El Buli Loses its Crown

The world famous El Buli restaurant located up the Costa Brava coast in Roses has this year been beaten to the worlds top spot by the Danish restaurant 'Norma'

El Buli has for the last 4 yrs been voted best in the world by the British magazine 'Restaurant'

However Ferran Adrià El Buli's head chef was named as the chef of the decade, so all is not lost!

Three out of five of the restaurants heading the list are Spanish, so this is still a major achievement.

St George's Day

Tomorrow April 23rd is Sant Jordi's Day in all the Catalan speaking regions of Spain. He is also the patron saint of England but not really celebrated as it is here. In Spain there is an ancient tradition to exchange gifts with your loved one on this day, rather like St Valentines in the UK.
Women should give a book and the men should give a rose to their loved one.

Books will be on sale in most town squares.

Latest News from Ryanair.....Wed 21st

Ryanair today (Wed 21^st April) at 12.00hrs confirmed that it continues to operate Southbound flights from Spain, Southern Italy, South of France, Malta and Morocco as scheduled. From tomorrow Thurs 22^nd April, Ryanair expects to resume a full schedule of Northern European flights (except flights between Ireland and the UK). Passengers holding reservations on these flights at these airports, should continue to present themselves at these airports as normal on Thurs 22^nd April.

Ryanair has today (21 Apr) decided to cancel all of its flights between Ireland and the UK until 05.00hrs on Friday 23^rd April in order to use these UK and Irish based aircraft to operate extra flights from the UK to Continental Europe; and from Ireland to Continental Europe on Thurs 22^nd April to clear any backlog of disrupted passengers.

Ryanair is announcing these decisions in order to give intending passengers as much notice as possible of the likely developments in European airspace over the coming two/three days.

Latest News from Ryanair.....

Flight Cancellations Extended to 1300hrs Wed 21 Apr

RYANAIR EXTENDS CURRENT FLIGHT CANCELLATIONS UNTIL AT LEAST 1300HRS WED 21 APRIL

Ryanair, today (Sun 18^th April) confirmed that based on current meteorological forecasts, and the continuing emission of volcanic ash into the atmosphere over Iceland, it has decided to cancel all scheduled flights to/from the UK, Ireland, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Belgium, Holland, France, Germany, Poland and the Baltic States until 1300hrs on Wed 21 April. Ryanair flights from Spain, the Canary and Baleric islands, the south of Italy (including Pisa, Rome, Sardinia and Sicily), Malta and North Africa will continue to operate just domestic and southbound routes. This advice is based on the current stable weather trends which continue to blow potentially dangerous volcanic ash across the British Isles, Scandinavia and Europe.

This decision has been taken by Ryanair in order to allow passengers to apply for a full refund or rebook onto flights later this week, when Ryanair hopes that improved/changed weather conditions may allow normal flight schedules to resume. Ryanair is anxious to give intending passengers as much information as possible, as far in advance as possible, to allow them to make alternative arrangements. Ryanair continues to post regular flight information updates on the flight information page on www.ryanair.com.

Announcing these further cancellations today, Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary said:

“This spreading cloud of volcanic ash is unprecedented in Ryanair’s experience, and we are continuing to work around the clock to minimise its effects on our schedules and passengers. Ryanair’s flights in Spain, Southern Italy and Northern Africa will continue to operate Southbound and domestic routes.

We hope that by cancelling all Ryanair flights over the above affected countries until at least 1300hrs on Wednesday 21^st April next, we can give passengers as much notice as possible to allow them plenty of time to apply for refunds or rebook alternative Ryanair flights.

We apologise sincerely to all Ryanair customers whose travel plans have been disrupted by these cancellations. We have teams of people sending email advisories to all passengers affected by these cancelled flights to give them as much notice as possible to allow them to change their travel plans. We hope that either the prevailing winds will have changed direction or the ash cloud will have dispersed sufficiently to allow flights to operate safely across the British Isles and Northern Europe by Wednesday afternoon next.

Ryanair will continue to monitor the situation closely and will release further flight info and travel advisories to intending passengers on our website at www.ryanair.com.”

Airport disruption owing to volcano ash....

A cloud of volcanic ash has forced the closure of all UK air space and the cancellation of hundreds of flights, leaving passengers to choose between a refund or waiting for airports to reopen.

All airlines have been hit by the massive disruption, with most advising customers not to head to terminals at all because of the volume of disrupted passengers.

Most airlines, including British airways, Bmi and easyJet, are offering customers a choice of a refund or a free transfer onto another flight when air services resume.

According to the Tranding Standards Institute, passengers whose flights have been delayed or cancelled due to the volcanic dust blown over to the UK from Iceland have the some rights under the Regulation 261/2004 Air Passenger Rights.

They are entitled to a refund or re-routing if the flight is cancelled or delayed by more than five hours; if re-routing is offered from an alternative location, the airline must cover the cost of transfers.

Passengers on flights delayed by more than two hours are also entitled to meals and refreshments, hotel accommodation if necessary, transport between airport and accommodation, two free telephone calls, faxes or emails.

In cases of ‘extraordinary circumstances’ like this, which are beyond the airlines’ control, consumers are not entitled to further compensation, the TSI said.

The TSI said consumers should also check their own travel insurance as they may be entitled to more under their individual policies, or they could get further information from the government website Consumer Direct or by phoning 0845 4040506.

The Latest update from RYANAIR.COM
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Update 07:30hrs - 18th April

The Met Office has confirmed that the volcanic ash cloud continues to cause the closure of the majority of European airspace with the exception of the southern continental Europe. Consequently, Ryanair flights to the below listed countries/airports have been cancelled up to 13:00hrs Monday 19th April. Passengers are advised NOT to go to the airport if their flight is cancelled. Further updates regarding flights operating on Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning will be issued on Sunday 18th April at 12:00hrs.