The first thing to note before we explain the procedure for obtaining one, is that Blue Disabled Parking Permits issued in the UK are no longer valid in Spain as a result of Brexit. Therefore, if you do need to take advantage of priority parking due to mobility problems, you will have to apply in the town hall. In order …

One of the main tourist attractions that brings people to the town, the Torrevieja May Fair, or Feria de Mayo, will not take place in 2023 due to construction work taking place in the port area, and will, instead, be replaced by a mini “tribute” to the event. Quite why the council has decided not to simply move the event …

For the third time, Brilla Torrevieja will bring popular musicians to Torrevieja in summer 2023, for the latest festival that will start on 30 July 2023. Brilla Torrevieja will take place on various dates from 30 July to 20 August 2023, with national artists such as India Martínez (Sunday, July 30), Melendi (Thursday, August 4) and Loquillo (Saturday, August 12), …

Although there are things to do in Torrevieja, sometimes it’s nice to get away, and with that in mind, we thought we’d offer a handful of places to visit away from Torrevieja, but not too far away. Click on the title of each listing to see the location on Google Maps. The Castle of Santa Barbara: We start in the …

The beaches of Torrevieja are popular with sun worshippers, but if you prefer to get an all over tan, then you have to go elsewhere, but the good news is, not too far. According to the director of the Costa Blanca Tourist Board, José Mancebo, “All western consolidated destinations, such as Portugal or Greece, have this type of beach where …

Alcalá del Júcar is a really lovely place to visit - lots of water, lots of old buildings, narrow picturesque streets, and the whole place hidden in the dreary flat plain that you cross when you drive from Alicante to Madrid. And now, for the Easter weekend (2 to 6 April) there's also a craft fair.

A real craft fair, with real craft work to be seen on the stalls, made by the people on the stall. Nothing imported, nothing from small factories, all carefully and lovingly made by people who chose this way of life.

Amata, the craft association which created and registered the "Artesanía de Autor" label, will be setting up a fair in Alcalá for the second year running. Amata is a craft association dedicated to preserving and enhancing craft work in Spain. Amata inspects workshops, critically examines how goods are made and who makes them, checks that what is on the stall is made by the people on the stall - a guarantee that any visitor to the market will find goods that are original and of good quality.

There will be some forty stalls with ceramics, with wooden toys and leather handbags, with painted T-shirts, hand made shoes and sandals, design jewelry in silver, ceramics, wood, silk and recycled materials, puppets and soft toys, even mosaics. Plus there are stalls with food.

For younger visitors there are workshops where they can learn how to make their own work piece - a valuable introduction to the idea of doing things for one's self. The workshops are run by people on the stalls, they charge a little money for materials. Then there is a merry-go-round for very young children, a young couple who make thousands of soap bubbles, and wooden table games for children of any age.

All is set up in the shade of some high trees at the foot of the hill on which Alcalá del Jucar is built, almost next to the river. What a lovely place to spend a day - there are plenty of restaurants nearby and the town itself is a delight to visit, with a Roman bridge, three large caves and its own impressive castle; visitors can also enjoy numerous activities such as horse riding, rafting, fishing, climbing and various guided walking tours.

One of Spain's many "caminos de Santiago" (the pilgrim routes to Santiago de Compostella) passes through the village and for people who don't want to follow a guide nor walk the odd 1,000 kms there are a number of sign-posted local walks.

The Market opens on Thursday afternoon at 6 pm; on Friday, Saturday and Sunday opening times are from 11 to 2 in the morning and from 5 till late in the afternoon and evening and on Monday only in the morning from 11 to 2. To get to Alcalá del Júcar follow the main autovia from Alicante to Madrid and turn off just past Almansa; Alcalá del Júcar lies half way between Almansa and Requena.

To find the market with your GPS: the address is Callejón La Virgen. More information on the market to be found on the Amata web page (www.amata.es, also in English) or you can ring Elvira (who speaks English) on 639 979 678.

Photographs of last year¡s event are at http://www.amata.es/Alcala14.html.

For accomodation or excursions you can ring the tourist office on 967 473 090.

Some of the urban walkways of Pilar de la Horadada have been given a temporary facelift this week, thanks to an exhibition that combines art, nature and architecture through a new project being conducted by the Department of Culture. Having spent jus...

As television screens and newspapers are filled with reports of harsh winter weather, once again the woes of others are celebrated by the businesses that thrive on the winter season. In the last two months, the salt producing areas of Torrevieja has ...

Geocaching is an outdoor recreational activity, in which participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or mobile device and other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers, called "geocaches" or "caches".

The pursuit already has over 6 million participants worldwide and locally, in Pilar de la Horadada, the have been holding a GeoHoradada day for the last two years.

GeoHoradada 2015 is taking place from 20 to 22 March where there will be plenty to do for children and adults alike. Organisers say they are expecting participants from all over the area including many from Murcia, Cartagena and regions to the north of Alicante and by way of preparation they held and initiation day last weekend which was attended by over 80 people.

The Councillor for Tourism, Eva Martinez, said that there was almost three hours of fun which allowed people to practise basic procedures for finding caches together with the exchange of gifts and surprises. She described the activity as a novel way of getting to know the most interesting places around the town.

Everyone that took part was presented with a certificate of participation.

A typical cache is a small waterproof container containing a logbook (with a pen or pencil). The geocacher enters the date they found it and signs it with their established code name. After signing the log, the cache must then be placed back exactly where the person found it. Larger containers such as plastic storage containers (Tupperware or similar) or ammunition boxes can also contain items for trading, usually toys or trinkets of little financial value, although sometimes they are sentimental.

Geocaching shares many aspects with benchmarking, trigpointing, orienteering, treasure-hunting, letterboxing, and waymarking.

Registration for GeoHoradada 2015 is now open and can be made in the Tourist Office or at the Youth Information Centre in Pilar de la Horadada.