Menorca - A Guide For Visitors From Outside Europe

If you're visiting Europe and considering a visit to Menorca, here's a report from an American writer's view:

http://www.tribuneweather.com/blog/?p=200

Tenerife Map Showing The Villages and towns of Tenerife

Map of Tenerife – All the main holiday areas plus airport, beaches and other useful places of interest on a map of Tenerife.

http://www.tribunemap.com/

How To Wreck Your Children's Vacation

As an adult some of the best and enduring memories of childhood are of family vacations - time spent

http://welbeck36.wordpress.com/2012/06/16/how-to-wreck-your-childrens-vacation/

Tourists Killing Off The Local Industry They Created

There was an interesting article in the Daily Mail this week, as a travel reporter described how many local businesses were going under this summer in Menorca.

There are tourists on the island, but a high percentage of them have booked an all inclusive holiday, and they are taking all their meals in their hotels, which they get for no extra charge.

There are some good deals to be had for a summer holiday this year with travel agents really keen to sell as many vacations as possible, and if you're looking for a bargain strange though it might read, have you considered a villa holiday?

Traditionally seen as expensive, this villa holidays blog points out that many holidaymakers are narrowing their search by not looking at what for example Tenerife villa holidays have to offer.

Villa Holiday Review :: Gran Canaria Villas

Welcome to our Gran Canaria Villas - for today's best deals click here.

http://www.villaholidayreview.com/gran-canaria-villa-holidays/

We're Not Quite All In It Together

A while ago British Prime Minister David Cameron, when asked about the recession and how it is impacting on ordinary people, answered that 'We're all in it together'.

Not many people believed it then, and even fewer will now, and one of the indicators that some people are doing rather well in the recession seems to be the prices of prime property in tax havens like Monaco, and other areas - London for example.

But is this too simple an indication that life goes on for some, and not others?

It would appear so according to this blog that has Monaco news as it's not buyers from the same countries from a few years ago which is driving the Monaco real estate market .

To see their analysis read their report here

 

Now Is The Time For A Cheap Vacation In Europe

There's a lot in the news about the austerity measures in countries that belong to the Eurozone and the

http://www.tribunemap.com/blog/?p=135

British Seniors Chasing The Sun For Retirement

History lessons will show that if there's one thing British people like to do it's to travel and explore

http://www.tribunemap.com/blog/?p=128

British Banks Pay For Clients' Summer Holidays

As if the British banking industry wasn't in enough trouble, RBS which owns NatWest and Ulster Bank have been unable to update many of their customer accounts since the end of last week.

It's led to some people not receiving their salaries and a possible credit downgrade as they haven't been able to pay their bills, including rent and mortgages, and in one case a man had to spend the weekend in prison as he wasn't able to pay for the bail a judge had set.

It still hasn't been fully sorted and it's possible that RBS will have to millions in compensation to their account holders who have been affected. Chief Executive Stephen Hester has pledged that none of the bank's customers will lose out financially, and it's unlikely he will be getting a bonus this year.

RBS shares have fallen 4% today in ondon trading, and if they can't update all the accounts soon they could see an exodus of customers to other banks, and it will be interesting to see how their share price performs in the coming days - a big drop can be expected if the fiasco leads to Stephen Hester resigning. We think that might be possible although there doesn't seem to be any indication of this in the media at the moment.

Compensation to customers isn't new to British banks, they have paid out billions to their customers this year after mis-selling financial products such as insurance, commonly known as PPI, and the payouts happily coincide with the cost of an average family holiday abroad.

To read more about the billions being paid out and why holiday islands like Gran Canaria will be benefitting from the compensation being paid out by the banks in the UK visit this blog British Banks Pay For A Million Families To Go On Holiday

The same site provides information for tourists along with maps for those who haven't visited before - for a Gran Canaria map visit their homepage.

Prancing Horse Flies As A Legend Returns

The European Grand Prix in Valencia this afternoon was another race of incident and excitement

http://monacoproperty.net/monaco-blog/?p=902

On Father's Day Europe Waits For Result Of Mother Of European Elections

The polls are closed in Greece, and over the next 24 hours Europe and beyond will be waiting with bated breath to see if the Greeks want to stay in the Euro, renegotiate - or most probably both.

The Dow Jones and FTSE could see some big swings this week for those who trade on the financial markets.

But there's a group of business people who are suffering a lot in the current economic crisis who get little if any mention at all - tourist related business owners in previously popular holiday destinations - to read more about their plight visit this blog post 2012 Critical Year For Tourist Businesses

Their main site deals with the weather and includes the Tenerife weather

Tax Haven Andorra Has New Entry Qualifications

For years Andorra has been one of Europe's top tax havens, with the same tax benefits as

http://www.propertyandorra.com/andorra-blog/?p=456

Tax Haven Andorra Raise Residency Entry Price

For years Andorra has been one of Europe's top tax havens, with the same tax benefits as Monaco

http://onlywire.com/r/87736713

Europe's Finest Gets A Facelift

For those who have been to Monaco before, it will come as surprising news that Monte Carlo is going to get a facelift.

There's quite a few things that draw tourists to the Principality, and the area around Casino Square is best known. The Hotel de Paris is one of the best known hotels in the world, Aston Martins and Ferraris are everywhere, the casino itself and of course Monaco property for sale is among the most expensive in the world.

To read what they're going to do to Monte Carlo visit this Monaco information blog

New Monaco Resident Wins Canadian Grand Prix

The Canadian Grand Prix yesterday proved to be Lewis Hamilton's first win as a Monaco resident.

http://www.banksinmonaco.com/blog/?p=74

People Flee As Torch Approaches London

Despite four days of pretty awful weather, people in the UK celebrated the Queen's Diamond Jubilee for four days from last Saturday through to Tuesday, and highlights included a paegent on the River Thames and a concert in front of Buckingham Palace with the best of British music featuring among others Paul McCartney and Elton John.

But there's something else that's going on in London this summer, and instead of celebration and a spirit of goodwill Londoners are being told they will have to keep out of special traffic lanes, be searched wherever they go, and have ground to air missiles positioned on top of residential buildings.

It is of course the Olympics, London 2012, and as the torch is being taken throughout the UK many Londoners have already booked to go away, while many more are heading to travel sites to see where they can go so they're not in town (appropriately enough considering where the Olympics originated from they might want to check late deals for the Greek Islands as they're going cheap at the moment).

What a contrast. On Tuesday the British Royal Family rode down The Mall with tens of thousands of people on the pavement as they made their way to Buckingham Palace - The Queen, Prince William, Kate Middleton, Prince Charles, Prince Harry - all in open carriages, while during the Olympics there will be the biggest security operation since WW2.

It's not helped by the BBC already giving a lot of coverage as the torch makes it way around the country, and as the time gets nearer to the Opening Ceremony those who haven't realised it already will wake up to the saturation coverage the media will be providing. The one saving grace of the Opening Ceremony is that Paul McCartney will be performing live to close it, some entertainment at least.

To read more about how the British are leaving the country visit this blog Government Tries To Stop People Escaping The London Olympics and for those that haven't booked to get away yet as well as checking for late deals click through for details of villas for rent in various holiday destinations

Euro Crises Boost For Tax Haven

There are reports in the media this week that both Greek and Spanish citizens are holding back taxes while their respective countries face up to further bailouts and austerity measures, with many taking the view that they can spend and save their money better than their governments.

Something a lot of people would have sympathy with we suspect.

Meanwhile the weakness of the Euro has boosted interest in taking up residency in Andorra, which is located between Spain and France, according to this Andorra information site.

Property buyers from the UK, Canada and Australia are looking at buying property in Andorra, which is a quarter of the price of Monaco's real real estate but offers the same tax benefits.

The Best European Beach Location For A Villa Holiday

For tourists who are looking for a sunshine break often one of their top priorities is to be within close proximity of a beach.

http://www.villaholidayreview.com/blog/?p=90

Diamond Jubilee, The Olympics And A Spa

How much more inclusive the Queen's Diamond Jubilee has been over the last four days than the London Olympics will be!

http://onlywire.com/r/86477326

Thomas Cook forced to abandon plan to cash in on Olympics

Struggling holidays firm Thomas Cook has had to abandon plans to cash in on the Olympics

http://onlywire.com/r/86401968

Middle East Help For Spain

As Spain gets closer to asking the EU for a bailout, the country is in real difficulties with unemployment at 25% and youth unemployment at 50%.

As the Spanish public, like Greece, gets fed up with austerity measures protests and strikes are becoming more commonplace.

Tourism forms a good part of Spanish GDP, and it's the one sector that could do better this year than last - thanks to the weakness of the Euro which will encourage more British people to visit, but Spain is allso benefitting from the continued unrest in Egypt which took quite a few tourists away from Spain for a few years as it was cheaper, and with Syria on the brink of civil war it's not likely that tourists will be returning anytime soon to the region.

An analysis of what's happening can be seen at this travel information blog

And for those thinking of visiting Spain they have a map and information about each area - their home page is about Tenerife and includes a Tenerife map.

Tax Haven Changing Entry Costs

Monaco, Gibraltar and Andorra are Europe's best known tax havens, and Andorra is changing the rules for how to gain residency there, with some explanation at http://www.propertyandorra.com

Gran Canaria Tourism Keeping Pace With Online Demands

With all that is going on with the economy in Europe it's surprising that hoteliers and others involved

http://www.tribuneweather.com/blog/?p=175

Holiday Island Celebrates Murder Mystery

One of Tenerife's newest festivals is the International Agatha Christie Festival. The little-known connection

http://www.villaholidayreview.com/blog/?p=85

Residency News - June 1st 2012

The Andorra government yesterday approved changes to the residency rules, this will now need to be signed by the two

http://www.propertyandorra.com