Lloret de Mar Watersports

Fenals beach is very busy today with the weekend tourists in town. The watersports centre are doing a good trade with the Parasailing and Flyfish etc, what better way than to take to the sea to cool off on a hot sticky day like today!

Buzzbys Bar in Lloret

After  England lost to Germany in the world cup games its still smiles all round at Buzzbys in Lloret de Mar after the match....why? 

Because they are all Scottish exept for Kenny who is holding the flag, he made them pose for the photo with him!

All in good fun!!

See more from BUZZBYS BAR !

Lloret de Mar Clon Festival

Lloret de Mar's ever popular Clon festival will  soon be here with some of the biggest and best names in music taking part.

The event is free and takes place in the open air down on the sea front in Lloret near McDonalds.

This year there are 3 tribute bands taking part, and with the bands named for this years event I'm sure it will be bigger and better than before!

• 1st date is Fri 23rd July, with a tribute to Micheal Jackson.
• 2nd date  is Fri 6th Aug, this time  Bon Jovi and the band is called 'Always'
• 3rd date with a tribute to Depeche Mode is Fri 20th Aug by Devotional Mode from Barcelona. Visit their MY SPACE page.

Lloret de Mar Bar's

Its much too hot to be indoors these days, so what better way to enjoy the sun than to spend a relaxing afternoon on the outdoor terrace of one of the bars in Lloret de Mar?

As you wander around the narrow streets of Lloret de Mar you come across little picturesque squares such as this where all the locals meet up and have a coffee or a 'few' beers and catch up on the gossip!
A few more bars you may like to visit can be found in these pages HERE!

Barcelona Port - The World

Docking at Barcelona Port today is the cruise liner
'The World'

The World is a luxurious and very private community of people who choose to live at sea on this unique liner. You can (if you are rich enough!) actually buy an apartment on the liner just as you would buy a home on land, then simply spend your time cruising the world docking at countries on route...a nice idea if you can afford it!  If you have another residence (or residences) on land somewhere its your choice how much time you spend in your home on board, you are free to come and go as you please.

If you would like to see The World in Barcelona you have until tomorrow before she sets sail again, this time for Porto Banus in Southern Spain.

A great idea to get a real close up is to take the boat which takes you on a tour of Barcelona port for only €5.50.

Read more about ..... THE WORLD.

Lloret de Mar Weather

Lloret de Mar beach is certainly very busy these days. This photo taken at the week end shows that after a very slow start to the season there are now plenty of holiday makers in town. The weather has been very unsettled just lately but now seems to be more settled with temperatures in the mid to high 20s. The experts are predicting this summer will be one of the hottest ever, with average highs reaching one or two degrees more than normal, but will be accompanied by storms.

Latest Cigs &Tobacco Prices

Just recently there has been an increase in the price of cigarettes and tobacco in Spain.

 

This is a list of the latest prices

Lloret de Mar Pubs

All the pubs, bars and clubs in Lloret de Mar are doing a roaring trade with the football fans.

It seems that all the English football ball fans who haven't gone to watch the games in South Africa, have come to Lloret de Mar!

Most of the bars have several wide screen TVs so the fans dont have far to go to catch the games.

Flags are flying from just about every hotel balcony, the majority of which are English.

See Buzzbys web page HERE.

Harley Butts in Lloret de Mar (slideshow)

Click on the above photo to take you to the complete photo album of the Harley Butts event.

Harley Butts in Lloret de Mar

Dont worry, you havent come to the wrong site.
For all regular readers of Lloret de Mar Stuff I just thought it could do with a face lift, I get fed up of looking at the same colours and layout so I hope you all like this design as much as I do!

I'll be giving the other blogs the same treatment shortly...

Here we have the first two photos from this week ends Harley Butts event in Lloret. We went to have a look at the bikes on show this morning and there doesn't seem to be as many as last year.
Its just possible we were too early, so weather permitting we'll have another look tomorrow.

Harley Butts in Lloret de Mar

The Harley Butts are back in town this week end!
Stalls and exhibition bikes will be on the Paseo in front of the town hall over the 3 day event.
Bikers will be having demo rides out on the Costa Brava roads and the best bike award will be held at 20.30 on Saturday.

This is the 2nd year in Lloret de Mar for Harley Butts and its proved to be very popular with everyone in town.

Return to this site to see some great shots of the bikes later this week end!

Lloret de Mar - Restaurants

We had a really nice 'menu del dia' yesterday at the Can Sabata in Lloret . The cost per person is only €9 and the menu consists of a 3 course lunch with bread and wine. There was a very good selection for all 3 courses and although it was very busy the service was excellent.

The Can Sabata also do a night time menu for €12.50, again with an excellent choice for every course.

To see more Lloret de Mar restaurants go to my restaurants page @ Lloret.com

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Lloret de Mar Boat Trips.

This photo of the two boats taken on Fenals beach last week end looks as though they are racing to the finishing line!
If you would like to see more details about the boat trips to other resorts from  Lloret de Mar follow this link......Boat Trips

Lloret de Mar Power Cuts

Many homes in Lloret have again been without power, this time for 2 hrs last Thursday 27th May, when some parts of the town were left in the dark from 6pm - 8pm, and again yesterday (1st June) for just over an hour.
For the residents this must have brought back the awful memories of March 8th when most towns along the Costa Brava were without power owing to electricity pylons crumbling under the weight of the snow which fell on that day....Lloret residents being the worst affected with some having no power for up to 5 days!
The electricity supplier Endessa have received a total of 38,000 claims from local businesses and homes who are hoping to receive some sort of compensation for the distress caused. It seems that the electricity supply here in Lloret is still not yet back on a permanent basis.

Lloret de Mar Events

Good news for all bikers in the area...

'Harley Butts' are returning to Lloret de Mar for another action packed week end, last year was the 1st time in town for this event and proved to be a massive success!

The official dates are Fri 11th - Sunday 13th June but I'm sure we'll see many of the custom built bikes making their way into town well before!

Tour Around Lloret de Mar

The new open top tour bus for Lloret is an ideal way to see the most interesting sights in town. This is a hop-on hop-off service, prices start from as low as €4.25 for a one stop trip or upto as much as €25 for a 3 day pass which can also include boat ride, bus and entrance fees to the gardens in Blanes.

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Lloret de Mar - Promenade Bars

It used to be that the bars which line the promenade in front of the town hall were just about the dearest in town!
How things have changed now though, you can get coffee and cake for €2.50. One of the bars is serving 1 litre of Sangria with 5 tapas for only €7. Low prices like this were unheard of at these bars, so maybe we'll see the seats at these places filling up again!

Childrens Deaths in Lloret de Mar

After the tragic news of the death of 2 two young children in a room at the Miramar Hotel on Tuesday 18th in Lloret, the news agencies and TV cameras are still in place in front of the town hall on the seafront near the hotel. News of this awful crime is emerging all the time so it looks as though they will be there for quite a while yet.

Lloret de Mar Market Day

Tuesday morning is market day in Lloret, and with the good weather this morning it gave the teachers of the local infants school a good opportunity to get the kids out of the classroom and take them out to learn all names of the different vegetables for sale on the stalls!

Loret de Mar Weather Today

At last it looks as though we may have a few continuous days of sunny weather this week! As you can see from the photos here taken today, there's not a cloud in sight!
The local forecast this morning has predicted that the temperatures will continue to rise as the week goes on with no sign of rain at all.......about time !!

Spanish Airports Closed

 

The volcanic ash cloud which has recently brought havoc to the travel plans of thousands is today causing many airports in Northern Spain to close. Girona airport will be closed from 13.00 until midnight tonight with the possibility of Barcelona closing later today.

A list of airports affected can be found here on the Ryanair website.

Lloret de Mar - Cala Banys

Walking through the woods above the rocks at Cala Banys between Lloret and Fenals you can see all kinds of birds. This photo of a Jay was taken there only last week. We have seen red squirrels up there but they are too quick for us to get a photo....may be one day we'll catch them unawares!

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.

More Lloret de Mar Stuff !

I've been working on a brand new website about
Lloret de Mar which is not yet complete but well on the way!
On the new site you'll will find lots more 'STUFF' about your favorite
holiday resort on the
Costa Brava!
This will not interfere with this site which has become a firm favourite of Lloret de Mar holiday makers since 2005, I will still be adding news etc here on a regular basis.

http://www.lloret-de-mar-stuff.com/

If there is anything you would like to see included on the pages please let me know.
So far you can find all the links for my other sites about Lloret holiday accomodation, the holiday guide and not forgetting the popular 'old stuff' site!

Lloret de Mar - Easter

The hotels which were open for the Easter holiday in Lloret have reported been 90% full.

Despite Easter falling early this year and the bad news of power failures in town during previous weeks, trade has been very good for hotels.

What has been noticed though is the tourists are not spending as much money out on the streets these days, so it is only the hotel trade that is benefitting just now.

In fact more is said to be spent in the hotels because many people are prefering to take either half board or full board rather than b&b because they get better value for money.

As for the latest news regarding the power supply, the forecast is now for a permanent supply to be complete by late June. We are still experiencing short breaks in Lloret, but I can't grumble as I did miss the long blackout back in early March!

Lloret de Mar Sports Party

Coach after coach could be seen arriving in Lloret today, bringing hundreds of students in for the Sports Party taking place all this week. Since the early 1990s more than 20,000 students have taken part in this event.
With a full entertainment and sporting package planned for this week they are certain to have a fantastic time.

Go to the Sports Party site to read about this fun filled event!

Easter Week-end in Lloret

The start of the new summer season it seems has not brought the trade which Lloret shops and bars were expecting.
Hotels which have been closed since the New Year have been busily preparing for this Easter week-end opening, they it seems have had good trade.
Tourists are in town, you only have to look at the number of cars lining the streets, there's hardly a parking space to be found. Unfortunately though the local restaurants and bars seem fairly quiet and not getting the customers they badly need.

With the fairly good weather this weekend tourist are spending their time out walking along the promenades and not spending their cash in the shops.
As for the boats, they are now running but their takings will largely depend on the weather staying fine and the sea calm and of course if people are prepared to pay the inflated prices for a trip along the coast!

Llorets Week Long Power Failure.

Owing to the week long blackout caused by the snow and falling of the electricity pylons which serve Lloret de Mar and other Costa Brava towns there now seems to be an understandable outrage by the local businesses and residents. The estimated figures quoted by the hotels for lost trade is said to be €1.5 m for Lloret alone. This takes into account tourists not coming to town and also food which has rotted in the fridges and freezers.

Restaurants and bars are claiming to have lost
€2 m, not taking into account trade lost owing to the premises having to remain closed during the power failure.
Schools have now been open from Monday after being closed for almost a week, it was hoped the schools would have been able to open last Friday but they first had to be
checked to ensure no damage had been caused by the heavy snow fall.
A demonstration is to be held in Lloret tomorrow (Wednesday 17th March) by business owners and residents. This is against the power company 'Endessa' for the distress caused due to the lack of management and service to the infrastructure.

Lloret de Mar Weather

Now that things are back to normal (more or less) in the Costa Brava towns which were left without power for 6 days, a friend has managed to send me these photos for the blog. All of them taken taken in Fenals on the day that the snow brought complete chaos to the Girona region. Nobody could have foreseen at the time these were taken just how much chaos and madness was about to come into their lives for the next few days.

Lets hope the people who's responsibly it is, get their act together and don't EVER let it happen again.

Lloret Weather Latest Update !

Lloret de Mar residents are still without electricity today since the bad weather brought down pylons last Monday, and have been told to be prepared for another night without electric, heating and hot water!
All shops are closed, no cash points are working and all schools are closed. Its been reported schools may be open tomorrow (Friday) with the use of extra generators being brought in, providing there has been no damage caused by the heavy snow fall.
Generators have been brought in to give emergency power to some other buildings in town. Most homes are having to rely on butane gas for their heating, but many homes are totally dependant on electricity.
In the neighbouring town of Blanes all services are running as normal, so the roads between Lloret and Blanes are seeing long tailbacks owing to Lloret residents having to go for shopping and to banks etc. Extra buses have been put on to try to ease the traffic problem.

Some hotels that have their own generators are operating as normal.


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Lloret Weather Latest Update !

After talking to friends in Lloret again this afternoon it seems that the town is almost at a standstill.

Thousands of homes are without power, many cars have had to be abandoned as many roads are impassable owing to the heavy snowfall. Some roads were passable only in 4x4 vehicles.
All schools in the Girona region will closed this afternoon and tomorrow.

A statement on the Ryanair website says that Girona airport is closed until further notice.

Heavy snow has also affected the main streets in the city of Barcelona, snow ploughs are out trying to keep them clear.

Lloret de Mar Weather

As I'm still not back in Lloret until the 20th March I spoke to a couple friends there earlier today....and I just thought you would all like to know the latest weather forecast-----------IT'S SNOWING !!

If you click on the link for the WEBCAM in the righthand column you can see the beach is white over.

To view the Hotel Savoys website and camera in Fenals click here.

Lloret Swimming for Charity

Despite the recent cold temperatures in Lloret there were still 137 brave enough to take to the sea to raise funds for Multiple Sclerosis. Temperatures were only 6c but it still didnt stop some of those taking part from spending 30 minutes or more in the sea.
So well done to those brave people for raising money for a very good cause.

(Thanks to Angie for these 2 photos)

Smoking in Spain

For quite a while now the sale of cigarettes and tobacco in Spain has been restricted to official tobacconists and to bars and resraurants with a vending machine.

A new law now permits any shop selling newpapers can now sell cigs, the thing is with new laws coming out which restrict smoking in bars etc, you may have trouble finding a place to smoke them!