What's on in Spain: June 2016

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*British Holidaymakers Flock to Spain* More British tourists are set to spend their summer holidays in Spain as demand for sunshine breaks in Tunisia and Egypt declines over fears of terrorist violence, travel agents said on Wednesday. Trade body the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) cited figures showing that bookings to Spain compared to last year. "A drop in business to traditionally popular destinations like Tunisia and Egypt following high profile terrorist incidents and changes to Foreign Office travel advice has driven a growth in popularity to the western Mediterranean in particular," ABTA said in a statement. *"Holidaymakers leaving it late to book may find it more difficult than usual to secure their first choice destination or dates."* Egypt has been shaken by two plane crashes in recent months and official British travel advice warns of "a high threat from terrorism" in the country. A total of 66 people died when an EgyptAir flight from Cairo to Paris plunged into the sea earlier this month. In October, 224 people died when a bomb blew up a Russian plane flying from Sharm el-Sheikh to Saint Petersburg in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group. In Tunisia, 30 British tourists were among 38 killed at a beach resort near Sousse last June in another attack claimed by IS jihadists. Tunisia has seen a 90 percent drop in British visitors this year and official advice warns against all but essential travel to the country. ABTA said that visitor numbers to Turkey were also down. Its chief executive Mark Tanzer said: *"We are seeing a significant increase in summer holiday bookings to western Mediterranean destinations so I would urge holidaymakers who are looking to travel not to delay in making their booking."*

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Want to know the secret to long life? Live in Spain Spain was once again ranked highly worldwide for its residents' long life expectancy. The Local looks at Spaniards' secrets for what keeps them kicking longer than others. Spain is ready to give up cancer-causing jamón... and pigs might fly (30 Oct 15) Spain was ranked second behind only Japan for life expectancy among the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) list of advanced economies in a report on Wednesday. Spaniards’ life expectancy at birth is 83.2 years, compared to 83.4 in Japan, which is well above the OECD average of 80.5. The life expectancy in the UK is 81.1 and in the US is 78.8. The OECD report on Wednesday did point out that Spain still has a way to go on reducing things like tobacco smoking, alcohol consumption and obesity rates. But what is it about Spain that still makes its residents live so long? The Local takes a look. 1. The diet People eating tapas in Madrid. Previous studies have praised the positive health effects of a Mediterranean diet, with one report in 2013 showing that it can reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes by 30 percent. Still, according to the OECD, Spaniards could probably improve upon their fruit and veggie consumption. Spain was just above the OECD average of 60 percent of adults saying they ate fruit daily. But Spaniards fell way below the OECD average for eating their greens with just about half saying they ate vegetables daily. 2. Heart disease According to the OECD, part of what has helped the Spanish life expectancy to shoot up to second place in 2013 from sixth place in 2000 is the decline in deaths due to cardiovascular diseases. Spaniards have one of the lowest mortality rates for heart disease, behind Portugal, the Netherlands, South Korea, France and Japan. Part of this could be the drop in the number of people who smoke daily - a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease - which is down from 32 percent of adults in 2000 to 24 percent in 2013. Still, this rate is higher than the OECD average of 20 percent. 3. Low rates of suicide Spain has the sixth lowest rate of suicide among OECD countries, behind Israel, Italy, Mexico, Greece and Turkey at the lowest. Spain also has one of the lowest rates of inpatient suicide, behind just the Czech Republic, which can be an indicator for how well patients with psychiatric disorders are taken care of. 4. Health care Spain seems to do a comparatively good job making sure people, no matter their economic background, all get the medical care they need. Less than 1 percent of the population reported not having their medical needs met in 2013, meaning things like cost, traveling distance and waiting lists didn’t get in the way for the vast majority. This put Spain at the top of the OECD charts, along with the Netherlands and Austria. Spain was also rated highly by the OECD for its diabetes care, with one of the lowest rates of avoidable hospital admissions, behind just Italy and Switzerland 5. Jamón OK, this one is a bit controversial in light of the World Health Organization’s recent report that placed cured meats like jamón in league with cigarettes for cancer risk. But others say that because the meat is rich in oleic acid, which is also found in olive oil, jamón actually helps regulate cholesterol. And as found there are certainly many Spaniards who will insist that it is the ham that keeps them "fit" and long-living. For more news from Spain, join us on Facebook and Twitter.

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The property recovery in coastal areas of Spain is well under way with property prices increasing by 4.3% in March, year-on-year, according to a report by Tinsa (LEADERS IN PROPERTY VALUATION AND CONSULTANCY) The price of homes in coastal areas increased for the seventh consecutive time in the last 8 months whilst the Balearic and Canary Islands registered their fifth consecutive month of price increases in March. The increase in property prices in coastal areas of Spain helped to push the overall market value of homes in the country up by 0.8%, compared with March 2015, reported Tinsa. Average property prices in ‘Metropolitan Areas’ rose by 2.8% in March, compared with the same period the year before. . The first quarter (Q1) of 2016 has proven positive for the Spanish property market with average residential property prices rising by 2.2%. The most significant increases in property prices for Q1 were reported in the Balearic and Canary islands where prices grew by 5.1% and by 3.1% in Mediterranean coastal areas.