Lloret de Mar Weather Today

Its been another glorious day in Lloret today, it must have been the warmest day of the year so far. Temperatures were forecast to hit 26º today and 24º tomorrow. There does seems to be quite a lot of enthusiasm with the local bar owners, with most expecting a good year business wise. As you walk around just now there are quite a lot of holidaymakers here with more expected to arrive during the coming week. These photos taken today show the boat cabins up and running so people can take a nice trip on the boats to either Tossa de Mar or Blanes.

Fenals beach today.

Lloret de Mar Events

It looks like its going to be a busy time in Lloret this weekend with the up and coming planned events, and with the good weather forecast it should bring lots of peole into town. Temperatures should be reaching mid to high 20s!
Saturday 9th in front of the Town Hall the local arts and crafts market will be held between the hours of 10am - 9pm.

As this Sunday is the second one of the month then we have the usual market and classic cars exhibition in Placa Pere Torrent (the carousel square) from 10am - 2pm.

Again on Sunday taking place aroud some of the local streets is the Tres Tombs Festival (3 Rounds Festival) so named because this festival is to celebrate Sant Antoni Abad the patron saint of working animals such as horses and other pets. It was said he could cure people and their animals, and to show their gratitude the horse riders would ride 3 times around the town. This event aims to also show how people used to live and work and the tools they used in times gone by. Horse riders and walkers with their pets will start their journey to the church at 10.45, where on arriving will all be blessed. The Tres Tombs parade will then begin at 12 noon.

Lloret de Mar - Costa Brava Rally

It was the last day of the Costa Brava Rally yesterday with the last leg held in Fenals, cars were speeding and screeching around all the narrow streets. 

 There was a great atmosphere as people watching cheered along many of the drivers who must have been relatives or friends of the spectators!

A New Bar in Lloret de Mar - EL PUB

CONGRATULATIONS TO  FLICK & SU ON THE OPENING OF THEIR NEW VENTURE 

Yesterday many of the locals in Lloret de Mar were at  the opening of Lloret's newest bar

EL PUB!

They opened the doors for the first time at 6pm, and not long after there was hardly a spare seat to be found. Their normal opening hours as from today will be 1pm until late. Flick and Su will be serving a great menu of pizzas, jacket spuds, sandwiches, lasagna and also will have various daily specials on their appetising menu! While on holiday in Lloret any visitors are quite welcome to bring their laptop as free WiFi is available to all customers or watch TV programmes you may be missing from home. So come and make yourself at home either inside or outside on the large sunny terrace and have a few drinks, tea and coffee is also served! 

They have a great pool table and Wii is also available.

See more photos on the EL PUB webpage HERE

Lloret de Mar Stag or Hen Party Destination!

At this time of year just before the start of the summer season starts off here in Lloret de Mar is when we see lots of week end visitors. The majority of which seem to be either Hen or Stag party groups. So whatever your reason for a short stay in Lloret you need to make the most of your time here!

So why did you choose Lloret in the first place? You or someone in your group must have heard or read about this place - or maybe they know of someone who has actually experienced the Lloret de Mar nightlife!

For starters the town is the nightlife capital of the Costa Brava, and while we're talking about the Costa Brava its not just a little spot somewhere in Spain. This coastline stretches from the French border to just 60km Northeast of Barcelona, plus Costa Brava translates as 'rugged' or 'wild' coast...so what better place to come for your 'wild' hen or stag party stay?

You will find most clubs and disco's are open at weekends this time of year so no need to worry that Lloret de Mar wont be lively enough! Take a look over at the  Lloret de Mar Stuff Nightlife  page where you can take a close look at some of the best nightspots Lloret has to offer along with fantastic photos and links to the clubs own websites. Pay them a visit online then plan your party weekend, it will be a trip to remember I´m sure!

Lloret de Mar - March Weather

Lloret de Mar was basking in the sun today!

With the photos taken today you can see school kids on a trip to their local beach as well as families just relaxing and making the most of the fantastic weather! At this time of year we have lots of pensioners visiting the resort so its nice for them to be able to get out and about and enjoy a stroll up and down the seafront.

Lloret de Mar Carnival 2011

Lloret de Mar Carnival 2011

As usual the annual Carnival in Lloret de Mar was a fantastic event with hundreds of people lining the streets to watch the lavishly decorated floats pass by. Here are just a few of the photos from last weekends event.

A Birthday in Lloret!

One of the tobacconist shops in Lloret de Mar has had a big birthday celebration this week. 80 years to be exact! This is the one near the church which is run by the Bertran family who opened their business in 1931. With the new non smoking laws enforced in Spain since January the family are not making any predictions of how this will effect their trade, but do say that trade is normally slow at the start of every new year until the tourists turn up!

Girona Airport - Ryanair

Since the dispute between the Catalan government and the lowcost airline Ryanair its been reported that hotel bookings in Lloret de Mar and surrounding areas are well down for the Easter period and beyond. The Catalan Government have asked Ryanair for more time to decide on their available budget for 2011 before signing on the dotted line, but it seems Ryanair have given up on the negotiations.

Filming in Lloret Casino

Filming has now begun in the casino and around Lloret de Mar for the new film 'Los Pelayo'
400 extras were chosen for scenes from those who turned up for auditions back in January. The film is a true story about a family who travelled the world playing the casinos, using their mathematical skills to reap millions from the roulette tables. The crew and cast will be in Lloret for the next 3 weeks staying at local hotels. If all goes to plan the film will be released next year.

Girona Airport

The recently reported new 5 year deal between Girona airport and Ryanair has collapsed, meaning the airline now will cease to operate many of it destinations at the airport blaming the Catalan government for not honouring its agreement.
From as early as the end of February Ryanair is to start cutting 18 of it 64 routes and reduce frequencies on 17 other routes. You can read the full story over at Ryanair

Lloret Carnival 2011

The Lloret de Mar Carnival agenda has some thing for all ages....whether your young or old your sure to enjoy the atmosphere this annual event brings to the town.
Here's a guide to whats on over the Carnival week-end...

Friday 4th March 6pm you can see the Carnival King arrive at the Town Hall, followed by dancing for all those present, and for everyone in Fancy dress a nice helping of Catalan sausage and beans.

Saturday 5th There will be a fancy dress competion for all ages, taking place at 11am - 1.30pm. A new event is taking place between 10am - 1pm at the Town Hall square, there will a make-up and hairdressing exhibition - this will involve members of the public, so come along you may get a free make over! At 4pm you can see the first of the 2 Fantastic Carnival parades, be sure to get a good viewing spot by the side the the road for this!
There is a ladies dance in the Evenia Olympic Resort Hotel at 11.30pm. (free entrance)

Sunday 6th The second parade takes place around the town at 12 noon.

Then at 5pm there is a childrens show and fancy dress parade taking place at Evenia Olympic Resort Hotel, again free entrance.At 11pm is another dance this time for the grown ups! the awards for the Carnival will be given out during the interval of the dance.

Fingers crossed for good weather!

Lloret de Mar Carnival 2011

One of this week ends events is linked to the annual Carnival due to take place during the first week of March. There will be a sale of second hand fancy dress costumes taking place in front of the Town Hall between the hours of 10am - 8pm on Saturday 19th Feb.

Lloret de Mar Tourism

Owing to the conflict in Egypt and Tunisia its hoped that the Lloret de Mar and the Costa Brava tourism trade could be given a much needed boost. Those who have booked holidays to the troubled destinations will now be looking elsewhere to take their holidays as just now there is no way of telling how long the unrest will last.

Just recently it seems that the Canary Isles are seeing a slight increase of visitors, but mainland Spain are expecting to see more trade coming their way at Easter especially with the holiday week-end falling later this year.

Lloret de Mar Carnival 2011

Its nearly Carnival time again in Lloret de Mar, a little later than usual so hopefully the weather will stay dry and warm for all the events. This is a fantastic event and brings a great atmosphere to the town. If your lucky enough to be here during the first week in March you really must see the colourful parades, the first of the two parades will be on Saturday 5th March at 4pm, and the second one will be on Sunday at 12noon. This is one of the best yearly events in Lloret and really shouldnt be missed!
I'll give a complete run down of other things which are going on in town over the Carnival week-end  nearer the date.

Lloret de Mar Tourism

Its been reported in the local press that tourism in Lloret during 2010 saw a slight recovery.  On average the hotels had a 75% occupancy, just a small rise on figures from 2009. The majority of visitors were Catalan and Spanish, along with others from all over Europe.
Hotel owners are pleased that Lloret de Mar is not only dependant on visitors of just one or two Nationalities, and that the town is still a popular holiday destination....although the stays are very much shorter than previous years.

So the town believes that because the hotels are doing well things are looking good .... not if you get out and about and talk to the bar owners and other business owners in town they're not!

Lloret Beaches - Santa Cristina

During the last few days on this blog you have been able to find out just what each of Lloret's beaches have to offer, the fifth and last one today is Santa Cristina beach.... Which is 450mts long and here the young kids will love the finer sand, its great for making sandcastles! Here on Santa Cristina is a bar for snacks and drinks or a restaurant if you fancy a meal, you can also hire sunbeds, parasols and pedalos. To reach Santa Cristina you can take a short trip from Lloret beach on the resort boats, or walk down through the woods but you will need your walking shoes on!

If you do fancy the 3.5km walk to this beach then you will see the little church of Santa Cristina which is just at the top of the pathway leading down to the beach. Or even if you travel to the beach by boat its well worth making the trek up the path to pay a visit to the 18th century church and its grounds from where you have spectacular views of the coast.

Lloret de Mar Beaches - Boadella

Boadella Beach in my opinion must be one of the prettiest beaches in Catalunya if not Spain! One drawback is that its not very easy to reach owing to the steep incline leading down to the waters edge, which keeps this beach fairly quiet compared to Lloret and Fenals, and also up until 3 - 4yrs ago the resort boats used to pull into Boadella but this is no longer so. The beach is in a very natural setting surrounded by woods, much of which was cleared a couple of years ago and new pathways created...possibly to take away the risk of fires.

At a length of 250mts this is the shortest beach in Lloret, but there are still very good amenties....showers, toilets and a beach bar where you can get a cool drink, ice cream or snacks, or it could be a nice place to take your own picnic, and there is also a first aid point.
Boadella beach was and still is known to be a beach for the naturist's but they do usually tend to stay to one end of the beach, so you may not see too much of them....apart from when they want to take a dip in the sea to cool off!

Lloret de Mar Beaches - Canyelles

The beach at Canyelles can be found as you take a turn off to the right from the road leading out to Tossa de Mar. This scenic beach is surrounded by cliffs and the Cala Canyelles urbanisation. Although Canyelles is only a relatively small cove amenities here are very good, the beach is 400mts long there are pedalos, sun beds and parasols to hire. On the beach is a drinks and ice cream kiosk, but there are bars and restaurants in the area. This is the only beach in Lloret with a small yacht harbour. If you have no transport then this beach is quite hard to reach as its quite a long and steep walk from Lloret but there is a bus you can catch from Lloret's sea front.

Lloret de Mar Filming in the Casino

Do you fancy being an extra in a film? I know its short notice but if so get yourself to the Casino this afternoon between the hours of 4pm - 7pm. Anyone between the ages of 18 - 60yrs of age are needed for the film which will be partly shot in the Casino starting towards the end of February and will take approx 6 weeks. The film is based on a true story from the 90s about a family who found a way to make large amounts of cash from roulette in Madrid's casino before actually being banned they then began travelling the world to other casino's.

Lloret de Mar Beaches - Fenals

The picturesque beach of Fenals is 700mts long making this the 2nd largest in Lloret de Mar. With these photos taken in the height of the summer you can see that it does get fairly crowded but still is much more relaxed than Lloret's main beach. All the beaches in Lloret have been awarded the blue flag for several years running now, this is for quality of the water, cleanliness of the beach and amenities. The Fenals Watersports Centre are based here, so you have a great choice of fun trips.....parasailing, flyfish and banana boat.

From here you can also take a trip to other resorts on the boats, hire a pedalo or if you just want to take it easy hire a sun bed and parasol. There are several beach bars and small cabins where you can get a cool drink or ice cream. During the busy months life guards are watching out from posts along the beach, and there is a first aid point. Just across the road from the beach are 2 very good restaurants...the Xaloc and the International.

Lloret de Mar Beaches

As well as been known for the excellent nightlife Lloret de Mar is the ideal resort for a great family holiday...with the beaches been a firm favourite for younger members of the family. I'm often asked what facilities there are for the kids in Lloret and I'd say one of the best is the choice of beaches. (there are 5 fantastic beaches here) Over the next few days I will give you an idea of just what each of the beaches has to offer for the kids and also the grown ups!
Today we are at the main beach of Lloret de Mar, which is 1.6km long and has a very nice promenade which has just undergone a complete makeover just a few months ago. The traffic flow has been made into a one-way system, giving a more peaceful environment for the pedestrians.
The sand on Lloret beach however may not be to some peoples liking as its quite course -  so not very good for the kids to make sandcastles! But one of the benefits I like about it is that its easily rubbed off when you have been laid sunbathing so you don't get that sticky feeling as you do with fine sand. At either end of the beach are small rocky coves which you may find is safer for the kids as the water does not slope into the sea as steeply as the main stretch of beach.
Watersports, jet skis, scuba diving and boat trips are all based on the beach as well as several beach bars....not forgetting the lifeguards, first aid centres, and kids club (in the height of the season)  Hotels, bars, restaurants and a variety of shops line the promenade, and of course you can also get any travel info you need from the tourist office....that is if you don't find it here first!

Lloret de Mar free computer lessons.

It seems that someone in the Town Hall in Lloret has come up with a brilliant idea to give free computer lessons to local business owners or their employees to enable them to get their businesses online. Maybe the people who do the official tourist websites in Lloret ought take up the offer, as I often come across stuff on the sites which is so out of date and out of touch with what holiday makers really want to know. They certainly dont want to read about it in Catalan which is just about the only language the leaflets in the tourist offices are printed in! What so often happens in this town is that what could have been a very good and interesting event is over and done with before anyone in town knew anything about it....so not only do the businesses need more publicity but whatever is happening in town needs to be publicised more.
Back to the free computer lessons - 23 people from the whole of Lloret took up the offer of the first lesson, (maybe no-one knew about it?) the next one will be held this Tuesday 18th Jan in the newly restored building Can Zaragoza (see photo) up on the main road in Lloret not far from the Casino.

Lloret de Mar - Buzzby's Calendar

Here's a quick preview of the new calendar for our local pub,Buzzby's.

All the girls worked really hard just before Christmas to get the photos done and to get the calendar to the printers. We all a great time dressing up for the photos, so next time your in Lloret call in and see it on the wall....but you can see more HERE!

Lloret de Mar - Airport Transfers

For anyone travelling into Lloret de Mar from either Girona or Barcelona airports there is a very good transfer service run by the Laietana Tour company. Bookings can be made by email or phone (English speaking)
The cost of transfer from Girona - Lloret 1 person x €22. 2 x €12 each.
Barcelona - Lloret 1 person x €25. 2 x €15 each
Phone numbers and email address can be found on the Lloret Stuff Excursions page HERE 

DETAILS FOR EXCURSIONS TO ALL THE TOP DESTINATIONS CAN ALSO BE FOUND ON THE SAME PAGE!

Lloret de Mar Shopping

As in most European towns and cities the winter sales have now started in Lloret de Mar. Some stores are offering great bargains in some cases with as much as 70% discount. The sales will continue until March 6th, after which I think we will see the usual street sale where all the shops are allowed to bring the last of their sale goods out onto stalls in the street for one last day of the sale.
Traders in Lloret have seen a large decline in trade during the days leading upto Xmas so are hoping that the next few weeks the shoppers will begin to spend a few more euros.

Lloret de Mar Casino

 For a thrilling night out in Lloret de Mar why not take your chances at the new casino. This is the only purpose built casino in Catalonia and boasts a massive building cost of €50 million! The building is certainly very impressive especially when viewed at night when it comes to life with all the illuminations!

 The casino is equipped with all the latest trends of gaming as well as the more traditional games. There are 150 slot machines as well as Black Jack,Stud Poker, Baccarat and Roulette (both American & French) Poker tournaments are regularly held here, and other games are often organised. The casino has a special club for poker fans which gives them many benefits such as the option to receive welcome gifts on registering for tounaments, and special hotel rates.

Visitors need to show ID for entrance, the entrance fee for the day is €3, or €15 week.

In the Red buffet bar you can get a very good value lunch (menu del dia) for only €10 between the hours of 1pm - 3pm. Or visit the Seven Restaurant for their a la carte menu.

The Congress Centre on the upper floor can house 1,000 people for large events and ceremonies.

Lloret de Mar Restaurants

Great staff at the Can Guidet

Last night we went to one of our favourite restaurants in Lloret with friends, this is the Can Guidet close to the Olympic Park hotel. We tend to go about once a month and the staff make you very welcome and give excellent service. If you are ever staying in the Olympic Park Hotel just look across the road and you can see the Can Guidet standing in its own grounds surrounded by their own gardens where they grow much of their own produce.

Catalan salad & pan con tomate for starters!

Rabbies Bar Lloret de Mar

It was a big day in Rabbies Bar in Lloret today, first of all it was the Old Firm match - Rangers v Celtic so there were supporters in the bar from both sides. After the match Linda put on a lovely turkey dinner with roast potatoes and yorkshire pudding for all customers...a nice way to finish the Christmas and New year holiday.
Its also the 1st day of the smoking ban in Spain and here's all the smokers having to go outside on the terrace at half time for a smoke!

Smoking Ban in Spain

The ban on smoking in public areas begins tomorrow 2nd Jan. As from then smoking will not be allowed in bars, nightclubs, restaurants or hotels etc. Restaurants are very critical of this new law as they believe for them that the loss of trade will be massive.
Another concern is that those who gather outside of these public places to have a smoke will generate quite a bit of unnecessary noise and disturb those who live nearby.
The smaller bars and cafes are also fearful that they will loose much of their trade from those who just pop in to have a coffee and smoke while they read their daily paper.

Read more in the Euro Weekly