Arrivals & Departures Weekly Travel News & Views 5 November 2024

PAST & PRESENT

I’ve got America’s Cup 2024 images in my head — or, perhaps, I should say, the whole Louis Vuitton series, and then the finals. The spectacular 40-knot, eight-crew AC75 yachts in this series were far removed from the 12-metre days when Royal Perth Yacht Club’s Australia II won the cup off Newport, Rhode Island, in 1983, and the defence off Fremantle in 1987.

Yet it is not the AC75s, each with a pair of canting T-foils sprouting like insect legs, that are branded into my brain, but the backdrop. The series was sailed in the Mediterranean Sea off Barcelona in Spain. It seems the city is so often bathed in a golden glow. An afternoon mistral blows offshore.

HISTORY OF SAIL

Barcelona’s strategic geographical position on the Mediterranean has made sailing an integral part of its history. The first settlers here used simple boats to fish and sail local trading routes. The Phoenicians, one of the first true seafaring peoples, established longer trade routes across the Mediterranean and left a lasting influence here. During the city’s Roman period, Barcelona became a very important seaport and naval base. Then, with the beginning of the Age of Discovery in the 15th century, Catalan navigators like Christopher Columbus sailed out to new lands.

MAGIC MISTRAL

Barcelona was chosen as the venue for New Zealand’s defence of the America’s Cup competition because of its modern harbour and world-class sailing facilities. It has favourable sailing conditions from August to October. Emirates Team New Zealand defeated British Challenger INEOS Britannia 7-2 to take the 37th America’s Cup.

LAND OF CONTRASTS

All this comes vividly to life as I breakfast with Marta Fernandez Martin of Spain Tourism Board who has just visited Perth — and, of course, as Spain is in our minds as we follow all that has happened last week, with flooding in the south. Marta and I sit with a map on the table between us, and the contrasts of Spain come back alive to me. Along its northern edge there’s the Atlantic Ocean coast. From San Sebastian on this coast by road through Zaragoza to Barcelona on the Mediterranean coast is just 570km. Yet the two oceans bring completely contrasting climates and culture. It’s all a bit nuts. At the southern point, the Strait of Gibraltar narrows to just 13km wide between Point Marroqui in Spain and Point Cires in Morocco. Spain surely is a land of contrasts — yet Western Australia is five times bigger (even including Spain’s islands).

RENT PROTESTS

Marta trained as a lawyer, specialising in international law and human rights, but for the last five years has played a key role in the transformation of the Spanish tourism model, and its focus on sustainability, inclusion and accessibility. So I address the elephant in the room given the protests against international tourists, which have been reported globally. “Do the Spanish really want us?” Marta says the protests were about the cost of housing. Airbnb and Booking.com have dominated the short-term rental market in Spain, and tens of thousands of people have protested in Madrid to demand more affordable housing amid rising rental costs.

In July, the Spanish Government announced a crackdown on short-term and holiday lets, and that it would investigate listings on platforms like Airbnb and Booking.com.

In Saturday's edition Finance writer Nick Bruining joined us to share his experience with Airbnb. You can read his story here.

TASTE OF ANDALUSIA

For an unusual Spanish series set in Andalusia, I recommend Between Lands on Netflix.

One of my first ever assignments was there, on horseback. Horses run through Spain’s history. Today, there are riding tours, including those offered through globetrotting.com.au. There’s a seven-night ride, intermediate to advanced, from $5515.

HOME AGAIN

It’s good to have Mogens Johansen home. He’s been on assignment in Portugal and Spain, specifically in Madrid. His stories from Spain will be published soon, but his first story, on river cruising the Douro in Portugal on APT’s ship MS Estrela, will be in our River Cruising Guide this Saturday.

EURAIL CELEBRATION

The breakfast meeting in Perth was shared by Spain Tourism and Eurail, which is celebrating its 65th anniversary by unveiling new train routes in Europe. But first some facts:

+ In 2023, 1.2 million Eurail and Interrail passes were sold worldwide. The Eurail team feels that interest will continue in 2024, as even more travellers turn to rail as an environmentally conscious mode of getting around 30,000 destinations.

+ The Eurail Pass gives borderless rail travel across 33 European countries. Australia was second only to the much more populous US as Eurail users.

NEW ROUTES

New routes included in the Eurail Pass include:

+ DB and SNCF will launch a new ICE route from Paris to Berlin, starting on December 15, 2024.

+ December 15 is also a big day for NS and SNCB, which launch a new fast train between Amsterdam and Brussels. It will compete with Eurostar in terms of travel time.

+ Also on December 15, CD (Czech Railways) launches a new four-daily service called Baltic Express between Prague, Wroclaw, Gdansk and Gdynia.

+ European Sleeper expands its current overnight train route with a service from Brussels to Venice via Netherlands and Austria from February 5, 2025.

+ eurail.com

SCENIC SAILS EUROPE

Scenic has announced 2025 “ultra-luxury voyages” in Europe and the Mediterranean on its ship Scenic Eclipse. The voyages include the waters off Italy, France, Spain and Portugal, and dip into local cultures. A Scenic spokesperson points out: “Scenic Eclipse is specially designed to access places that larger ships are unable to explore.”

A highlight of the 2025 collection is the Mediterranean Escapade: Spain and the French Riviera cruise. This is an eight-day trip to destinations along the Mediterranean, from Spain’s Costa Brava to the Vermillion Coast and Saint Tropez.

There is also a 14-day itinerary called Norway To Portugal: The History & Traditions Of Europe. This cruises from Norway through the peninsula islands of Denmark, along the coast of Germany and the Netherlands, then south to France, the Channel Islands, Spain, and ends in Lisbon, Portugal.

+ scenic.com.au or 138 128

SHARP SNAP

Q: “Can you take a good picture through an aircraft window?”

A: Yes. As shown on our Saturday Travel cover in print last week. Just make sure the phone camera is focusing on the ground, not the scratched but chemically strengthened glass.