in the border town was 1,918 euros per square metre. In the province the most expensive was Rota with 2,268 euros and in the Campo de Gibraltar the municipality of San Roque recorded 2,074 euros.

In Andalucía generally the average rise in the first three months of this year has been 8.83 per cent, compared with the figure for 2005 of 11.25 per cent. The average price per square metre in the region is 1,641 euros.

MY MATE MARCO in MARBELLA

I think its about time to mention Marco's magnificent job running Skina restaurant in Marbella. Since Marco & Juan took over what was Messina, Skina restaurant has gone from strength to strength, receiving much acclaim & articles in Hi Magazine & more.

They work so hard to make everyone's experience perfect down to such fine details, and presentation is an art form. I feel Marbella needs more of these chic reasonably priced restaurants & less of the franchise disappointments masquerading as traditional spanish eateries like the La Pesquera chain.. mediocre food, sulky service & rude staff. Do they really feel this is a fair reflection of Spain for tourists? It dismays me that in Marbella Skina, Messina, Garum, Taberna del Mercado & the likes work so hard to attract & keep business, yet don't get the recognition they deserve.

So to Timo, Marco, Pia, Diana et al...keep up the good work!!!

To the public.... if you haven't been to one or all of the above, make the time & notice the difference!!

LONGEVITY COSTA DEL SOL

From ancestral times man has wanted to live as long as possible in full form as much PHYSICALLY as PSYCHIC. Now this dream is an entire reality with the program of longevity developed by Doctor Jean Garant in his clinics in MARBELLA & FUENGIROLA(SPAIN). In a week of treatment with Doctor Jean Garant's method you will be able to improve the quality of your life and to live until the 100 or 120 years old avoiding the illnesses & constraints associated with ageing.

DR JEAN GARANT
www.longlifecostadelsol.com includes TV Interview footage & information on improving not only quality of life, but also length of life.

Andalucia Aims to Increase UK Tourism

?HAPPY New Year, Happy New Andalucia? ? was the slogan used for a two-day conference held in London with 36 companies from different areas and 400 UK travel agents, tour-operators and airlines.

This was the first step of the Andalucia?s regional government?s tourism marketing plan for 2006. It aimed to show what could be on offer to satisfy the British market?s demand, while helping Andalucia ?to take a privileged place in UK tourism catalogues?, a spokesman for the Tourism Department said. The department is keen to maintain the attention of the British nation because it is the largest market outside Spain.

More than 1.2 million British tourists were accommodated in Andalucian hotels from January to November, 2005, a growth of 13.5 per cent over the previous year.

To further secure the market, visits are planned to eight tourism fairs and three conferences for professionals involved in the sector.

First smoking fine

THE Navarra police in the town of Castejon are believed to have handed out the first fine under Spain?s new smoking laws, which came into effect on January 1. A 39-year-old man from Gandia was briefly detained after local police noticed he was smoking in the non-smoking area of a restaurant. He was arrested, taken before a judge in Tudela and fined 240 euros for ?failing to obey a police order?.

SMOKING LAWS in SPAIN

THE new law banning smoking in almost all public places faces its biggest test as the country returns to work this week.

The law, which came into effect on Sunday, January 1, makes it

illegal to smoke in the workplace, and bars and restaurants over 100 square metres are obliged to provide non-smoking areas.

Smaller bars have to decide if they want to allow smoking or not. All must, by law, show signs saying if they will allow people to light up or not.

The number of places where people can buy tobacco will be cut by 40 per cent, with cigarettes and cigars only on sale at controlled vending machines and tobacconists.

Fines can be imposed for those who break the law, ranging from 30 to 600,000 euros.

However, a random poll by EWN reporters in the Costa Blanca indicated that little has changed since the new law came into effect.

Many of the smaller bar and restaurant owners say they are still in the dark as far the legislation is concerned, and that most of the information they have received has been via the media and not through official channels.

The owner of the El Cau bar in Polop, Ian Hartley, said that he had acted on his own initiative in the absence of any official directives and that neither the town hall nor his lawyer had given him any advice.

This was the case in 90 per cent of the establishments visited in the Marina Alta and the Marina Baixa area.

Talking privately to members of the police, most are reluctant to be the first enforcer in Spain to test the new law.

In six establishments north of Torrevieja which the team visited, it seemed as though no-one had even heard about the new law. Ashtrays were still on the tables, there was no signage about their smoking policy and children were still permitted in the smoke-filled bars.

Members of the public also seemed to be in the dark. From the 21 people we spoke to at random, only a third knew of the new restrictions and even they were not fully aware of the exact detail. The non-smokers welcomed the new law but failed to see how it was going to be policed.

The idea of a hospitality venue with a tobacco-free atmosphere would be welcomed by the vast majority of people we spoke to. The trouble is, they haven?t found one yet.

The smokers were not unduly concerned; they said they would always find a bar to smoke in. And if they couldn?t, they would just nip outside to light up.

Many hotels in Benidorm have removed machines that dispense cigarettes from within their public areas and from offices.

However, despite this, the Hoteliers Association HOSBEC has advised the government that its members cannot possibly comply with all the terms and details of the new law in time.

Opinion polls have found that although 77 per cent of Spaniards are in favour of the law, 69 per cent think it will be hard to enforce.

The Spanish Government is expected to earn 3,824 million euros in tax on cigarettes next year, which represents a 12 per cent increase over this year.

Elena Salgado, Spain's Health Minister, said that until now, Spain has been one of Europe's most ?permissive? countries in Europe in terms of the price of cigarettes and the availability of places where people can smoke.

The number of smokers in Spain is slowly going down, but is still

high compared to many other European countries. Some 31 per cent of Spaniards are smokers (compared to 35 per cent five years ago) and 50,000 people die from smoking-related diseases each year. Spain was one of the last countries to ban smoking on

international flights.

The government hopes to reach consensus with all the affected groups in terms of advertising, public spaces where smoking is allowed and the legal age at which teenagers are allowed

to buy cigarrettes - the Health Minister has already announced that fines imposed for selling tobacco to teenagers under the age-limit will be severe.

Smoking is now forbidden in all closed places of work in the private and public sectors; in all health and education centres; sport facilities; centres offering advice and attention to citizens; centres offering help to teenagers under 18; and places where food is prepared, made or sold.

It is also forbidden to smoke in all lifts, telephone booths, indoor cashpoints, bus stations and all areas of public transport which are not open air, such as metro, indoor bus stations, railway stations and airports.

Christmas National Lottery LOTERIA NACIONAL

SPANISH NATIONAL LOTTERY DRAW 22 DECEMBER TAKING PLACE NOW!!!

If you have bought a ticket, log on to www.onlae.com & enter your ticket number from this afternoon to find out if you are a winner. With over 4000 winning numbers and huge prizes, Loteria Nacional is a massive Christmas Tradition. Best of Luck to all of you!!!!!!!!

Christmas Shopping Hours Malaga

Christmas shopping hours are to be extended in six commercial centres, Norte, Ciudad Jardín, El Palo, Centro Histórico, Carretera de Cádiz and Cruz de Humilladero, are all to stay open on December Sundays, but this is the first time that festive days December 26 and January 2 are also to be included.

In all, 125 shops will try to meet the needs of consumers pressed for time as a result of their longer working hours.
Textile, gift and household shops are those notably involved in a campaign entitled, ?Christmas is everywhere in Málaga?.

An added bonus this year are the Christmas draws taking place on December 7, 15, 22 and 29, the prizes for which include a dinner for four with limousine transport as well as giving out 1,000 Euro cheques to be used as spending money in the participating establishments.

SPAIN'S BIG GAME SAFARI

According to the Daily Record this morning, Police in Spain have arrested a gang suspected of organising lucrative Safari-style big game hunts on a farm near the Costa del Sol.

The raid on the farm happened as a lion and tiger, both bought from a circus, were about to be killed. The remains of a second tiger and several wolves were also found.
Hunters were paying thousands of pounds to shoot big game bought on the black market at the farm in Badajoz, south-west Spain. After the kill, they got the animal's skin or head as a trophy.

Malaga Cathedral Bells

Eight of the 12 bells of Malaga Cathedral will return to the city in the middle of December after being restored by Alcantarilla ( Murcia ), as reported by the dean of the cathedral, Francisco Garcia Mota, who added that, until their final placement, they will be installed in the lower part of the atrium so that they can be viewed by the people of Malaga.

The dean explained that the works had been completed quickly and there will be 8 bells restored rather than the 4 predicted.

The 12 bells of the Cathedral were taken down at the beginning of September and transferred to the workshop, Relojería Valverde de Alcantarilla, except for one, that due to its poor condition will be replaced by a replica, which will be named after the patroness of the diocese of Malaga, Virgen de la Victoria.

Nevertheless, this will also be seen, since it will be in the bell tower of The Manquita, in a small museum, along with the other pieces that were removed.

Fiesta de los Rondeles ? Casarabonela

Fiesta de los Rondeles ? Casarabonela The procession of the Virgin of the Rondeles will take place on the 12th December at the end of a 3 day celebration from 10 - 12 December.

The objective of the festival is for the local people to express gratitude to the Virgen de la Pastora for the harvest. At nightfall the tradition, which dates back several centuries, when the rondeles are lit ( grass torches impregnated with olive oil ) and the procession passes through the streets of the village.

When the procession arrives at the Church they sing the Salve a la Virgen and after this all the locals and visitors go to the plaza where hot cocoa and buns are enjoyed.

Alhaurin el Grande, Alora, Cartama, Coin, Nerja and Torrox

Alora Will Benefit from the Financial Health Plan of the JuntaA total of six municipalities of Malaga province of between 10 and 20,000 inhabitants, among them Alora, would be able to benefit from the financial health plan of the Junta whose decree was approved recently in the council of government with the intention of improving the local tax office.

These six municipalities, Alhaurin el Grande, Alora, Cartama, Coin, Nerja and Torrox, whose populations adds up to 1000,000 people, form part of a total of 70 Andalucian localities that could welcome this decree and represent 1 million inhabitants. The provincial delegate of the Andalucian government, Jose Luis Marcos, informed a press conference that this will be produced through the constitution of a consortium that takes charge of refinancing in group form.

More Investments for the Area"The province of Malaga is going from number 22 to number 4 in terms of investment in Spain" stated Jose Sanchez, mayor of Alora, who, in company with Senator Pedro Villagran and Autonomous Parliament member Mariano Ruiz Quadra presented on the 4 November the general budgets of the State and Andalucia for the Guadalhorce area for 2006. According to Villagran "they are going to invest 900 million euros in the province", and "these budgets are fair, balanced and necessary for our province".

Alora receives much of the planned investments in these budgets. Specifically, in Alora the investment will be on the suburban rail line, the removal of level crossings, improvement of the irrigation channels, and desalination of the Guadalhorce reservoirs. Also, there will be investment in roads and the enlargement of the local Guardia Civil team next year. In addition, next year the Junta is going to carry out important investment for the Guadalhorce area related to the improvement of the A357.

The budgets of the Junta for our province represent an increase of 23% on last year according to Ruiz Quadra, "we have an excellent policy on security, good services, quality education and free books for all primary students".

Own Your Piece of Internet Spain

Just released in a global version in a similar ilk to the milliondollarhomepage set up by students in the UK. The million World map (http://millionworldmap.com) offers advertisers global space at a price of 1 euro per pixel.

Stability Brought to Costa del Sol?s water reserves

The level of the water reservoirs in the province of Malaga rose last week for the first time since the end of March. The increase was very slight, however - a little over 500 million litres - but, thanks to the rain and the measures to save water, at least the downward trend has been halted for the time being.

According to the Mediterranean-Andalusian Water Board, it was the first time in eight months that the reserves had risen. The reservoirs had been losing water week after week, due to lack of rain, dropping down to an average of 27 per cent their capacity. The six largest reservoirs in the province held a volume of 164.6 cubic hectometres at the beginning of this week but that is still far below the volume in them a year ago, 282.6 cubic hectometres, which represents 49 per cent of their total capacity.

The reason for the slightly increased volume is twofold: on the one hand a drop in consumption of 40 per cent since the special decree on drought came into force, and on the other hand, the rain which fell in the province last week, an average of 22.3 litres per square metre.

Beckitts restaurant

COMING SOON! Five Continent Group (www.fivecontinentgroup.com) will be featuring Beckitt's Irish Restaurant in Marbella for the full virtual tour treatment, menus, winelists and restaurant review.

A favourite amongst Marbellans this well established restaurant near Bull McCabes Bar up the road from Skol apartments is now to be featured in FCG's Recommended Dining Guide for Costa del Sol.

Beckitts will be open this year for New Years Eve Dinner so get booking while there is availability!

Palacio de Congresos Real Estate Lectures

JUEVES, 25 Thursday
9,30 ? 10,30 horas Análisis de los principales ratios comerciales de la promoción residencial en España y en Andalucía.Ponentes : D. José Manuel Sánchez. Gerente de Estudios de Knight Frank.D. Alberto Prieto Ruiz. Director de Area de Suelo y residencial de Knight Frank. Moderador : D. José Antonio Pérez Ramírez. Subdirector General de Instituto de Práctica Empresarial. ANALYSIS OF RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT IN SPAIN AND ANDALUSIA
10,00 ? 18,30 horas Programa de acompañantes. Visita a Málaga y almuerzo. Guided tour of Malaga
10,30 ? 11,00 horas Pausa. Café.
11,00 ? 11,45 horas El Golf como valor inmobiliario.Ponente : D. Francisco Aymerich Riestra. Presidente de Aymerich Golf.Moderador : D. Francisco Javier de Aspe García-Junco. Presidente de Fadeco.THE VALUE OF GOLF IN REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT
11,45 ? 12,45 horas Existe el producto estrella? Relación precio/m2. Tendencias actuales.Ponente : D. Francisco Avalos Luengo. Broker de Remax.La importancia de la red comercial en el mercado internacional.Ponente : D. Juan Bautista Marhuenda. Director Gerente de empresas promotoras de Santa Pola.Moderador : D. José Antonio Solís Burgos. Presidente del Colegio de Arquitectos de Sevilla.DOES THE PERFECT PROPERTY EXIST? THE REALITY
12,45 ? 13,30 horas Modelos de financiación inmobiliaria en la Unión Europea. Actualidad y tendencias.Ponente : D. Pedro Costa Samaniego. Director de la División de Banca Mayorista y Especializada de Unicaja.Moderador : D. Evaristo Caparrós Vacas. Presidente Investigaciones en Mercados Inmobiliarios.EU PROPERTY FINANCE MODELS. NOW and THE FUTURE
14,00 ? 16,00 horas Almuerzo de trabajo. (lunch)
16,30 ? 17,30 horas Presente y Futuro del Urbanismo en el litoral andaluz.Ponente : D. Manuel González Fustegueras. Arquitecto Urbanista. Redactor del P.G.O.U. de Marbella.Moderador : D. Andrés Alvarez de Toledo Rohe. Presidente del Colegio de Arquitectos de Málaga.THE PRESENT AND FUTURE OF URBAN DEVELOPMENT IN ANDALUSIA17,30 ? 18,30 horas Pausa. Café.
18,00 ? 19,00 horas El Turismo Residencial y su efecto sobre el valor de mercado de los inmuebles.Ponente : Sr. Campbell Ferguson. Vicepresidente de RICS España.Moderador : D. Andrés Pérez Ruiz. Director adjunto Programa Master Instituto San Telmo.THE EFFECT OF RESIDENTIAL TOURISM ON THE SPANISH PROPERTY MARKET
19,00 ? 20,00 horas La comercialización de la vivienda turística en el Reino Unido y Alemania.Ponente : D. José Mª Morillo León. Director Comercial de la oficina de la Embajada de España en el Reino Uido.Moderador : D. Juan Aguilera Ruiz. Gerente de Fadeco.WHAT SPAIN CAN LEARN FROM THE COMMERCIALISATION OF HOLIDAY HOMES IN GREAT BRITAIN AND GERMANY
22,00 horas Cena de Gala. Gala Dinner
VIERNES, 26 Friday
9,30 ? 10,15 horas Origen y naturaleza de la demanda de Segunda residencia procedente del mercado británico.Ponente : D. John Sherry. Gerente del Canal Internacional de Knight Frank.Moderador : D. Jerónimo Pérez Casero. Presidente de la Cámara de Comercio de Málaga.WHY DO BRITAINS WANT SECOND HOMES IN SPAIN10,15 ? 10,45 horas Pausa. Café.
10,45 ? 11,30 horas Construcción, energía y sostenibilidad en Andalucía en en el sector del Turismo Residencial.Ponente : D. Francisco Herrera García. Delegado de nueva construcción de Gas Natural Andalucía.Moderador : D. Juan López Cohard. Vicepresidente de Fadeco.SUSTAINABLE ENERGY AND CONSTRUCTION IN THE ANDALUSIAN RESIDENTIAL TOURIST SECTOR
11,30 ? 12,15 horas El Turismo residencial y la sostenibilidad en Andalucía 2004.Ponente : D. Alfredo Rubio Díaz. Profesor Titular del Dpto. de Geografía de la Uiversidad de Málaga.Moderador : D. Vicente García Martín. Presidente de la Confederación de Empresarios de Málaga.THE SUSTAINABLITY OF RESIDENTIAL TOURISM IN ANDALUSIA 200412,15 ? 13,15 horas La confianza, factor determinante para la internacionalización de la oferta del Turismo Residencial.Ponente : D. José M. Galindo Cueva. Presidente de la Comisión de Turismo residencial de APCE. Gerente de ASPRIMA.Moderador : D. Alfonso Sedeño Massot. Presidente de Gaesco.THE CONFIDENCE FACTOR AND ITS EFFECT ON INTERNATIONAL RESIDENTIAL TOURISM13,30 horas Acto de clausura. Close
PROGRAMA DE JORNADA SALA 2 (second room presentation program)
VIERNES, 26 Friday
9,30 ? 10,15 horas Productos innovadores para la construcción : hormigón autocompactante y cemento autolimpiante.Ponentes : D. José Antonio Hurtado Hurtado. Director de calidad y producción de Hormisur.D. Angel Fernández Carazo. Técnico Comercial de Financiera y Minera.Moderador : D. Juan Cobalea Ruiz. Director de Hormisur.CONSTRUCTION INNOVATIONS, SELF COMPACTING AGGREGATES AND SELF CLEANING CEMENT
10,15 ? 10,30 horas Pausa. Café.
10,30 ? 12,30 horas El mercado inmobiliario español bajo la visión del comercializador francés, alemán, holandés y británico.Ponentes : Sra. Chantal Coste. (Francia).Sr. Sven R. Johns. (Alemania).Sr. André Groot. (Paises Bajos).Sr. Ian Tonge. (Gran Bretaña).THE SPANISH PROPERTY MARKET VIEWED FROM THE FRENCH, GERMAN, DUTCH AND BRITISH PERSPECTIVES
Presidentes de las Asociaciones Nacionales de la Confederación Europea Inmobiliaria.Moderadora : Sra. Anne Sophie Coste. Secretaria de la Confederación Europea Inmobiliaria.

Mediterranean Real Estate Exhibition Costa del Sol

Today, November 24 saw the 2nd of a 4 day International Property Exhibition held at the Palacio de Congresos y Ferias in Malaga Costa del Sol.

Though busy, not packed, the event sponsored by Aifos may be a good guage of the transitional and currently bumpy real estate market in the Costa del Sol, though some promoters stands also covered property in Almeria, Murcia, Costa Blanca, Seville, Greek Islands & Brazil.

Notable by their absence were several high profile foreign developers & promoters normally highly visible at such events.

My overall impression was that although certain companies made serious efforts, building multi floor stands and even a showhouse from the promoters of Regidor Hills in Benahavis, the first day saw very few non-Spanish visitors or professionals & most of the attention focused around the Aifos stand.... not because of their developments but because Guadalpin Catering were running a free bar with canapes & andalucian tapas!

Costa del Sol Cider Success!

A CHANCE drink in a Spanish bar has led a new husband and wife business to toast success as South Wales's top importer of a trendy new organic cider.

Hayley and Anthony Bradley first came across Sweden's increasingly popular Kopparbergs cider when they were on a Costa Del Sol holiday last summer.

"We liked it so much that we tried to buy some when we got home to South Wales. When we failed, we thought there was an obvious business opportunity," said Hayley.

Kopparbergs Cider has been available in Pear & Apple versions in Marbella, Costa del Sol for a couple of years now, stocked by major Supermarket Chains like Supersol & Euromarket, and in trendy restaurants like Garum & El Gusto.

Weeks later the Hirwaun couple had set up their new business, Designa Drinx, as distributor for Kopparbergs in Wales and the West Country.

A few months on, the business now supplies more than 20 pubs, bars and restaurants and is enjoying brisk business from four outdoor market outlets it runs each week.

La Cala Ladies European Golf Update

? Only five of the 27 Britons who started the final stage of the Ladies European Tour qualifying school have a chance of earning playing privileges for next season after the third round at the La Cala course on the Costa del Sol, Spain.

With the cut coming after 54 holes and only the top 50 players making today's final round, 22 Britons missed out. The top 30 at the end of play today will earn full privileges and the remaining 20 will have conditional cards.

Those best placed include Scottish amateur Clare Queen, who lies joint second after yesterday's two-under par 71 and Kent's Danielle Masters who is in a share of fourth after a 70. Fame More (16th), Sarah Heath (25th) and Caroline Grady (45th) are the others still in the running.