This Secret Spanish Beach Resort Is A Favorite With Barcelona Locals

A beach is to a vacation is as ice cream is to apple pie: essential. We dream of beaches in Europe and we imagine that feeling of flaxen sand between our toes, the sounds of sea waves crashing on the shoreline, and the updrafts of salty ocean breeze. The small snag is, everyone else gets the same idea, and during peak seasons, carving out a spot on the shore to set out our picnic or recline with our beach read can feel like an impossible feat of engineering.

Me and Asturias? We go way back. I first pitched up here in the mid-1980s as a backpacking student with an Interrail pass, riding the old-fashioned trains that rattled along the Cantabrian coast from Bilbao to La Coruña. I still remember my wide-eyed delight at seeing for the first time the verdant valleys rolling down to the sea, the huge beaches pummeled by big Atlantic breakers, the fishing villages stuck like limpets to the rocky coastline. Cold climates often imply caution and reserve, but there was a friendliness and warmth about the locals that reminded me—counter-intuitively, perhaps—of the laid-back Mediterranean.

These oft-bypassed towns have all been, at some period in history, influential if not necessarily powerful; wealth-creating though hardly opulent; and vital to the nation’s wealth and security while never fully rewarded for it. Communications and trade once gave some urban centres the edge over others. Churches and marketplaces were social magnets. Today a brand-name art gallery, celebrity residents, or media chatter are most likely to generate appeal, however specious. What if estate agents sold houses using poetry, memories, polyglotism, ruins and rust?

If you just saw your first total solar eclipse—or you are desperate to see another—here’s where and when to go to experience another totality:

London is a city of many historic hotels, but perhaps one of the most iconic is The Connaught—and it has an iconic bar to match. The Connaught Bar, though it only opened in 2008, exudes a classic tony air that gives the impression it’s been there since the hotel was first built in 1815. But make no mistake: As classic as this place is, it’s a thoroughly modern affair for the new millennium, sporting a hyper-posh design—overstuffed leather chaises, romantic soft lighting, intricate ceiling details, plenty of Deco-esque lines; think Gatsby glamour but if he grew up in Mayfair—and a cutting-edge cocktail list to go with it. Now, 100 of those luxurious libations have been collected into a beautiful new book, The Connaught Bar: Recipes and Iconic Creations, out April 10.

When it comes to retirement, many people envision spending their golden years traveling the world. Those aspirations, however, involve a lot of money, effort, and planning to execute.

Spanish-speaking audiences represent a valuable market segment and this observation has been at the core of the success of Civitatis. Embracing the right technological tools and distribution channels is instrumental in capitalising on this opportunity and realising profitable outcomes.

The largest range of novelties for summer flights from Riga is offered by the national airline airBaltic.

As of 31 March, the summer season kicks off and passengers will have more options than ever to soak up some sun away from home. The new airline routes are Abu Dhabi, Kos, Izmir, Bangalore, Barcelona and Paris-Orly.

Norwegian Air Sweden flies to Alicante every Monday and Friday, and to Malaga on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.

Bernardo Pinheiro is eager to leverage his expertise and dedication to support the community that has played a significant role in his upbringing while contributing to the ongoing growth and prosperity of the Miami Beach Convention Center.

March has come and gone, and personally, I'm not sad to see it go. If you're a fan of winter (and perhaps a snowy winter vacation), you might be on the other side of the table, but I long all winter for the flowers of spring and the heat of summer.